KES Family Handbook 19-20

Kyle Elementary School Family Handbook 2019-2020 Where Learning is an Adventure!

Table of Contents Arrival Procedures Field Trips Buses and Breakfast Grading Guidelines Car Riders and Walkers Health and Wellness Visitors Homework Lost and Found Attendance & Tardies Mentoring Parent Teacher Association Campus Information Student Progress How can we help? School Expectations Campus Information Social Emotional Learning All About KES (SEL) Volunteering Cafeteria Communication Dismissal Procedures Buses Car Riders Walkers Dress Code Electronic Devices Emergency & Safety Procedures

Arrival Buses and Breakfast Bus Students exit bus by the cafeteria gate. Students may go to breakfast or the front hall and wait for the 7:15 am bell. Bus schedules can be found on your Parent Self Serve Portal. Parent Self Serve Portal Bus Hotline Breakfast When students arrive they may go to the cafeteria for breakfast, wait in the gym or Main Hall for the 7:15 am bell. Menus Payment Free and Reduced Meal Application Table of Contents

Arrival Walkers and Car Riders Walkers 7:05-7:30 Students who walk to school will enter through the front doors starting at 7:05 am and either go to the cafeteria for breakfast or to the main hall to wait for the 7:15 am bell. Car Riders in Gym 7:05-7:30 All students arriving in a car should only be dropped off in the back car rider line and enter through the gym. PLEASE DO NOT drop your student off on Blanco Street. Gym car rider doors will close at the 7:30 bell. Clocks tend to be off from each other so please arrive early to avoid doors being shut. Table of Contents

Arrival Visitors Visitors All visitors MUST present a valid ID to enter the campus. ID’s will be scanned into our Raptor System and a sticker will be produced for you to wear while on campus. Please return sticker to front office before you leave. Visitors may come on campus 7:15-7:30 during arrival times after checking in at the front office. No visitors on campus between 7:20-8:05. This allows our teachers and students start their day on time. Table of Contents

Attendance The Compulsory Attendance Law of Texas requires that school age children (including PPCD, PK, and Kindergarten) attend school every day unless they have an acceptable excuse. Excused absences include sickness or a death in the family. Absences due to family business or vacation are unexcused. If your student is absent from school, you will need to send a written note, note from doctor, or email to [email protected] within 5 school days of the absence. If your child has a doctor or dentist appointment and attends any part of the school day, the absence does NOT count against the child’s attendance record. Tardies Arriving early to school helps students set their day up for success. Students need to be in their classroom and ready to learn by the 7:35 am bell. Students who enter at 7:30, may not make it to class on time and will be sent back for a tardy slip. Daily attendance is important. Your student loses valuable instruction when they arrive late, do not attend, or leave early. Table of Contents

Attendance Attendance Matters! 1 or 2 days a week doesn't seem like much but…….. If your child misses…. That equals…. Which is... And over 13 years of 4 weeks per year schooling that’s…... 1 day every 2 weeks 20 days per year 8 weeks per year 16 weeks per year Nearly 1½ years of 1 day per week 40 days per year 24 weeks per year school 2 days per week 80 days per year Over 2½ years of 3 days per week 120 days per year school Over 5 years of school Nearly 8 years of school How about 10 minutes late a day? Surely that won’t affect my child! He/she is only That equals…. Which is... And over 13 years of missing just……. schooling that’s…... 10 minutes per day 50 minutes per week Nearly 1½ weeks per year Nearly ½ year 20 minutes per day 1 hour 40 minutes per week Over 2½ weeks per Nearly 1 year 30 minutes per day year Half a day per week Nearly 1 1/1 years 4 weeks per year 1 hour per day 1 day per week 8 weeks per year Over 2½ years EVERY Day and Minute Counts! If you want your child to be successful at school, YES attendance does matter! Table of Contents

We are here to assist you! Front Desk Fax # Customer Service Hours 512-268-3311 512-268-1417 7:05 am – 3:30 pm Principal Secretary Karen Lucita Laurie Saavedra [email protected] [email protected] Assistant Principal Smiling Face at the Front Linda Garcia Desk [email protected] Jeannette.Garraway jeannette.garraway@hayscisd. School Counselor net Judith Martinez [email protected] Attendance and Transportation Changes School Nurse [email protected] Jennifer Giddiens, R.N. [email protected] PEIMS Clerk (School Records) Brenda Stewart [email protected] Table of Contents

