Highland Park Family Newsletter
March 1, 2024
Highland Park Families,
Our campus hosted our Kinder Rodeo and it was fantastic. Our little cowboys and cowgirls shined bright! Special Thanks to our Specials team; Ms. Ross, Ms. Kalala, Coach Blair, Ms. Smulski, Ms. Reyes, and our Kinder teachers for organizing this performance. Huge thank you to our Kinder teachers, admin team, and Ms. Abrajan for staying late to meet our incoming kinder students during our Kinder Open House!
This week we also closed up our Spring Fair and would like to thank all volunteers. It was a huge success, thank you Ms. Reyes for always making it such a wonderful event for our campus!
We closed off the week with our Talent Show and what a phenomenal event this was! Our bulldogs outshined themselves and brought us all so much joy! Thank you Ms. Lane, Ms. Robertson, Ms. Kelley, Ms. Perez, Coach Blair, Coach Smulski and all who helped with organizing this event! We absolutely loved it and had a marvelous time! Make sure to check out our pictures on our campus social media!
Next week is Read Across America week, and we will have some fun dress up themes to celebrate the love of reading! We also have Field Day on Friday during the students Specials time. We hope to see you! See flyers with additional information in this newsletter.
Please make sure to read through this newsletter as we have many events coming up and let us know if you have any questions.
Have a wonderful week! Highland Park Bulldogs Woof!
With Thanks,
Lizbeth Ruiz
Principal
Highland Park Elementary
Read Across America Week March 4- March 8th!
HPES Spirit Night at Sonic this Tuesday, March 5th!
HPES Field Day - March 8th
We are so excited, Field Day is next Friday!
Attention parents! We're calling on you to join us in making Highland Park Field Day an unforgettable event for our children! We need your help to ensure everything runs smoothly and that our kids have a blast. Whether it's supervising games, organizing activities, or simply lending a hand wherever needed, your participation is invaluable. Let's come together as a community to create cherished memories for our little ones. Sign up to volunteer today and let's make Highland Park Field Day a day to remember!
Students Food Deliveries Reminder
Sharing food and lunches
Due to student safety studnets are not allowed to share lunch or snacks with their friends. Parents are welcome to come and eat with their children, however we ask that you only bring food for your child and not their friends. We have many students with allergies, and have to be very careful with not sharing food as it may cause an allergic reaction.
Library News
- Waves of Pages: If you haven't already, please send to the library or put student log's in my teacher box today. I'll be completing our application and sending to Schlitterbahn this week.
- AR Deadline- March 8th. Reading growth happens when students quiz within their ZPD. Please check in on students before the deadline. The most powerful tool is doing a status of the class. "What are you reading?" "Is this book a good match for you?" I will share that students that score high on their STAR 360 truly miss those books that are out of their ZPD. Blue and purple dot books are challenging and not always on their interest level. Setting goals that are challenging but attainable on just right books is key. Please reach out to your team or me for help on ZPDs, book levels, and goals.
Seeking Career Day Presenters!
We are proud to host our Career Day this year at Highland Park Elementary! We are currently in need of Career Day participants in various occupations to volunteer 2 hours to speak with students about their careers. Career day will be Friday, May 10, 2024 from 8:30 - 10:30 am. Career Day is for students in grades PK - 5.
The goal of Career Day is to expose and educate students to a variety of careers within the community. Presenters will be assigned a range of grade levels (ex. PK-2 or Grades 3-5). Presenters will present to students in the classroom for 20 minutes each and students will rotate to the next presenter. Presenters could prepare to share the following information:
Education and Training
Typical work day
Job descriptions
Related school subjects
Salary range
Interesting things about your job
It is optional to bring items to give away to students
Allow a few minutes for questions and answers.
We look forward to your participation in this fun event. If you are interested in presenting, please complete the form below and return. We will contact you with further information about this exciting event.
HPES Federal Report Card 2022-2023
03.01.24
Highland Park Elementary School is sharing this information about the district and your child’s campus with you as part of its obligations under the federal Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015 (ESSA).
Federal Report Cards for the state, the district, and each of the district’s campuses are now available on the district’s website at https://www.pfisd.net/Page/6323 or on the Texas Education Agency’s website at https://tea.texas.gov/texas-schools/accountability/academic-accountability/performance-reporting/federal-report-cards.
