Kirk Elementary
Tiger Tales
School Information
Email: Kirk@cfisd.net
Website: https://www.cfisd.net/Kirk
Location: 12421 Tanner Road, Houston, TX, USA
Phone: 713-849-8250
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KirkElementary/
Twitter: @KirkElementary
Principal's Corner
Tiger Families,
Wow! Time flies when you are having fun.
Thank you for continuing to follow the COVID protocols and screening your Tiger to help keep us all safe. Several parents asked about eating lunch with their student on campus. As previously shared, at this time we do not have the space in the cafeteria for parents to join their student as we are still sitting 3 feet apart per CDC guidelines. We continue to monitor the situation and as soon as it is safe for our Tigers, we will allow lunch visitors.
As we look ahead into February, we are excited to celebrate 100 days of growth with students on the 100th day of school, February 10th. We are also excited for our Jump Rope for Heart Health service project. We have a few Tigers who have recently had open heart surgery and organizations like the American Heart Association raises funds to support heart disease research for a cure or ways to correct heart disease to allow individuals such as our Tigers to receive medical treatment to help their hearts function properly. Our service project to raise funds to support the American Heart Association and healthy hearts is from February 01 - February 16. To register download the Kids Heart Challenge App or go to www.Heart.org/KHC.
Save the date for our spring family night on Tuesday, February 22, 2022.
We will also end the month with our rescheduled Parents Deserve It week for the important adults in the lives of our Tigers to help strengthen the connection between home and school. Each grade level will have a 30 minute academic activity that you are invited to join in your child’s class during the week. Please note this is a parent or guardian event only. Non-school age children are not able to participate.
AM Transitional ECSE (Irvin & Gutierrez): March 02 9:15am - 9:45am
PM Transitional ECSE (Irvin & Gutierrez): March 02 2:30pm - 3:00pm
Life Skills: March 02 10:30am - 11:00am
Pre-Kindergarten: March 02 2:30pm - 3:00pm
Kindergarten: March 01 9:30am - 10:00am
First Grade: February 28 2:30pm - 3:00pm
Second Grade: March 02 10:30am - 11:00am
Third Grade: March 03 1:30pm - 2:00pm
Fourth Grade: March 01 11:30am - 12:00pm
Fifth Grade: March 03 9:15am - 9:45am
The Kirk PTO is sponsoring donuts with grownups. Due to the large number of participants, this event will occur over 3 mornings. The event will be held in the cafeteria area beginning at 7:30am each morning.
Last names that begin with A-F on Wednesday, March 02.
Last names that begin with G-N on Thursday, March 03.
Last names that begin with O-Z on Friday, March 04.
Please only 2 grownups per student. If you have a blended family with students of different last names, please pick one of the days to attend.
Our Parents Deserve It week will end with a Parents Night Out event on Friday, March 04 from 4:30pm - 7:30pm. We will be sending a new RSVP form out the week of February 07.
We are confident that COVID will cooperate with us February 28 - March 04 and look forward to having you partner to build academic memories with your Tiger.
As always, thank you for partnering with us to support your Tiger!
Dr. Bell
Share your Feedback to Help Us Improve
February Calendar
Student of the Month for the Character Trait of Self-control
Prekinder
Kindergarten
1st Grade
2nd Grade
4th Grade
5th Grade
JANUARY CHARACTER TRAIT - SELF-CONTROL
Prekindergarten
David P. Calvin B. Jr., David M.
Kindergarten
Aiden R., Daphne M., Vivian B., Vanessa P.
1st Grade
2nd Grade
3rd Grade
3rd Grade
4th Grade
5th Grade
Ms. Gutierrez and Ms. Irvin's Class
Leader in Me
We have started teaching students the 7 habits. There are 5 core paradigms that drive our decisions, behaviors, and results as we shift our culture to align with being a Leader in Me school. A paradigm is simply the way we “see” things. These 5 core paradigms include:
Everyone can be a leader.
Everyone has genius.
Change starts with me.
Empower students to lead their own learning.
Educators and families partner to develop the whole person.
These paradigms or “the way we see things” at our school will drive our everyday interaction with not only your Tiger, but ourselves too. A partnership with families supports our ability for students to lead their own educational journey - empowering them to be responsible, reflective, and active in their learning experiences.
The great news about paradigms is that they are also powerful at home! When you operate through these five paradigms in your own life, you are communicating your own value as well as encouraging greatness in your Tiger.
