Tiger Tribune
October 2022 Edition
A Message from Mrs. Taylor
Dear Theiss families,
It has been a busy start to the school year, and it's hard to believe that our first quarter of school is about to end. Our students have been busy learning and teachers now have a great understanding of our students' strengths and needs.
If you haven't had the chance to log into Skyward Family Access to check your child's MAP scores, please do! This assessment is unlike others in that it compares student performance to other students of the same age across the nation. It is a great tool to track growth, which is a major focus on our campus. All students should be working to grow in their skills. After all, learning is a lifelong skill and never stops!
As we head into the Fall season, we will have many school events to continue to unify our campus around our core values and celebrating our Theiss family. Please read the newsletter carefully to find out the details of our Fall Festival, Red Ribbon Week, and various celebration parades. We'll keep you updated as we get closer to the events.
Sincerely,
Jessica Taylor
Principal
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Theiss Fall Festival - 10/21/22
We will have food trucks, vendors and games! Our staff will have booths with games for students to play with candy treats. Community vendors and first responders will have booths as well! Students are welcome to wear costumes if they would like, but it is an optional activity.
Please come and enjoy the festivities!
Storybook Character Parade is coming, 10/28!
Each year we love to find fun ways to celebrate literacy and encourage a love for reading. This year will be our 3rd year of our Storybook Character Parade. Students can dress in costumes like their favorite storybook characters. While we understand that it is close to Halloween, and students may want to use that costume, we do want our students to make sure the costume they are wearing to school is connected to a favorite book character. Costumes do not need to be elaborate or store bought. They must follow student dress code and no fake weapons will be allowed. Students will need to bring the coordinating book with them for the parade so others will see books that they will want to read in the future.
We'll share more details for how to join the parade soon!
Key Tips for Arrival and Dismissal
Our arrival and dismissal is a well oiled machine now, thanks to all of you! Thank you for following our campus procedures and being patient through the first few weeks as we fine tuned our process with students. Below are a few extra tips to continue to help us make dismissal efficient and, above all, safe for all.
- Please keep your car number visible to staff until your car is loaded.
- Car tags are most visible when hanging in the middle of the windshield (ie: from a hanger on the rear view mirror, or hanging from the visor etc...). When simply placed on the dashboard, we cannot see when walking by your vehicle.
- Dismissal can be a great time to network with other families. We highly encourage families who want to stick around to chat or play during dismissal to utilize the park near the clubhouse until dismissal is complete.
- The playground is off limits until dismissal is complete, usually by 4:00.
Attendance Basics & Updates
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.
Attendance Tracking
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.
Early Dismissals
Legal Paperwork Updates
Birthdays
However, sending invitations to school to pass out will not be allowed. Instructional time cannot be used to support or promote private social events such as birthday parties.
At this time, we will not be accepting birthday treat bags. If you would like to arrange for an edible treat to be shared for your child's birthday during the lunch period, please follow the KISD protocols and begin the process 2 weeks in advance. No food brought up to the office will be allowed without going through this process. Thank you for your cooperation.
Parents Lunches Starting October 3!
Tuesday: PK, 1st, 3rd
Wednesday: Kinder, 4th
Thursday: 2nd, 5th
We will continue to allow visitors to eat with students on their birthday. If your child's birthday was over the weekend, visitors can use Monday or Friday to eat with your child for their birthday.
Gifted and Talented
The Gifted and Talented Identification window will close on September 30th. The link below has more information on how to complete a referral.
Want to learn more about the Gifted and Talented program in Klein ISD? Check out the Advanced Academics page on the Klein ISD website for resources and information.
Library News
Theiss is on Twitter!
Facebook: Theiss Elementary School, @TheissKISD
ROAR Core Values
As our students are noticed for showcasing one of our core values consistently, teachers can nominate students for a special Core Value Connoisseur award.
Big Kahuna Catalog Fundraiser ends October 4th! Thank you for supporting our school!
Important Events
Oct. 3 - 3rd Grade Field Trip
Oct. 4 - Fall Individual Pictures
Oct. 7 - End of 1st Quarter
Oct. 10 - 17 Student Holidays
Oct. 18 - MOD pizza Spirit Night, all day
Oct. 18 & 19 Drop off candy donations during arrival & dismissal
Oct. 20 - Learning Celebrations Parade. 1:45 PM
Oct. 21 - College and Career Day, see flyer below
Oct. 21 - First Annual Fall Festival
Oct. 24 - 28 Red Ribbon Week, see themes below
Oct. 24 - 28 Fall Book Fair
Oct. 28 - Divas and Donuts
Oct. 28 - Storybook Character Parade, 9:15 AM
Planning Ahead?
Nov. 8 - Student Holiday
Nov. 9 - Big Kahuna Pick Up
Nov. 11 - Veteran's Day Program, 2 PM
Nov. 21 - 15 Thanksgiving Holiday
Check Out Happenings at Theiss!
Mrs. Stevens - 1st Grade
4th Grade
Mrs. Collins - 5th Grade
Theiss Elementary
Website: theiss.kleinisd.net
Location: 17510 Theiss Mail Route Road, Spring, TX, USA
Phone: 832-484-5900
Facebook: facebook.com/TheissElementary
Twitter: @TheissKISD