Dear Parents,

In this newsletter there is a link to sign up to volunteer at our holiday parties in December. Parents are only allowed to attend the grade level parties as a volunteer. Please pre-register if you are able to help with your child's grade level party on December 16th. Parents may check their student out at the conclusion of the kindergarten, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th grade parties. The 5th grade party will end at 9:15 a.m. This is before our attendance time of 10:15 a.m, so there will be no party check-out at this time. *Students that are not present in school at 10:15 a.m. are counted absent for the day.

Link to pre-register to volunteer: Winter Party Volunteer Sign Up

Sincerely,

Heather Motzny

Wednesday, November 30th The Brook Shopping Spirit Event from 10:00-6:00

Wednesday, November 30th: Student Council Dollar Days

Thursday, December 1st: Holiday Spirit Shop during lunches (No Lunch Visitors)

Tuesday, December 6th: 5th Grade Music Program 6:00 p.m.

Friday, December 16th: Holiday Parties during large group times

Saturday, December 10th: Annual Jingle Bell Jog

Student Council is excited to host our first Dollar Day for this school year!

On Wednesday, November 30th, students can bring in $1 to bring a stuffed animal or blanket with them to school. If they would like to bring both items, they may bring $2. We will begin collecting money on Monday, November 28th and continue through the "Dollar Day" on Wednesday, November 30th. Money collected by Student Council goes directly to materials and activities for our students and school. Please direct any questions to Kim Fox or Jen Bygness (kimberly.fox@cfisd.net or jennifer.bygness@cfisd.net).

This year, Room Parents will be collecting donations for all Home Room Teachers (including switch teachers). Please be on the lookout for an email from Room Parents about this.

ALL other teachers and staff donations are being made on www.sampsonpto.com. This includes- admin, PEAM, Paras, support staff, etc.

Go to the STAFF DONATIONS button on the left hand side, under Quick Links.

The deadline is Monday, December 12th. No donations will be accepted after this date. 100% of donated money will go straight to the person! This is 100% optional.

As cold, strep and flu season progresses, we are in that time of year when many students are coming down with upper respiratory symptoms. These include nasal congestion, cough, sore throat, headache, and possibly fever.

Please be aware that Texas Administrative Code requires that students be excluded from school for a fever of 100.0 F or higher and they may not return to school until they are fever free for at least 24 hours without the use of fever reducing medication. Temporarily masking a fever with medication does not change the fact that the child is in the contagious period of an illness and may be spreading illness, like the flu, to others by coughing, sneezing, and by touching surfaces around the school.

While we value student attendance very much, it is important that everyone plays their part in keeping the spread of illness to a minimum by following this rule.

Please also make sure that you have your daytime contact numbers and emergency contacts up to date with the Registrar so that you can be reached in the event your child is ill and must be picked up from school.

For more information on when to keep a sick student home from school, please visit the district website at the following link, https://www.cfisd.net/Page/1924 . For guidance to communicable disease rules https://www.cfisd.net/Page/1920

4th and 5th grade students! Author Barbara O'Connor will be here on Wednesday, December 7. She will visit with our students and we can't wait. Books can be purchased on School Cash.

We are so excited for the Jingle Bell Jog! Registration is now closed. We will have late registration after Thanksgiving. If you register late, t-shirts are not guaranteed. We can't wait to see you on December 10 at 8:00 a.m. at the lap pool.

Next week we will talk about:

For Kinder and 1st grade: Review What's your name? (¿Cómo te llamas?)

A. ¿Cómo te llamas? (What's your name)

B. Me llamo ______, ¿y tú? (My name is _______, what about you?)

A. Me llamo _______. (My name is ______.)

B. Mucho gusto. (Nice to meet you.)

A. Mucho gusto. (Nice to meet you.)

For 2nd-5th: Review the ABC's (El Alfabeto)

(taken from https://www.rae.es/espanol-al-dia/un-solo-nombre-para-cada-letra)

Gracias,

Sra. Betancourt

For the months of November and December, we will be focusing on the character trait Gratitude as we Bring Out the Best in CFISD. Gratitude is a feeling of appreciation or thanks. You can access any of our lessons and activities through the district website here: https://www.cfisd.net/site/Default.aspx?PageID=7582

The Open Referral Period for Mid-Year Testing (1st-5th) for the Horizons Program is open until Wednesday, November 30th. During this time, parents may choose to refer their child for testing. Parents can get a Parent Permission form for Horizons testing by sending a request to their child’s teacher. 1st-5th grade testing will take place in January and/or February and results will be received at the end of April. Services for 1st-5th grade students who qualify for the Horizons program will not start until next school year (2023-24).

**No Late Permission Forms will be accepted.**

All Kindergarten students will be screened for the Horizons program in the Spring.

Today was a wonderful Garden Day at Sampson with 3rd grade. The weather was rather chilly this morning with a chance of rain, so we started the day inside. The afternoon was wonderful outside in the gardens.

In November we are learning about our Texas State Flower - The Bluebonnet! Students studied the life cycle of the Bluebonnet and how to identify the plant at all stages. You already had Bluebonnet seeds in your garden from second grade and are eager to see Bluebonnets blooming in your garden this Spring. The third graders took a seed home to plant in their home gardens.

While in the garden today students learned about the life cycle of a bluebonnet. They participated in stations throughout the gardens. 1. seed catalogs, 2. listening to the sounds seeds make 3. creating a Texas Bluebonnet craft for their teacher, 4. observing live bluebonnet plants and seed pods.

We look forward to your next Garden Day on December 8 with 2nd grade. Arrangements have been made to have your gardens covered in case of a frost/freeze. Thank you PTO!

Lastly, I want to thank the PTO ladies for their commitment of time and effort to the Sampson gardens. It is greatly appreciated.

Elaine Winger - Ready to Grow Gardens

www.mysftexas.com

I opened my State Farm agency September 1st, 2015, and I come from a long line of State Farm agents. My Dad, and 2 uncles are all agents in the Houston area, and I have an Aunt who is an agent in Louisiana. My motivation is to provide the community with products and services which will help them through frustration or devastation. Knowing that my team and I have provided a solid insurance and financial plan for customers and seeing how our products work in a claims situation is very rewarding. I am thankful for my amazing wife and my 2 awesome kids, they are a primary driver for me to do well professionally. I am also very thankful for my 8 wonderful team members who help our customers daily. They do such a good job.

We are so excited for our Holiday Spirit Shop! It will be stocked with items for your children to purchase for different family members. Please send them with cash. Only volunteers can attend. To volunteer, please go to www.sampsonpto.com, click on sign ups and then Spirit Shop. There are 5 spots per lunch to help. We are looking forward to a fun event!

Last month for the BEST Yearbook price!

Yearbooks are currently available for purchase! You must pre-order your yearbook by November 30 to get the best deal. Prices go up on Dec 1st!

Visit www.balfour.com and order today!

Last month for the BEST Yearbook price!

Yearbooks are currently available for purchase! You must pre-order your yearbook by November 30 to get the best deal. Prices go up on Dec 1st!

Visit www.balfour.com and order today!

Come shop with us at The Brook on Wednesday, November 30th and get your teacher something special off their Wish List!

Please Save the Date for our upcoming Bingo event. We have a new date and time and can’t wait to see everyone at BINGO in March 2023. If you have not already signed up and would like to volunteer, please sign up at here.

It's Holiday Card season! If you order

your Holiday Cards through Minted, you get a discount and Sampson gets money back!

Our deadline for Charleston Wrap has been extended until December 31st. Please continue to support Sampson during your holiday shopping. Thank you again for all your support.