Cougar Chronicle - Northside Independent School District

The Cougar Chronicle
Colonies North Elementary
October 1, 2014
Principal’s News
Dear Parents,
We have had a producve ﬁrst ﬁve weeks of school! The students and staﬀ have set a posive tone, and we are ready
for our GAME ON theme! We began the year with 630 students and have increased to our current enrollment of 731
students.
We hope you had the opportunity to a-end our ﬁrst P.T.A. meeng in September. Please mark your calendar for our
annual Family Math & Reading Night on Thurs., Oct. 9; McDonald’s Family Night on Tues., Oct. 14; Parade of Naons
on Fri., Oct. 24; Bike Rodeo and Awards Assemblies on Fri., Oct. 31. More informaon to come on these special events.
On Fri., Sept. 19, our ﬁrst early release day, the faculty and staﬀ spent the a8ernoon reviewing and analyzing student
data. Thank you for allowing us to have this producve me to reﬂect and plan for your child’s educaon. Thank you,
also, to the PTA for providing lunch for the teachers.
During the end of October and beginning of November, teachers will be oﬀering individual conferences to all parents
and guardians. If you have not scheduled a date and me with your child’s teacher, please contact him/her so you can
meet together to discuss your child’s academic progress.
The faculty and staﬀ at Colonies North Elementary connue to be commi-ed to providing your child with the best
possible educaonal experience. We are looking forward to connuing our partnership with you this year. Remember
that our school does not open unl 7 a.m. Please do not drop oﬀ your children before 7 a.m. or leave them una-ended. That is a safety concern!
Yours in educaon,
Mrs. Kris Co
on, Principal
Parents,
Friday, October 31 is a regular day
of instrucon. Please do not send
your child to school wearing a costume. This would be a distracon to
the learning environment. We will
be having Bike Rodeo and Awards
Assemblies on this day. Thank you
so much for your cooperaon.
Strawbridge photographers will
be here on Thursday, October
16 to take individual student pictures. This is a fundraiser for Colonies North. We receive 40% of
all proceeds. We use these funds
to support student learning here at Colonies North. For
example, we recently purchased math and reading small
group resources for grades 3-5.
P.T.A. News
Dear Colonies North Elementary Parents:
Greengs from your Colonies North PTA! Our school year is
oﬀ to a great start. We had a great turnout for our ﬁrst PTA
meeng of the year and I enjoyed meeng so many new
families.
As you are aware, PTA recently hosted our annual fall fundraiser. We didn’t do as well this year which is unfortunate
because this fundraiser is a large part of our PTA funding.
The gross amount collected was about $7,000 less than last
year’s gross. Our poor numbers may result in PTA having to
make cuts on things like ﬁeld trips, bike rodeo, teacher appreciaon lunches, school equipment, special needs, curriculum enhancement and supplies, to name just a few. I do
want to acknowledge and thank all of the students, parents,
family members and friends that parcipated. We appreciate your dedicaon toward raising funds.
Membership numbers are looking good and we have some
fun incenves for those who join PTA and a-end our
meengs this year. We hosted a drawing at our September
PTA meeng and had several winners. There will be another
drawing at the November PTA meeng so be sure to a-end
for your chance to win. Becoming a PTA member does not
require anything more of you than a small fee of $7.50. You
won’t be called upon for anything, unless, of course, you
would like to volunteer your me. Your ﬁnancial support
alone is extremely important and we won’t ask any more of
you than that. As you know, PTA funds beneﬁt our children
by paying for lots of diﬀerent things. Have you ever wondered who pays for the students to go on ﬁeld trips? That’s
right; PTA pays for it. Without proper funding, it would be
diﬃcult to connue to provide all the things PTA does for
P.T.A. Reﬂecons
the students of Colonies North. On that note, if you haven’t joined
PTA, we highly encourage you to do so. Our children are given the
best chance at success when we work together as a team. Involved parents lead to be-er grades, a-endance and test scores.
Informed parents be-er understand the challenges schools face
and can assist in ﬁnding be-er soluons to these challenges.
