The Rattlin' Rattler
March 2018
March Rattlin Rattler
Wow, Spring Break (March 12-16) is almost here! The faculty and students are working hard and having fun! I would like to thank the many parents who attended our February special events: PTA meeting, 2nd grade performance, 1st Raba Family Dance and Family Night. All of events were a huge success thanks to the support we get from our community. Our Festival of Nations last year brought together 17 nations from around the world and together we experienced different cultures and cuisine. What a wonderful experience! I look forward to this year’s Festival, I am sure it will be a success as well. Please sign up with the form provided to represent your country.
Our Fun Run/Walk-a-Thon brought in a record number of participants this year and was a great fundraiser. The exact fundraising amount will be announced at our next PTA Meeting. Thank you very much, we greatly appreciate your support!
We now look forward to seeing you at the March events. The last two weeks of March are important weeks for our second, third, fourth and fifth grade English Language Learners (ELL). Our ELL students will take the TELPAS Reading, Listening and Speaking online Test on the following dates:
5th Grade- March 20th
4th Grade- March 21st
3rd Grade- March 22nd
2nd Grade- March 27th
In addition, STAAR Testing is here for our fourth graders and fifth graders. Fourth grade will take the Writing STAAR Test and fifth grade will take the Math STAAR Test on April 10th (closed campus due to multiple grades testing) . Fifth grade will also take the Reading STAAR Test on April 11th. Please make sure your child gets a good night of sleep and eats a healthy breakfast.
As always, we welcome all visitors to our school. When you arrive on campus after 7:45AM, please be sure to stop by the office to have your ID scanned and get a visitor’s pass. Please stop by the office to return your visitor’s pass before you leave. This is a policy that we have in place for the safety of our Raba children.
As a reminder our front doors open at 7:00AM. Please do not drop off students prior to 7:00AM as they will be unsupervised. Also, the cafeteria closes at 7:40AM. If your child eats breakfast at school they need to arrive prior to 7:40AM. Please keep in mind that the front parking lot is not a drop off zone for morning arrival or pick up zone for dismissal. I have noticed a number of vehicles doing this and it is a safety concern. Traffic can get hectic during these times so I ask you to please obey parking lot signage and parking spaces. Also, please note the arrows on the pavement and the sign as you drive into the parking lot. as you enter the parking lot we have a one way sign pointing to the right. Please follow the flow of traffic.
Lastly, I want to Keep Moving Forward!
Yours in education,
Mrs. Francesca L Neal
Principal
News From The Library
The Raba library welcomes authors, storytellers, and even singing zoologists to inspire students love of reading while they bring stories to life.
Rock & Roll
Students school wide will rock out with Lucas Miller,the singing zoologist, and learn all about ecosystems.
To Catch A Thief
Author Claudia Villarreal along with pre-k, Kinder and 1st graders tried to stop the Alphabet Thief not to steal the vowels.
Writing for Success
Author Crystal Allen challenged
4th graders to a writing contest.
A Note From Our Vice Principal
March Rattlin Rattler
March Madness is around us and our school community have their game faces on learning and having a great time in school! There are so many wonderful things going on at our campus.
Our art teacher Ms. Gonzalez has been working very hard with our students in creating beautiful artwork to submit to the Texas Cavaliers River Parade Art Contest and one of our fourth grades students, Taun Hang is the City Council District 6 winner! There will be a press conference early March to find out if he is the grand prize winner. Good luck Taun! Also, Northside ISD PTA Council held a PTA cover contest for the PTA Founders Day Program. Two of our students, Mia Garza fifth grade and Tuan Hang fourth grade were semi finalists and were displayed at the Founder’s Day event. Congratulations!
Our music teacher, Ms. Almanza was surprised by the Northside Education Foundation Prize Patrol where she was awarded with a grant to purchase musical instruments and other musical resources. Can’t wait to see what beautiful music the students will be playing.
Our rocking Raba Robo Builders have advanced to the next level! At their last meet they placed 6th and received a trophy for Inspiration! They will be competing March 3rd at McCollum High School. Good luck to Ms. Griego, Ms. Williams and the students!
Gabriella Almanza
Being Awarded with a Music Grant by the Northside Education Foundation Prize patrol for the 4th time!! Congratulations to her!
Katrina Gonzalez
Two Award Winning Art Students
Robotics
Raba Robo Builders!
Our awesome Librarian Mrs. Hughes will represent Raba and be recognized March 6th at Northside’s “Simply the Best” Elementary Educator of the Year celebration. If you have not visited Mrs. Hughes and our library, please take time to do so. It is a lovely place to visit.
This is just a few of the wonderful events that is going on at our campus. To see more of what is going on at our campus, visit us on our campus website or our Twitter page.
@NISDRabaES
https://nisd.net/schools/info/167
Things to Remember:
The end of the nine weeks is March 29. If you have any concerns about your child’s grades or attendance please notify their teacher.
Don’t forget to show your school spirit. Every Monday is school spirit day and everyone is encouraged to wear a school t-shirt. Also, every Friday is wear your favorite college shirt to promote higher education! Go Roadrunners!
As always thank you for all you support in making our school community a wonderful place to work, play and learn.
Respectfully yours,
Mrs. Kristina Diaz
Vice Principal
Raba's Annual Festival of Nations
The 3nd Annual Festival of Nations Family event will be held at Raba Elementary on 3/28/18 from 5:00-7:00. Students will be able learn and celebrate the diverse cultural heritages of over 21 different countries that are represent our Raba community! Families are asked to express their nations’ customs through exhibits, cuisine, clothing, personal connections, and performances. If you are interested in helping with the Festival of Nations Event, please join the Remind group entitled Raba Festival of Nations Family Event by texting @rabaisfun to the number 81010. Thank you!
A WORD FROM OUR NURSE!
~PK and Kinder Parents, please remember to keep a change of weather appropriate clothes in your child's backpack in case of an accident.
~ Parents, please keep emergency phone numbers up to date.
~ This is the time of year we begin to see an increase in head lice. Please remind your child not to share hats, jackets, combs, or brushes with classmates. If your child has lice, please treat them and remove all nits. Please bring them to the clinic to be checked prior to going to class. Together we can work to prevent and reduce the amount of lice at school! Any questions, please feel free to stop by the clinic or call me at 210-397-1359.
Thank You, Nurse Keri