Campus Information Twitter @KESPanthers Facebook Kyle Elementary School (like our page) Instagram @kyle_elem_panthers Hays CISD email protocol [email protected] Campus Website https://www.hayscisd.net/Domain/16cfm District Website www.hayscisd.net Volunteer Sign Up (VIP) www.hayscisd.net/vips Table of Contents

All About KES Mascot: Panthers Colors: Black and Gold Opened: in 1939 as Kyle Independent School District. It later became Kyle High School, and now Kyle Elementary School. Grades: Pre-Kindergarten to 5th Inclusive: PPCD and SBI Population: Projected Enrollment 625 4th & 5th Grade: Science Technology the Arts Engineering and Math (STEAM) magnet Table of Contents

Cafeteria Breakfast and lunch are served daily. Everyone is encouraged to apply online for free or reduced meals. All inquiries and applications are confidential. For more information about school meals, contact Child Nutrition or KES Cafeteria Manager, Tina Shaw [email protected] If you visit during lunch time, please make sure you bring your ID and check-in at the front office. We ask that all GUESTS please sit with your child and 1 other student only at our designated GUEST TABLES. Child Nutrition laws prohibit bringing outside food for a student that is NOT your child. Please help us follow this procedure and ONLY bring your child food. During SPECIAL lunch days. We have many visitors. Please make plans to arrive early to avoid missing your child’s lunch. In September, we celebrate Grandparents on one day and in November we have a Thanksgiving lunch over two days. Menus Meal Payments Free and Reduced Meal Application Table of Contents

Communication The communication link between parents and teachers is vital to the success that children experience in school. We encourage written correspondence, email, phone calls, and face-to-face conferences between you and your child’s teachers. As a courtesy to our teachers and to protect instructional time, we require that all classroom observations be scheduled ahead of time with the teacher and administration. In order to create the least amount of distraction, observations will be limited to 45 minutes in length. At KES, we utilize electronic communication as much as possible to reduce paper that comes home. Please make sure your email address is current on your Parent Self Serve - this is the email used for campus wide emails. Be on the lookout for: ● Weekly Family Newsletter - Panther Proclamation ○ Emailed every Sunday evening at 6:30 pm, posted on Facebook and Twitter ● Weekly Teacher or Grade Level newsletter Dojo We encourage all families to sign up for Dojo through the classroom teacher. As a campus we will be using Dojo this year to communicate class and campus events, as well as dismissal changes due to weather. To create an account, you can visit https://www.classdojo.com/ Table of Contents

Dismissal All Dismissal (Transportation) changes must go through the front office by 1:30 pm. After 1:30, we cannot guarantee the message will be received prior to dismissal. Ways to reach the office: 1. Call 512-268-3311 2. Email [email protected] 3. Send a note to school - student brings it to front office PLEASE do not park on BLANCO STREET in front of the school or across the street on NORTH STREET during dismissal. This is for the safety of our students walking. Table of Contents

Dismissal Buses Students may only ride the bus designated to their home address. Transfer students are not eligible for bus service. Buses leave campus at approximately 3:05 pm. Please expect bus delays the first few days of school. Bus schedules can be found on your Parent Self Serve Portal. Parent Self Serve Portal Bus Hotline Table of Contents

Dismissal Car Riders GYM Car Riders (Grades 1st-5th and younger siblings) - To help us move the line quicker, please put student name(s) on a piece of paper and place in your car window. Student names will be called, students will line up, and then be released to cars. If your student does not come out, please pull up in front of the white line and we will call for them again. We close GYM CAR RIDERS when the last car arrives. If doors are closed, your student will be in the front office. PK & KN Car Riders (Grade PK and KN ONLY) - THIS IS NEW and A CHANGE from previous years. We have added PK students this year and will no longer have room for older siblings. PK and KN students will go to the GYM CAR RIDERS and wait with older siblings in gym. Table of Contents

Dismissal WALKERS Front walkers - This is for students who leave south or west of the campus and not in a bus zone. All Front Walkers MUST live in the FRONT WALKER zone. Addresses will be checked. Front walkers will be dismissed after buses leave so students are not crossing and walking with the buses. Back Walkers - This is for students who live north or east of the campus and not in a bus zone. All Back Walkers MUST live in the BACK WALKER zone. Addresses will be checked. Back Walkers will be released with the buses. Table of Contents

Dress Code Student dress and grooming should not distract or impede participation in school activities. Tennis shoes should be worn on P.E. days. NO shoes with wheels or shoes with games. Hats may be worn for outside activities. Hats need to be taken off while inside the building. Exceptions can be made with teacher or administration approval. Clothing or accessories that have images or words depicting alcohol,tobacco, drugs, or violence is prohibited. KES students should show pride in the way they dress. If their dress distracts or impedes school activities, parents will be notified by a staff member. Table of Contents

