OCT Teacher and Paraprofessional of  the Year: A huge and very well deserved congratulations to Donna Waters and Paola Cervantes on being named this year's OCT Teacher and Paraprofessional of the Year!

Kinder Rodeo, 2/28: We will not be using FAST Passes for Kinder Rodeo on Friday! Please feel free to stop by before Friday to collect your badge at a Kiosk. It looks like we are going to have great weather so our parade in the morning will be exactly like the 100th Day of School (see this map). The parade will start at 7:50 and the Rodeo will begin at 2:00 in our cafeteria!

OCT Open House, 3/6: Please mark off this date in your calendars! From 6:00-7:00 we will have open house at OCT. Come and see the awesome work your tigers are doing! Then as soon as your are finished with open house we will begin Spring Movie Night on the primary court area from 7:00-8:15. Come join us and watch Super Mario! Pizza, popcorn, and drinks will be available for purchase!

Attendance Email: We apologize for any confusion that the attendance email that went out last week may have caused. It is a brand new system that the whole district is getting accustomed to. Please know that your students are not in danger of losing credit or being retained based on absences at the moment.

As always, State law does dictate that students must attend 90% of the school days. This means students cannot be absent more than 18 days in a school year.  Please see the message below regarding state attendance laws:

Laws Governing School Attendance:

Compulsory Attendance (AKA Truancy)

Pre-kindergarten and Kindergarten

Students enrolled in prekindergarten or kindergarten are required to attend school and are subject to the compulsory attendance requirements as long as they remain enrolled at a campus.

Ages 6–18 - State law requires that a student who is at least six years of age, or who is younger than six years of age and has previously been enrolled in first grade, and who has not yet reached their 19th birthday, shall attend school, as well as any applicable accelerated instruction program, extended-year program, or tutorial session, unless the student is otherwise excused from attendance or legally exempt. Students/families who do not meet compulsory attendance will be referred to the GCISD Attendance Review Board and/or referred to Tarrant County Court for truancy. If a student fails to attend school without excuse on three or more days or parts of days within a four-week period but does not fail to attend school for the time described below, the district shall initiate truancy prevention measures on the student.

Attendance for Credit or Final Grade (AKA 90% Rule)- To receive credit or a final grade in a class, a student in kindergarten–grade 12 must attend at least 90 percent of the days the class is offered. With the exception of absences due to serious or life-threatening illness or related treatment, all absences, whether excused or unexcused, must be considered in determining whether a student has attended the required percentage of days. Students who are in danger of losing credit or promotion will be contacted by the campuses with plans for opportunities to regain lost instructional time.

Official Attendance-Taking Time- Official attendance is taken every day at 10:00 a.m. Attendance is taken at 8:55 a.m. at Collegiate Academy and 12 p.m. for Bridges.

Documentation after an Absence - Up to 8 days per year (4 per semester) may be excused by a parent note for missed attendance beyond medical, approved excused, and statutorily exemptions. Vacations taken during the school year will be coded as unexcused absences. All absences whether excused or unexcused count toward the 90% rule. 

A parent must provide an explanation for any absence upon the student’s arrival or return to school. The student must submit a note signed by the parent. The campus may accept a phone call from the parent but reserves the right to require a written note. A note signed by the student will not be accepted unless the student is age 18 or older or is an emancipated minor under state law. The campus will document in its attendance records whether the absence is excused or unexcused.

Substitute Nurses:  Parents, Grapevine-Colleyville ISD is always in need of substitute nurses to help at our campuses as needed. If you have a valid RN license and are interested in assisting, please apply for our Substitute Nurse position at https://grapevinecolleyville.schoolspring.com/.

Mathematics Telescope Testing: Please see the Mathematics Telescoping flyer for information regarding telescoping testing for the Spring and Summer of 2025. Additional information is also available on the mathematics telescoping website. 

