Buckalew Buzz
April 16, 2018
Buckalew Elementary School
Buckalew Bears Motto:
"Today I choose to Be Kind, Work Hard, and DO MY BEST!"
Email: donotreply@conroeisd.net
Website: www.buckalew.conroeisd.net
Location: 4909 Alden Bridge Drive, The Woodlands, TX, United States
Phone: 281-465-3400
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BuckalewCISD/#
Twitter: @buckalewbears
From the Principal...
Happy Monday!
We have a lot of events to continue to look forward this week and beyond! Join us at MOD Pizza and Orange Leaf tomorrow night with all proceeds going back to Buckalew! On Thursday, bring your family after school-6pm to shop til you drop for our last book fair of the year! Wear a paw print and get a raffle ticket to enter prizes and meet Geronimo Stilton and Clifford the Big Red Dog!
For parents of our 4th graders, save the date for Mitchell Parent Orientation next Monday. If you have children at any age experiencing anxiety, please join our Community Outreach Workshop next Thursday April 26 dealing with Anxiety, Love and Logic, put on by our feeder counselors. April 27 is our volunteer "salads and sweets" hosted by our staff to say thank you to our regular parent volunteers!
This BUZZ is full of information wrapping up the end of this year and beginning of planning for next year, so please make sure to read this information. We are also now registering for all new incoming students for the 2018-19 school year.
Many of you know that Mrs. Captain, our counselor, will be retiring after this school year. Mrs. Captain has spent 41 years in education and has positively impacted the lives of countless children and families. We are going to miss her wealth of knowledge and expertise. Mrs. Kathleen Points, our 4th Grade Language Arts teacher will be Buckalew's new counselor starting next school year! Mrs. Points has had her counseling degree and has been working behind the scenes alongside Mrs. Captain and Buckalew over the last four years adding to her 18 years of educational experience. Mrs. Points has a deep dedication to our children and our community, and we are excited for both Mrs. Captain and Mrs. Points as they both begin new journeys next year!
Thank you for all you do and have a great week,
Mrs. Price
Important School-Wide Dates:
Please see your teacher's communication for grade-level and class-specific events.
April:
4/17- Spirit Event @ MOD Pizza and Orange Leaf
4/19- Book Fair Night
4/23- Mitchell Parent Orientation 6:30pm
4/26- Community Outreach Workshop Anxiety and Love and Logic- 6:30pm
4/27- Progress Reports sent home
4/27- Volunteer Luncheon
May
5/3- 2nd Grade Music Program 6pm
5/4- 9:30 PTO Meeting, Bistro
5/10- Choir Concert 6pm
5/14-5/18- CLOSED CAMPUS due to testing
5/14- STAAR MATH (3rd and 4th Grade)
5/15- STAAR Reading (3rd and 4th Grade)
5/22- 4th Grade Choir Sings at TWHS Choir Festival
5/28- Holiday
5/31- Early Release 12:10/Last day of school
5/31- Kinder Program
5/31- 4th Grade Graduation
Spirit Night TUESDAY!
Spirit Night Tuesday, April 17th at MOD PIZZA
and ORANGE LEAF
No need to cook Tuesday, join us at MOD Pizza All Day and they will give back 20% of your bill to Buckalew.
Looking for a sweet treat? After MOD Pizza for dinner, walk on over to Orange Leaf for a cup of FROYO from 5pm-8pm. They will donate 15% back to Buckalew!
Kindergarten Round Up and New Student Registration NOW OPEN
Kindergarten registration for children who are 5 years old on or before September 1, 2018 will take place at at Buckalew NOW! Please register your child as an incoming kindergartner during this time or any new students for the 18-19 school year!
See the attached PDF for more details on required registration documents and registration process.
It’s BOOK FAIR Time Again!
The BIGGEST and BEST Book Fair offered by Scholastic is coming to Buckalew! Our ‘Signature Book Fair’ will host approximately 6,700 titles in varying genres and interests! YOU WON’T WANT TO MISS THIS!!!
Preview Week: April 16th–18th
(All students will preview the Book Fair during library specials)
Sales Schedule:
êFamily Nightê
Thursday, April 19th
3:15PM-6:00PM
Come see Clifford The Big Red Dog and Geronimo Stilton and shop with your child before sales week!! If you wear a shirt/hat that has an animal with PAWS on it, you will be entered into a raffle to win a FREE BOOK!!!