Please support not just your child but the enre student body and
staﬀ as they work hard to support the students.
For those who were not at the September PTA meeng, we introduced our board members. Here are the parents who are serving
on the Colonies North PTA board for the 2014-2015 school year:
Vice President Fundraising, Rebecca Hughes; Vice President Membership, Shelley Trevino; Treasurer, Laura Ayala; Secretary,
DanCee Bowers; Hospitality, Sharon Lopez; Jack Jordan Penny
Drive, PaL Ures; Healthy Lifestyles, Wendy Greenaway; Bike
Rodeo, Mark Harrington; Arts in Educaon Chair, Jeane-e Sabino
and WatchDOGS, Kelly Pless. PTA could not be successful without
these individuals. Their me and dedicaon to the students and
staﬀ of Colonies North is greatly appreciated.
Our annual Bike Rodeo is scheduled for Friday, October 31st. This
is a fun event also funded by your PTA, and we are in need of help.
We must have 8 adult volunteers in order to have the Bike Rodeo.
As of now, we do not have the required number of volunteers
lined up. If you can spare some of your morning to assist, please
contact Jill Harrington at 210-748-3202 or [email protected]. An online background check must be submi-ed
in order to volunteer.
Thank you,
Jill Harrington, PTA President
P.T.A. Membership
The theme is: "THE WORLD WOULD BE A BETTER PLACE IF..."
If you have not joined Parent Teacher Associaon
(PTA) please consider doing so.
Arts Entry Areas include:
A poron of your $7.50 membership stays at Colonies North and provides the money for all ﬁeld trip
entrance fees and transportaon costs. It also provides trophies for the Bike Rodeo, prizes for the Cougar Store, and many other items that directly beneﬁt
your children. There are membership envelopes in
the front foyer or in the front oﬃce.
Dance Choreography
Photography
Film Producon
Visual Arts
Musical Composion
Literature
For more informaon email
[email protected]
The Cougar Chronicle
Page 2
Campus News
Oﬃce Depot
Please remember to give the Colonies
North school ID#70100927 every me
you shop at Oﬃce Depot. We will earn
5% to use for FREE school supplies.
Thank you for your support!
Box Tops for Educaon
Our P.E. coach, Ms. Villarreal, collects Box
Tops for Educaon. We are able to use
them to purchase equipment for our students to use during P.E. and recess.
Faculty and Staﬀ
Birthdays
October 1
October 8
October 8
October 12
October 13
October 18
October 19
October 25
October 28
October 29
Mrs. Marta, CIT
Mrs. Rust, 2/3 Newcomers
Mrs. Mendoza, Cafeteria
Mrs. Enriquez, K Newcomers
Ms. Ross, ALE
Ms. Najvar, 5th Grade
Mr. Ramirez, Custodian
Mrs. Maldonado, I.A.
Ms. Ruiz, 3rd Grade
Mrs. Ferrara, Cafeteria Manager
Fall Habitat Clean-Up
Thank-you to all of our students, parents and staﬀ that
helped to spruce up our habitat on September 23rd. It was a
lot of work, but our habitat looks amazing! When you are on
campus be sure to check it out! It's a great place to have
lunch or sit and read a book. Thanks for helping to keep this
such a wonderful place on our campus!
Please join us as we
celebrate your child’s success!
Awards Assemblies
Friday, October 31
8:10-9:00 a.m.
Fourth & Fi?h Grades
9:20-10:00 a.m.
Second & Third Grades
10:10-10:40 a.m.
First Grade
2:00-2:30 p.m.
Kindergarten
The Cougar Chronicle
Colonies North
Website
Please visit our Colonies North
website at: h-p://nisd.net/coloniesnorth. You
will ﬁnd informaon about our campus, upcoming events, and safe educaonal links for your
children. There is even a link especially for parents! Contact the Technology Support Specialist
at [email protected] with any quesons or
suggesons to make our website more helpful.
Bike Rodeo
It’s me for our annual PTA Bike Rodeo on Friday,
October 31. More informaon will be sent home
with your child, so get those bikes
out and get ready!