Here are a few ways to engage your family in these paradigms:
PBIS
Our Tigers are working so hard to get recognized for following our Kirk Matrices. Some of our Tigers have become Executive Tigers by showing what a leader looks like and sounds like. Continue to encourage you Tiger to do their very best and ask them what it means to be an Executive Tiger.
Key Notices
This year we have gone digital with our title 1 meeting. To learn more about Title 1 at Kirk Elementary, please watch this short video. Turn on closed captioning for Spanish.
If you would like to give feedback on the parent involvement policy or the home-school agreement for Kirk, please view the documents listed here and send in any suggested revisions to Dr. Bell.
Notice to Parents
As a parent of a student at a campus receiving Title I funds, federal law allows you to ask for information about the certification, college major, and advanced degrees of your child’s teacher(s). You also have the right to request information about the qualifications of a teacher aide or paraprofessional providing direct services to your child. If you would like to receive this information, you may contact the Cypress-Fairbanks I.S.D. Human Resources Department at 281-897-4099.
School Messenger: Text Message Sign Up
The directions for adding text messages to your School Messenger account are in the link below. All parents need to update their School Messenger Information:
Family & Community Engagement
All Volunteers: Please Register on the CFISD Volunteer Portal
Introducing Kirk M.O.M.S. (Mothers of Magnificent Students)
Opportunity for moms or female guardians only.
In an effort to diversify our volunteer opportunities in a way that better aligns with our community make-up, we are adding Kirk M.O.M.S. (Moms of Magnificent Students). This will allow our Tigers from diverse family make-ups to also have someone important to them volunteer to spend a day at school. We love our Watch D.O.G.S. program and are so excited to provide additional opportunities to connect academics with family.
If you are interested in participating, we ask that you give us one day from 8:15 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. You will receive a schedule with the different classes you will visit. You will be in each classroom for 30 minutes. You will also get to be in your child’s classroom and have lunch with him or her.
When looking at a date on the calendar, notice the grades that cannot have Kirk M.O.M.S. If your child is in that grade level, do not sign up for that date. You can only sign up for one day. If you have any questions or need help, please contact Ms. Garza at 713-849-8250 or sandra.garza2@cfisd.net. Click here to register to be a Kirk M.O.M.S. https://forms.gle/KNuymec8QAh2iXNb9
If you have already signed up to be a Kirk M.O.M.S. click on the link to review your date. You will get a call a week before to go over what you will be doing on your day. https://bit.ly/KirkMOMS
Science Demos
We need volunteers for the Science Demos! Some of the demos require that the volunteers handle animals. To handle animals, you must be trained. To view the training dates, click on this link bit.ly/33huYOP. You can attend a training in February or March and you will be ready to participate as a presenter next school year. It is really empowering for the children to see their moms or dads be the “teacher” during the Science Demos.
If you aren’t able to attend a training session, you can still be a volunteer to help the presenters. Take a look at the upcoming demos on this link https://bit.ly/demosschedule. If you have any questions, contact Wendie Anderson, at wendie.gustafson@gmail.com. Ms. Anderson is the PTO Science Demo Coordinator.
We had so many Kirk Tigers enjoy the CFISD Mobile Library this Fall. I am excited to share the upcoming dates for the Spring.
February 5
March 26
April 30
Please come and enjoy reading great books by visiting the CFISD Mobile Library from 12:30-2:30.
Chimney Hill Community Center
13720 Smokey Trail
This month we focused on Informational text (non-fiction). We read Run, Sea Turtle, Run by Stephen R. Swinburne. The book was about baby sea turtles and how they form an egg tooth on their face. We watched a video to see how grown sea turtles look in their natural habitat. We discussed why they are endangered and how we can help.
Fun Facts: Sea turtles weigh up to 2, 000 pounds. They can grow from 4ft to 8ft.
Primary Practices
The year is flying by and our kids are showing so much growth! They are becoming independent, avid readers and mathematicians. In the next nine weeks students will explore traditional literature and informational texts. Our kindergarten students are working on counting to 100 and first grade is learning about place value. Some great resources for information are PebbleGo, and HMH located in my.cfisd.net in the backpack section. Please remember to read with your child every night.
Upcoming Dates:
Kindergarten Math DPM: 2/7-2/11
1st Grade Math DPM: 2/15-2/16
Adventures in Mathematics
Why was the obtuse angle upset?.......because he was never right!
In February, grade levels are working on geometry.
