What an AMAZING 3rd nine weeks we had. We celebrated the 3rd nine weeks with our 2023 Talent Show, where every single act had its own uniqueness that surprised the crowd. Along with songs, dance, jokes, twirling, skits, and other incredible talents, we had our own bus driver, Mr. Terrell Simmons, as our MC for the night, who kept everyone engaged and having fun as we switched from one act to the next. We want to thank PTO and all the volunteers who helped make this the BEST Talent Show to date.

I hope you all had a wonderful Spring Break and are rested and ready to head back to school tomorrow. As we head into the 4th nine weeks, you will see students and teachers included with their heads down, charging forwards to finish the year out strong. It will come and go quickly, but we have a lot to fit in over the next two months. We will enjoy field trips and spring parties, we will show our growth of knowledge on the STAAR and End of Year tests, and we will finish it out celebrating with SPRING FLING and our field days. See a list of very important dates below.

You will get an attendance notification when your child is marked absent. This will automatically be marked by the system as "unexcused" until you turn in a note (via email, hand-written, doctor's office) at which time our attendance clerk will mark it as "excused". This does take 24-48 hours sometimes for our system to update. Please be patient with us. All parents can see this documentation in their parent portal as well so please use this to check on absences if you are concerned.

Student Medicine:

Student medicine MUST be dropped off with our school nurse who arrives by 7:15 am. All medicine has to be documented with a form so please do NOT send it with your child in their backpack or in their lunch box or drop it off with their teacher. They can not accept it and your child should never have access to their medicine at this young age. If you have any questions, please call one of our nurses, who are happy to answer any questions you may have. 254-947-6955

WATCH DOG Sign-Up

Watch Dog Sign up 4th 9 weeks

Do you want to volunteer your time to be a watch-dog during the last 9weeks of school? Please click the link above to sign-up. You get to spend some time with your kiddo at school while helping us with some of the following things to keep our school safe while lending a helping hand.

- open car doors in the morning

- help with cafeteria duty

- do safety checks around our building and on the playgrounds

- help organize our lost and found items and look for names to return to students

- read to students in the classroom

- walk our hallways for safety

- help with your child's PE class

- eat lunch with your child

MARCH

20th School Board Mtg 6:00pm

21st Spring Pictures 3rd-5th

Kinder field trip to Waco Children's Museum

RISE class to Civic Center/Lions Club 8:00am-1:00pm

22nd Spring Pictures PK-2nd

3rd grade Math MAP

5th grade Math MAP

23rd Reports Cards are posted on Parent Portal

5th grade Reading MAP

1st grade to Austin Science & Nature Center 8:10am-2:000pm

24th 3rd grade Reading MAP

5th grade Science MAP

27th 4th grade to State Capitol/Austin 8:30am-2:30pm

28th 2nd grade (Hehli,Ruiz,Craig,Haines) to Bell County Museum 8:30am-11:20am

4th grade Math MAP

29th RISE class to Lorena for Special Olympics Track & Field 8:00am-3:00pm

4th grade Reading MAP

30th 2nd grade (Gearhart,Marquis,Pensyl,Tanner,Kopp) to Bell County Museum 8:30am-11:20am

APRIL

3rd 5th grade field trip to Meadows Center 7:55-2:30

4th PTO Meeting 6:00pm @ Cafeteria

5th Kinder Cap & Gown Pictures

6th Easter Parties- See grade level schedule below

7th Student & Staff Holiday- Good Friday

10th Student Holiday- Bad Weather Day

12th Bunny Trot

17th School Board Meeting 6:00pm

18th 2nd grade field trip to Sweet Berry Farms 8:30-2:30

20th 2nd grade Music program 6:00pm

Progress Reports are posted to Parent Portal

21st PreK & Kinder Round-Up @ Civic Center 8:30-2:00

24th PreK & Kinder Round-Up @ Civic Center 8:30-2:00

25th 3rd-grade STAAR test- Reading/Writing

Rise class field trip to Down Home Farms

26th 5th-grade STAAR test - Reading/Writing

1st grade to Theatre & Park 8:30-1:30

27th 4th-grade STAAR test - Reading/Writing

Kindergarten to Waco Zoo 8:00-2:30

28th SPRING FLING 6:00pm

Easter Party Times:

PK-

Kinder- 12:30 Football Field

1st grade- 9:15 T1 Walking Track & Gym grassy area

2nd grade- 8:30 in classrooms then 8:45 on T3 playground

3rd grade- 11:00 Soccer Practice Field

4th grade- 2:00 Football Field

5th grade- 9:00 Soccer Practice Field

Morning Drop-Off

Our doors do not open until 7:15 am. This is when students will be let into the building. I'm sorry we do not have enough staff available to watch students before this time. Our doors/gates are closed at 7:45 am as this is when class BEGINS. If you do not see our doors/gates open or staff still at the door welcoming students then please drive around to our front office to drop off your student so they can receive a tardy pass before going to class. Please do not leave your student outside a closed door or gate as there might not be a staff member there to let them in the building. We are trying to maintain the safety of our students and staff and honor our school day that begins at 7:45 am.

Breakfast

If your child will be eating breakfast at school or finishing their breakfast after you leave them at school then please drop them off by the cafeteria entrance at our TAE-2 building. We have tables available for them to eat at even if they are not purchasing breakfast from our cafeteria. This decreased the number of spills and food dropped in our hallways where hundreds of students walk each morning. If your child will be purchasing breakfast from our cafeteria, please try your hardest to get them here by 7:35 so they have time to go through our line and eat before the 7:45 bell rings for classes to start. We know that breakfast is important for each child and we want to make sure your child has time to eat and is not rushed to get to class in the mornings.

Cafeteria Prices

We want to remind all parents that breakfast is $1.60 and lunch is $3.00. Please make sure your child's teacher knows if you want them to eat breakfast in the mornings. Sometimes our younger ones are still too shy to tell us if they are supposed to eat. We do sell snacks at lunch such as chips, Rice Krispy treats, and ice cream during the year. If you want your child to be allowed to purchase these extra items please add money to their lunch account. If you do NOT want your child to purchase snacks please email the cafeteria director below so a note can be added to your child's account. If you have any questions, please reach out to our cafeteria director, Brenda Hodges at brenda.hodges@saladoisd.org. We are thankful for this opportunity and hope you chose to participate in our meal program.

Picking up early-

We want you all to know that even at a young age we take pride in using every minute of our day to educate our kiddos. Our teachers start precisely at 7:45 and teach until 3:20 at which we start moving to our dismissal locations. We want you to know that checking your children out early (even 20 min) on a regular basis does affect their grades and education. We abide by our state-recommended minutes for each subject and also have time planned in our day for WIN (What I Need). This is when all of our students get specialized instruction in any area they may be needing support or may be given an opportunity to be challenged in areas where they excel. Our WIN classes begin at 8:45 in the morning and run through 3:20 each day. So please think about these opportunities your child might be missing out on before you check them out early on a regular basis. We value the school day and hope you all do as well.

Dismissal changes-

If you are changing the way your child gets home please call the office and email the teacher BOTH. This just makes sure the message is heard because during the first few days of school there are some teachers who don't even get to look at their email until they get home in the evenings. The office takes messages during the day until 2:50pm and delivers them at 3:00pm right before dismissal to make sure changes get to the student and teacher before going home.

Online Payment Options-

Attached you will find step-by-step instructions to set up your parent portal for e-Funds for Schools (EFS). This is where you will make all school online payments and purchases. Including, but not limited to, adding funds to a student lunch account, paying for band instrument rental fees, after-school care, or even paying rental fees for a facility.

v If you have children at multiple campuses you can make all purchases under one payment. For example, if you need to pay for after-school care at TAE, band activity fees at SMS and lost textbook fees at SHS, you can add them all to your cart (up to $750) and pay as one transaction.

The convenience transaction fees are listed below:

· $2.95 for every $100 increment in a transaction paid by parents/users to EFS when using a credit/debit card for payment

· $1.75 flat fee paid by parents/users to EFS when using a checking account for payment

Click the following link to set up your e-Funds for Schools account https://payments.efundsforschools.com/v3/districts/56745/

(If you do not set up an account, you will not be able to see all payment options linked to your student and/or their campus)

After-School Care-

Attached you will find our after-school care form at the bottom of this newsletter. If you need child care and did not sign up during Meet the Teacher you can fill out the attached sheet and send it in your child's folder. We provide this for a small fee from 3:30-6:00pm each day.

Change of clothes -

Please make sure you are providing a change of clothes in your child's backpack. Even if bathroom accidents are not a concern there are many other situations that may result in your child needing to change their clothes. It is much more convenient for you and your child if the change of clothes is already here!