8-8:30 AM
8:30-9 AM
9-9:30 AM
9:30-10 AM
10-10:30 AM
10:30-11 AM
Third Grade
First Grade
Kinder and AM Pre-K
Fi8h Grade
Fourth Grade
Second Grade
Page 3
News from the Colonies North Library
Join Northside libraries in celebrang
OverDrive October.
Did you know that Northside ISD has an
eBook collecon designed speciﬁcally for
our students?
We do, and it is a great way to check out
materials for your readers. You will need
to have your child’s s-number or student
id number, a device to read the eBook on
and internet access (but make sure you
manage your data plan to avoid going
over your data limits). The link for our
eBook collecon is on the Colonies North
Library webpage, as well as direcons for
most devices. As you browse the collecon, you will see all eBooks available to
NISD students but restricons have been
Save the Date: 10-9-14
put on middle and high school books
to ensure that elementary students do
not check out materials that might
have inappropriate content.
Five great reasons to check out an
eBook:
5. Your tax dollars pay for them.
4. You can combine reading and technology to engage your students.
3. They return themselves when they
are due.
2. You can check out an eBook even
when the school is closed. Like weekends and holidays.
1. They never get lost or damaged!
Back by popular demand is our Math
and Literacy Family Night. Like last
year, we will hold this fun, family
friendly event on the black top by the
gym! We have decided to keep with
our school theme this year “Game
On”.
Each grade level is busy preparing fun
and excing games that will help you
and your child with reading, wring,
and math. There will also be food for
purchase. We will be sending more
informaon home very soon.
We look forward to a great turn out
like last year! GAME ON! 10-9-14
Counselors’ Corner
We are oﬀ to a great start in the guidance department here at Colonies
North. Lessons have been taught on
teaching students how to be problem
solvers and manage their conﬂicts
using Kelso’s Choices. Have your child
tell you about Kelso and how he
helps us solve our small problems!
Students will also be learning ways to
respect themselves, others, and our
school. Our school is a “No Place for
Hate” school so I will be encouraging
students to take a stand with us in
signing a Resoluon of Respect
on October 8th to make a statement
that our school is a place where everyone feels safe and happy! Many of
our lessons this year will focus on
Bullying Prevenon. Students will
learn how to take a stand against bullying and make the right choices
when they are in a bullying situaon.
Our library has books on bullying prevenon to check out if you are interThe Cougar Chronicle
ested reinforcing this skill at home
with your child.
· The Ant Bully by Nickie John
· Dealing with Bullying by Marianne
Johnston
· Goal! by Mina Javaherbin
· Hooway for Wodney Wat by Helen
Lester
· Jake Drake Bully Buster by Andrew
Clements
· King of Pond by Carl Sommer
These are a few upcoming dates to
remember. We will be doing lessons
during these weeks on an-bullying,
what it means to be a person of good
character, and the importance of saying no to substances that are harmful
to us.
October 27-31 Red Ribbon Week
(more informaon to
come!)
· Roxie and the Hooligans by Phyllis
Reynolds Naylor
We would like to extend a huge
“Thank You” to The House of Prayer
Luther Church in San Antonio, along
with many other community members! They provided school supplies
for many of our refugee/ESL children.
Thanks so much!
· Stand Tall Molly Lou Melon by Pa-y
Lovell
Tonie Hutzler, Counselor
· Tyrannosaurus Dad by Liz Rosenberg
Erica Davidson, Counselor
· Mr. Lincoln’s Way by Patricia Polacco
· Nobody Knew What To Do by Becky
Ray McCain
· The Wimp by Kathy Caple
Page 4
News from the Art Room
We’re oﬀ to a great start in the art
room. We already have students parcipang in several poster contests.
We sent the Los Leones Art Fesval
poster of one overall winner from our
school to compete with posters from
the rest of the district. The student
whose work was chosen is Bindi
Kaplan in Ms. Navjar’s class with a
very close runner up from Hannah
Braswell in Ms. Zahodnik’s class. We
hope the district judges will pick
Bindi’s artwork to be printed on this
year’s t-shirt for Los Leones Art Fesval. The fesval takes place on Saturday, October 25th at the Leon Valley
civic center. Our Art Club students will
be invited to become part of a Chalk
Art team and try to win the trophy for
our school. It’s a free and fun event
and we hope you can all come out to
enjoy the fesvies and celebrate the
arts in our district.