Information on these report cards includes:
Part (i): General Description of the Texas State Accountability System
(I) the minimum number of students that the State determines are necessary to be included in each of the subgroups of students for use in the accountability system;
(II) the long-term goals and measurements of interim progress for all students and for each of the subgroups of students;
(III) the indicators used to meaningfully differentiate all public schools in the State;
(IV) the State’s system for meaningfully differentiating all public schools in the State, including—
(aa) the specific weight of the indicators in such differentiation;
(bb) the methodology by which the State differentiates all such schools;
(cc) the methodology by which the State differentiates a school as consistently underperforming for any subgroup of students; and
(dd) the methodology by which the State identifies a school for comprehensive support and improvement;
(V) the number and names of all public schools in the State identified by the State for comprehensive support and improvement or implementing targeted support and improvement plans;
(VI) the exit criteria established by the State, including the length of years established.
Part (ii): Student Achievement by Proficiency Level
This section provides information on student achievement on the STAAR (State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness) performance for mathematics, reading/ELA, and science by grade level and proficiency level for the 2022-23 school year. These results include all students tested, regardless of whether they were in the accountability subset.
Part (iii)(I): Academic Growth
This section provides information on students’ academic growth for mathematics and reading/ELA for public elementary schools and secondary schools without a graduation rate, for the 2022-23 school year. These results include all students tested, regardless of whether they were in the accountability subset.
Part (iii)(II): Graduation Rate
This section provides information on high school graduation rates for the class of 2022.
Part (iv): English Language Proficiency
This section provides information on the number and percentage of English learners achieving English language proficiency based on the 2023 Texas English Language Proficiency Assessment System (TELPAS) data.
Part (v): School Quality or Student Success (SQSS)
This section provides information on school quality or student success, which is college, career and military readiness (CCMR) for high schools and average performance rate of the three STAAR performance levels of all students, regardless of whether they were in the accountability subset, for elementary and secondary schools without a graduation rate.
Part (vi): Goal Meeting Status
This section provides information on the progress of all students and each student group toward meeting the long-term goals or interim objectives on STAAR academic performance, federal graduation rate, and English learners’ language proficiency. (Not applicable to district and state report cards)
Part (vii): STAAR Participation
This section provides the percentage of students assessed and not assessed on STAAR for mathematics, reading/ELA, and science for the 2022-23 school year.
Part (viii): Civil Rights Data
Part (viii)(I): The section provides information from the 2020-21 Civil Right Data Collection (CRDC) surveys, submitted by school districts to the Office for Civil Rights, on measures of school quality, climate, and safety, including counts of in-school suspensions, out-of-school suspensions, expulsions, school-related arrests, referrals to law enforcement, chronic absenteeism (including both excused and unexcused absences), incidences of violence, including bullying and harassment.
Part (viii)(II): This section provides information from the 2020-21 CRDC surveys, submitted by school districts to the Office for Civil Rights, on the number of students enrolled in preschool programs and accelerated coursework to earn postsecondary credit while still in high school.
Part (ix): Teacher Quality Data
This section provides information on the professional qualifications of teachers, including information disaggregated by high- and low-poverty schools on the number and percentage of (I) inexperienced teacher, principals, and other school leaders; (II) teachers teaching with emergency or provisional credentials; and (III) teachers who are not teaching in the subject or field for which the teacher is certified or licensed.
Part (x): Per-pupil Expenditure
This section provides information on the per-pupil expenditures of federal, state, and local funds, including actual personnel expenditures and actual non-personnel expenditures, disaggregated by source of funds, for each school district and campus for the preceding fiscal year.
To be updated by June 30th, 2024.
Part (xi): STAAR Alternate 2 Participation
This section provides information on the number and percentage of students with the most-significant cognitive disabilities who take STAAR Alternate 2, by grade and subject for the 2022-23 school year.
Part (xii): Statewide National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP)
This section provides results on the state academic assessments in reading and mathematics in grades 4 and 8 of the 2022 National Assessment of Educational Progress, compared to the national average of such results.
Part (xiii): Cohort Rate of Graduates Enrolled in Postsecondary Education
This section provides information on the cohort rate at which students who graduated from high school in the 2020-21 school year enrolled in the 2021-22 academic year in (I) programs of public postsecondary education in Texas; (II) programs of private postsecondary education in Texas; and (III) programs of postsecondary education outside Texas.
Part (xiv): Additional Information – Chronic Absenteeism
This section provides information on the Chronic Absenteeism per EDFacts definition: percent of unduplicated number of K – 12 students enrolled in a school for at least 10 days and absent for 10% or more days during the 2021-22 school year.