In second and third grade students focus on attributes of shapes with some understanding of different angles. Fourth and fifth dive deeper into angles and symmetry.
Geometry Scavenger Hunt
Look around the house or at the playground of different shapes, angles and lines.
Key words: Circle, Sphere, Rectangle, Rectangular Prism, Cone, Triangle, Acute angle, Right angle, Obtuse angle, Parallel, Perpendicular
Science Scholars
Matter is happening in science at Kirk! Matter is all over and can be practiced at home! Some topics within the matter unit include: Properties of matter and states of matter.
Check out this website from PBS for videos to dive deeper into matter and other science topics.
Surprise Kirk Tigers!! Bring a stuffed animal on Thursday, January 27, 2022.
Loving Literacy
The year is flying by and our kids are showing so much growth! They are becoming independent, avid readers and writers. In the next nine weeks students will explore fiction, drama, biographies, argumentative, and informational texts. Some great resources for non-fiction is PebbleGo, and HMH located in my.cfisd.net in the backpack section. We are encouraging each student to get on Amplify every day for at least 10 minutes to support what they are learning in word study and reading. Please remember to read with your child every night.
Tiger Technobytes
Chromebook Reminders
All students are assigned a chromebook for school use. Guardians must sign for all devices in Schoolcash.
Students will be responsible for taking the device to home/school daily.
It is recommended the device be charged at home nightly and that the charger remains at home.
Please do not put stickers on the device.
The CFISD stickers (barcode and student information) should remain on the device. If the stickers are damaged please report it in HappyFox to be able to receive a new one.
Please keep food and drink away from the device.
To receive support for a device (lost, non-working, damaged devices) please report it in HappyFox. Your student will need to log in with their CFISD email address and password.
Here’s how to change a Student Network Password.
If you move to another school district, please return the device/charger back to the school. If you move to another school within CFISD, take the device and charger with you to the new school.
CFISD LTE 1:1 Website has more information.
Contact michelle.glynn@cfisd.net if you have any questions about devices at Kirk.
Nurse’s Corner
February is American Heart Health Month and a great time to continue working on healthy habits. Exercising together as a family is a great way to spend time together and work on your health. Bike riding, walking, and roller skating are beneficial and keep your heart healthy. Please encourage your child to go to sleep on time, make healthy choices when eating meals or snacks, and to drink water during the day. Share with your children the healthy habits you are working on this month and during the year.
Counselor Corner
Monthly Character Trait: Compassion means caring enough to do something about someone else’s needs.
We all want to know that we matter, that we are important.
One way that we can discover how we are important to others is through work. Maybe your child isn’t ready to put in an 8-hour day at the office (who is!?), but he or she can still do significant work that will help your family and others. From taking out the trash, to doing dishes, folding laundry, or lending a hand to the neighbor, there are age-appropriate tasks that all kids can do.
Doing this work will make them feel important, needed, and connected to others.
So don’t miss it. This month, look for work that develops independent habits in your child.
What’s happening in Large Group?
Musical Magic
Hello Kirk Mighty Tigers! All students will be focusing on form in February. We will move, sing and play in different forms. So, see you in music, and get ready to move!
Ms. Craig
PE
Happy New Year, Tigers! We had a great first month after the break and I was so excited to see our friends from virtual learning come back in person. We will start this year’s Kids Heart Challenge in February, and will continue to exercise, play games and do some workouts that will keep us healthy and strong. Looking forward to another great month!
Coach Mati
Art
Hello Mighty Tigers! During the month of February we will be entering a Doodle for Google Contest! Along with learning different elements and Principles of design. Be ready for an exciting month to create art!
Ms. Pacheco
PTO Corner
Volunteers for the 3rd & 5th grade Nature Trails Field Trip to help lead the demos on February 24 & 25. The training is on February 3 from 10am - 2pm and is located at 13500 Shaft Drive, Cypress, Texas 77429. If you would like to volunteer to help and can attend the training on February 3 as well as either February 24 or 25 or both please contact Wendie Anderson at wendie.gustafson@gmail.com.
Help show love to the Kirk staff for the PTO sponsored Souper Bowl lunch. Sign up to bring something by going to https://tinyurl.com/ptosouperbowl.
Save the date for a PTO spirit night at Willie’s Grill, 7092 Hwy 6 N Houston 77095, on February 10th. Stop by anytime on the 10th during business hours and let them know you are supporting Kirk Elementary. Staff will be there from 5:30pm - 6:30pm.