News From The Nest
October 27, 2023
Principal's Updates
Lunch Visitors
We were so excited to start welcoming lunch visitors in October. We welcomed 60 lunch visitors per day and 780 for the month! Due to our increased number of students and limited space in the cafeteria, we will continue to have 10 lunch visitors per day, per grade level (K-5) on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday of each week. In order to make sure we are prepared for each day's lunch visitors, a Sign-up Genius will be sent out via School Messenger and Remind on Monday, October 30th at 10:00 a.m. for November and December. Please make sure you only sign up for one slot per child, per month, as we want to make sure every parent has an opportunity. We will not be able to accommodate visitors who haven't signed up. Please note that PK lunch visitors will not begin until January 2024, to give our youngest Owls time to adjust to school routines and procedures. Thank you for your support.
Visitors
Adventure Kids Spirit Night
Veterans Day
Counselors' Corner
Anti-Victimization Lesson
Texas Senate Bill 9 requires all Texas school districts to notify parents of their district’s decision regarding the instruction of topics related to the prevention of child abuse, family violence, dating violence, and sex trafficking. The elementary school curriculum will use WHO (We Help Ourselves), developed by the Association of Mental Health America of Greater Dallas.
Each lesson will define the topic, provide resources, and share tools needed to obtain assistance if necessary. All materials are designed to meet student needs and are age-level appropriate. Materials used in each lesson can be viewed on the CFISD Guidance and Counseling web page at https://www.cfisd.net/Page/8799. Specific instructions for viewing the materials in person, if desired, will be located on the same web page under the “Anti-Victimization Curriculum” heading.
Parents/guardians must “opt-in” for their students to receive instruction in these topics. At least 14 days prior to the lessons being taught, a notification will be sent asking for students to either “opt-in” or “opt-out” of instruction. Should you decide to not allow your student to attend these informative sessions, an alternate plan will be created by the campus staff. There is no disciplinary action or academic penalty imposed.
Permission forms will be sent home for K-5 on Wednesday, November 1st and due on November 15th. The lesson will take place on Friday, December 15th during grade level Specials.
Career Week
Special SHOUT OUT to all of our Career Week volunteers, decorators, donators, and presenters! The kids learned so much and had a ton of fun learning and exploring a variety of careers. We could not have done it without YOU. Thank you! ❤ Koester & White
Spelling Bee
Attention 3rd, 4th, and 5th Grade Parents:
We are excited to announce the (2nd Annual) McGown Elementary Campus Spelling Bee will return this year. All 3rd-5th grade students will receive a letter on Friday 11/3/23 with the spelling bee timeline as well as a list of 100 words. Twenty of those words will be in the classroom spelling qualifying test which will take place on 11/13/23. The Campus Spelling Bee is scheduled for December 12th in the morning. This will only be for students who qualify for the spelling bee.
Please visit https://spellingbee.com/ for more details.🐝
💙💜💚Caralyn Orman
News From the Nurse
If you received a See to Succeed packet and want your student to participate, please fill out and return to Ms. Palmer as soon as possible.
Thank you,
Nurse Palmer
GT Testing
GT Screening for Kindergarten
Cypress-Fairbanks ISD provides mid-year GT HORIZONS screening for all currently enrolled kindergarten students. The screening process includes multiple quantitative and qualitative measures, including the mClass assessment and various ability based rating scales completed by the teacher.
Please keep in mind these important points:
The teacher rating scale assessment tool is designed by the vendor to identify only 2-5% of the population as gifted and does not assess kindergarten state learning standards or CFISD curriculum. This GT assessment is not a predictor of current or future academic achievement.
The mClass assessment is not designed to measure student giftedness. mCLASS is a universal screener that measures the development of reading skills, which can be an indicator of potential giftedness.
The week of February 16th your student will bring home a letter with the screening process results for the GT HORIZONS program in Cypress-Fairbanks ISD. Should you have any questions, please contact our campus testing coordinator or your counselor.
Spring GT Screening for Grades 1-5
The deadline for parents to complete the online form to request spring semester GT screening for students in grades 1-5 is November 30th. No late submissions will be accepted. Spring semester GT screening may result in a 2024-2025 GT placement. Interested parents should follow the online process outlined HERE.
Please keep in mind these important points:
Only “Guardian 1” can submit the online form in HAC.
Once the form has been submitted, it will look like the following:
Words From The Library
McGown Owls have been busy with their book character pumpkins in the library! We have such talented and creative families at our school. Students, staff, and visitors have all enjoyed seeing our book character pumpkin patch. Pumpkins will be sent home on Nov. 1 with your students. Thanks for participating!
On October 31st, we will have our 2nd Annual Classroom Book Character Contest! Talk with your homeroom teacher/homeroom parent if you need any additional information. We can't wait to see these book costumes!
Exciting news for our Kinder, 1st, and 2nd grade families- Susan Stevens Crummel is visiting our school on November 17th! We have order forms for ordering books to be autographed. Our students will enjoy listening to the wonderful author and discovering where book ideas can come from.
Thanks,
Andi Skowronek
2023-2024 Yearbook
50th Day of School
Field Days
Important Dates and FAQs
November/December Events
Stay Connected
We want to stay connected with you! Please visit our website at www.cfisd.net, select schools and then McGown Elementary. This will take you to our website. We will also regularly post photos and news on the Official McGown Facebook and Twitter pages. To locate our pages, search @CFISDMcGown.
Our VIPS are now on Instagram! Follow their page @mcgownVIPS for up to date news and stories about the "owl"mazing things happening at McGown.
About Us
Email: mcgown@cfisd.net
Website: https://www.cfisd.net/McGown
Location: 21211 Tuckerton Road, Cypress, TX, USA
Phone: 832-349-7700
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cfisdmcgown
Twitter/X: @cfisdmcgown
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mcgownvips/