BRIGHT TIMES

DEC 1, 2025 - VOLUME 10, Issue 17

A Newsletter for Families of Solar Preparatory School for Girls

#solarholidays2025

GIRL SCOUT COOKIE SALES

UPCOMING EVENTS AND DATES

UPCOMING TESTING

SPG SCHOLASTIC BOOK FAIR

FAMILY & COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

AFTER-SCHOOL CLUBS

PICTURE RETAKES

ALL THE PERMISSION FORMS

ATTENDANCE UPDATES & POLICIES

SOLAR PEACE PANTRY

NOMINATE A FIERCE FEMALE

GRADE LEVEL NEWSLETTERS

A message from Principal Santos...

🎄🕎 Teacher Appreciation: When we return from Thanksgiving break, we will welcome December and the month of giving. We cannot wait to celebrate our teachers for our annual Spirit Days before the Holidays. Our teachers are quite possibly the MOST giving people I can think of and we like to celebrate them BIG before they leave for break because I am sure as you can imagine with all that is the month of December, being a teacher can be a bit intense.

How can you celebrate your child's teacher or other Solar staff member? Here are a couple of ways:

Check out their favorite things. They are always located in the quicklinks below if you ever need to find them!
Sign up to give them an hour lunch. Our staff usually only gets about 27 minutes to eat! (the sign-ups for this will go out Monday evening on remind, be on the lookout.)
Check your grade-level reminds to sign-up for the 12 days assigned to your grade level.
Bring in a gift card to the front office so that we can use for our staff holiday party raffle. These contributions are invaluable, so if you own a business, your help is greatly appreciated.
Give them a shout-out! Words of affirmation are truly appreciated and go further than you think!
Write them a thank you note to let them know how much their support means to your family!

The expectation is not that you do ALL of these, but that you find the way that works best for your family. We appreciate your support and truly value every ounce of appreciation you can show to our amazing staff as they are truly the gold that makes this place as special as it is.

We can't wait to celebrate this month of giving along side the most wonderful community! 💝

🍪💚 It's Cookie Time WE HAVE EXTENDED THE DEADLINE TO TUESDAY TO GIVE EVERYONE MORE TIME TO SIGN UP!

Did you know that EVERY student at Solar is a Girl Scout? We are the first school in the US to do this. And ALL of our students are already registered to be GIRL SCOUTS. So parents do NOT need to go in and register, all you have to do is fill out TWO FORMS:

THE COOKIE PERMISSION FORM
THE COOKIE ORDER FORM

The first Girl Scout Cookie Order is due this Friday, November 28th. Cookies are a huge part of our fundraising efforts that pay for our Girl Scout field trips and lemonade day. The money raised by each grade level troop (each grade level is its own troop), will accumulate over time to help pay for the capstone field trips such as the 5th grade overnight at the Girl Scouts camp. This field trip would normally cost over 500 per student, but this year's 5th grade class was able to take 5th grade for $60 per student because of the cookie money that had been raised over the years. The remainder of the raised funds goes to the 8th grade capstone field trip and 8th grade end of year activities. See the section below titled GIRL SCOUT COOKIE SALES to sign up. Thank you in advance!

GIRL SCOUT COOKIE SALES

COOKIE ORDER FORM LINK

COOKIE PERMISSION SLIP

UPCOMING EVENTS AND DATES

UPCOMING TESTING

We have shared our testing schedule for the month of December. Please plan accordingly. Students should arrive at school by 8:00 a.m. on testing days. Each student will have only one attempt to complete the assessment. Our fifth graders will also participate in the Science ACP on December 18, 2025.

SPG SCHOLASTIC BOOK FAIR

VISIT OUR BOOK FAIR WEBSITE AND SET UP YOUR E-WALLET

VOLUNTEER AT THE BOOKFAIR

FAMILY & COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

We Want Your Past Volunteer Hours Counted!

➡️ Have you volunteered this year? We would like to get your hours recorded. Please complete this form so that we can record the hours. VOLUNTEER LINK

➡️ Have you donated any items this year? We would like to get your donations recorded. Please complete this donation form. DONATION LINK

See Family & Community Engagement Site LINK

Suggestion Box!
Please share questions, comments or concerns.
SUGGESTION BOX LINK

AFTER-SCHOOL CLUBS

PICTURE RETAKES

ALL THE PERMISSION FORMS

You probably noticed that you received a LOT more permission and consent forms than every before this year. I first want to apologize that all the forms have come home without explanation. I will work to ensure that in the future with each form that comes home is well explained.

