We are already back in full swing at Theiss and ready to tackle this new semester. We hope that the holiday break gave you and your family time to reconnect and spend quality time together. As we begin the new year, we have several family and community events planned to bring us together as a Theiss family. Check out the important events section at the bottom of the newsletter and save the date!

The new year is such a great time for reflection and setting goals for success. Our students have been goal setting with their teachers over the last couple of weeks, and we can't wait to start recognizing students who are meeting their goals during this quarter. Students who have met a goal in the classroom will be recognized on announcements and will receive a certificate. A new bulletin board is up and ready to be filled with student names who are working hard to reach their goals in various topics and subjects throughout this semester.

As always, we look forward to working with you to help your child(ren) be successful. Thank you for partnering with our staff!

Mrs. Taylor

This event is designed for current PK students as well as new PK students for next year. There will be food, vendors, and campus and department representation. Check out the website linked below!

Early Learning Extravaganza website

Attendance is very important to your child's education. Our attendance rate has a direct impact on student's learning and, ultimately, our overall accountability ratings. We know that sometimes students will need to be absent due to illness, family emergency etc. Please arrange vacations, out of town trips and doctor appointments to limit school disruption as much as possible. You can view student holidays here on the Klein ISD student calendar. When students accumulate absences at 5, 10 and 15, letters are sent to parents to keep you updated. After 18 absences, a committee must review the child's case to determine if the child needs to be retained due to absences.

It's also important for students to be on time to class. This year, the tardy bell rings at 8:10. Tardies will be entered into Skyward this year. Classes begin right after this bell rings, so student entering late are missing out on key instruction and interventions.

Process for Reporting Absences: All parent notes regarding absences must be either handwritten or reported using Skyward Family Access. Visit this link for directions on how to report an absence through the Skyward Family Access app and through the web application. You can also use Skyward Family Access to report an early dismissal request. Truancy letters are automatically generated after 3 unexcused absences in a short period of time. Please make sure to send notes through Skyward Family Access to ensure your child's absences are excused.

Attendance is tracked in 2 key ways based on laws governing school attendance. These laws require schools to inform parents when certain criteria are met. These letters are automatically generated through Skyward and will be sent home in Wednesday folders this year. What does this mean for you? Below is a general overview of both types of attendance letters that you may receive throughout this school year.

1. Compulsory Attendance: When we track attendance in this way, we are looking for students who are missing school based on benchmarks of 5, 10, 15, and 18. Even when absences are excused, we still must track how many days of instruction students are missing and evaluate at the end of the year if the amount of absences has created such instructional gaps that a student would need to be retained. Parents will receive a letter when a child reaches 5, 10, 15 and 18 absences. Administration will be reaching out to families at 10 and 15 to devise a recovery plan to recoup lost learning. At 18 absences, families will receive a "Denial of Credit" letter, meaning that the campus attendance committee will review absences and determine if retention should be considered.

2. Truancy: We track truancy by identifying students who have 3 or more unexcused absences within a short time period. This means, we have no information about why the student has not been at school, and are therefore obligated by law to investigate further. One way to avoid these letters being sent home is to submit absence requests into Skyward as soon as you know your child will be absent from school. Parents notes and medical notes are the best and easiest way to prevent truancy issues or concerns.

Letters are already begun to generate for this school year. If you have received one already, we hope that this helps clarify what you can do to help remediate attendance concerns.

If you know that your child will need to leave school early, please send a note with your child the morning of the early dismissal or submit a request through Skyward Family Access. Office staff will give your child an early dismissal pass to ensure students and teachers know what time he/she needs to report to the office so he/she is ready for pick-up. Any student waiting for more than 15 minutes will be sent back to the instructional setting until the parent arrives. Parents are required to come in and sign the child out before he/she will be allowed to leave the school. Any early dismissal requests after 2:30 may be delayed due to the start of the campus dismissal procedures.

If you have legal paperwork regarding your child's custody arrangement or regarding people who need to have restricted access to your child, please bring the original document with the judges signature to the office so we can make a copy to retain in your child's cumulative record. We follow all the legal requirements of court ordered documents, and are able to fully comply best when we have the records on file.

In December and January, we will be focusing on the A, Always Collaborate. When students collaborate they are able listen to others, share their input, compromise and determine effective solutions to their problems or challenges. Collaboration is a crucial skill for our students to develop that will prepare them for their future.

As our students are noticed for showcasing one of our core values consistently, teachers can nominate students for a special Core Value Connoisseur award.

Our new playground equipment is here! In a joint effort between school funds and the generous donations from the community during last year's fundraisers, we were able to purchase 3 metal climbers and 6 swings to create another play space location for classes at recess. Pictures coming soon of our happy students enjoying the new playground!

Thank you to Owen McGlashan, Boy Scout troop 1811, for building the Ga-Ga Ball pit as his Eagle Scout project. Our students are having a great time playing this interactive game at recess. We appreciate the time, planning and work you put into making this project successful!

Thank you all for the investment you made to give back to our school. We could not do all that we are able to without the support of our parents, families and community. You are truly a blessing!

We'll post links to all the previous newsletter from this school year here!

August

September

October

November

December

January

February/March

April

May