Cornerstone Connection

I don't know about y'all, but time is moving quickly. This week flew by for me, and it's now mid-September, which means there are only three more weeks left in this grading period. It closes on Thursday, October 5.

Last week, I shared our CSA mission statement: Build community. Encourage growth. Empower learners. This week, I'd love for y'all to take a look at our vision statement.

We strive to be a dynamic, strategically-designed learning community that is empowered by our diversity, recognized for our commitment to excellence, and guided by a distinctive, student-centered approach to the learning process.

How are we doing? If you have a minute to send me an email, I'd love to hear from parents about any ideas you have to help us make this vision happen.

There will be no Learning Lab, tutorials, or late buses on Tues, September 19 due to Open House.

Please remember...September 20, which is Wednesday, is NOT an early dismissal day for CSA.

On all of the district calendars, it says that September 20 is early dismissal for middle school...and it is...except us. In an earlier newsletter, I let everyone know that our early dismissal days are aligned with the high school schedule because we share transportation with Academy of Choice.

Our first early dismissal day will be Wednesday, October 11 at 1:00 p.m.

Don't forget...Tuesday, September 19 is Open House at CSA. The schedule is listed below. However, I also wanted to give a few tips on how to make Open House more successful.

• Simply show up ready to listen and even take notes, if necessary. We really want everyone to attend. This is a great opportunity to spend time with each teacher team to hear more about what your child is working on, what is coming up, and how that class runs.
• Understand this is not a parent/teacher conference...though we are happy to schedule one. Open House is a general overview of the classes, and teachers will not have time to answer a lot of specific questions about each child. If you'd like to schedule a conference, let the teachers know, or find me, Mr. Feak, or Ms. Johnson, and we can help make that happen.
• Seek to understand and partner with teachers, not accuse or divide. We know you are your child's greatest advocate, and we want what's best for him/her too. Let's assume best intentions and find a way to work together towards our common goal.
• When I come over the intercom and say, "Open House is over," it's time to let our hardworking teachers go home. Thank you, in advance, for being respectful of their time.

Here's the agenda for the evening:

• 5:30 - 6:10 PTA meeting & brief welcome from me in the auditorium
• 6:15 - 6:40 Homeroom presentation
• 6:45 - 7:10 Switch class presentation
• 7:10 - 7:30 Elective teachers available in the auditorium (band, dance, theater, and all high school elective classes)

There will be no Learning Lab, tutorials, or late buses on Tues, September 19 due to Open House.

One of our 6th grade parents, Danielle Monroe, who also happens to be our wonderful assistant principal at Academy of Choice, is going to present Canvas 101 for Parents on Zoom this Monday evening at 6:30.

Danielle is fantastic with Canvas as an assistant principal, and now CSA parents get to benefit from her knowledge as a CSA parent as well. On Zoom, she will share her screen so you can see how she navigates Canvas on the parent view, and then, she will have her daughter log in so you can see what's different in the student view. She's also happy to answer any of your questions. Additionally, I'm going to review the Canvas expectations I've set for teachers, so you can align your expectations to those.

If you've ever wondered where to find stuff or had Canvas questions you couldn't answer...this is your opportunity. We hope to see lots of you on Zoom Monday night.

Monday, September 18 at 6:30 p.m. using this Zoom link. If prompted to enter a passcode, use 630876.

As you've seen in the newsletter the past few weeks, I have been begging all of you to complete the beginning of the year forms on Skyward, including the income survey through School Nutrition Services (which I believe is Step 17 or 18 on that list).

All of the forms are important, but the income survey is super important. First of all, we want to make sure we can continue offering free breakfast and lunch to all students regardless of eligibility...and having a high percentage of families complete the form helps. Secondly, the amount of families who qualify for free and reduced lunch has an impact on CSA's accountability rating and funding.

I would love to have 100% of our families complete the forms and survey, so we do have an accurate picture of our free/reduced lunch population. Obviously, I need your help. Thank you to everyone who completed their homework already. To really help our numbers, I've decided to incentivize the process.

Check out the flyer below for more information on how you could win early CESITS sign-up for your child. Kids who won the right to go first through our carnival raffle in April will still go first, but we're going to pick two kids from each grade (whose parent completed their homework) to go right after them at the next CESITS sign-up...as long as homework is completed by the end of the day on September 26.

Every year...even if you've been in Spring Branch forever...parents need to log in to Skyward Family Access and complete forms at the beginning of the year.

Homework for Parents:

1. Log into Skyward Family Access . (If you've never logged in, there are tutorial videos and instructions. If it still doesn't work, please email Mr. Feak.)
2. Look on the left for Returning Student Verification and click there.
3. You should see a list like the one below. As tedious as it may be, your homework is to complete all of these forms.

It's almost time for student-led conferences! These conferences are a Cornerstone expectation, and they're only about a month away.

If you're new to CSA, these conferences are just what the name says -- conferences led by your student. Students will present teacher observation, self-reflections, current MAP data, and their first report card. Teachers are on stand-by for questions, but this should be about the student taking responsibility for his/her learning and presenting it to parents.

This year, student-led conferences are all in-person. We are holding conferences on our first early dismissal day, Wednesday, October 11 in the gym.

We will offer two sessions, and you choose the one that works best for your family's schedule.

• Option 1: 1:00 to 2:00 (right after dismissal)
• Option 2: 3:45 to 6:00

Last year, I think I got out of my rhythm and stopped including the staff shoutout, which is sad...so I'm bringing it back as a weekly part of the newsletter. I'm also trying to invent criteria for a "student spotlight", but I'll let you know when I figure that out.

This week, for our first staff shoutout of the 2023-24 school year, I'd like to recognize someone who has great, positive energy and has been a wonderful addition to CSA this year. She's an experienced teacher who really understands that kids are different and learn at different paces and in a variety of ways. She definitely gives off a student-centered vibe, and I can tell that she's committed to doing her best as a teacher and as a learner herself. Congratulations to our newest 6th grade science teacher, Ms. Madi Leboeuf! Thanks for making CSA a better place to be!

Thank you to all who helped stock our pantry for the start of the school year! Now that the year is underway, we would like to get some fresh foods in for our families. We are asking for gift card donations to HEB, Sam's or just regular Visa gift cards in any denominations. We will be using these to buy things like fruit, veggies, family size frozen meals, bread, snack trays, etc.

Gift cards can be dropped off at the CSA front desk or you can also contact Nicole Stone to pick them up from you. If you drop off at CSA please be sure it is cleared labeled for: CSA Food Pantry.

If your family needs help, and you would like to set up an appointment to visit our food pantry, please email our CIS liaison, Jacqueline Locarno or call 713-251-1536.

For general questions regarding the food pantry or information on items needed, please contact Nicole Stone.