Tiger Time News
News from the O.C. Taylor Principal, Lisa Young
Young@Heart, August 27, 2017
Dear O.C. Taylor Parents,
We started the year off with a bang! Thanks to our generous PTA, our students were able to view the eclipse at the maximum time the moon covered the sun. The students and staff enjoyed viewing the eclipse. I heard many expressions like, "Wow! So cool! Neat! I never thought I would be able to see something like this!" (See link to the video below.)
Our campus theme this year is "Education TAYLOR-ed to U!" Each child has unique strengths, struggles, learning patterns, and passions. We are developing a personal learning plan with each child. Click here to read more from the GCISD's Strategic Plan, LEAD 2021, and the Learning Plan Strategy. Our teachers have been studying ways to differentiate for each child. We want each educational experience to be tailored to the individual. To further support our district goals, O.C. Taylor is excited about the implementation our Future Explorations in the weeks to come. More information will be shared in future Tiger Time New after we establish our routines and procedures these first few weeks of school. #OCT4U
This is a LONG Tiger Time News. We are communicating all of our processes to help you and our school function efficiently. Please take time to read and follow our systems. Take note especially of our Pick Up Procedures, as this daily parental task is one that seems to incite the most frustration. You can help all of us by following the campus plan.
To the BEST of days,
Principal Young
Stay Connected at O. C. Taylor Elementary School
We have a number of ways to keep in touch with our school. Be sure to read, subscribe to and join these resources to get all the latest news.
Facebook: If you’re a Facebook member be sure to join the O.C. Taylor Elementary Facebook Group to get updates in your feed. This group is meant to provide another way to get news and updates.
Website: The school’s website has the latest news, updates, and calendars, as well as general information about the school, resources for parents, volunteer opportunity information, event information and ways to donate.
Twitter: We regularly post events and upcoming news on Twitter. Follow me on Twitter: @OCTYoung and follow our hashtag #OCT4U.
Email: lisa.young@gcisd.net
Website: http://www.gcisd-k12.org/site/Default.aspx?PageID=16665
Location: 5300 Pool Road, Colleyville, TX, United States
Phone: (817) 305-4870
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OC-Taylor-Elementary-School-361871583888299/
Twitter: @OCTYoung
OCT Vision: To empower our children today to create a better tomorrow.
OCT Mission: To create life-long learners and develop servant leaders through authentic, real-world experiences.
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Here Comes the Sun!
Click here to see a video highlighting the day. Thank you to the GCISD Communications Department for filming!
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Upcoming Dates
Monday, August 28
8:30 Severe Weather Drill
Tuesday, August 29
Wednesday, August 30
5:00-6:30 p.m. 2nd Grade Curriculum Night in the Learning Commons
5:00-6:30 p.m. 3rd Grade Curriculum Night in the Cafeteria
Thursday, August 31
8:30 Lockdown Drill
5:00-6:30 p.m. 4th and 5th Grades, Curriculum Night
Friday, September 1
College Colors Day: wear your favorite college colors
Monday, September 4
LABOR DAY... NO SCHOOL
Tuesday, September 5
Wednesday, September 6
Thursday, September 7
5:00-6:00 GT LEAD Curriculum Night
Friday, September 8
7:00 PTA Walk to School Day
OCT Updates
Sign Up for Text Updates from Principal
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Curriculum Nights
Wednesday, August 30, 5:00-6:30 p.m. - 2nd and 3rd Grades
Thursday, August 31, 5:00-6:30 p.m. - 4th and 5th Grades
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Pick Up Procedures
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Volunteer Background Check
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Early Student Sign Out
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"Forget Me Not" Table
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Congratulations to O.C. Taylor! We Are A Common Sense Media Certified School.
O.C. Taylor Elementary has demonstrated its commitment to taking a whole-community approach to preparing its students to use the immense power of digital media to explore, create, connect, and learn while limiting the perils that exist in the online realm, such as plagiarism, loss of privacy, and cyberbullying.
"We applaud the faculty and staff of O. C. Taylor Elementary for embracing digital citizenship as an important part of their students' education," said Jessica Lindl, Head of Common Sense Education. "O.C. Taylor deserves high praise for giving its students the foundational skills they need to compete and succeed in the 21st-century workplace and participate ethically in society at large."
We have been using Common Sense Education's innovative and research-based digital citizenship resources, which were created in collaboration with Dr. Howard Gardner of the GoodPlay Project at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. The resources teach students, educators, and parents tangible skills related to Internet safety, protecting online reputations and personal privacy, managing online relationships, and respecting creative copyright. The free resources are currently used in more than 90,000 classrooms nationwide.
