COYOTE CONNECTIONS
Weekly Updates from Mrs. Cervantes - Jan. 17, 2022
Coyote Ridge Families,
Today, we remember Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., an activist and prominent leader in the civil rights movement. His impact continues to be felt today, as he has left a lasting legacy of strength and inspiration for kindness, courage, and unity. One of his quotes that resonates with me today during these challenging times is "We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope."
I hope you continue to partner with us as we navigate through this rise in COVID cases and manage staff and student absences. I have included below the email you already received from Gary Patterson, our Interim Superintendent. Within this message are important links to the modified Tier 3 mitigation measures we will be using in the short-term in elementary school as well as a helpful video message. At CRE, we will be continuing with limiting visitors, pausing lunching visitors, and emphasizing physical distancing along with the other Tier 3 safety measures. Masks are requested, but we understand this cannot be a mandate. During this spike in cases, I am encouraging all members of CRE to help prevent the spread of illness.
Also in this newsletter, you'll find information on this month's Leader in Me newsletter with Habit 4 activity, yearbook ordering information, school cafeteria meals, PTA membership and spirit wear information, and calendar updates.
Thank you for your support, and I hope you have a wonderful week.
--Padgett Cervantes, Principal
Sharing email from Gary Patterson, Interim Superintendent
(Families, this email was sent to all family LISD accounts on Friday, January 14th)
LISD Families,
As we prepare for a three-day weekend (Monday is a holiday for all students and staff), I want to touch base with you and tell you about some changes you may see on your student’s campus.
We continue to battle the spread of COVID in our schools and in our community. Student cases are hovering between 1-2% across the district, with some schools feeling a greater impact than others. Our staff members - teachers, office staff, administrators, food service, custodial, bus drivers, substitute teachers - are also feeling the effects of the virus. As you can imagine, it becomes very difficult to operate schools when you don’t have enough staff members to cover all the needs. In fact, school districts across the state have closed campuses or even the whole district over the last couple of days to try and give staff members a chance to recover from illness. In LISD, we closed our early childhood center for several days this week and into next week.
I share this with you because we must change some of our practices to help stop the spread of COVID among both students and staff. I want to strongly encourage you to have your students wear masks to school. I am aware there are many opinions on this issue, and we are not putting a mask mandate in place. But for those who are willing, please take that step for us.
Modified Tier 3 Mitigation Measures
At the elementary and middle school levels, we are moving to what we are calling a modified Tier 3, which means that as necessary, schools may implement many of the strategies on our Tier 3 list. However, it is important to note that every school may be a little bit different, depending on their specific situation. I expect that most ES and MS campuses will limit visitors, social distance and limit group work as much as possible, and maybe even modify school arrival and dismissal procedures. The procedures at your school may change depending on their circumstances, and they will communicate with you as needed to keep you informed of those changes.
COVID Case Reporting
We are doing our best to offer extended hours for COVID Case Reporting and have an online form available for you to submit your information. Please check the district website for hours and reporting options.
Thank you for your support
I want to ask for your continued support and patience with our staff members. Everyone is doing the best they can to serve our students and keep schools open. We know being in school and learning from our outstanding teachers is the best thing for students. The last 20+ months have been incredibly challenging for all of us, and it is more important than ever that we show kindness, understanding and patience. There is no playbook for this type of situation, and I assure you, everyone in LISD is working as hard as possible to make the best decisions we can. We continue to rely on local health experts and guidance from the Texas Education Agency as we determine our plans.
We put together this video for you that highlights some of our efforts and provides more context for some of the mitigation measures we have in place.
I appreciate your support for all our teachers and staff, and for LISD.
Gary Patterson
Interim Superintendent
Lewisville ISD
Lunch Visitors - Still on "pause" for now
At this time we will continue to not have lunch visitors this week as the district continues to monitor Covid cases. We will return to lunch visitors as soon as possible and will keep you updated.