Sales Week: Monday, April 23rd- Wednesday, April 25th
7:30AM - 3:00PM
(All students may shop during their regular library specials. Kindergarten, 1st, and 2nd grade students, and any student accompanied by a parent, may also shop in the morning before school 7:30AM – 8:00AM. 3rd and 4th grade students may also shop after lunch.)
Thursday, April 26th
7:30AM - 10:00AM
***We need your help
PLEASE consider volunteering to help with this HUGE Spring Book Fair! Email Mindy Laird at mindylaird@yahoo.com if you are interested! Thank you! J
GT NOMINATIONS FOR SUMMER TESTING – Nominations are Due Monday, April 30
The window is now open for parent nominations for GT Screening and will continue through April 30. Parents may nominate their student for Summer GT Testing by completing the District Nomination Form, available through any 2nd, 3rd or 4th grade teacher, or by asking Belinda in the front office. Parents may now nominate, one time per level of test. In other words, students may test once each school year to see if they meet district requirements and /or qualify in other subject areas. GT testing will be held at Bush Elementary on June 5-7 (exact time TBD). Nomination forms may be returned to your student’s 2nd, 3rd, or 4th grade teacher OR to Belinda in the front office. ALL NOMINATION forms are due NO LATER THAN April 30!
Keys to Success Awards
For the week of: April 9th
Kinder: Mason Eberwine
1st Grade: Haven Kvapil
2nd Grade: Liam Kelly
3rd Grade: Amrit Dhamija
4th Grade: Zoe Ansley
For the week of: April 16th
Kinder: Jordan Saheb
1st Grade: David Kozaki
2nd Grade: Grace Li
3rd Grade: Mark Bennick
4th Grade: Kate Taliaferro
Volunteer Luncheon- April 27 11-1
Always There Bears March Winning Classes
Kinder- Smejkal
First- Snyder
Second- Cohen
Third- Saheb
Fourth- Points
HELP US PAVE THE WAY FOR A NEW PLAYGROUND!
Leave a legacy commemorating Buckalew's 20th anniversary! Adopt a customized brick in Buckalew's schoolyard, and show your Buckalew Bear spirit! Your legacy brick will bring smiles to children for many years by funding new playground equipment and essential enrichment programs. The permanent installment will be outside the biker/walker door, replacing gravel with a safety and cleaner school path. Visit your brick anytime for years to come! Whether you have a current Buckalew Bear or a Buckalew graduate, this would make a perfect gift. You will always be a part of our Buckalew family!
TO ORDER:
Go online to:
http://www.fundraisingbrick.com/buckalew
See attached 2 flyers for more
2018-19 Class and Teacher Placements
STAAR TESTING DATES and VISITATION/VOLUNTEERS
STAAR TESTING for our students is very important! In order to ensure security and minimize distractions during the testing, visitors and volunteers will not be allowed on campus during our STAAR testing week(s). Please make sure to plan accordingly as this includes no visitation during lunch time. If your child has a birthday on these dates, please choose an alternate date and arrange any plan with the teacher. We will have altered lunch and specials schedules on the following days and all areas and offices, including the bistro will be used as testing areas. Please minimize any changes to dismissal and/or lunches during this time.
Our campus will be closed to all visitors and alternate arrangements should be made during the following dates:
- · The Week of May 14 - 18: 3rd AND 4th Graders will be taking STAAR Math/Reading May 14th and 15th with the possibility of makeups throughout the week.
If you have a 3rd or 4th Grader, please make sure these dates are on your calendar and that you have them in attendance with plenty of rest and a nutritious breakfast each day.
Thank you for your understanding!
Thinking of becoming more involved in our wonderful school? Buckalew PTO Wants you!
Buckalew PTO nominating committee is currently looking for volunteers to fill the positions below for the 2018/2019 school year. Executive Board officers and Committee Chairs are both considered part of the PTO Board of directors, which convenes monthly to report and communicate on all activities of the PTO.
General PTO Members meet twice a year.
Executive board positions are elected positions. We have noted where we have at least one candidate for the executive board positions, but anyone is welcome to run for election. Committee chairs are selected by the board from among those expressing interest in holding the position.
If you are interested in joining us next year in one of these positions, please contact
Tera Turnbull at:
teraturnbull@comcast.net 281-705-7721
Executive Board
(Election will take place at the next general membership meeting)
President - Nina Neal
VP Fundraising – Incumbent/Shelley Alexander
VP Communications – Incumbent/Natalie Ha
VP Parent Involvement – Heather Lorzinak
Treasure – Melissa Tattoli
Secretary – Janell Ray
Parliamentarian – Jill Gordley
Committee Chairs Needed
Community Partners: Shall be responsible for obtaining business sponsors for Buckalew Elementary.