Literary Lunch (Elementary):  📚 Exciting News from Nutrition Services! 🍽️

Join us for a special Literary Lunch at all Elementary schools on February 26th where good  food and great stories come together! This month we’ll be celebrating Literary Lunch with the book Every Night is Pizza Night.🍕 To match the theme, we’re serving pizza – everyone’s favorite! But that’s not all—one lucky student from each grade who chooses a plate lunch will be randomly selected to win their very own copy of “Every Night is Pizza Night”! And guess what? We’re also giving a complimentary copy of the book to each elementary school library, so everyone can enjoy! It’s more than just a school lunch—it’s a tasty way to connect the cafeteria to the classroom! See you at the table!

REPEATED ITEMS:

GCISD Security Information: To strengthen cybersecurity and prevent phishing attacks, staff email addresses are not currently accessible on the “Staff” pages on our district and campus websites. However, most employee emails can still be found on individual school websites on the department or grade-level pages. The district’s communications and technology departments are currently working with our website vendor on ways to make these staff email addresses easily accessible for our community while also enforcing cybersecurity measures.

In the meantime, parents may also connect with their student’s teachers via Skyward or the Rooms tool within the GCISD App (if used by the teacher). If you need to confirm an email address, please contact the campus directly. Thank you for helping us protect our staff from online threats.

SCHOOL START TIME REMINDER: School starts at 7:40.  It is important that the students are in their classrooms at 7:40 for the beginning of instructional time. Our staff who is holding doors open have students waiting on them in their classrooms so they will be closing the doors right at 7:40 to get to their students. 

Please enter through the front doors at the tiger loop and check in through the front office if you arrive at 7:40 or later. Thank you!

RECOGNIZE EXCELLENCE WITH STARS OF GCISD:   Do you know a GCISD employee who goes above and beyond? Nominate them for the next Star of GCISD award! Each month, we celebrate outstanding team members for their passion and dedication to GCISD. Nominate today at www.GCISD.net/StarsOfGCISD and help us honor the people who make GCISD shine! 

ATTENDANCE REMINDER- If your student is going to be absent for any reason, please either fill out an Absence Request in Skyward or email paola.cervantes@gcisd.net, no need to call the office.  Thank you so much!

OCT PTA- Do not forget to scroll all the way to the bottom of this Tiger Time News and read the OCT PTA section! Information about upcoming events will be there as well as fundraising opportunities and more!

WELCOME TO O.C. TAYLOR PTA!

Our goal is to connect with our school community by hosting fun events such as Tiger Fest, Grandparents' Day, Neon Night and so much more. We provide classroom needs and support our teachers in any way we can. We partner 100% with our wonderful school to make it the very best! We continue to raise funds for much-needed upgrades to our outdoor play area. 

We hope you'll join us in our efforts to make O.C. Taylor the best it can be!

PTA WEBSITE & PURCHASES

For 2024-2025 our Back to School PTA forms will continue to be all digital! Visit https://octaylorpta.membershiptoolkit.com/  for all your PTA needs & purchases!

TEACHER FAVORITES

                                                                        Teachers Favorites 

SAVE THE DATE! 

2/28 7:45 a.m. Kinder Rodeo Parade, 2:00 p.m. Kindergarten Rodeo

3/3 8:15 a.m. PTA Executive Board Meeting

3/6 6:00 - 7:00 p.m. Open House 

3/6 7:00 - 9:00 p.m. Dad's Club Movie Night

3/10 Last Day to Submit TALENT SHOW video

3/13 Rule the School 

BIRTHDAYS AT O.C. TAYLOR

We love to celebrate birthdays BIG at O.C. Taylor! We provide two options to purchase through our PTA to help celebrate:

Name In Lights - Your child's name on our marquee for the day - $25

Tiger Gram with Taylor the Tiger - Have Taylor the Tiger deliver a goody bag and balloons to your child's classroom - $40

Save $5 and purchase BOTH for $60. 

Please purchase these AT LEAST two weeks in advance. We cannot promise our availability if not purchased in advance. Purchase on our website https://octaylorpta.membershiptoolkit.com/

If you have any questions or need assistance of any kind, please don't hesitate to reach out!
Looking forward to a GRRREAT year!

Jessica Schmulen

President / O.C. Taylor PTA

octaylorptapresident@gmail.com 

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