Class and Individual Spring Pictures are THIS Thursday!!!

Wednesday March 29th 5:30-6:30 in the PDC Auditorium. 701 W. Belt Line Road, Richardson 75080.

It is no secret that technology is changing extremely fast and, as parents, the access to information and resources is exponentially greater than when we were younger. This presentation will share real examples, pros, and cons of adolescent technology use while empowering parents to navigate the influences of technology in their children’s lives.

Presented by: Ben Kirby, Ph.D. Dr. Kirby is an educator with over 15 years of experience, a father of three, and an RISD parent.

Spanish translation available.

In collaboration with To Be Like Me, join us for a 10-day Disability Awareness Challenge starting Monday, March 20. Sign up to receive daily learning, videos, and a challenge or activity for families.

Sign-Up Link:
s.risd.org/ccm10days

We will wrap up Cultural Competence Month and the Disability Awareness 10-Day Challenge with a Courageous Conversation focusing on non-apparent disabilities and the importance of making RISD inclusive of all people. Join us for this panel discussion on Thursday, March 30, from 5:30 - 7 P.M.

Sign-Up Link:
s.risd.org/ccawareness23

Parents, interim assessments will be administered as a STAAR simulation assessment for RLA 3-6, Math 3-6, and Science 5. These assessments will be administered on the Cambium platform and will be an adaptive assessment for RLA and Math, similar to the MAP assessments.

Please avoid making appointments or any student absences on these days:

Tuesday, March 21: 3rd-6th Grades Math

Tuesday, April 25: 3rd - 6th Grade RLA STAAR Test

Tuesday, May 2: 5th Grade Science STAAR Test

Tuesday, May 9: 3rd - 6th Grade Math STAAR Test

The new RISD Mobile Parent App is now live for our school and available to parents of enrolled students. Created through RISD’s Blackboard system, this app allows parents of enrolled students to easily view important information related to your student’s education, like classes, assignment grades, attendance, cafeteria balance, bus stop info, an archive of messages sent from the school or district, and more. Use of this app is optional, and parents who have tested it have found it to be a useful and convenient way to keep track of their student’s information.

RISD parents were sent an emailed message that included login information and instructions to download the app and view information about enrolled student(s) within the app. The app is available for Apple and Android devices.

For more information and a QR code to download the app, please see the flyer here, or visit the RISD website here. Parents of enrolled students who did not receive a message with login information, or who need support viewing student information within the app, may contact the RISD Technology Support Center at 469-593-4357.

Parents,

Online Enrollment for the '23-'24 School Year begins on Tuesday, February 28th. It is IMPERATIVE that families enroll online as soon as possible for next school year. Each year the number of classes we have at each grade level and the number of teachers that we employ at Terrace is decided upon by the number of students who are enrolled. Enrolling early allows us to plan for the number of classes/teachers we will need at each grade level and minimizes the need for students to go to another RISD school because our classes at Terrace are full. Please take the time to enroll your children online as soon as possible. A snapcode was sent home with your child on Tuesday, February 21st and in an email was sent on Monday, February 27th. That snapcode is required for you to enroll online. If you cannot find the snapcode, or need the snapcode again, please email iris.perry@risd.org. Please encourage your friends and neighbors to enroll early for next school year, as well. Anyone who needs help with online enrollment is welcome to come to the Terrace Office from 8:15 - 2:30 each day to receive assistance with enrollment.

Whether you’re new to RISD or returning for another year of school, please take advantage of convenient online enrollment using a PowerSchool registration account.

Online enrollment is for students in early education and Pre-K through grade 12. Please click here for more information about the enrollment process.

Contact your school for specific questions about enrollment, including how to submit necessary documents.

Snow Makeup Plan Finalized
Monday, April 10 will be a regular school day as part of RISD’s snow makeup plan announced at the regular February Board meeting. In addition, it was previously announced that Feb. 15 and April 6, initially early release days, were moved to full school days. Unless RISD encounters another inclement weather cancellation during the remainder of the winter, no additional makeup days will be necessary, and Friday, April 7 will remain a student and staff holiday.

School districts in Texas are required to provide students with a minimum number of instructional minutes each school year, and RISD typically adopts calendars that exceed the minimum number of minutes. For this year, RISD will be able to meet the state instructional minute requirement for students through the combination of changing the two early release days and changing the April 10 date from a holiday to a regular school day.

School was cancelled in RISD from January 31 – Feb. 3 due to inclement weather and icy campus and travel conditions.

• Doors open for students who would like to eat breakfast at 7:20.
• Doors open for students who do not eat breakfast at 7:30
• Class BEGINS at 7:50. This is when teachers begin teaching. Students must be in class in their seats and ready to learn by 7:50.
• Arriving after 7:50 means that your child is late for school and disrupts instruction for everyone.

