The Wolf Howl
Week of 3/11/16
Happy Spring Break Week!
STAAR Reviews
While it is good to practice test taking skills and independent work for a few days, too much drill and kill is not The Wolf Way!
House Bill 2610
HB 2610, passed by the 84th Texas Legislature, requires school districts to provide at least 75,600 minutes of instruction, rather than 180 days of instruction per school year. By changing the way the school year is measured, it is meant to give districts more flexibility in how they make up for missed instructional days.
The District Leadership and District Excellence Community met extensively to discuss how GCISD would implement this new requirement. It was determined that our communities enjoyed the traditional breaks that are built into our current calendar and were unwilling to make significant changes in the calendar to make up for instructional time (i.e. not having a full week at Thanksgiving)
To maintain the calendar the community desires and has previously approved, elementary, middle and high schools must have 435 instructional minutes per day. In order to accommodate the new requirements, the district had to make adjustments to the school day for elementary and high school students. The impact is as follows:
Currently, our elementary school students have 72,840 minutes of instruction, which does not meet the new requirements. By adding fifteen minutes to each elementary school day, this will allow GCISD to meet the state standard of instructional minutes.
Middle school students currently receive 435 minutes of instruction so there will be no change in their schedule.
In order to be compliant with the new legislation, high schools will add five minutes to their day to achieve 435 minutes of instructional time.
The new start and dismissal times are impacted not only by the change in the required instructional minutes but also by the resulting shift in the transportation schedules. Below is the proposed schedule for 2016-2017 school year:
Elementary School 7:40 a.m. - 2:55 p.m.
Middle School 8:10 a.m. - 3:25 p.m.
- High School 8:40 a.m. - 3:55 p.m.
Second Round of Clubs = SUCCESS!
The last round of clubs start in April - be thinking about what you want to do. Let's think ACTIVE clubs -not necessarily outdoors, but active. Wolves get antsy at this time of year and need to move.
Look for the clubs Google Doc the Monday after Spring Break!
Rachel's Challenge Rally 5K
Join us for the annual Rachel’s Challenge 5K and Community Fair!
Rachel's Challenge Rally is coming - mark your calendars for April 16 at CHHS! We will kick-off the Rally with a time-chipped 5K run, which is open to all registered runners and walkers. The race registration fees are $20 for adults and $15 for students. Please register on-line by April 4th to secure your race packet. The rest of the rally, including the Community Fair, is free.
5K Registration Link http://goo.gl/forms/2hRc32NZw1
The Community Fair, 8:00-12:00, will be celebrate Kindness, Healthy Choices and Diversity! Come and join us for community vendors, healthy demonstrations, student performances, door prizes, and much more!
Wolf Howls
Lisa D. gives a big howl to Jaime for doing such a great job as Sunshine chairperson this year! We have enjoyed everything the Sunshine Committee has done!
Raquel gives a Happy HOWL to Barbara Swartz and Amy Keith for supporting our kids in every way possible!!!
Lisa D. howls for Stephanie C. for running our school so well! She is amazing!
Brooke howls for Tabetha Weeks and Lisa Smith for watching her 2nd period and Wolf Time while she was on the field trip!
Lisa D. gives a Huge Howl to Clint, Jaime, and Kate for helping promote CTMS and our ASPIRE program when she tours around potential students! Their enthusiasm and passion make everyone want to be a student here!!
Brooke gives a long howl to Raquel Mota, Vicky Abeyta, Brendon Lowe, Rachel Harper, Jaime LeRoy, Vanessa and Tori for chaperoning on the field trip to the Bush Library and Museum on Wednesday. Their help made the trip very successful.
Lisa D. howls a Cheery Howl to Melissa and Jennifer H. for organizing cheer tryouts for our Wolves!
Raquel howls a thankful HOWL to Officer Husky for being so caring to our students!
Lisa D. gives an AVID howl to Terry Popp for leading our AVID site team so effectively! She is an amazing AVID advocate!
Upcoming Events
Monday, 3/14 - 3/18 - SPRING BREAK!!!!! Yippee!
Monday, 3/21 - 4th nine weeks begins
TELPAS testing
CTMS tennis vs. Coppell West @CHS
AVID site team meeting - 3:30 - Popp's room
Tuesday, 3/22 - TELPAS testing
Track meet @CTMS
PTA General Meeting - 6:30
Wednesday, 3/23 - Lisa out - LEAD 2021
Thursday, 3/24 - 6th grade Art field trip (rescheduled)
Report cards home
Friday, 3/25 - Bad Weather Make Up day - no school
Happy Birthday!
Jaime Leroy - 3/16
Chrissy Miller - 3/19
Trish Rapp - 3/21
Jerry Schroeder - 3/22
Elizabeth Pauley - 3/23
Jennifer Salsbury - 3/25