Tiger Talk Back 2 School Edition #6
8/10/2021
Today's Edition: Lunch Time!
Please watch for our daily editions, weekdays 8/3 - 8/16!
We are SOOOO excited to start the new school year!!! And, we suspect that you might be, too!
To prepare us all for August 18, we are publishing Special Edition Tiger Talks each weekday leading up to Meet the Teacher Day and the First Day of School. In each Special Edition, we will cover a topic that we hope you will find reassuring and helpful.
And, certainly, if you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact us. It is a pleasure and a privilege to be of assistance to our Tiger Families.
We look forward to seeing you soon!
A Welcome From our Principal
It is with great pleasure that I extend a warm welcome to all of our new and returning families to West Cypress Hills Elementary School! There are so many reasons to celebrate our school, and it starts with your being a part of this magnificent community. West Cypress Hills Elementary is a learning community where every learner is nurtured, respected, and challenged. Here at WCHE we believe learning should be a social, inspiring journey full of dynamic experiences that build the love of life-long learning in all of our students. This year we will continue to explore all of the ways West Cypress teachers build personal, inspiring and authentic educational experiences for our learners.
I am thrilled that you have chosen West Cypress Hills Elementary as your child’s school. Our staff is highly-qualified, hard-working, and dedicated to growing strong learners and leaders here on our campus. We deeply appreciate your sharing your wonderful children with us here at WCHE. We treasure the opportunity to learn and grow together with our WCHE families.
If convenient for you to do so, please stop by our school Library, Wednesday, August 18, around 7:42 am, so that I can visit with you in person over a cup of coffee. Our fabulous PTO is sponsoring a Principal's Coffee the morning that our Tigers start their new school year. I look forward to meeting you there.
With warmest regards,
Melanie Beninga, Principal
Tigers' Scheduled Lunch Times
Our Tigers are provided a 30-minute break in order to enjoy lunchtime. Tigers are escorted to the Tigers' Den (aka Cafeteria) by their teachers. During their lunch break, the Tigers' Den is supervised by our WCHE Lunch Monitors. Our Lunch Monitors aid our students in obtaining their lunches, finding their seats, their utensils and napkins, and to provide any other assistance that might be needed. When lunch time is over, the teachers escort the Tigers back to class.
Our lunch schedule is:
Kindergarten.......11:40 to 12:10
1st Grade............10:30 to 11:00
2nd Grade...........11:15 to 11:45
3rd Grade............12:05 to 12:35
4th Grade............12:35 to 1:05
5th Grade..............1:05 to 1:35Tigers Need Fuel!
Fuel and Nutrition Services' Mission Statement:
"Working together with passion & dedication to serve all students healthy meals while providing excellent customer service."
Lake Travis ISD Food and Nutrition Services (FANS) department:
- Non-profit, self-funded food service program
- Serving approximately 8000 quality, nutritionally-sound breakfast and lunch meals daily for students and staff on all campuses
- Meals meet nutrition requirements and guidelines as established by Federal, State, and/or department guidelines
- Nutrition education is offered through interactive programs in all campus cafes and community presentations
Student lunches will be offered each day for students who wish to enjoy a school lunch. Students who bring a lunch may purchase a drink or snack a la carte through the lunch line. Federal Lunch Program forms are available online here. Lunch accounts can be set up online at the “Online Meals Prepay” link.
We recommend that all students have an account with a few days' credit on it just in case lunches or lunch money are misplaced or forgotten. We've provided links and information within this newsletter so that you can add money to your Tiger's lunch account, view your child’s purchases, access the daily menu, and to set restrictions for your child’s lunch purchases. It is not permissible for the cafeteria and school staff to restrict your child’s purchases. Please take the time to review the Food and Nutrition Services (FANS) site to establish your child’s lunch account.
There are special reserved areas for the classes that include students with food allergies.
Food may not be brought and shared with other children. For your convenience, we have cafeteria monitors who will assist the children in the cafeteria.
Complete Meal Information
Breakfast
The 4 breakfast meal items are listed below:
- Fruit or Fruit Juice
- Protein
- Grain
- Milk
Students must choose 3 of the 4 meal items. One must be a fruit or fruit juice.
Lunch
The 5 lunch meal components are listed below:
- Fruit
- Vegetable
- Protein
- Grain
- Milk (8 oz. milk or 10 oz. water)
A complete lunch meal must include at least 3 of the 5 meal components. One must be a fruit or a vegetable! Students can pick up to 5 components for the same full meal price.
Note: cheese is in the PROTEIN group according to the USDA.
Complete Meals are available for the following menus and are eligible for meal benefits.
- Breakfast Menu
- Lunch Menu
Setting up a Student Meal Account
Adding funds to your student's lunch account is simple!
Here is some helpful information about My School Bucks Information (Online Prepayments):
- Online meal pre-payments can take up to 24 hours to process.