New legislation from the 89th Texas Legislative Session requires parents and guardians to provide annual consent for certain school-based services and activities. The Texas Education Agency (TEA) distinguishes between services that require opt-in consent (consent must be provided before service can be delivered) and services where parents may opt out (consent is assumed unless declined). Some services are always provided in emergencies or as general caretaking.

If you do not complete the form:Your child will not receive services that require opt-in. They will continue to receive opt-out services (unless you decline in writing) and services that are always provided.

These are the forms that have gone home so far:

Health Services Opt-in form. (this includes consent for mental health/counseling)
Clubs Permission forms (if we do not get these this week, your child will not be allowed to stay for clubs)
Girl Scouts Permission form (Because GS is an outside entity that provides us with curriculum to deliver during the school day, and students become GS members through our partnership, a separate form is required.) We were originally given the wrong from by the Girl Scout team which asked for a social security number. This was not correct. We will be sending home the revised form and shredding the previous forms that were returned.
Socio-economic form. This form impacts our funding and state accountability. We have to have a form to document each family's income. In order to retain our 50/50 status, we need to have forms to prove socio-economic status. You can check on the form that you prefer not to share your total income and it will automatically assume that you make over the amount listed here. In the future this form will be sent in an envelope so that you are able to return the form directly to the front office.

As part of FERPA and DISD laws, all information shared with our staff is confidential and will not be shared with any other person or entity. We appreciate your support Please reach out to your child's teacher if you need to upate information on a form or if you need a new form. Please reach out to me directly if you have any feedback or need any more information.

QUICK LINKS

⚕️👩🏻‍⚕️ NURSE VISITS & IMMUNIZATIONS: If you have not submitted your immunization documentation or filled out your student's permission form, please do so.

NOTE 1:

A 30-day provisional enrollment is available only to the following student groups:

• Students transferring from one Texas school to '

another Texas school.

• Students who are defined as homeless according to

the federal McKinney-Vento Act 42 U. S. C. Section

111434a.

• Foster children enrolling in a new school.

• Active-duty military dependents enrolling in a new

school.

NOTE 2:

A student may be enrolled provisionally if the student has an immunization record that indicates the student has received at least one dose of each specified age-appropriate vaccine required by this rule. To remain enrolled, the student must complete the required subsequent doses in each vaccine series on schedule and as rapidly as is medically feasible and provide acceptable evidence of vaccination to the school. A school nurse or school administrator shall review the immunization status of a provisionally enrolled student every 30 days to ensure continued compliance in completing the required doses of vaccination. If, at the end of the 30-day period, a student has not received a subsequent dose of vaccine, the student is not in compliance and the school shall exclude the student from attendance until required dose is administered.

NOTE 3:

Exemptions from immunization requirements may be granted on a medical basis or for reasons of conscience. A medical exemption, signed by a physician, is required annually if not otherwise stated by the physician. Exemption for reasons of conscience must be submitted on an affidavit provided by the Texas Department of State Health Services. Exemption for reason of conscience is granted for two years.

Exemptions are not recognized in time of epidemics. Students will need to be immunized or not attend school if an epidemic is declared by

the Commissioner of Health.

NOTE 4:

To ensure the health and safety of all students, we ask that parents and guardians submit updated immunization records as soon as possible. Administration will be reaching out to families whose records are not up to date. Thank you for helping us maintain a safe and healthy learning environment for everyone.

NURSE

👚👖 UNIFORMS/ATTIRE: Click the uniforms button below to purchase house shirts, girl scout shirts, spirit shirts, and uniforms.

UNIFORMS AND SWAG

ARRIVAL/DISMISSAL

STAFF FAVORITES LIST

FAMILY & COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

SCHOOL SUPPLIES

BACKPACKS/METAL DETECTORS

REGISTRATION

BIRTHDAYS/LUNCH

STAFF SHOUTOUT LINK

STUDENT DEVICE FORM

STAFF SHOUTOUTS

We would LOVE your help appreciating and celebrating our staff! Any staff member who you see making a difference (big or small) in our school community would love to hear your words of affirmation. This link is always made available on BrightTimes to give shoutouts throughout the school year. We especially want to put it front and center this week! Staff members receive these shoutouts through our staff newsletter, and they brighten their days. Thank you for taking time to shout them out!

All of our weekly staff shoutouts will now be linked on this Quick Links button for you to view!

STAFF SHOUTOUT LINK

WEEKLY STAFF SHOUTOUTS

PTA

PTA Website

PARENT TOURS

Do you know someone interested in attending Solar next school year? Our parent tours have begun! These tours are a chance for prospective families to see what makes SOLAR so special. We will host tours every Tuesday morning at 8:00am. If you know of anyone interested in joining the Solar family for the 2026–2027 school year, please share this link to our SignUpGenius.

GET TO SCHOOL ON TIME