Please adhere to the following procedures to ensure parents enjoy lunch visits with students:

• Arrive 5-10 minutes prior to your child’s lunchtime. It will take some time to get through sign-in at the office, and we want to ensure students are not late getting back to class after lunch.
• Our cafeteria does not have space to accommodate lunch visitors. All lunch visits will take place on the front porch. Please be mindful of the weather. We do not have space inside the building for parents and students to eat together. If it is cold or wet or windy you may want to schedule a lunch visit on a day with better weather.
• To accommodate for limited spacing and to avoid overcrowding, it is expected that the following schedule be adhered to:
• Student with last names A-L: Monday and Wednesday
• Student with last names M-Z: Tuesday and Thursday
• Friday: No Lunch Visitors
• Lunch visitors may only eat lunch with their own students. No friends will be permitted to eat with lunch visitors.
• Parents are responsible for watching their children and any younger siblings. Please be mindful of the people working in the office and keep voice levels down while on the porch.
• For capacity reasons, we ask that each student has lunch visitors no more than one time per week.
• The school requests that each visitor comply with a no cell phone policy while eating lunch with your student to ensure student privacy as well as quality time with your child. Taking pictures and/or video of students other than the lunch visitor’s own child is not permitted.
• Please help your child to follow our Tiger Pride and our cafeteria expectations that we reinforce throughout the building by ensuring that all trash is thrown away and tables are left clean for the next group.
• After lunch, children will go back to class with their teacher. Lunch visitors must sign out in the office and the students will return to class.
• Students will only be allowed to go to lunch during their lunch time. We will not take students out of class to attend lunch with siblings or at a time other than their own lunch period.

Focus Parent Portal is free!

Parents of enrolled RISD students are encouraged to sign up for an account or add a student to an existing account by visiting www.risd.org/focus.

Student Info at Your Fingertips

• Class schedule

• Upcoming assignments

• Current grades

• Transcript grades

• Attendance and absences

• Report cards

• Assessment results

• Online absence note submission

• More!

Focus Parent Portal is accessible through any web browser, the Focus App, or the RISD Mobile Parent App.

Have a question? Let us know: FocusParent@g.risd.org or 469-593-0811

Texas law (S.B. 2158) requires school districts to make inkless, in-home fingerprint and DNA identification kits available to parents or guardians of elementary and junior high students, upon request.

Parents may complete a kit to keep at home to provide to law enforcement authorities if assistance is ever needed to locate and return a missing child.

This program is an optional tool for parents to keep at home. Kits should not be returned to any RISD school or employee. Parents or guardians interested in an in-home fingerprint and DNA identification kit should contact their elementary or junior high school’s front office.

Please visit the Texas School Safety Center website for more information.

To promote the best possible learning and social environment in Richardson ISD, students will not use their cellphones during the school day, unless provided permission from an authorized district employee during the instructional day. The intent of the cellphone policy is to establish a cellphone-free environment and avoid cellphones distracting from learning as well as causing a loss of instructional time.

Statement of Expectations

Campus administrators will state expectations clearly and reinforce the importance of maintaining a cellphone-free environment at the beginning of the year. Administrators will monitor cellphone violations to inform the need for reinforcement and support. Also, any headphone usage will occur based on the approval and expectations set by individual classroom teachers. RISD’s continued focus will be on the mitigation of educational distractions precipitated by the use of cellphones during instructional time.

Consequences

If a student uses their phone during the school instructional day without the explicit permission of an authorized district employee, it will result in the confiscation of the cellphone and adherence to the following graduated offenses stated below. Authorized district employees who will be responsible for cellphone confiscation will include: administrators and teachers.

1st Offense

2nd Offense

3rd Offense

4th Offense

5th Offense

6th Offense and beyond

Please click on the link below to access the 2022-2023 Terrace Family Handbook.

Clothes must be worn in a way that private areas are all fully covered. Undergarments, except straps and waistbands, should not be visible. All items listed in the “must wear” and “may wear” categories below must meet this basic principle.

Student must wear (while following the basic principle above):

• An opaque top with a sleeve or strap and must cover the stomach, back, and chest area

• An opaque bottom, such as pants, jeans or the equivalent of a skirt, sweatpants, joggers, leggings, dress, or shorts

• Closed-toe shoes

Students may wear, as long as these items do not violate basic principle above:

• Fitted pants, including leggings, yoga pants, and skinny jeans

• Ripped jeans as long as underwear and private body parts are not exposed

• Athletic shorts and athletic skirts

• Religious headwear

Students cannot wear:

• Images, language or symbols that depict tobacco products, drugs, drug paraphernalia, alcohol, violence, hate speech, profanity, pornography, gang symbols, or other illegal activities

• Images or language that creates a hostile or intimidating environment based on a

protected class or group.

• Accessories that could be considered dangerous or could be used as a weapon

If you would like to volunteer at Terrace Elementary, you must complete a volunteer background check EVERY new school year. Volunteering could include helping with behavior bashes, attending field trips with your children, working in the library, helping at Field Day, Turkey Trot, or many other activities. We will not allow anyone who has not completed and passed the volunteer background check to volunteer. Please click on the link below to complete the background check. You MUST also watch the very short powerpoint at the end to complete the entire background check. Failure to watch the powerpoint will make your application incomplete and you will not be able to volunteer.

Please be sure to label all belongings that your children bring to school including coats, sweaters, water bottles, backpacks, lunchboxes, sweatshirts, etc. We have several items in our lost and found that have do not have names on them so they cannot be returned.

All families are asked to join the Terrace PTA. The cost is $10 per person. The Terrace PTA helps to provide programs and events for our students and teachers such as our annual Terrace Kickball Game, field trip buses, Donuts with Grown Ups, teacher appreciation events, behavior bashes, STAAR snacks, field day, Turkey Trot, choir and musical performances, and so much more. Our goal is to reach over 500 PTA members this year. Please help us reach our goal by joining today!

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