Hackberry Howl
Love-Serve-Care
Vol.6 No.1
Welcome Back!
Here it is, almost August – the summer has flown by! I hope that you had time to relax and rejuvenate, and are as excited as I am to be back. We still have a lot of unknowns, but I do know together we can make this a great school year!
The summer has brought last minute staff changes as always, and we have scoured the metroplex area (and beyond!) to find the most awesome new Lobo's ever. Below is a run down of the newest FamiLE members for you to welcome to the pack:
Welcome to the FamiLE!
Noemi Ballesteros-3rd Grade
Hello Hackberry FamiLE! My name is Noemi Ballesteros. I am thrilled to become part of your wonderful community. I recently graduated from the University of North Texas in May after doing my student teaching at HBE this past school year. I was born in California, but have lived in Texas for most of my life. In my free time, I enjoy baking, crafting, and doing DIY projects. I am lucky enough to begin my teaching journey at HBE and cannot wait to begin.
Emily Birge-2nd Grade
Hello there! My name is Emily Birge, and I couldn’t be happier to join the Hackberry family by teaching 2nd grade Math/Science this coming fall. I graduated Summa Cum Laude from Texas A&M University Commerce last December with a Bachelor’s in Interdisciplinary Studies concentrating in EC-6 th . On my free time I enjoy fishing by the lake, playing disc golf in nature, or playing basketball whenever I can find a free hoop. I have a fiancé named Benjamin who proposed to me at a Dallas Stars game last year (GO STARS!). Together we have a cat named Scruffy. We rescued him from the SPCA about four years ago, and he has been a loving part of the family ever since. Thank you for your time in reading a little bit about my life. I look forward to an awesome school year ahead and am excited to meet you, your family, and your kiddos.
Kim Chow-Jackson-ESL Specialist
Eri Goldstein-Music
Hello, Hackberry families!
My name is Eri Goldstein, and I am the new music teacher.
I am very excited to be a part of HBE. We will have so much fun together making music and exploring music from around the world!
I have taught elementary music, honor choir, and accompanied the district select choir in Garland ISD. I received a bachelor’s in music (piano performance / music theory), and a master’s in music education from the University of North Texas.
Mckenzie Johnson-1st Grade
Kathryn Laubacher-Special Education
My name is Kathryn Laubacher and I graduated from the university of North Texas with a degree in elementary education and a supplemental in Special Education.
I love working with kids and watching how much they learn and grow as a young student and as a person! Some of other hobbies I enjoy are playing sports, fostering kittens, and reading books! I am very exited to start at Hackberry Elementary this year! Go team Amistad!
Mia Luna-Special Education
Hello Hackberry FamiLE!
My name is Mia Luna, and I am so excited to be joining the Hackberry FamiLE as a Special Education Teacher. A little about me, is that I graduated from Western Governors University with my Bachelors in Educational Studies, and I am certified in Special Education, ESL, and PE. I have worked two years in Special Education and it is something that I am very passionate about doing. Most of you already know me because I have worked a variety of different positions (roughly equaling 8 years) in Little Elm ISD as paraprofessional positions and previously as Physical Education/Pre-Athletics coach at Prestwick STEM Academy. I am thrilled to begin this journey with all of you. Please feel free to reach out to me for anything you need.
Mia Luna
Yeari Sachse
Hello Hackberry FamiLE! I graduated from the University of North Texas in the areas of Drawing and Painting, and Visual Arts Studies. For my Master's degree I attended Concorida University in Curriculum and Instruction. I am married to my husband Brandon and his family founded the city of Sachse, Texas. I have three dogs: Duke, Dexter, and Penelope. I look forward to having an awesome year in ART!
Yeari Sachse
Florencia Sanders-3rd Grade
My name is Florencia Sanders. I’m originally from Chihuahua, Mexico. This is my sixth year working in Little Elm ISD in grades 4th and 5th bilingual/dual. I received a BA in Industrial Engineering and Systems from the Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey. And after working as an engineer for a few years, and volunteering for every Coach position on my kids teams, and as a Sunday school teacher, I decided to follow my true calling and first love, Teaching.
I cannot imagine doing anything else. I want to share my enthusiasm and passion for learning with my students and help them discover their talents.
My husband Peter and I have three beautiful children, Zarah 15 , Freya 14 and Julian 12. We also have two dogies, Sol and Luna, and a macaw called Benito Guadalupe. My family loves animals and spending time outdoors.
Mi nombre es Florencia Sanders. soy de Chihuahua, México. Este es mi sexto año trabajando con el distrito de Little Elm en los grados de cuarto y quinto en los programas Bilingüe y Dual. Me gradué de Ingeniería Industrial y de Sistemas en el Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores en Monterrey. Y después de ejercer como ingeniero varios años, y de ser voluntaria de varios equipos de deportes de mis hijos, y de maestra en la iglesia, decidí seguir mi primer amor, la docencia.
No me imagino haciendo otra cosa. Quiero compartir mi entusiasmo, y pasión por aprender con mis alumnos y ayudarles a descubrir sus talentos.