- The My School Bucks service charges a convenience fee of $2.75 for online credit card deposits up to $240.00 (as of 7/16/2021).
- The overall convenience fee for the max credit card deposit is 1%. LTISD Food and Nutrition Services does not receive any revenue from this fee. Heartland School Solutions funds their service via this transaction fee.
- Due to the volume of transactions, any discrepancies in charges or deposits must be reported within five operating business days.
- Please allow up to 10 operating business days for resolution of a discrepancy.
- In all instances, students will not be allowed to purchase snacks or a la carte items without a positive balance in their lunch account!
- For lunch account refunds and adjustments, please fill out a Refund/Transfer Request Form located in the Forms section of our website.
- You may sign up for My School Bucks to utilize transaction history and other features for free. There is only a charge when using the online credit card deposit service.
- For more information, call 512-533-7990 or email foodservice@ltisdschools.org.
Establishing Boundaries
We offer parents and guardians the option to restrict purchases on student meal accounts utilizing the Lunch Account Restriction Form. Purchases will not be restricted without a signed and completed Lunch Account Restriction Form on file. In all circumstances, students will not be allowed to purchase snacks or a la carte items without a positive balance in their lunch account.
We do not offer custom restrictions for meal/snack purchases unless a student has a medical disability and needs specific meal accommodations.
The Lunch Account Restriction Forms are located under the Forms page of the website.
You are Welcome to Join your Tiger(s) for Lunch as of August 30!
We ask parents to hold off visiting for lunch until we have made it through the first two weeks of school. The reason for the requested delay is that we have found that Tigers need to spend time with our staff learning lunch account information, finding their seats in the cafeteria, lunchroom etiquette, and arrival and dismissal routines. This time is sacred for us to establish routines in the lunchroom. After the second week of school, we welcome parents to visit their own child(ren) during lunch time.
When visiting our campus, you will need to sign in at the Raptor kiosk to obtain your visitor badge. Once that's accomplished, you are welcome to proceed to the Parent Table inside our Tigers' Den (aka cafeteria.)
You are welcome to bring in food for yourself and your child. Food may not be brought and shared with other children.
Also, please be respectful of other families' privacy concerns. Please do not take photos inside the Tigers' Den except in the designated photo area. You may take a photo of your own child(ren) in that area. Please be careful not to photograph other students.
For your convenience, we have cafeteria monitors who will assist the children in the cafeteria. Please report any concerns to the monitors at the end of the lunch period.
When Visiting our Campus
For the safety of those within the school setting, all visitors are expected to demonstrate the highest standards of courtesy and conduct. Disruptive behavior will not be tolerated. All visitors must immediately report to the Receptionist to sign in and receive a visitor pass to wear while on campus.
Raptor Visitor Management System
For the safety and security of our students, LTISD has implemented the Raptor Visitor Management System at all campuses. Raptor is the nation's leading provider of integrated school safety technologies and is designed to ensure that adult visitors on campus are identified and do not pose a threat to any students or staff.
Upon entering an LTISD campus, visitors will be asked to present one of the following forms of identification:
- Valid Driver’s License (any state)
- Passport State-Issued Identification
- Card Work Visa Green Card
Licenses or identification cards will be scanned and returned. Once cleared, visitors will be issued a visitor's badge, which must be worn at all times while on campus. Upon departure, the visitor's badge must be returned to the Receptionist.
Once your photo ID has been scanned into the Raptor Visitor Management System, the system should save your information so that you can sign yourself in at one of our Raptor kiosks located in the Front Office without the need to have the photo ID scanned into the system again.
Upcoming Events
All Summer.............Tales & Tails WCHE Summer Reading Camp
07/01/21................LT Extended Care 21-22 Registration Opens Learn More
5 pm 8/7 - noon 8/11.....Apply for Online Learning via Skyward
08/09 - 08/17/21....WCHE Office Open Weekdays 7:30 am to 4:00 pm
08/15/21.................LTEF Kinder Car Parade @ LTHS, 3322 RR 620 South, 3 - 5 pm.
08/17/21.................Meet the Teacher Day
08/18/21.................1st Day of School 7:40 am - 3:00 pm
08/18/21.................Coffee with the Principal 7:42 am WCHE Library
08/23/21.................1st Day of School for Online Learning
08/26/21.................PTO General Assembly - Tiger's Den - 9:30 am RSVP
09/02/21.................Curriculum Night, KG-2nd 5:30 - 6:15 pm & 3rd - 5th 6:30 - 7:15 pm
09/06/21.................No School - Happy Labor Day!
More Information about WCH
West Cypress Hills Elementary
Email: wchprincipal@ltisdschools.org
Website: https://www.ltisdschools.org/WCHE
Location: 6112 Cypress Ranch Boulevard, Travis County, TX, United States
Phone: 512-533-7500
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ltisdschools
Twitter: @principalwch