We're honored to be recognized as a Common Sense Digital Citizenship Certified School. By preparing our students to use technology safely and responsibly, we are providing them unlimited opportunities to maximize and personalize their learning. As I tell many parents, today's technological tools are like knives; they can kill someone or save someone's life in surgery. We must all teach our children the proper and effective ways to use technology and digital devices.
Thank you to our campus Learning Liaison, Ms. Jenn Howard, in compiling the data and completing the lengthy application.
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Updates from the Learning Commons, Mrs. Bonacci
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Update from our Clinic, Nurse Katy
We have district guidelines for going outside. Students cannot go outside for PE or recess if:
- temperature or heat index is over 100 degrees
- temperature or wind chill drops below 36 degrees
- red, purple, or maroon ozone alert days
We want to keep all of our children safe.
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Updates from Art, Mrs. Morgan
Welcome Back! I’m looking forward to teaching your child how to be creative and think outside the box.
During the month of September, students will be creating their own art portfolio. The district hosts an art show towards the end of the year, so all the portfolios will be kept in my art room in order to select pieces. I will post updates from the art room about student projects on my twitter account weekly. We will also be celebrating Dot Day! Yay!
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Updates from Music, Mrs. Vencil
Welcome back to school, Tigers!! I hope you enjoyed a fun summer, and you're ready for lots of learning in the music room this year! We will all spend the first few weeks learning our national, state and school song and connecting the lyrics of those songs to important moments in history. September is a busy month of remembering and reviewing music terms and concepts we learned in previous years so we can map out a plan for this school year.
Kindergarten: Kinder students will feel the 'heartbeat' of the music and use percussion instruments to play the steady beat with a song in a variety of different tempos. They will also learn to use their 5 voices - whisper, talk, shout, sing and inner voice.
1st Grade: Our 1st grade Tigers will practice using their 5 voices and singing tunefully alone and in a group. They will explore the difference between steady beat and rhythm, follow a steady beat in a variety of tempos and echo simple rhythm patterns.
2nd Grade: Students in 2nd grade will continue to become confident and tuneful singers using proper vocal techniques. They will practice keeping steady beat and echoing rhythm patterns by participating in a drum circle. Our 2nd grade will also read and write rhythm patterns using quarter notes, barred eighth notes and quarter rests.
3rd/4th Grade: The 3rd and 4th grade students will perform during our Veterans Day program in November so we will begin singing patriotic music right away. As we prepare for this performance we will focus on proper vocal technique and performance etiquette, but we will also make strong connections between the lyrics of our songs and the importance of our US veterans. These students will also become familiar reading music from the staff and will use proper music terms to describe dynamics, tempo and tone quality.
5th Grade: The beginning of 5th grade is all about assessing what they know so we will play some fun games to assess their knowledge of musical terms and symbols and a call and response drum circle to assess their rhythmic accuracy.
I'm looking forward to a GREAT year, Tigers! Please visit the OCT Music web page and the OCT Choir web page for important dates and more info on the OCT music room. Feel free to contact me at bethany.vencill@gcisd.net with any questions or concerns!
Beth Vencill
OCT Music Teacher
817-305-4870
@OCTVencill #OCT4U
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Updates from P.E., Coach Mester and Coach Mac
Welcome Back. It's going to be a G.R.E.A.T. 2017-2018 school year. 3rd, 4th and 5th graders will be participating in several large and small group activities these first few weeks. Activities will focus on teamwork, cooperation and problem-solving. Fitness Gram assessments will be given in September. This is a great opportunity for students to practice their goal setting.
Kindergarten, 1st and 2nd graders are focusing on safely exploring movement and sharing space. Moving forward we will continue to add locomotor movements and provide information on health, hygiene, and nutrition. Parents, please help your younger students to remember their tennis shoes. This will allow your child to participate safely and to do their best. Kinder, 1st and 2nd grade attend P.E. every day.
Coach Mester
Coach Mac
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Updates from OCT Counselor, Mrs. Whisman
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Updates from Gifted and Talented, Mrs. Griffin
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Thank you, Starbucks!
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GCISD DISTRICT FLYERS & INFORMATION
New GCISD app! Download today!
Click here to access the flyer. Then, click on the flyer directly to access the iOS or Android app link. This is going to be beneficial, especially to those who have students at multiple campuses. Thank you, GCISD Communications Department!
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GCISD Student Device Costs
As Grapevine-Colleyville ISD expands its 1:1 program to include all students in kindergarten through twelfth-grade, technology services has made a change to the fee structure. Beginning in the 2017-2018 school year, families will be provided with a device at zero cost.
“We are always looking for ways to provide our students with the necessary technology to support their learning without placing a financial burden on our families,” said GCISD Chief Technology Officer Kyle Berger. “We are so excited for the changes to the student device cost agreement and look forward to the ways this will help streamline our integration of technology into the classroom.”
