Irons Jr. High Newsletter
We Are Hawks!
Feb 11, 2022
Irons Family,
I have great news, our COVID positivity rate continues to decrease across the district, and at Irons Jr. High, we have now transitioned back to level three response and mitigation. I encourage you to send your kids to school every day if they are not ill. Research tells us that school attendance is one of the best indicators of student success.
Parents, thank you for all you do to support your child with academic and social-emotional success. Junior High is a difficult time for students as they transition from young kids to teenagers. Social media is a leading factor affecting students' academic and social-emotional growth. I encourage you to limit social media on your child's phone, and if your child has a social media account, have that account mirrored to your phone so you can view everything your child is posting. Irons will be providing more information in future newsletters to assist parents with understanding all the social media apps our kids can access and the dangers associated with many of these apps. https://www.commonsensemedia.org/ is a great starting point for parents.
I have great news related to our yearbook! Irons was able to secure a small increase in the number of yearbooks we can offer for sale from our publisher. We currently have 100 yearbooks left for sale. When these are sold, that will be it for the year. Don't miss out!! Purchase your yearbook today!!
https://www.balfour.com/texas/conroe/gerald-d-irons-junior-high
Our Liberty Stars Drill team will host the Irons Spring Dance on Friday, February 25, from 7-9. We are limiting tickets to 300. Students must be passing all classes and have not attended ISS, OSS, DAEP, or received more than four tardies to be eligible to attend. Students must meet school dress code. Tickets will go on sale Tuesday, February 22, in all lunches.
Irons Theatre Department will perform "I Hate Shakespeare" on February 23, 24, and 28 at 7:00. It will be an excellent performance!
Tennis Tryouts: March 29, 30, 31 more information can be found on the Irons Athletic Website https://1de737e5-0584-4671-b1fd-37de39b0ab38.filesusr.com/ugd/fa747e_fd2421bd27864250914c27413b65fcc0.pdf
Golf Tryouts: March 7, 8, 9 more information can be found on the Irons Athletic Website
https://irons.conroeisd.net/department/directory/athletics/
Soccer Tryouts: Week of March 7 more information can be found on the Irons Athletic Website https://irons.conroeisd.net/department/directory/athletics/
Cheer Tryouts: March 10 a mandatory pre-tryout parent and candidate meeting on February 15 at 6:00 in the Irons Girls Gym. All information can be found on the Irons Cheer Website.
https://kneal3.wixsite.com/cheer
Drill Tryouts: April 8 a mandatory pre-tryout parent and candidate Tuesday, March 22 at 6:00 Irons Cafeteria. All information can be found on the Irons Drill Website.
https://rbachman.wixsite.com/libertystars/2020-2021-tryouts
Enjoy the Weekend!
Robert MacFarlane
Irons Jr. High Principal
We Are Hawks!
STAAR Stand-Alone Field Test
During the weeks of February 7 – 18, 2022, school districts across the State of Texas will be participating in the STAAR Stand-Alone Field Test. The STAAR Stand-Alone Field Test is a requirement of HB 3906, from the 86th Legislature, 2019 which mandates a redesign of the STAAR Test to be implemented in the 2022-2023 school year. The purpose of the Stand-Alone Field tests is to gather data to properly integrate new components and question types into the future STAAR assessments.
The Texas Education Agency (TEA) has selected 49 Conroe ISD campuses to participate in the field test. Each campus is selected to administer a single grade or subject. Participation in the STAAR Stand-Alone Field Test is mandated by TEA – districts and campuses may not opt out.
Irons Jr. High has been chosen to administer 8th grade Reading/Language Arts and will administer the test on February 17, 2022.
STAAR Stand-Alone Field Test details:
● Tests are online only; no paper materials are available
● Campuses should schedule approximately 2.5 hours to administer the test
● All eligible students enrolled in the grade or course selected for the campus are required by TEA to participate in the field test – including English Learners and students with disabilities, unless a student requires an accommodation that is not available in the online field test
● No data or scores will be received from the field test, they are for information only – neither campuses nor students are scored or rated based on these tests
● Number and type of questions:
o Math, science, and social studies tests have 30 questions
o Reading tests have 22 to 39 questions
o Question types will vary by test form, but all new questions types will be field tested
More information about the STAAR Redesign process can be found on the TEA STAAR Redesign webpage.
Please let us know if you have any questions.
COVID Self Report Links
How to self-report:
https://www.conroeisd.net/roadmap-to-reopening/covid-19-positive-self-report/
You can also find the updated COVID information at :
https://www.conroeisd.net/roadmap-to-reopening/
COVID Mitigation:
We have continued our best practice of actively cleaning throughout the day and evening, along with e-misting the building. CISD also recently purchased air cleaning systems that instantaneously kill COVID-19 and other airborne pathogens. Instead of trapping viruses and other pathogens in filters as an air purifier, the IVP system uses a heated filter using a metal mesh foam to catch and kill viruses of all species, along with other air pollutants, such as allergens and mold.
Reminder
Irons Dress Code
Parents, we have observed an uptick of students out of dress code the past few weeks. Please ensure that your child meets the Irons Dress Code before departing for school.
- Clothing must cover areas and undergarments from one armpit across to the other armpit, down to approximately the middle of the thigh. Tops must have at least 1 1/2" straps. Cleavage should not be visible. Rips or tears in clothing should be lower than the middle of the thigh.
- Tops exposing midriffs, back area or cleavage is prohibited.
- Boxer shorts, pajamas or blankets are not allowed.
- Skirts and dresses must mid-thigh length.
- Shoes must be worn at all times and should be safe for the school environment (house shoes or slippers shall not be worn).
- See-through or mesh garments must not be worn without appropriate coverage underneath that meet the minimum requirements of the dress code.
- Headgear including hats, hoodies, bandanas, head scarves, skull caps, do-rags, beanies, hair bonnets, and caps are not allowed unless permitted for religious, medical, or other reasons approved by school administration.
- Clothing may not depict, imply, advertise, or advocate illegal, violent, or lewd conduct, weapons, or the use of alcohol, tobacco, marijuana or other controlled substances.
- Clothing may not display or imply vulgar, discriminatory, or obscene language or images.
- Sunglasses may not be worn inside the building.
- Clothing and accessories that endanger student or staff safety may not be worn.
- Ask the student to change into their PE shorts/shirt.
- Ask them if they have a change of clothes in their backpack/locker.
- Provide them with a clean loaner set of PE clothes.
Important Dates
2/11-14 History Interim Assessment
2/15-16 Science Interim Assessment
2/17 8th Grade ELA STAAR Field Test
2/17 Progress Report(PAC)
2/18 School Holiday
2/21 Presidents' Day Holiday
2/25 Irons Spring Dance
3/11 Teacher Professional Learning/Student Holiday
3/11-18 Spring Break
3/25 Report Card
4/14 Progress Report(PAC)
4/15-18 School Holiday
4/27 Red Carpet Awards
*5/4 Algebra EOC*
*5/5 8th Grade Science STAAR*
5/5 Progress Report(PAC)
*5/6 8th Grade History STAAR*
*5/10 7th Math STAAR*
*5/11 7th ELA STAAR*
*5/12 8th Math STAAR*
*5/13 8th ELA STAAR*
*5/5-20 Make-up STAAR*
5/17 NJHS Induction
5/20-26 Semester Exams
5/26 Last Day of School Early Release at 1:10
6/1 Report Card
Irons Jr. High
Email: contactirons@conroeisd.net
Website: https://irons.conroeisd.net/
Location: 16780 Needham Road, Conroe, TX, USA
Phone: 936-709-8500
Twitter: @Irons_Principal