Norris News!
A weekly update from campus...
September 28, 2018
Happy Fabulous Friday!! It looks like fall is finally here, at least for a few days! It was so nice to see so many of our parents here for Curriculum Night to hear about what their child will be learning this school year. We hope you take some time this weekend to talk with your children about all the great things they are learning in class! If you are not following us on twitter, come find us at @Norris_Knights!
Have a wonderful weekend!
Mrs. Snyder and Mrs. Tobey
Norris Mission Statement
Upcoming Events
October is FISD Principal Recognition Month!
October 1: 21-Day Challenge Begins!
- K-2 Drum Fit; 7:15 am
- 3rd Grade Field Trip to the Opera
October 2: National Custodial Appreciation Day
- Choir Rehearsal; 7:15 am
- 1st Grade Safety Town Field Trip: Teed & George
October 4: World Dyslexia Day - Wear SILVER
- Choir Rehearsal; 7:15 am
- 1st Grade Safety Town Field Trip: Vandercook
October 5: Staff Development Day - No School for Students
October 8: Columbus Day Holiday - No School
October 9: 5th grade CogAT Testing
- Choir Rehearsal; 7:15 am
October 10: 5th grade CogAT Testing
- National Walk to School Day
- Chick-fil-a Spirit Night; 4:00-9:00 pm @ 121/Custer Rd.
October 11: 5th grade CogAT Testing
- Choir Rehearsal; 7:15 am
- 3-5 Drum Fit; 7:15 am
- 4th Storytelling Field Trip
- Popcorn Friday
- Norris Now; 2:10 pm
October 15: K-2 Drum Fit; 7:15 am
- Coffee with Administrators; 8:00 am @ Norris Library
- Lego Robotics Club; 2:55-3:55 pm
October 16: Choir Rehearsal; 7:15 am
- Multicultural Parade; 8:05-8:25 am @ Norris Front of School Sidewalk
- Diverse Abilities Day (During Specials)
- Multicultural Night; 6:00 pm
October 17: Master Builders; 3:00-3:45 pm
October 18: Choir Rehearsal; 7:15 am
- Diverse Abilities Program for Students - "Yes You Can" (During School Hours)
- DI Parent Meeting; 6:00 pm @ Sonntag Elementary
October 19: PTA Reflections DUE
- 3-5 Drum Fit; 7:15 am
- Kindergarten Pumpkin Patch Field Trip
New Procedure for Visitors at Lunch
If updates or changes need to be made to the approved student contact list, please contact Christine Mendez at mendezc@friscoisd.org. Be sure to send your student's first and last name as well as a contact's first and last name and phone number when emailing changes/updates. Please note that additions MUST be made 48 hours in advance or more of an upcoming lunch visit.
Thank you for your support as we prioritize the safety of our students!
Sign-up for the 21-Day Challenge!
Check out this video to find out about the challenge: https://youtu.be/ORiqrawpyz4.
Over HALF of Norris has already signed up! Our goal is to get 100%!
Students will receive the following awards when they SIGN UP (now until October 1st...see pictures below) and do the SURVEY (sent to your email on November 5th). As soon as prizes are delivered to Norris, we will hand them out to each 21 day Challenge participant.
Coffee with Administrators
Please join us October 15th at 8:00 am for Coffee with Administrators! This month, we will be discussing district-wide social emotional initiatives such as Make your Move and Character Lab. Attendees will gain a deeper understanding of the research based character strengths that are taught and strengthened throughout the instructional day. Moreover, parents will have the opportunity to view “Make Your Move” in action and learn strategies for how to model, discuss, and celebrate these strengths at home. We hope you will join us!
Mark your calendar for the Coffee with Administrators dates for this school year:
- October 15th at 8:00 am
- December 17th at 12:00 pm
- February 25th at 8:00 am
- April 15th at 12:00 pm
Multicultural Night & Parade
Please mark your calendars for Tuesday, October 16th at 6:00 pm for our Multicultural Night! To embrace the many different cultures represented at Norris, we are encouraging families to research a country other than their own with their children. The list of countries we will be presenting that day are: India, Pakistan, South Korea, Brazil, Nigeria, Australia, United Kingdom, Guatemala, Singapore, Canada, Puerto Rico, Mexico, USA, Germany, China and Italy.