Electronic Devices Each classroom is equipped with electronic devices for student to use for instructional purposes. With teacher approval, students may bring their own device. Students MUST follow the Hays CISD acceptable use agreement while at school. Students may bring cell phones, but they must be powered off during the school day. Table of Contents

Emergency and Safety Procedures For your child’s safety, all visitors are required to check in at the school office with a valid state issued ID and obtain a visitor sticker. Throughout the year various emergency procedures will be practiced ranging from fire and tornado drills, to lockdown and emergency evacuation procedures. To enter our campus, you will need to go through the front doors and ring the doorbell to enter the office. For emergencies, we follow Hays County Standard Response Protocol (SRP). More information can be found at https://hayscountysrp.com/. Table of Contents

Field Trips In order for a student to attend an off campus learning experience (field trip), they must have a signed permission slip returned to school. Students must ride to and from field trip destinations in school district transportation. Depending on the circumstances, exceptions to ride from the field trip can be made if the request is made at least one day before in writing. Families members are not permitted on the bus and must provide their own transportation. This includes younger and older siblings. Families attending are responsible for any entrance fees. Not all field trips allow families to attend. All adults attending the field trip will need to sign up on our Volunteer in Public School (VIP) site. Approval through our VIP system will allow you to be on the field trip around KES students. You will need to stp by the campus the morning of the field trip to pick up your name tag that will let the teachers know you have completed the VIP approval and can be around all KES students. VIP Link Table of Contents

Grading Guidelines Grading Standards – Elementary Hays CISD expects students to give their best effort the first time an assignment is made or a project or test is given. To ensure this quality of work, the following rules apply: 1. Teachers are required to record a minimum of one daily grade per week and a minimum of three major grades per grading period for each content area. 2. Daily grades will count for 75% and major grades will count for 25% of the overall grade for a grading period. 3. Teacher discretion may be used to determine what assignments constitute a daily or major grade, except for district-required Curriculum Based Assessments, which are to be recorded as a daily grade and eligible for reassessment. 4. Homework may be assigned and rewards or consequences given for completion or non- completion. Homework may not receive a numerical grade in the gradebook. 5. Students may not receive grades for participation without demonstrating mastery of the objective standards and district curriculum or as documented in their IEP. 6. Students have five school days from the time an assignment or test is returned to the student to receive re-teaching and to re-do the daily grade assignments. 7. Students may re-submit daily grade assignments and re-test only one time per assignment. 8. Students may receive a maximum grade of 70 on all re-submitted daily grade assignments and tests. 9. Major grades are not eligible for re-do. Table of Contents

Grading Guidelines 10. Assessments given within the last week of the grading period will be recorded on the following grading period. Re-teaching and reassessment for mastery – Elementary Students not mastering an objective standard will have the opportunity to be re-taught and reassessed a second time. Re-teaching may occur in a variety of ways and in different settings. This may or may not be scheduled during class time, but must be pre-announced so that students may plan accordingly. Since a single skill is addressed numerous times throughout a grade levels curriculum, a student has many opportunities to demonstrate mastery of that skill. The number of re-teaching opportunities such as independent practice, activities, and/or ongoing homework, depends upon the professional judgment of the teacher and are required to strengthen skills prior to a second assessment. For reassessment, the teacher may or may not use the same assessment to determine mastery. Late and Make-up Assignments – Elementary Students are expected to complete all assignments. If a student is unable to complete their work during allotted time, teachers will provide opportunities during normal school hours to complete their assignments with ongoing communication to parents and guardians. 1. Students will be expected to make up assignments and tests after an absence. Teachers will communicate and provide the make-up assignments required to be completed and communicate a reasonable amount of time to complete the assignments. 2. Each Campus will provide additional and timely interventions to ensure that missed or late assignments are completed and skills are mastered. Table of Contents

Grading Guidelines 3. The District shall not impose a grade penalty for make-up assignments after an unexcused absence. 4. The District shall not impose a grade penalty for make-up assignments after an absence because of suspension. 5. Conduct will be reported separately from academic grades. Conduct codes reflect behavior, class or group participation, and completion of assignments. 6. Any assignments not completed and submitted may be given the grade of a zero. Table of Contents