Habit 4: Think Win-Win - Family Activity
This is Coyote Ridge’s 6th year using the Leader in Me Program. In order to continue growth and learning at home, we will send home a newsletter each month that will focus on a different habit. By the end of the year we will have discussed all 8 habits at school and home. If your family participates in ALL 8 newsletters, you will be showcased in our school as a Lighthouse Family!
- In your child’s Friday Folder is the January Habit Newsletter (also attached below if you need another one). Attached to the newsletter is an activity that corresponds with the monthly habit of January, Habit 4: Think Win-Win. There is also a QR code that you can scan and listen to a story with your child and ask discussion questions given from the newsletter. Please assist your child in completing the activity and sign/return the activity sheet to their homeroom teacher by Wednesday, January 19th.
- January 19th is also Think Win-Win Day! We want to see the entire school wear RED for Habit 4 on Wednesday!
- We will be tracking grade level participation for returning the activity sheet. The grade level with the highest percentage of participation for January will receive a grade level choice reward! Awesome job 4th grade for having the most family participation in the month of December!
Order your 2021-22 CRE Yearbook
Hello CRE families! We are excited to let you know that you can now order your 2021-2022 CRE Yearbook! The Yearbooks will be delivered to our campus in early May and will be distributed to all who have ordered! There will be an option to purchase a book then based on how many we have available. You can get your Yearbook personalized for an additional $5.00. Personalization of the Yearbook will be available to you until March, so place your order before March 2nd to have a chance to have your child’s name engraved on the cover. Please visit the website by clicking on the link below:
Thank you from your Yearbook advisors!
Mrs. Clements, clementsc@lisd.net
Mrs. Hernandez, hernandezv@lisd.net
School Meals
Please see below for the link to Breakfast/Lunch menus.
Coyote Ridge PTA (Parent-Teacher Association)
Parents, we invite you to join the CRE PTA! Along with spirit wear sales will be online membership and registration. I encourage ALL parents/guardians and staff to join, and we will continue to aim for 100% membership. Please remember that your membership dues go to support the school with items and programs that directly and positively impact your child's learning experience at CRE. Your membership also helps us have a collective voice in matters that impact education as a whole. Your membership in no way obligates you to any specific volunteer tasks or participation in meetings, but we'd love to have you! We proudly aim for 100% CRE staff participation, and we'd love to get as many families in as possible. Grandparents, neighbors, and community members are welcome members as well!
To join PTA and/or order CRE Spirit Wear, click on our CRE PTA website below and follow the steps. REMINDER: Membership dues go to support the school with programs directly impacting our students learning experience at CRE. Joining the PTA, in no way obligates you to specific volunteer events or participation in meeting. We would love to have you join, but there is NO obligation.
Coyote Ridge PTA Website - https://coyoteridgepta.membershiptoolkit.com/home
Thank you for partnering with us this school year!
Mark Your Calendars!
- 1/17 - SCHOOL HOLIDAY
- 1/19. Wear RED for Think Win-Win. Habit 4 family activity due
- 1/21. Spirit Day: Wacky Hair Day
- 1/24 - 1/28. International Cultural Week:
- 1/24 Monday-Wear your pajamas (Get cozy with muticultural read aloud) books highlighting cultures around the world will be read during Engllsh Language Arts time in class.
- 1/25 Tuesday-Celebrate the 100th Day of school (some grade levels will dress like they are 100 years old, and some grade levels will be dressed in clothing that represents 100)
- 1/26 Wednesday: Celebrate Love Day (Wear anything that represents love) - White, pink, red, hearts etc.
- 1/27 Thursday: Flag Day- Wear a country's flag or colors of a country's flag
- 1/28 Friday: Cultural Day - Wear clothing that celebrates your culture
Coyote Ridge Elementary
Email: cervantespi@lisd.net
Website: coyoteridge.lisd.net
Location: 4520 Maumee Drive, Carrollton, TX, USA
Phone: (469)713-5994
Facebook: facebook.com/coyoteridge
Twitter: @CoyoteRidgeES