As you and your child research a country, consider what the traditional dress is for that country. On the 16th, your child is invited to dress in the culture of their choosing. That morning, we will have a "Parade of Countries" and students who dress up, will walk the hallways of Norris in the traditional dress of the country they chose to represent. As we finish walking the halls, we will exit the door to the far left of the main entrance and walk the parking lot over to the cafe where we will re-enter school. Parents are invited to come watch the "Parade of Countries" from the parking lot. You won't even have to check in at the front desk! We anticipate the student parade to last from about 8:05 am to about 8:25 am.
Then that evening starting at 6:00 pm, we invite all the Norris families to come walk the counties being displayed. Passports will be handed out as you enter and we encourage every family to get their entire passport stamped! We hope to see everyone on the 16th of October!
Sign up for Master Builders (2nd-5th grades)
Do you love to build and problem solve? Are you in 2nd-5th grade? Then sign up for Master Builders!
This club will encourage critical thinking, collaboration, and creativity as students are presented with a task or challenge and must come up with a way to solve it.
Master Builders will meet on Wednesday once a month. These dates are as follows:
October 17th, November 14th, January 23rd, February 20th, April 10th, May 8th
Follow the link below to register:
DI Parent Awareness Meeting
Superstar Student
Neha Manikandan, from Mrs. Hogan's 3rd grade class, wrote to the author, Sarah Mlynowski a couple of months ago. She is the author of the 'Whatever After’ series. The author recently wrote a letter back to Neha and included a little bookmark.
Way to go, Neha!!!
Frisco ISD Hosts Community Town Halls on Bond and TRE Measures
Join us for a series of public town hall meetings about the bond and TRE measures that will appear on the November 6 ballot. Community members unable to attend in-person can tune in online to watch a live stream of the events on the Frisco Independent School District Facebook page. Please note, the next event will be closeby at Maus Middle School. See below for dates/times.
Frisco Independent School District invites residents to learn more about the bond program and TRE appearing on the ballot on November 6, 2018. Voters who live in Frisco ISD will see two separate propositions on the November ballot. The bond election would authorize the District to issue $691 million in debt to finance the construction of new schools, renovations to existing facilities, security measures and more. The Tax Ratification Election (TRE) would raise the operations portion of the property tax rate by 13 cents. A Board-approved resolution would then reduce the debt portion of the tax rate to offset the increase, resulting in a two-cent overall decrease to the total tax rate. This tax swap would provide millions of dollars of increased operational funding to address areas identified by the District and community, while allowing FISD to meet its debt obligations.
FISD leaders will present information and answer questions from the public during six upcoming community forums.
Each event will be held from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. The remaining schedule is as follows:
- Wednesday, October 3 - Maus Middle School, 12175 Coit Road, Frisco
- Wednesday, October 10- Fowler Middle School, 3801 McDermott Rd, Plano
To vote in Texas, you must be registered at your current address at least 30 days before the election date. That means residents must be registered by Tuesday, October 9 to participate in the November 6 general election. For voter convenience, early voting opportunities will be available between Oct. 22 - Nov. 2.
Counselor's Corner
October is Self-Control
As a district our October focus is on the character strength Self-Control. See the informational flyer below.