Community Outreach: Shall be responsible for working with the Buckalew Elementary counselor to organize community outreach programs such as food drives, Adopt-a-Student, book drives and other identified needs.
Carnival Committee: Class booths & Baskets: Plan and communicate all needs for the carnival to room moms. Coordinate class baskets for the silent auction and class booths including prizes. Work with the Silent Auction Committee Chair, Outdoor Fun Committee Chair and Volunteer Committee Chair.
Web Site Liaison: Shall maintain the PTO website.
Yearbook: Committee Head: Shall be responsible for the publishing and sale of an annual yearbook for Buckalew Elementary. Shall compile, record and maintain a history of school activities and achievements.
Editor: Shall be in charge of editing the yearbook 2 people needed for tagging: Identifying student’s names and faces for the yearbook.
Community Partners
We love our Community—the nature, the neighborhood involvement and the wonderful family life. That’s why Hughes & Cozad Orthodontics are honored to provide patients with a life-long beautiful (and functional) smile through high quality orthodontics. Visit their website to learn more:
Orthodontist The Woodlands Spring TX Invisalign clear braces
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ExxonMobil Grants
To all ExxonMobil Employees and Spouses that would like to participate in the volunteer grant program for Buckalew, please remember to complete the following: Complete the online application on the employee domain for ExxonMobil Foundation. Applications can be submitted anytime. Payouts to the school are made on a quarterly basis. Don’t forget to start recording your 2018 volunteer hours. You are able to submit your volunteer time after 20 hours. We greatly appreciate your contributions. Our Exxon grants have helped us fund so many things here at Buckalew over the years.
Lost and Found
Please check Lost and Found for any items you think your child may be missing. There are lots of jackets, sweaters, water bottles, bike helmets, etc. Lost and Found is located outside of the cafeteria/gym. If you are at the school, swing by and have a look. There may be something of your child’s that you did not even realize was missing. If you have any questions, please contact Kalyn McQuain at kalyn@mcquainagency.com
PTO Financial Update
Buckalew PTO funds many things our school needs every year. Some of these annual needs include Think Through Math, Mathletics, Raz Kids, Brain Pop & Brain Pop Jr., Super Teacher Worksheets, iPads and iPad cabinets, field trips, author visits, and special grade level activities. These annual needs total approximately $50,000. Often, other needs come up for the PTO to fund, such as recent needs of replacing the refrigerator in the teacher's lounge, replacing all classroom projection equipment and replacing all classroom leveled reading book sets. Recently, district safety inspectors have found problems with some of the equipment on our two playgrounds. They have made some short term fixes and removed unsafe equipment. Ultimately, it was determined both playgrounds need to be replaced. Each playground costs approximately $75,000. The school district does not give the school any money to go towards the replacement of playground equipment. In order to meet these needs of our school, the PTO must raise $200,000.
With the amazing support of our community, we have been able to raise $110,000 so far! We replaced the K-2 playground in November. We continue to get closer to our huge goal of $200,000 with fundraisers throughout the year. Our Community Business Partners, T-Shirt Sales, Box Tops, Boosterthon Fun Run, Book Fair, Grade Level After School Playdates, Spirit Nights, the Fall Auction, and the 2017 Spring Carnival have gotten us this far. This Spring, we look forward to the Buckalew Bash Spring Carnival with Raffle and Silent Auction on March 24, 2018. The Buckalew 20th Anniversary is this year, and we will have a special engraved brick campaign to pave the area outside the biker/walker door. Details about this opportunity will be available in late spring. We hope to meet our goal of $200,000 this spring and install the second playground this summer! Buckalew is a great school, providing an exceptional experience for our children thanks to the support of our Buckalew Family! Thank you for making all of this possible!
2018-19 School Calendar
We appreciate your support of public education and the value of attendance. Because of YOU and our amazing staff, Buckalew continues to rank among the best in the state and we are very proud of that and want it to continue!
Give the Gift of a TAE "Teacher's Achieving Excellence"
Log Into "Parent Access" by clicking:
and click on the "Teachers/Staff Excellence" Tab.
Feel free to type your own message and send any staff a positive message!