Health and Wellness Nurse All medications sent to school must come with a written note, be in its original container and labeled with the student’s name. A registered nurse is available for preventative health care, screenings, first aid, minor illnesses, and emergencies Nutrition Classroom and school-wide celebrations promote unity and foster a sense of community. Treats provided to students must follow the Food of Minimal Nutritional Value (FMNV) Policy. Healthy snacks meeting FMNV guidelines may be brought to school to celebrate your child’s birthday. Contact your child’s teacher before the birthday treats are provided to make sure there are no known allergies. All treats will be served at the end of the day. Please see the Texa Public School Nutrition Policy for details Table of Contents

Homework The home school connection is vital to student success! At KES we want to honor your family time, but also need your help to keep practicing the basics at home! Other homework may be assigned for assignments that are not completed at school (Parents will be notified prior to work being sent home). Grades K-5 ❏ Math facts to become fluent (addition, subtraction, multiplication, division), ❏ Reading ❏ Word Study - 1,00 word challenge (K-2) Accelerated AR is a computer program that helps teachers and librarians manage and Reader monitor children's independent reading practice. Your child picks a book at 1st-5th his own level and reads it at his own pace. When finished, your child takes Grades a short quiz on the computer. (Passing the quiz is an indication that your child understood what was read.) AR gives children, teachers, and librarians feedback based on the quiz results, which the teacher then uses to help your child set goals and direct ongoing reading practice. Formative Math Masters is KES math fact initiative. The program starts with number Loop recognition in kinder and advances through addition, subtraction, 1st-5th multiplication, and all the way through division. The goal is for students to be able to quickly recall their basic math facts while investigating more Grades complicated math problem solving scenarios. You can help your student by having them practice their math facts (number recognition, addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division) We are encouraging all of our students to learn 1000 of the most commonly used words in the English language. We have broken the list Word Wizard into ten 100 word sections. Students will work on 100 words at a time until K-2 Grades they are able to read the words fluently, meaning within 5 seconds and without “sounding out”. Once a student has mastered the words, he/she will move to the next set until 1000 words have been mastered. You can help your child with this challenge at home by practicing with them nightly. Table of Contents

Lost and Found We collect many items each day that end up in our Lost and Found. To help items find their way back to their owners, please label items with your child’s first and last name. Outside Cafeteria Examples ❖ Clothing ❖ Water Bottles ❖ Lunch Boxes ❖ Shoes Office (small items) Examples ❖ Glasses ❖ Jewelry ❖ Phones ❖ Money Items with student names will be returned to student. Items left are donated to local charities (Kyle Library or Hope & Love) at the following breaks ❖ December ❖ March ❖ June Table of Contents

Mentoring We LOVE having mentors on campus! Mentors work with 1-3 students weekly. What does a MENTOR do? ❖ Read with students ❖ Play games ❖ Talk ❖ Crafts ❖ Other ideas are always welcomed! If you have 30 minutes to an hour you can donate weekly, please contact our school counselor, Judith Martinez [email protected] Table of Contents

Parent Teacher Association (PTA) All schools in Hays CISD are part of the Texas PTA. We would love to have all KES adults become PTA members - This includes parents, guardians, community members, and grandparents. KES PTA dues are $6.50 per adult. See a PTA board member on details on how to become a business or community member! Table of Contents

Student Progress Report cards are sent home every nine weeks for students in grades Kinder through 5th grades. Progress reports are sent home at the end of every fourth week for students in grades 2nd-5th. Parents or teachers may request a conference at any time to discuss a child’s progress. You may also utilize the Parent Self-Serve to monitor attendance and grades. Table of Contents

School-Wide Expectations At KES, students are expected to demonstrate attitudes and behaviors defined in our RAR Expectations: As a Kyle Panther we RAR: We are Responsible Always Safe And Respectful To ensure that students enjoy and benefit from an excellent learning climate, we utilize clearly stated classroom and school expectations, logical consequences, and positive reinforcement for appropriate behavior. Our goal is to provide a positive learning environment for everyone. The district’s disciplinary options are listed in the HCISD Student Code of Conduct. Consequences are applied depending on the nature of the offense. Each class will develop a Social Contract with agreed upon behaviors, expectations, and consequences. Table of Contents

Social Emotional Learning (SEL) We incorporate the 7 Mindsets , Cloud 9, and the House System at KES for our Social Emotional Learning. Each month we focus on one Mindset and Character Trait. Each House represents a Mindset and Character Trait. We are super excited to begin the HOUSE System at KES this year. Students will be introduce to the HOUSES and draw for their HOUSE by the end of September. Table of Contents

Volunteering! We love having volunteers come to KES! In order to volunteer at any Hays CISD campus, you will need to complete the Volunteer in Public Schools (VIPS) application and receive approval from the system. Click on the link to access the VIPS www.hayscisd.net/vips Table of Contents