Sparks News
A Weekly Communication from Principal Amy Baker
Friday, September 7, 2018
Izetta Sparks Elementary
Email: sparks@friscoisd.org
Website: http://schools.friscoisd.org/ES/sparks/site/home
Location: 8200 Otis Drive, Frisco, TX, United States
Phone: 469-633-3000
Twitter: @SparksElemFISD
School Hours: 7:45am-2:55pm
Morning Drop-Off Begins at 7:25am
5th Graders Run for Student Council Officer Positions
Each candidate talked about their commitment to the Sparks community and their desire to promote all of the great qualities of our student body, such as growth-mindset, grit, being responsible and being respectful. As I've told our students, leadership is not about a title, it's about an action. I know that all of these students will do great things to make a positive impact on their community in the years to come.
Carpool Courtesies
College and Career Week is Next Week, September 10th-September 14th!
The focus for this week is to increase each student’s awareness of options available after high school, the purpose behind a good education and helping each of us reach our life-long goals. Purpose is our character strength for September. Purpose is being driven by something larger than yourself and being oriented toward a future goal.
September 10: “Your Future is BRIGHT and full for PURPOSE” - wear sunglasses and bright colors to help emphasis on the purpose of goal setting to help focus on achieving your goals.
September 11: Put a “Spotlight” on your future PURPOSE! - Dress for success by wearing nice clothes. (This is our school picture day at Sparks.)
September 12: “Where is your future PURPOSE taking you?” - Wear a college T-shirt or jersey.
September 13: “Slip” into a PURPOSEful Future – Bring slippers to wear at school. Be sure you bring shoes to wear for gym, recess and walking outside.
September 14: “Your future PURPOSE starts now” – Wear your Sparks Spirit Wear to show that a growth mindset begins today to help guide you through the future.
Picture Day!
Interested in Destination Imagination?
Destination Imagination is in full swing! Now is the time to start forming teams and choosing a Team Manager to facilitate the challenges. If you were unable to find a team at the DI Awareness meeting, or you were unable to come, please CLICK HERE fill out a google sheet to allow your child to possibly be picked up by another team. Signing up on this spreadsheet does not ensure that your child will find a team. The only way to ensure that your child finds a team is to volunteer as a team manager and form your own team. Please visit the Next Region DI website in order learn more about what it means to be a Team Manager.
If you missed the meeting today, CLICK HERE for the flyer that was presented to parents in attendance.
Let's Talk About Attendance
For additional information regarding the FISD Attendance Policy, click here.
Here are a few things to keep in mind:
- Tardies - we will contact parents of students who are tardy at 5, 10, and 15 tardies.
- Excused absences - Frisco ISD allows eight (8) parent notes per school year to count towards excused absences. After the eighth parent note, the absences will be considered unexcused. The student will be allowed up to three (3) days to submit a written note.
- Excused absences (medical note) - when an absence occurs and a medical note from a physician's office is provided, this absence will be considered excused. The student will be allowed up to three (3) days to submit a written note.
- Unexcused absences: When a student has three or more unexcused absences, we will send a notice to parents, as required by law, to remind the parent that it is their duty to monitor the student's attendance and to require the student to come to school. The parent letter is sent home when the student incurs three (3) and seven (7) unexcused absences. On the tenth (10th) unexcused absence, a notice will inform parents that the district may initiate the truancy prevention measures and request a conference between the school administrators and parents.
- Absences (Family Trips/Vacation) - We strongly discourage students being absent for the purpose of vacations. However, there are extenuating circumstances that cause a family to choose for the student to be absent. If this is the case, please submit a Extended Absence Notification Form if your student is absent more than 3 consecutive days. You can obtain this form by stopping by at our front office or by emailing our data clerk, Pam Stepczyk at stepczyp@friscoisd.org
Bad Weather During Dismissal
Now that our school year is well underway, and we've had one rainy afternoon during dismissal, I wanted to take an opportunity to share with you some information about dismissal changes and bad weather during dismissal.
Thunder and lightning, as well as heavy rain or snow, are situations in which we would delay releasing our walking students from leaving the school until the weather passes or a parent arrives to pick them up. Most of the time, this results in no more than a 10-15 minute delay before our walking students are released. **Please note: If we are "sheltering in place" due to a severe weather threat in our area, students will not be released to parents until the threat has passed. This is to help ensure the safety of all of our families, students and staff.
We ask that parents watch the weather closely so that dismissal changes can be communicated to teachers in a timely, orderly manner.
Dismissal Changes During the School Day
With 750 students, I'm sure you can imagine how busy our classrooms are at the end of the day and how challenging it can be to ensure that multiple last minute communications of dismissal changes are delivered in a timely manner. To help us ensure that all students are delivered to the correct dismissal area, we ask that all changes to dismissal routines be communicated to our front office before 2:30pm each day.
Finally, we ask that changes to dismissal routines be kept at a minimum. We know that sudden events can occur during the day that would require a child's dismissal to be different than the day before, but there is surmounting research to support the positive effects of routines for children, both at home and at school. Routines help children develop a strong sense of security and self-discipline. Keeping the same dismissal schedule in place so that it becomes routine for students can help promote these great qualities in our young students.