Buckalew Visitors and Volunteers
For the safety of ALL students, we ask that any person entering Buckalew be approved through the CISD volunteer website. This includes classroom events, parties, classroom readers, volunteers, lunch visitors, etc. In other words, if you are visiting a classroom and/or are around children, you must fill out the online CISD Volunteer Application. It takes less than 5 minutes to complete the application. We thank you for your understanding and cooperation for this added layer of protection.
TRANSPORTATION CHANGES
Parents just a reminder to send all transportation changes to school with your child in their backpack. E-mail changes are for emergency changes only and must be made before 2:00 p.m. Please note weather is not considered an emergency. For emergencies only, e-mail brobinson@conroeisd.net and make sure you get a confirmation that your change was received. Classroom teachers do not always check emails throughout the day or may even be absent and that request would not be received in time. If you have sent a note with your child it is not necessary to e-mail the note to the front office. Thank you.
Community Outreach Parent Workshops
April 26th 6:30-8pm Love and Logic and Anxiety
Kate Turner Licensed Professional Counselor
Buckalew Elementary School
A must attend for parents who wish to help their children with anxiety.
Buckalew PTO
Click to see what's going on in Buckalew's PTO!
The purpose of the Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) is to:
(a) promote the welfare of children at Buckalew
(b) to foster cooperation between parents and teachers in the education of children at Buckalew
(c) to unite school and community efforts in securing for all children the best education
(d) to engage in fundraising activities for the educational and recreational benefit of Buckalew, its children, teachers, and staff as determined by the PTO and in accordance with the PTO by-laws.
Yearbook
Thank you all for sharing your wonderful photos on replay it! The Yearbook is in the prints! If you have not ordered yours yet, there is still time to place your order online, please note: only a limited amount of extra copies are being sold while supply lasts! So many memories, so little time!
If you have any questions regarding your order contact Jenna Simpson at ysimpson@att.net.
Amazon Smile~ You shop. Amazon gives.
Select Buckalew Elementary School as your charity!
What is AmazonSmile?
AmazonSmile is a simple and automatic way for you to support your favorite charitable organization every time you shop, at no cost to you. When you shop at smile.amazon.com, you’ll find the exact same low prices, vast selection and convenient shopping experience as Amazon.com, with the added bonus that Amazon will donate a portion of the purchase price to your favorite charitable organizationHow do I shop at AmazonSmile?
To shop at AmazonSmile simply go to smile.amazon.com from the web browser on your computer or mobile device. You may also want to add a bookmark to smile.amazon.com to make it even easier to return and start your shopping at AmazonSmile.How do I select a charitable organization to support when shopping on AmazonSmile?
On your first visit to AmazonSmile smile.amazon.com, you need to select a charitable organization to receive donations from eligible purchases before you begin shopping. We will remember your selection, and then every eligible purchase you make at smile.amazon.com will result in a donation.**********************************************
Safety Reminders from our Police Department:
- Please remember to remind your children NOT to cross until the crossing guards are at their posts in the morning. The building is not open until 7:30.
- Please remember if you are in your car, to wait for the crossing guards not only to cross the children, but for the crossing guards themselves to make it back to the sidewalk.
- Please remember to stay off your cell phones when driving in school zones.
- Please remember their are NO DOGS allowed on school property. This is for your personal liability and the safety of all of our students.
- Please remember there are no U-Turns in front of the school.
- Lakeside Park- if you are dropping your kids off or picking them up from Lakeside Park please park your vehicle to do so. It becomes a safety issue to just drive up and let your kids out or have them get in without parking. Please use our car line in the back of Buckalew if you want just drop off your child.
Parent Access Login
Canvas Login
Lunch Information:
A Full Price student meal is $2.85 and for a 2nd meal is $3.55. “Extras” range from $.50-$2.00.
Did you know you can put limits on your child’s account? You can limit your child to one complete lunch so your child is getting the complete lunch on the menu.
You can also limit your daily expenditures or snack choices or ala carte by calling our cafeteria at 281-465-3467.
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The Conroe Independent School District (District) as an equal opportunity educational provider and employer does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, religion, age, or disability in educational programs or activities that it operates or in employment matters. The District is required by Title VI and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, the Age Discrimination Act of 1975, as amended, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Americans with Disabilities Act, as well as Board policy not to discriminate in such a manner. For information about Title IX rights or Section 504/ADA rights, contact the Title IX Coordinator or the Section 504/ADA coordinator at 3205 W. Davis, Conroe, TX 77304; (936) 709-7752.