If you have difficulty accessing the information from the website, hard copies of the reports are available at the district or Highland Park Elementary School front office. If you have questions about the information, please contact Insert contact information.
Sincerely,
Lizbeth Ruiz
Principal
HIghland Park Elementary School
Elementary Report Card Dates
- 3/8-: 9 Weeks Ends
- 3/18: Grades Due
- 3/25: Report Card Available to Parents
Don't forget....
- Read Across America Dress up Days
- Field Day on Friday!
PTO
- Website (www.hpespto.org) designed to be an information hub and a quick way to get some Bulldog Swag. There is a list of events we are hosting like Movie Nights, School Dance, and more. We're building ways to support our teachers. There is info about themselves and their "Amazon Wish-lists" so dive in
- Volunteers - Want to help but don't know how? After checking out our website, reach us at volunteers@hpespto.org. We can find a place where you'll fit right in. You can get a head start by applying in the district as an official volunteer. It only takes about 5 minutes.
- Join the PTO Facebook - Where Bulldogs WOOF! https://www.facebook.com/highlandparkelementarypto
Kudos
Have a co-worker who really matters and whom you want to recognize? Let’s recognize our HPES Bulldogs, no kudos is too big or too small! If you have any kudos you’d like to share, you can submit kudos here: HPES Bulldog Weekly News Kudos or the Superintendents Kudos
Campus Kudos:
- Ms. Ross, Ms. Kalala, Coach Blair, Coach Smulski, Mrs. Reyes, Kinder team and all who helped with Kinder Rodeo. Thank you for organizing and planning a fantastic Fine Arts Event!
- Kinder team, Admin Team, and Ms. Abrajan: Thank you for staying late to meet our incoming Kinder students during Kinder Open House, you rocked it!
- The 3rd Grade team! Thank you for your help with Fine Arts Night set up. It wouldn't have been possible without you.
- Ms. Reyes and Ms. Robertson: for all your help with Fine Arts Night! I appreciate your eagerness to help out throughout the night.
- Ms. Thompson: for your help on Fine Arts Night. Thank you for making me eat French fries :)
- Ms. Banales, Ms. Torres, Monica, Ms. Vazquez, Ms. Horta, Ms. Rodriguez, Ms. Jimenez, Mr. Zapata, and Ms. Bastida: for all of your help to run, set up, and tear down fine arts night. You guys are a dream team and I appreciate every single one of you so much!
- Coach Smulski- thank you from the bottom of my heart for being a cricut wizard and always being willing to help out your team. You're a star!
- Coach Blair- Thank you for your help setting up for Fine Arts Night and for being such an awesome teammate. I appreciate you!!
- Coach Blair and Coach Smulski: for hanging the decorations for the Talent Show! These two are simply amazing and I’m so thankful for them!!
- Coach Blair and Coach Smulski: for hanging the decorations for the Talent Show! These two are simply amazing and I’m so thankful for them!!
- Pre-K - Kinder and Intervention: Thank you for treating us to delicious and refreshing drinks and bringing a smile to our faces with a tasty breakfast. We are feeling very appreciated.
- Intervention Team, Ms. LeDay, and Classroom teachers: Thank you for supporting with TELPAS Testing this week!
- Ms. Lane, Ms. Robertson, Ms. Kelley, Ms. Perez, Coach Smulski, Coach Blair and all who helped with Talent Show! Huge thank you for all your help and support! We truly appreciate you and thank you for bringing us so much joy!
- PTO: Thank you for your help with talent show set up, clean up and concessions! We appreciate you so very much!
Remember, one small positive thought or compliment can change a person's entire day. :)
Upcoming Events
2023-2024 School Year Calendar with grading periods, student holidays, etc.