We will also have a display of student
work at the Northside Acvity Center
from October 2-November 19th. Several classes are working on clay bobble-head sculpture pieces to put in
this show along with some other interesng pieces.
Art Club 1 has been meeng on
Thursday a4ernoons and working on
some great projects. They will meet
unl October 16. Art Club 2 will begin
on October 30.
Early Birds have begun coming to the
art room before school starts to work
on special projects. This is open to
anyone with excellent behavior in
grades 2 – 5 and is from 7:10 – 7:35
on Mondays & Tuesdays. There is no
permission form necessary. Students
who want to work on a special project can work on it in the art room.
One of the projects we will work on
will be to create more mosaic pieces
for our front entry way. Our PTA has
generously oﬀered to fund materials
for us to connue ﬁlling our entryway
with color and beauty.
I hope to see you at Los Leones. I am
looking forward to another great year
of making art with you and your children!
During the month of October, health
early detection and life change several
Students who do not pass vision and
services will be performing mandated
health problems such as Type 2 Diabe-
hearing screening will receive a written
screenings
tes and cardiovascular disease may be
referral for a more comprehensive as-
prevented.
sessment by a doctor or specialist.
Mrs. Fuentes
Colonies North Art
Teacher
News from the Nurse
grades.
for
students
in
select
The Vision and Hearing Team
During the screening pro-
will be at Colonies North Friday, Octo-
cess, a nurse will visually examine each
ber 17th to provide screening for 1st,
child’s neck. Children found to have the
Please contact me if you have any con-
3rd, and 5th grade students.
identifying skin marker will be individu-
cerns or questions.
ally assessed for height, weight and
The team will also be screening for
blood pressure. If a child is found to
Acanthosis Nigricans.
This is a skin
have the identifying skin marker, I will
condition characterized by a change in
send you a written referral with the
color and texture of the skin. The af-
results of the assessment.
(210) 397-1709
er than the surrounding skin. This can
If you DO NOT want your child to par-
[email protected]
occur anywhere, but is seen most often
ticipate
on the back of the neck, near the hair-
please notify the school clinic.
Melissa Pettit, RN, BSN
fected area becomes rougher and darkin
this
screening
program,
line. Acanthosis is not a disease. It is
an indication that there are high insulin
I will be performing vision and hearing
levels in the body. This skin marker is
screenings for kindergarten students
used in identifying people who are at
throughout the month of October.
risk to develop Type 2 Diabetes. With
The Cougar Chronicle
Page 5
Cougar Calendar
OCTOBER 2014
Sun
Tue
Wed
National Principals Month
Sept. 30
National Crime
Prevention
Month
3rd Grade Field
Trip (3 classes)
7
5
Mon
6
Thu
Fri
Sat
1
2
3
4
3rd Grade Field
Trip (3 classes)
Art Club I 3:00
p.m.
8
9 Art Club I 3:00 10
p.m.
PTA Board Meeting
5 :30 p.m.
12
National School
Lunch Week
13
Student Holiday/
Faculty Staff Development
14American
Girl Club 3 p.m.
McDonald’s Family Night
Family Math/
Literacy Night 67:30 p.m.
NISD Declaration of Respect
Signing Day
15
16
17
Blood Drive at
CNE for adults
Art Club I 3:00 p.m.
Hearing/Vision
Screening
Individual Pictures
11
18
National Boss’ Day
5-7:30 p.m.
19
24
25
National School
Bus Safety
Parade of
Character Counts
Week
End of 1st Nine
Weeks
Los Leones Art
Fest @ Leon Valley Convention
Center
26
Red Ribbon Week
20
21
22
23
Nations
27
28
29
30
31 Bike Rodeo AM
Art Club II 3:00
p.m.
Awards Assemblies

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