Mi marido Pedro y yo tenemos tres niños hermosos, Zarah 15 , Freya 14 y Julian 12. También tenemos dos perritas que se llaman, Sol y Luna. También tenemos una guacamaya que se llama Benito Guadalupe. Mi familia ama a los animales, y nos encanta pasar tiempo en la naturaleza.
The section below (Did you know?) is an update that I will be pushing out every few days
I wanted to create a way to send updates as information is coming fast and furious. I want to have a place to look for quick updates from me and our team. My goal is that information and facts allow you to read when or if you wish and feel confident that your voice is heard. Many of you have questions circling in your mind and this can be a way to slow those down.
Just know you can call, text and or email me any time with your questions. I will answer what I can, find answers or let you know that we are in the process of figuring that out. Here is a google form: https://forms.gle/XkExW6MVEY4drpso8 to place what you feel is most pressing to help me prioritize what is shared.
Ready, set and go!!! Just know that no matter what comes our way we are PERSISTENT, ADAPTABLE, SERVICE MINDED AND most importantly SOLUTION FOCUSED. We are ready for what comes our way and together we will can do all things.
Keep Howling!
-SR
Did you know???
Fact #1
Learning Management Training and Use
Teachers were provided with summer information about training for learning management systems for this year. Please have these done and pay close attention and learn like you will use it. All teachers both at home and in school will expected to load content on your platform for the week to build fluency of use and be ready in the event we need to transition to at home learning. You must use the system specified for your grade even if you have used another in the past. I will be doing these trainings as well to be sure I can support you.
K-2 See saw
3-5 Google classroom
Fact #2
Meet the teacher
Meet the teacher will be 100% virtual this year since this is an event that will be very challenging to socially distance. I am happy to lead the planning for how we will do this but you guys will have way better ideas. So start thinking about how we could do this in an interactive way. Consider the experience from a child's perspective, a parents and a teacher perspective.
Kinder team- see separate message coming your way for other topics related to this.
Fact #3
Who's teaching what? When will I know this? Do I have a choice?
Your grade level assignments remain. We are actively monitoring and getting guidance on what in school vs at home will look like for teachers but without numbers we don't know. We are answering parent calls daily to help them make the best decision they can for their family. Simply put this is the biggest rubixs cube. As soon as we know you will know. Yes I want your input and no I can not guarantee exactly what it will look like but you know I am planning A-Z options in my mind.
Regardless of placement all teachers will teach from an LEISD classroom so that they can collaborate with PLC teams and have access to materials including internet.
Fact #4
Room set up will need to be thought of carefully. We do not have new furniture so if your room had tables you will continue with those. This is the reason why face coverings, face shields and student desk shields are being purchased as other levels of protection.
To maximize square footage we are asking that there not be personal items such as couches etc be in your learning space. We want to take it down to campus provided materials so that we can use as much square footage as possible. I know this may rock your socks but it is a small help that can make a big difference.
Fact #5
We have a team of teachers that will be helping guide our Back to School Plans. If you have ideas or plans you may reach out to one of these members.
Specials-Pam Anderson
Pre-K-Megan Branch
Kinder-Dorina Crutchfield
1st-Kate Olsson
2nd-Holliday Lawson
3rd-Anntoinette Cavazos
4th-Marta Flores
5th-Sarah Romig
Specialist-Ashley Measles/Darcie Brodsky
Office-Vanessa Lay
Required Trainings:
1. SafeSchools, the annual required compliance training, is now available. Due to current nationwide issues, some additional trainings are required this year. You will find training videos dealing with health emergencies, child nutrition, bullying, human trafficking, copyright infringement, and more. The deadline to complete the SafeSchools training is August 26, 2020. If you do not receive the email from SafeSchools, please check your Spam folder. Last year, many of the emails from SafeSchools were filtered to employee’s Spam boxes. If you do not receive an email at all, please contact Renee Penecost (rpenecost@leisd.ws) so that he can verify the email and resend the information.
2. Learning Management Systems | Required Online Training Courses & Support
To support teachers with the implementation of district guidelines for learning management systems, the following in-depth, online training will be provided to give educators a solid foundational knowledge of the online platforms.
The online training courses for SeeSaw (PK-2), Google Classroom (3-5), and Canvas (6-12) are open now for registration in Strive. After you register, the self enrollment URL to the online training course will be visible in the Instructor Notes section in Strive.
REGISTER HERE for SeeSaw (PK-2)
REGISTER HERE for Google Classroom (3-5)
REGISTER HERE for Canvas (6-12)
3.*** Be on the lookout in coming weeks for campus CANVAS course over HBE Nuts and Bolts & T-TESS Training
Building Access this week:
Thursday, July 16th-8:00am-5:00pm
Fill out the google form below
Contact Information:
Email: Srichardson@littleelmisd.net
Cell Phone: (940) 391-3864
Jill Whitehead
Email: Jwhitehead@littleelmisd.net
Cell Phone: (903) 456-4004
Sandra Garces
Email: Sgarces@littleelmisd.net
Cell Phone:(214) 682-6339