Rattler News
Newsletter for the Week of December 12th, 2022
Message From Mrs. Chavira, Campus Principal
Rattler Community,
This is our last week for the second marking period. Although it will be a week filled with fun and great activities, we will also be completing assessments and assignments to close out the second marking period. Please note, grades are due before students return in January and for this reason, any assignments missed this week will not have an opportunity for make-ups. Please communicate with your child's teacher if your child becomes ill this week.
I want to take a moment to thank our community for your support during our holiday programs and our Donation Drive. All these items will be shared with our community as well as shelters around our community. Thank you all again for allowing students at our campus to understand the gift that comes with giving.
Please continue reading our newsletter for important updates and events happening this week. Things you will find below include
- Celebrating our Rattlers
- Holiday Party Information
- Safety reminders
- And much more.
Thank you again for your continued support of Dr. Sue A. Shook Elementary and #TEAMSISD.
On behalf of the Faculty and Staff at Dr. Sue A. Shook Elementary, we want to wish you a very Happy Holiday Season and best wishes for a New Year.
Cristina Sanchez-Chavira
Proud Principal of Dr. Sue A. Shook Elementary
School Office Number: 915-937-7102
Email: cchavi@sisd.net
TWITTER: DSShook_ES
#EmpoweringRattlers
“We do not need magic to change the world, we carry all the power we need inside ourselves already: we have the power to imagine better.” – J.K. Rowling
RATTLER SAFETY
Rattler Community,
During these last few days, we have noticed an increase in traffic concerns. We understand that this comes with the season. The Holiday Season can be very stressful for some. We ask for your consideration and support to ensure that we all have a safe week at school.
I want to remind everyone that accidents can occur in a second and STUDENT and PEDESTRIAN Safety is a priority. Please follow the recommendations listed below.
- Give yourself time. Rushing is the number one cause of accidents.
- Make sure that you are alert and with a clear mind when you are arriving at school for arrival or drop-off.
- Heavy Traffic with people rushing starts at 7:40 (the last 5 minutes). To avoid traffic, we invite you to come in earlier. The lines run smoother.
- At pick-up, our process takes 15 min from 3:15 to 3:30. We ask for the safety of all, that you consider the requests on this map.
- Always have your sign at Pick-up with student name and teacher. Cars without a sign will not be able to drive through the pick-up and will be asked to park. If you do not have a school sign, any paper with a large posting of student name and teacher name will do.
- Always remain courteous to all drivers. We are all part of the same school community, and we must be role models for our children.
Thank you all again for a safe week of school.
Holiday Spirit Week
This week we will celebrate with a holiday dress up week. Students who participate may wear jeans. This is not a free dress week. Students not participating will have to wear a School Shirt or uniform.
On Thursday, we will have our annual Ugly Holiday Sweater competition where one student in each grade level will be chosen as the winner and gifted a special prize.
For Friday, the early release day, students will be able to wear pajamas but must wear
tennis shoes. Any students who come in slippers or crocs will have their parents called to bring appropriate shoes. For our dance, appropriate shoes will be required.
We will also hold a Glow Lights Dance on Friday morning for students in Kinder-4th grade (5th grade will be attending a concert at Ensor). Tickets will be $5 each and will include entrance into the dance, the ability to wear free dress if you do not want to wear pajamas, a sweet snack, and a bottle of water. Students can purchase their ticket with their teacher. Students may wear glow in the dark or light up items as well as purchase additional ones during the dance for $1-$2 each.
Holiday Parties
Friday students will be having their Holiday parties. Teachers will be sharing information on treats and gift exchange (if they classrooms will be having one). We ask for your support in making sure that students bring in their items during the week to minimize any items dropped off in the front office. The office can get busy this time of year and we would not like for student deliveries to not arrive to your classes on time. Please send items throughout this week and ensure students are able to carry their items or make arrangements with classroom teachers.
Early Release December 16th
Friday, December 16 will be an Early Release Day for all students. All grade levels, PK-5th grade, will be released at 11:45 am. Due to all grade levels releasing at the same time, we will be following procedures like the ones followed during inclement weather.
All students PK through 3rd will be picked up directly from their classrooms.
Parents will need to visit both or multiple classrooms if students are in PK and Kinder and have an older sibling.
- Pre-Kinder and Kinder students will need to be picked up from their classrooms as they do during their inclement weather dismissal.
- 1st through 5th grade students will follow their regular inclement weather procedures with older siblings being held in the youngest sibling's classroom.
- Bus transportation and daycare service include the Y afterschool will continue as usual.
QUESTIONS:
Why can't an older sibling go to a PK/Kinder Classroom?
This is a practice that has never been used since PK/Kinder usually ends the day before everyone else. Not all siblings may be familiar with where their PK/Kinder sibling classrooms are found. For this reason, PK/Kinder students will be picked up from their classrooms and parents my have to go to multiple classrooms.
IMPORTANT MESSGE REGARDING ATTENDANCE NOTES
The last day to accept doctor or parent notes for absences during the fall semester will be January 5, 2023. After this date we will no longer be accepting notes to excuse absences accrued during the Fall semester (08/01/22 - 12/16/22).
Attendance notification letters were sent out this week and parents have access to attendance information on Tyler Student 360 parent portal. As a reminder, this is the time we are reviewing absences and tardiness for all students that may impacted with loss of credit or to revoke transfers.
Happy Winter Break Students Return on Thursday, January 5th, 2022
Weekly Attendance Report
Our attendance continues to improve, and we thank our community for making sure that healthy children continue to attend school. For the month of November, we were able to move up to the 3rd highest attendance rating in the district among PK to 5th grade campuses. Attendance helps classrooms stay on their instructional track.
We will continue to do our part to keep students healthy and minimize the spread of germs.