While the initial device is provided at no cost, there are fees assessed based on incident repairs. The first incident will be repaired for free for all students. For students that paid a $50 student fee in the 2016-2017 school year, their second incident will also be repaired at no cost. Students that did not pay the fee last year will be charged $15 for the repair after the second incident. For all students, after the third incident, the fee will be the full cost of the device repair. In the instance that the damage to the device is intentional, the cost of the repair will be based on the damage regardless of how many incidents have occurred.
Technology Services has been working to integrate the fee device management with Skyward Family Access to generate any fee-related communication to parents. If you have any questions about changes to the student device fees, please use Let’s Talk to submit your question to Technology.
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"Water Worth Saving" Art Contest
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Note from GCISD Nutrition Services
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GCISD is Now Hiring! Join the GCISD TEAM!
Many opportunities are available in our auxiliary departments:
- Nutrition Specialists -PT w/ benefits – work while your students are in school!
- Kidzu Site Aide – PT w/benefits – this schedule works well for local college students!
- Night Custodians
- Bus Drivers & Monitors
- Maintenance Engineers
Apply online at: www.gcisd-k12.org
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School Health Advisory Council (SHAC)
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Why Join the PTA?
O.C. Taylor's PTA is an active group of volunteer parents who are passionate about the students, faculty and staff and parents of our school. Membership is only $7.50 and
each membership receives:
- a digital copy of the Paw Prints Student Directory filled with important information that you will use all year long.
- a chance to win a Fall Festival Premier Paw Pass (value $35)! A winner will be selected from each grade level (PreK-5th)
Join online today! http://www.joinpta.org/
O.C. Taylor PTA - VP Memberships
O.C. Taylor Rock Out!
Mark your calendars for September 14th at 6:30 for O.C. Taylor Rock Out, a fun night of music, games and spending time with friends. There will be a DJ, the popular hula hoop contest and this year you'll have the chance to order a boxed dinner from McAllister's Deli to support fifth grade continuation. Look for details in your child's folder or contact Lissa Critz, VP of Programs at lissa@mymagicjourneys.com
Don't forget lawn chairs & blankets to sit on.
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O.C. Taylor Dads' Club
The OC Taylor Dads' Club is a PTA-backed organization that hosts and supports events to help build our amazing OC Taylor Tiger community. Join today and make a difference. Help support our children, staff and the administration of O.C. Taylor in the coming year.
Your involvement will improve education and empower our children through:
- Supporting school and PTA sponsored events
- Participating in Dads' Club events such as: Fall Campout, Pancake Breakfast, Golf Tournament, Dads' Club Holiday Parade Float, and more...
- Building a strong network of fathers in the O.C. Taylor Family
Signup sheets will also be available at Curriculum Nights.
The first Dads' Club meeting and social is August 31st 7:30 pm-9:00 pm at 5226 Pleasant Run, Colleyville.
Let’s help lead our children on this amazing journey called life.
Keep up to date at https://facebook.com/ OCTaylorDadsClub and https:// octaylordadsclub.shutterfly. com/
Contact Ben Stevens ben@benLstevens.com or Matt Smith vernomas@yahoo.com for more information
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We Need Volunteers
Want to volunteer at O.C. Taylor? Follow these easy steps...
1) If you haven't already, complete the District's Volunteer Background Check Application for the 2017-2018 school year. Also, please read and sign the Volunteer Handbook included in the link as well. As a reminder, all volunteers are required to reapply each year. Human Resources / Volunteer/Background Check Application
2) Not sure how to get started? Sign up on the PTA Committee Interest form so we can contact you when volunteer opportunities arise that you may be interested in.
O.C. Taylor Elementary PTA Committee Interest Form
3) If you haven't volunteered at O.C. Taylor in the past, plan on attending one of our Volunteer Orientations to learn about the policies, procedures and more information about the PTA.
- Tuesday, September 12th, 2017 – 9:00 AM (In Cafeteria)
- Tuesday, September 12th, 2017 – 6:30 PM (In Library)
Questions: Jennifer Ditto
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REFLECTIONS 2017 - 2018 at O.C. Taylor--Stay Tuned for dates!
Thank you!
We think your kids are..... G-G-G-G-reat!
GCISD - Building Excellent Schools Together
GCISD LEAD 2021- BUILDING EXCELLENT SCHOOLS TOGETHER!
The mission of Grapevine-Colleyville ISD is to be THE BEST and through the district’s strategic plan, called LEAD 2021, we continue building on the foundation started in 2011-2012. LEAD stands for Leading Excellence – Action Driven. For more information about LEAD 2021, please visit the district website. There are some exciting educational experiences going on in GCISD!
GCISD’s WHY?
Redefining Education because your future matters today!
GCISD’s Portrait of a Graduate
Skilled Problem Solvers
Communicators
Global Citizens
Self-regulated Learners
Collaborators