Frisco ISD to Host Community Town Halls on Bond and TRE Measures
Join us for a community forum about the bond and TRE at Pioneer Heritage MS on Tuesday, September 11, featuring specific information on new construction and maintenance in Frisco ISD. Frisco ISD is hosting a series of public town halls to discuss the 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 or any of the previous events on the Frisco Independent School District Facebook page.
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.
Community town halls will be held from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. The schedule for the remaining forums is as follows:
- Tuesday, September 11 – Pioneer Heritage Middle School, 1649 High Shoals Drive, Frisco
- Thursday, September 20 – Clark Middle School, 4600 Colby Drive, Frisco
- Wednesday, September 26 - Stafford Middle School, 2288 Little River Road, Frisco
- Wednesday, October 3 - Maus Middle School, 12175 Coit Road, Frisco
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.
Watch D.O.G.S. Informational Meeting
Join us with your student Thursday, September 20th for the WATCH D.O.G.S. informational meeting to learn about the program and how to sign up to serve our students/school. Dinner will be served starting at 6:00pm, and the PTA/Watch D.O.G. Kick-Off meeting will start at 6:30pm. To learn more about the Watch Dog Program, CLICK HERE
Our Boosterthon Fun Run is Coming Soon!
This year’s main fundraiser is the Sparks Elementary 2018 Fun Run! After our Pep Rally on Monday, September 10th, families will then gather pledges for every lap your student runs (30-35 laps). We’ll celebrate at the Fun Run on Friday, September 21st. With our big goal of raising $36,000 for Chrome books and expanding our guided reading library, we asked the Fun Run experts at Boosterthon to power our Fun Run and make it more profitable, easier, and fun.
Students will also experience an amazing character theme, MIND SPARK MYSTERY LAB, a science-infused mystery theme all about solving problems using character. This year's theme combines S.T.E.A.M. (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts & Math) skills with character building. The students will help a team of brainy kids solve problems using a super-lab hidden inside a school. While they're teaming up with the MindSpark kids to solve mysteries, your students will learn five 21st-century character traits that will help strengthen themselves and our world.
The times for the run on Friday, September 21st are:
- 1st & 3rd grade: 8:30
- K & 4th grade: 9:30
- 2nd & 5th grade: 10:30
Important Dates!
Sept. 10: Fun Run Pep Rally for students
Sept. 10-20: Students obtain pledges
Sept. 21: Sparks Fun Run Day; families are welcome to cheer on their children!
Become a member of a GREAT partnership! Join PTA!
I encourage you to join if you haven't already done so. Click Here to join our AWARD WINNING PTA!
"Anytime the community comes together, everyone benefits." -David Mason
Calling All Photographers!
For information about the app and how to use it, CLICK HERE
COUNSELOR CONNECTIONS
It is hard to believe that we have completed two weeks of school and it is now Labor Day. What a great start to the 2018-2019 school year. Seeing the smiling faces of your children each day is definitely a bright spot in my day. I am loving this year and being with all the students on a more regular basis.
NEWS AND OPPORTUNITIES
Character Strength for September:
During the month of September all students will be focusing on the Character Strength of PURPOSE. The two definitions we will be exploring and discussing are:
- You are oriented toward a future goal
- Contributing to the well-being of others.
I encourage you as a family to discuss each of these definitions, what it means to each of you and what your child can do to develop this strength. For additional information and insight on Purpose go to Character Lab.
Mindfulness & Developing a Growth Mindset
I will be offering a small group opportunity for students to work on mindfulness, learning to control behaviors and emotions and developing a growth mindset instead of a fixed mindset in order to help achieve our goals. This group will be limited to 6 students, will consist of 6-8 sessions and a journal will be developed by each participate and sent home at the end of the sessions. If you are interested in your child participating please go to MINDFULNESS & GROWTH MINDSET to sign-up for the group.
Little Miss Sapphires Junior Dance Clinic: Saturday, October 20, 2018
Do you have a future Sapphire in your house? The Reedy High School Sapphires are hosting a Little Miss Sapphire Junior Dance clinic for those K-8 students who may be interested in one day becoming a part of this amazing dance team. Students will enjoy a morning with current Reedy Sapphire members learning Sapphire traditions, team building games, fight song and a dance combo. A snack is included.
Drama Kids International After School Enrichment Program is Enrolling Now!
Drama Kids encourages team building, creative thinking, positive social skills, acting & public speaking skills & performance techniques for personal and academic success!!
For more information about the program and registration, CLICK HERE.
Dates to Remember
Monday, September 10-Friday, September 14: College Week
Tuesday, September 11: Fall Picture Day
Friday, September 14: 7:55am; Friday Assembly; Spirit Store Open
Thursday, September 20: 6:30pm: PTA Meeting/Watch Dog Kick-Off
Friday, September 21: Boosterthon Fun Run; No Morning Assembly
Tuesday, September 25: Curriculum Night
Friday, September 28: 7:55; Friday Assembly; Spirit Store Open