Attendance for the week of December 5th by Grade.
- PK 95% (Increased by 2%)
- Kinder 91% (Maintained from last week)
- First 95%
- Second 96% (Increased by 2%)
- Third 95%
- Fourth 96% (Increased 1%)
- Fifth 97% (Increased by 2%. 2nd week in a row)
Congratulations to all classes for maintaining or increasing
Top classes by Grade Level as of December 2nd
Top class by Grade Level will earn a Pizza Party on Thursday, Dec. 15th
Kinder: Ms. Gil 94%
First Grade: Mrs. C. MARTINEZ 96%
Second Grade: Dual Language Mrs. M. Martinez 97%
Third Grade: Dual Language Mrs. Chavez 97%
Fourth Grade: Dual Language Mr. Romero 97%
Fifth Grade: Mrs. J. Hernandez 97%
CONGRATULATIONS 4th and 5th grade VSP
This past week our VSP 4th and 5th grade students placed 3rd at the district VSP players. Congratulations to our VSP Soccer Players and Coach Patti
Hour of Code
Mark your Calendar
HOLIDAY SPIRIT WEEK
Monday, December 12th
- Dress-up as your favorite Holiday Character OR wear a holiday shirt.
- STUCO Party 7:00am to 7:30
- Robotics 3:30-4:30
- 5th grade Basketball Practice 3:30-5:00
- NEHS 3:30-4:30
- Blue Bonnet Book Club 3:30-4:30
- Holiday Flannel Day
- Latino Literacy Parent Meeting
Wednesday, December 14th
- Dress like an Elf Day
- CIS Vaping Parent Presentation 8 am Cafeteria
- 4th and 5th grade VAPING presentation for students during PE
- Robotics 3:30-4:30
- Competitive Cheer Team Practice 3:30-4:30
- Ugly Holiday Sweater Contest
- No Folklorico Practice
- Holiday Pajama Day with lights and glow sticks for the dance. WITH tennis Shoes (No Crocs or slippers)
- 5th grade Fieldtrip to Ensor for Holiday Show
- Kinder -4th grade Holiday Lights Dance.
- Holiday Classroom Parties: See teachers info for classroom information
- Early Release 11:45 for all students
CIS Vaping Parent Presentation
This Wednesday we will be having a presentation on vaping and how schools are seeing this impact students across the nation. We encourage all parents to join us at 8am for this very important and informative session. It is up to all of us as a team to keep our students safe.
No Tardies. Breakfast is from 7:30 to 7:45 am
Effective Monday, November 28th, 2022
Tardies will count against Monday's Free Dress Pass.
Note that traffic slows down by 7:35. We are seeing a pattern with individuals speeding in the school zone to avoid being late. We highly reccommend that you take your time and ensure you are arriving on time rather than speeding. Accidents can happen when we are not thinking clearly. We are seeing the same students arrive tardy on a daily basis. Note that frequent tardies are also subject to disciplinary measures as indicated in SISD Student Handbook.
Transfer students: Any students on a transfer for Dual Language or any other qualifying reason, will be up for review in December. Trends of frequent absences or tardies can result in the transfer being REVOKED for the Spring Semester, resulting in students having to return to their home campus
Thank you for your assistance in this matter.
PinkSocks Tribe Kindness Rally
Four years ago a Dr. Sue A. Shook Elementary teacher Ms. Zelene Blancas posted a Tweet of her students that within two days went viral. She posted a video of her first graders leaving the class room and selecting a fist bump, a high five, or a hug to share with one of their classmates as they filed out of the room for the day. This video received recogntion worldwide and was featured by nationwide media outlets.
This tweet received the attention of a pinksocks member from Pittsburgh, PA I reached out to Ms. Blancasto send pinksocks for her class. In 2019, right before the pandemic, the PinkSocks Tribe began a gifting campaign to deliver 1337 socks to Dr. Sue A. Shook Elementary for the largest pinksocks rally. November of 2019 Board Members traveled to El Paso to recognize Ms. Blancas and gift socks to the whole campus. Unfortuantly, in 2020, Mrs. Zelene Blancas passed away bringing great sadness to our community.
It has now been three years and the students featured in this video are now 5th graders. As a tribute to Kindness Week, we are excited to announce that the The PinkSocks Tribe will return to El Paso to gift socks to all of our students and staff at Dr. Sue A. Shook Elementary. We are honored to be able to take part in this great event. This event will take place November 30th. All of our Rattlers will receive PinkSocks from the PinkSock Tribe to be work every Friday with their spirti shirt.
This will serve as a reminder that our Rattler community anchors itself on establishing a community filled with support and kindness.
To read more about this great organization and how they made an impact at Dr. Sue A. Shook Elementary, you can read the full story at PinkSocksTribe.
To donate to this great cause, please use the following link Purchase or Donate
In order to accommodate the concerns parents have with sharing snacks or special diets, as a reminder we are not accepting Birthday Deliveries
Campus Personnel
Mrs. Chavira: Principal
Email: cchavi@sisd.net
Assistant Principals
Mr. Estrada: restra18@sisd.net
Mrs. Hurtado: nhurta@sisd.net
Counselors
Mrs. Duarte: cduarte@sisd.net
Ms. Galvez: mgalve01@sisd.net
Librarian
Ms. Jones: bjones01@sisd.net
Parent Liaison
Mrs. Brittany Burnette: bburne01@sisd.net
Community in Schools
Mrs. Sonia Esparza: sonia.esparza@sisd.net
Contact us for more information
Email: cchavi@sisd.net
Website: https://www.sisd.net/site/default.aspx?domainid=4099
Location: 13777 Paseo Del Este, El Paso, TX, USA
Phone: 9159377100
Twitter: @DSShook_ES