Today I will respect myself and others by replacing words that hurt with words that build others up.

I will work hard and play fair.

I will act with integrity by doing the right thing.

I will use my resources when I face problems.

The choice is mine, and I CHOOSE CHARACTER!

We cannot tell you how proud we are of the work that is happening from our Dragons. We know going into this week may feel a little different now that Montgomery County is under a shelter in place order. We encourage you to go for a walk each day with your child and be sure that you're allowing them to express their feelings on how things are going. During these times, it is not uncommon for children to go through ups and downs as well, because we are changing their routines as well. Be sure that you take time to listen to them and if you're needing help, please reach out to Becky Stiles, our amazing school counselor. (rstiles@conroeisd.net)

We have been told that education is considered an "essential need" and therefore, we are still able to provide packets at the school if you need to use this instead of the online learning. Either way is fine. We do ask that you keep your social distancing at the school if you come to pickup a packet. The packet pickup will be Monday at 8:00 am to Friday at 5:00 pm.

If your child has accommodations due to special education, ESL, 504, or RTI, your child's teacher will be contacting you to help you navigate the week. This will either come from an email or a "blocked phone call". I have instructed teachers to call as a "blocked call" at this time because they are calling from their home phone. If you have any questions, please reach out to your child's teacher and they will help you.

While our school is now closed until April 13th, we will be answering phones remotely. Please call 832-592-8700 and Mrs. O will take a message and get it to the person who needs to call you back. If you call directly to someone's phone line, it may not be answered as quickly. Additionally, we will have a generic email address for your questions that will be monitored from 8:00-3:00 each day. If you have an academic question, please email your child's teacher or the teacher who is on office hours. If you have a system type questions, you can email the generic email address at contactderetchin@conroeisd.net.

Just a reminder -- If you need ANYTHING at all, please reach out to us. We are here to serve your family even if we are not all together right now.

Thank you for the support that you've shown our teachers and staff. We are BLESSED to serve the Deretchin Family each day. Stay Safe Dragons. -- Dr. Reeves

Each teacher will host an hour of office hours during the day to answer directly to any grade level questions that you may have regarding your child's assignments. During these times, you will receive a direct answer back if you email the teacher listed below. If you choose to email your child's teacher instead of the teacher in office hours, you will still receive a response within 24 hours. We hope this helps you get the answers faster from teachers as they are all working together to create these assignments.

Please be sure to list your child's name in the subject line of the email as well as their homeroom teacher.

Kinder

Martin - 10:00-11:00 mmartin@conroeisd.net

Stanley - 11:00-12:00 jgraves@conroeisd.net

Neuenschwander - 12:00-1:00 cneuenschwander@conroeisd.net

Michalak - 1:00-2:00 amichalak@conroeisd.net

First Grade Office Hours:

Meyer- 9:00-10:00 cmeyer@conroeisd.net

Ross- 10:00-11:00 lross@conroeisd.net

Beck- 11:00-12:00 lbeck@conroeisd.net

Koehl-12:00-1:00 ekoehl@conroeisd.net

Juneau-1:00-2:00 sjuneau@conroeisd.net

Stauffer- 2:00-3:00 lrisher@conroeisd.net

Second

9:00 - 10:00 Jill jwinters@conroeisd.net

10:00 - 11:00 Sally scaporale@conroeisd.net

11:00 - 12:00 Bailey bwagner@conroeisd.net

12:00 - 1:00 Amy awinters@conroeisd.net

1:00 - 2:00 Bacon lbacon@conroeisd.net

Third

Samantha Halbach, 9:00 - 10:00 shalbach@conroeisd.net

Davelyn Mills, 10:00 - 11:00 dmills@conroeisd.net

Clarissa Montgomery, 11:00 - 12:00 cgmontgomery@conroeisd.net

Shae Cleveland, 12:00 - 1:00 sscleveland@conroeisd.net

Kelly Benner, 1:00 - 2:00 kbenner@conroeisd.net

Nancy Rainbird, 2:00 - 3:00 nrainbird@conroeisd.net

Fourth

8:00- Andrea Mattingly amattingly@conroeisd.net

9:00- Hailey Duncan hduncan@conroeisd.net

10:00- Lori Falterman lfalterman@conroeisd.net

11:00- Kristin Garza kdgarza@conroeisd.net

12:00- Robyn White rrwhite@conroeisd.net

1:00- Ana Whaley awhaley@conroeisd.net

Fifth

Woodul - 8:00 mwoodul@conroeisd.net

Lindsey - 9:00 jlindsey@conroeisd.net

Gilmore - 10:00 cbgilmore@conroeisd.net

Woolson - 11:00 jwoolson@conroeisd.net

Renick - 12:00 mschatzrenick@conroeisd.net

Cheung - 1:00 acheung@conroeisd.net

Peduzzi - 2:00 rpeduzzi@conroeisd.net

Sixth

9:00-10:00 Lilly jalilly@conroeisd.net

10:00-11:00 Roz mroznovsky@conroeisd.net

11:00-12:00 Drilling mdrilling@conroeisd.net

12:00-1:00 Schoppe oschoppe@conroeisd.net

1:00-2:00 O’Donnell mnodonnell@conroeisd.net

2:00-3:00 Powell hpowell@conroeisd.net

Fine Arts/PE

8:00-9:00 Childs Choir/Music mchilds@conroeisd.net

9:00-10:00 Colschen Art ccolschen@conroeisd.net

10:00-11:00 Gibson Art diagibson@conroeisd.net

10:00-11:00 Shackelford Band/Music aeshackelford@conroeisd.net

11:00-12:00 Chernitsky PE mchernitsky@conroeisd.net

12:00-1:00 Parra PE tparra@conroeisd.net

1:00-2:00 Dillard Orchestra/Music smdillard@conroeisd.net

2:00-3:00 Shaw Band/Music kashaw@conroeisd.net

Good hand hygiene is the most important part of preventing any type of illness, including COVID-19. Below is a great link to activities for any age group to help teach about the importance of hand hygiene. Along with your hand hygiene reference I have included a link to the CDC's recommendations on how to talk to you child about COVID-19. Stay healthy Dragon Family and I look forward to seeing everyone very soon.

http://www.glogerm.com/worksheets.html

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/daily-life-coping/talking-with-children.html?CDC_AA_refVal=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cdc.gov%2Fcoronavirus%2F2019-ncov%2Fcommunity%2Fschools-childcare%2Ftalking-with-children.html

Our "virtual" Spotlight Ceremony for Self-Discipline will be this Friday, April 3rd! Students and their parents who are chosen for this month's pillar of character, will be notified by Thursday. Your grade level teachers will be creating a zoom video that records each of them reading their certificates! This video will be sent to their grade level.

Remember, we take our character everywhere! Even during this time of remote learning!! This character pillar is definitely getting some practice for all of us!

It was SO great to see so many faces on our car parade! We are missing our kids and families! I hope you are doing well. Please remember that we are here to support you in any way. If you need more resources, or have a concern, please email me and I'll give you a call.

Our district counseling focus for this week is "Resolving Conflict". I had to smile a little when I think of how appropriate that would have been in my home when my kids were home together :)

Even our youngest students know that there is no such thing as a perfect day! Conflict happens to everyone....everyday. WE ARE NOT BORN WITH CHARACTER! WE HAVE TO LEARN IT. The way we learn character comes with practice....and with mistakes.

The information below follows lessons I have already taught this year K-6. Please let me know if there are any other topics or resources that you would like me to share!

Kelso the frog teaches students how to solve “small” problems on their own. “Small” problems include conflicts that cause “small” feelings of annoyance, embarrassment, boredom, etc. “BIG problems” always need to be taken to an adult. These are situations that are scary, dangerous, or illegal. Kelso has nine choices to solve “small problems.” These are illustrated in the Kelso’s Choice Wheel.

When a child comes to you to solve their “small problem,” tell them to try one to two of Kelso’s Choices first. If that doesn’t work, then an adult can intervene. Make sure your kids know to ask an adult for help in the event of a “BIG problem.”

K.C.’s Wheel is for grades 3-4, who may be a little too mature for Kelso’s Choice Wheel. There are “minor problems” that cause minor feelings of annoyance, embarrassment, boredom, etc. There are also “SERIOUS problems” that need to be taken to an adult. These are situations that are scary, dangerous, illegal, etc.

• Your friend accidently kicked your chair.
• A classmate isn't playing by the soccor rules at recess.
• Someone cut in line in front of you.
• You see a classmate take something off the teacher's desk.
• You hear someone use inappropriate words in PE.
• An older student is waving a stick around like a sword on the bike path.
• Your best friend isn't talking to you.
• You see someone get kicked at recess.
• CAN YOU THINK OF ANYMORE?

One important piece of resolving conflicts is to understand all the different points of view that are involved. We tend to just focus on what WE think is correct, but that will never help solve a problem!

Look carefully at the picture above. What do you see first? Let everyone in your family study the picture before sharing. Do you see a horse? or a frog?

More than one person can see the SAME picture and see something different. The same is true about problems. It's important to STOP, LISTEN, and THINK before you act or speak.