Parent Coffees
Our area counselors have created parent information nights that all parents are welcome to attend. Here are the upcoming events:
October 1: Happy Healthy Families Series with Kid Approved Pediatrics: Social, making connections, bullying @ Elliott Elementary 6:00-7:00 pm
- RSVP: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSep67sksXpes-AV0hiZOvGYioAU2M7YkEUBprfJiz8Qi00bLQ/viewform
October 15th: Internet Safety @ Elliott Elementary from 6:00-7:00 pm
- RSVP: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSep67sksXpes-AV0hiZOvGYioAU2M7YkEUBprfJiz8Qi00bLQ/viewform
November 5: Happy Healthy Families Series with Kid Approved Pediatrics: Learning succeeding at school @ Elliott Elementary from 6:00-7: 00 pm
Mentors Wanted
Norris elementary is looking for mentors! If you are interested in signing up, please complete the form below and we will be in touch! Mentors will meet with their students once a week for 30 minutes. Please make sure you have a completed background check on file before applying!
Mentor Form:
Link for background check information:
http://www.friscoisd.org/about/resources-and-information/background-checks
Laura Sladky
Norris Counselor
PTA News
Book Fair
Thank you to everyone who came out to the book fair last week. It was a huge success and so much fun. Thank you also to all the awesome Norris volunteers, to Mrs. Tandberg, our rock star librarian, and to all those cool students who turned in dragons and unicorns. The names have been drawn and here are the winners of the Scholastic posters:
K-Edwin Alain and Arjun Manikandan
1-Jesse Garza
2-Anika and Avilaya
3-Swetha and Aashni
4-none entered
5-Jack and Anya
We'll see you in January for our next book fair. And here's a little hint about the next Book Fair's theme.......it will be Dyno-Mite!
Class Party Money Due!
We are still collecting for class parties! This year, we used 1 form to collect PTA membership dues, class party dues, & Popcorn Friday money. We are asking for $9 per student to cover all the parties for the year. If you have not paid your child’s class party dues yet, please use the below form & send to school (cash or check made out to Norris Elementary PTA). You can also join PTA for $10 at the same time to help support our upcoming programs. If you would like to sign your child up for Popcorn Friday’s, it’s $6 for the rest of the year. Room Parents are looking forward to planning classroom parties! Thank you for your support!!
http://norrispta.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Norris-Elementary-PTA-Quad-Form.pdf
Room Parents Needed!
We are still missing some Room Parents! If you are in one of the below classes, please consider volunteering as a Room Parent. It’s a lot of fun, & you’ll get to work as a team with other Room Parents in your grade to plan parties for your child’s class. The classes needing 1 more Room Parent are: Brommer, Vandercook, George, Bickham, & Conn. If you’re interested, please contact Amber Wilson at roomparentchair@norrispta.org.
Community Partners
Thank you to everyone for sending in Box Tops this week! We will announce the winning classes that collected the most in each grade at Norris Now on October 12th! Winning classes will receive a 20 min “Bring a Device Day!”
Fun Run
We are looking for businesses to sponsor our 4th annual Fun Run coming up on November 2nd! If interested, please contact our VP of Fundraising, Jenna Hess at 817-992-4885 or fundraising@norrispta.org. See below sponsorship letter & opportunities.
http://norrispta.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/fun-run-sponsor-letter-2018-19.pdf
http://norrispta.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/fun-run-tiers-2018-19.pdf
Join PTA!
Please use the below form to join PTA & pay for class parties & Popcorn Friday’s. Completed forms & cash/check can be sent to school with your student or dropped off at the front office. Please make checks payable to Norris Elementary PTA.
http://norrispta.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Norris-Elementary-PTA-Quad-Form.pdf
Looking to Volunteer?
If you would like to serve on our PTA Board this year, the following positions are open: Carnival, Healthy Lifestyles, Directory, Council Delegate, Environmental, & Parliamentarian. Please contact Lisa Giseburt at president@norrispta.org if you are interested or would like more information!
If you have completed your background check, please see the below volunteer opportunity:
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20f0c48acad2aa1f49-popcorn
Background checks must be completed before volunteering at school. Please complete a background check at https://www.friscoisd.org/about/resources-and-information/background-checks
To stay up to date on all PTA news and activities, like us on Facebook @NorrisPTA, check us out on Twitter at NorrisPTAFrisco, and go to our website at norrispta.org.