Mar. 4- Mar. 8- Read Across America Week
Mar. 5- Mar. 7 -Reading/Language Arts Interim 3rd - 5th Grade
Mar. 5- HPES Spirit Night at Sonic
Mar. 6- Graduation Pictures PK, Kinder, and 5th Grade
Mar. 7- Oratorical performances during school day
Mar. 8- 3rd 9 Weeks AR deadline
Mar. 8- Field Day
Mar. 11- Mar. 15- Spring Break
Mar. 22- 2nd Grade Fieldtrip to Rodeo Austin
Mar. 26- Mar. 28- Math Language Arts Interim 3rd - 5th Grade
Mar. 28- Kinder Egg Drop
Mar. 29- Student/Staff Holiday
Apr. 1- Student/Staff Holiday
Apr. 2- End of the Year Testing begins
Apr. 5- Pegasus Fieldtrip to Dinosaur Park
Apr. 10- Reading STAAR Grade 5
Apr. 11- Reading STAAR Grades 3 & 4
Apr. 11- Kinder Fieldtrip to Austin and Nature Science Center
Apr. 11- First Grade Fieldtrip to Texas State Capitol
Apr. 17- Science STAAR- Grade 5
Apr. 25- 2nd Grade Idiom Parade at 8:00
Apr. 26- 1st Grade Music Performance at 8:30
Apr. 26- Noah Rodriguez Slime your Teacher Fundraiser at 1:30
Apr. 30- Math STAAR Grades 3 & 4
May 1- Math STAAR Grade 5
May 10- Library- Texas 2 x 2 Deadline
May 14- 4th 9 Weeks AR deadline
May 15- All Library books due
May 17- Library- Bluebonnet Breakfast & Trivia:
May 17- Million Word Club Celebration
May 17- 5th Grade Dance
May 20- AR End of Year Celebration
May 21- 2nd Grade Awards: 1:30 Cafeteria
May 22-4th Grade Awards: 8:30 a.m. Cafeteria
May 22- 3rd Grade Awards: 1:30 Cafeteria
May 23- KG Graduation: 8:30 Back Patio
May 23- 1st Grade Awards: 1:30 Cafeteria
May 24- 5th Grade Graduation: 8:30 Back Patio
May 27- Student/Staff Holiday
May 28- End of Year Classroom Parties
May 29- Last Day of School, Senior & 5th Grade Walk ,Early Release at 12:00
May 30- Planning/Prep/Check Out
Back to School Procedures
Visitors
Arrival
HPES doors will open at 7:05 a.m. for bus riders and 7:10 a.m. for car riders and walkers.
Bus riders will enter the building through the 100 hallway doors adjacent to the bus loop at 7:05 a.m. Upon entering the building they will make their way to the gym where they will wait to be dismissed to class.
Car riders and walkers will enter the building through the front entrance at 7:10 a.m.
Walkers and car riders that arrive early will wait outside (back up plan for weather)
Upon entering the building car riders, walkers, and bike riders will go to either the cafeteria or the main hallway.
Students eating breakfast will be asked to go to the cafeteria
Parents/Guardians will be allowed to walk students into their classroom on the first day of school without a Raptor sticker. Beginning August 15, ( Day 2) parents wanting to walk their child to class will need to check in the front office by signing into our Raptor security system.
Breakfast/Lunch
Breakfast: Parents are welcome to eat breakfast with their children. Breakfast is served from 7:10-7:35 in the cafeteria. Parents will need to sit with their students at the stage tables or the three round tables in the foyer. Please only invite your child to eat with you. Inviting your child's friends is not allowed. With close to 750 students, we are limited in space and kindly ask that you save this treat for special occasions. Parents will need to sign in the raptor system in the front office.
Lunch: Parents are welcome to eat lunch with their children. Please check with your child's teacher for specific class time lunch. Parents will need to sit with their students at the stage tables or the round tables in the foyer. Please only invite your child to eat with you. Inviting your child's friends is not allowed. With close to 750 students, we are limited in space and kindly ask that you save this treat for special occasions. Parents will need to sign in the raptor system in the front office.
Dismissal
All staff will follow general dismissal procedures. All teachers and EAs will work together until 3:10 to ensure students have safely departed.
- Notify the office no later than 11:00 if you need assistance determining how a student gets home.
- Updated Bus #’s: Gen Ed-210, 287, 202, 223, SPED-425
- Updated Daycare: EDP, Children’s Courtyard, Capital Gymnastics, Emmanuel Lutheran, Little Angel’s, Rise Martial Arts, Best Kids and IQ Viet My Daycare
- Each teacher will be responsible for dismissing their students on time. Teachers will be responsible for walking bus riders, walkers, daycare, parent walk-up, and car riders to their dismissal destination. Please wait to exit until your hallway is called: 100 hallway, 200 hallway, 300 hallway, and 400 hallway. Listen carefully for the announcement of when your hallway is dismissing. Please do not try and get a head start. This will cause congestion and chaos in the hallways.
