Hello, Dove families!

We had a GREAT week at Dove Elementary!! It was wonderful coming back to school and kicking of 2023 with the BEST students and STAFF!! We have a busy spring, so please be sure to read the newsletter all the way through and add important dates to your home calendar!

Pro Tip: My family has three different school newsletters and calendars to comb through each week. It is A LOT to keep up with! We have a white board calendar on the fridge where we write important dates and events for the month. It helps us all stay informed with what's coming up!

Proud to be your principal,

Heather Landrum

Total Enrollment: 454

Total tardies goal: 0

Tardies this week: 148!!! Parents,we had almost 30 TARDIES/ DAY THIS WEEK!!!

THIS HAS TO IMPROVE! This new year, let's all make the resolution to get up 10 minutes earlier and arrive at school ON TIME!!

***Take a look at the graphic below to see the impact on learning time when a student is even 5 minutes late to school.

Total Attendance Goal: 96.5%

Total Attendance Rate for last week: 95.08%

PK: 91.9%

Kinder: 95.3%

1st: 95.8%

2nd: 97.1%

3rd: 94.8%

4th: 93.3%

5th: 95.2%

• School starts at 7:40am. Learning starts at 7:40am. Please help your child by having them to school on time!
• PRO TIP: Doors open at 7:20am! We have a rush of cars out front right at 7:20, but there are not many cars coming through the line 7:25-7:35! If you typically get to school at 7:35, and the line is bottle-necked waiting to drop-off, I highly encourage you to leave 3-4 minutes earlier! It will make all the difference!
• As a reminder, when you arrive after 7:40am, parents, you must park and walk your child in to the front office to sign them in. Do not send your student in by themselves. Thank you.

Set morning routines that allow your student to arrive at time on school. We asked several students who are always on time to school what they do to help make sure they are ready to leave on time. They said...

"I put everything in my backpack the night before and leave my backpack by the door."

"My mommy makes my lunch at night and puts it in the fridge."

"I wake up early so I have time to get dressed and ready for school."

"I pick out my clothes before I go to bed so I know what I'm wearing."

Parents, what can you do to help make sure your child is at school on time each day? Could you snooze one less time? Could you set your alarm for 10 minutes sooner? Could you implement some of the suggestions above to help the morning run smooth and quick?

To apply for 2023-2024 tuition based pre-k lottery, please COMPLETE THIS FORM. This form is only for those students that will be tuition based. If you meet state qualifications for tuition, do not apply here. Those applications will open in April.

For more information about PreK in GCISD, click here -----> https://www.gcisd.net/parents/pre-_kindergarten

GCISD will begin the 2023-2024 school year on Tuesday, August 15, 2023. The calendar for the upcoming school year was approved by GCISD’s Board of Trustees at their December 19 meeting.

A few additional holidays and important dates on the calendar include:
-District holidays are on September 4, October 9, January 15, March 29, May 27 and June 19
- Six professional development days (no school for students), which are scheduled for September 18, November 6 and 7 (Election Day), January 2-3 and February 19
- Thanksgiving Break runs November 20-24
- Winter Break for students runs December 18-January 3
- Spring Break runs March 11-15
- The calendar includes flexible minutes which will be used before the two bad weather days scheduled for on February 16 and April 15
- The last day of school is on Thursday, May 23

Click here to view or download the final 2023-2024 calendar. Please note the start date in August and save this calendar and use it when planning upcoming trips and vacations next year!

5th Grade Parents! Is your student interested in learning how to play an instrument next year in middle school? The Grapevine MS & Cross Timbers MS Band will be holding their “Meet the Instruments” Event on Saturday, January 28th from 9-1:30pm at Grapevine MS and Saturday, February 25th from 9-1:30pm at Cross Timbers MS. Sign up for one of the days regardless of what school you will be attending next year. All students interested in joining the band program need to attend with at least one parent.

Click here to go to the GMS Band Website to sign up for a time and get all the information you need.

Click HERE for information regarding Meet the Instruments in English.

DID YOU KNOW?: It would take 75 days of reading 20 minutes per day to conquer reading 1,500 minutes, and there are 99 weekdays left of the school year!?

As students earn prizes on the worksheet, they should present their worksheet that's been initialed by their parents to their homeroom teacher in order to collect their prizes. We are so excited to do this as a school and can't wait to see our students reach those prize milestones!!!

If you've been looking for a way to more easily stay on top of all of the events, activities, and deadlines for school, these calendars should really help you!

3rd-5th grade families, take a look at this!!

The State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness (STAAR) has undergone a redesign starting with the 2022 - 2023 school year. Students will experience new item response types, as well as, additional opportunities for free response and writing.

Families and students can preview and practice with the new item types by visiting the Texas Education Agency (TEA) resource at this link.

You do not need a login or password to access the site. Leave both options set to Guest and click the green login button at the bottom of the page. After selecting a STAAR-tested grade level, you will have a variety of options including information about the new item types and practice tests.

3rd-5th grade students will take Interim Assessments (STAAR Benchmark Assessments) on December 14 and 15!! Please make sure you log in at home and talk with your student about these new question types!

Of course, we know that there will be a day when your child has a fever or is vomiting. We ask that in these cases, you keep them home and email or call the school to let us know.

Thank you for making sure your student is at school learning every day!!

The community may access an overview to curriculum for core courses at the following website: https://sites.google.com/gcisd.net/gcisd-curriculum/home. The site may also be accessed from GCISD.net under the Parent pull-down menu.

To add money to your child's meal account, please send a check to school with them or drop it by the front office. **Pro Tip** Download the My School Bucks App from your App Store. You can add money directly to your child's meal account, track their spending, and receive notifications when their meal account runs low!

January 16: No School (MLK Holiday)

January 17: Phase 1 Tutorials for 3rd-5th grade begin (Monday-Wednesday 3:15-4:15)

January 24:

• Club Pictures (More info soon)
• Author Visit (Bridget Heos)

January 25: Oncor Presentations in the gym (during specials)

January 27:

• All School Assembly
• Kendra Scott Night benefitting Dove PTA! 5:00-7:00pm

February 3: Play it Safe (during Specials)

February 13-17: Literati Book Fair!!

February 14: Valentines' Day!! Grade level parties in the gym during Specials

February 16: PTA Meeting (5:30-6:00) and Literacy Night in the Learning Commons (5:30-7:00)!

February 20: No School for Students- Staff PD Day!

February 28: Class Pictures and Spring Pictures

March 2: CEC Meeting 3:30-4:45pm in Dove Learning Commons

March 3:

• Friendship Day (During Specials)
• Open House (5:00-6:00) / PTA Movie Night (6:00-7:30)

March 13-17: Spring Break

March 20: Phase 2 Tutorials begins

April 7: Bad Weather Day

April 10: Bad Weather Day

April 19: Early Release (11:45am)

April 25: STAAR Reading (3rd-5th grade)

April 27: STAAR Science (5th grade)

May 9: STAAR Math (3rd-5th grade)

May 19: Field Day

May 25: Last Day of School! Early Release @ 11:45am