- We will begin dismissal at 2:35 to allow additional time on the first day.. All non-classroom staff will move to the Kinder hallway to assist in getting all of the students out of their hallway. Once they are moving, as you come to your assigned duty area you may drop off to conduct your duty.
- There will be additional car riders the first few days. Please join in to assist when you become available.
- Be sure to communicate verbally with other staff members to ensure proper supervision in all areas.
- If you see any area of need, either assist or notify someone of the need.
- NO ONE SHOULD BE IN THEIR ROOMS OR THE WORKROOM WHILE DISMISSAL IS STILL ONGOING. THIS IS AN ALL-HANDS-ON-DECK SITUATION! (Of course, this does not apply to Pegasus staff, who will still have students.)
Birthday Celebrations/Campus Celebrations
Student birthdays will be announced and celebrated over morning announcements. Students will also sing Happy Birthday in the classroom.
Parents will have an opportunity to purchase a birthday announcement to be displayed on the school marquee through PTO.
Parents may bring cupcakes/treat to celebrate their child's birthday. However, notice must be given 24 hours in advance. Cupcakes/treats may only be passed out the last 30 minutes of class.
Student treats (i.e., store bought cupcakes) cannot be served in the cafeteria during lunch. Treats cannot be a full meal (i.e., pizza) Teachers must receive parent permission prior to students eating store bought cupcakes/treats due to student food allergies.
For classroom food activities such as party days or food-related learning activities, parents will need to complete an allergy permission form stating which foods their student is allowed to eat or handle. If this form is not returned prior to the event, the student will not be able to participate in the activity.
We appreciate the care and time that the teachers and allergy committee members have given to this very important matter. We are dedicated to keeping our kids safe here at HPES and believe that this will help achieve that for all our students.
Stay Informed
Here a few ways to stay informed. Follow us on Facebook @HighlandParkES and on Twitter @HighlandPark_ES. School communications will also be sent out through school messenger via email. On Tuesday’s an HPES folder will be sent home with flyers and information. Please be sure to look out for the folder on Tuesday’s. Additionally, please sign-up for our mailing list at You will receive a monthly campus newsletter through the mailing list. You can also find a copy of a newsletter like this one in our campus webpage under “Principal’s blog”.
Communication Guide
Senior Admin. Associate: Anita Moreno– anita.moreno@pfisd.net
General questions regarding scheduling, procedures, teacher information, leave requests, substitutes, purchase orders (for your classroom/students), monthly and bi-weekly payroll, supplemental pay, staff travel, events, field trips, website updates, FB page, maintenance orders, after-hours events, fundraisers (any collection of money), Picture days, etc.
Registrar: Miriam Ruvalcaba – miriam.ruvalcaba@pfisd.net
Student records, registration, residency questions, attendance, transfers, withdrawal, cumulative records, and folders, grade-book, etc.
Student Support Clerical Support: Yaira Torres- yaira.torres@pfisd.net
Schedule LPAC and 504 meetings, and gather student grades, relevant classroom, and health data.
Nurse: Lauren Hohle- lauren.hohle@pfisd.net
Shot records, allergy information, distribution of medication, general student health, Section 504, and SpEd as related to health, etc.
Instructional Coach: Brianna Thompson- brianna.thompson@pfisd.net
General questions regarding master scheduling, campus procedures, curriculum, resources, SWAT, professional development, mentoring, lesson modeling, and virtually anything teachers need regarding curriculum and instruction.
Counselor: Anna Vazquez – anna.vazquez@pfisd.net
Student care and concerns, parent and student support, Credit by Exam, Gifted and Talented information, assessment, and Section 504
Assistant Principal: Pamela LeDay–pamela.leday@pfisd.net
Primary contact regarding discipline, LPAC, and SpEd. Additionally, virtually everything you would contact Ms. Ruiz for. It is a good idea to copy Ms. LeDay on emails sent to Ms. Ruiz because both of them are able to respond to questions or concerns.
Principal: Lizbeth Ruiz – lizbeth.ruiz@pfisd.net
Any and all topics not covered by the staff members listed above.
Please feel free to email or call us if you are needing support. We look forward to passionately serving the families of Highland Park Elementary!
Highland Park Elementary School
Website: https://www.pfisd.net/site/Default.aspx?PageID=37
Location: 428 Kingston Lacy Blvd, Pflugerville, TX, USA
Phone: 512.594.6800
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HighlandParkES/
Twitter: @HighlandPark_ES