Tiger Time News
November 27 - December 1, 2023
OCT All-Stars... Hustle, Grit, and Never Quit!
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Mr. Schilleci
Dear OCT Families,
Thank you for your generosity in our Annual OCT Turkey Drive! We ended up having just under 300 turkeys and hams donated to GRACE Grapevine for families in need over this Thanksgiving week!
Thank you again to our amazing Dad's Club for not only planning and organizing our Turkey Drive but for also helping the rest of the district to begin participating! CMS and most of the elementaries across GCISD also participated and so many families will be blessed because of you!
I hope that each of you and your families have a restful break! We are excited to welcome all of our tigers back to OCT on November 27th!
Best,
Principal Schilleci
Schilleci's Weekly News
GRAND SLAM WITH GRAND FRIENDS, DECEMBER 8TH- We had to make a slight change to our plan but we are so excited about our upcoming Grandparents’ Day Lunch and Book Fair on Friday, December 8th! This will be a special day for grandparents to make memories with their grandchildren while encouraging a love of reading!
We will have tables and chairs set up outside, but feel free to bring your own chairs and/or blankets to enjoy lunch outside with your grandchildren! Right now the weather is predicted to be sunny and 70, but we all know how the weather in Texas can change, so be sure to dress for the weather that day! If it rains, we will set up tables inside in the hallway by the front vestibule and on the stage.
Grandparents are welcome to pick up a special lunch from their favorite restaurant that day or pack one at home. The cafeteria line will be open for students only.
In an effort to help us safely and efficiently prepare for Grandparents' Day, please complete this Google form by midnight on Tuesday, December 5th. Be sure to bring your driver's license with you to check in at the check-in table and receive your security badge.
If visitors do not fill out the Google form, they will have to check in with their driver's license at the kiosk in the front lobby of the school and receive a security sticker. Please send this form to any family members to fill out so they can check in quickly!
Please plan to arrive 15 minutes before the scheduled lunch time to ensure you have time to sign in and connect with your grandchild.
ATTENDANCE REMINDER- This year attendance is being very strict at the District level, 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!
HOLIDAY HULLABALOO CALENDAR- Please reference our Holiday Hullabaloo Calendar to see all of our fun themed days throughout the next three weeks. We will begin participating on Monday!
REPEAT UPDATES:
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!
2023-2024 PARENT STUDENT HANDBOOK- The 2023-2024 Parent-Student Handbook is now available! Here is the link.
NEW GCISD MOBILE APP- Did you know that GCISD has a new mobile app to help our community know what is happening on campus? The app lets you read the latest announcements, review upcoming events and find important documents. If you haven't already, download the app and subscribe to your student’s campus!
GRADE LEVEL NEWSLETTERS
Please read your child's grade level newsletter by clicking on the grade to the right.
Important Upcoming Dates:
11/20 - 11/24 Thanksgiving Break
11/27 - 3:00 - 3:45 Student Council
11/28 - 8:30 Spelling Bee
11/29 - 3:00 - 3:45 Yearbook
11/30 - 3:00 - 4:00 Choir
12/1 - 3:15 - 4:00 Run Club
12/1 - 7:45 PM Colleyville Tree Lighting
12/4 - 12/8 - Book Fair
12/5- CMS Band Performance
12/7 - Grapevine Parade of Lights
12/8- Grandparents' Day Lunch
12/8- CTMS Band Performance
12/11- Helicopter Santa Visit
PLEASE READ
Important Updates
STUDENT EARLY PICK UP: If you are picking up a student during the day for appointments, etc, please email Gene Guinane (gene.guinane@gcisd.net) and Paola Cervantes (paola.cerventes@gcisd.net) ahead of time. Students will be called once you arrive in the front office.
OCT ALL STARS OF THE MONTH- Congratulations to Holly Martin, Kimberly McNamara and Victoria Reyna our OCT All Star Teachers and Paraprofessional of the Month for October! Thank you for everything that you do each day for our Tigers!!
ATTENDANCE REMINDER- This year attendance is being very strict at the District level, 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!
FORGET-ME-NOT-SHELF AT OCT: As a reminder, please drop off students' belongings that are needed for instructional purposes or lunch. Please make sure to label your child's belongings and place them on the designated grade-level shelf. We are having an increase of items being dropped off. Our staff and students make every effort to check, but we appreciate your understanding if items aren't retrieved. Thank you for helping your child be prepared each day with their charged devices, lunches, and other needed items.
GIFTED AND TALENTED REFERRALS-
REPEATED INFORMATION:
1. CAFETERIA MENUS: Menus can be viewed here. child.nutrition@gcisd.net.
2. VOLUNTEER BACKGROUND CHECK: Our school runs on our amazing volunteers. In order to volunteer at the school, one must complete the District's Volunteer Background Check Application for the 2023-24 school year. Also, please read and sign the Volunteer Handbook included in the link as well. As a reminder, all volunteers are required to reapply each year.
3. LUNCH WITH YOUR CHILD: If you plan to have lunch with your child at OCT, we kindly request that you let your teacher know 24 hours in advance. If not, you may have to wait a while while we try to retrieve your child from the building.
4. CONVEY TO YOUR CHILD THE DAILY PICK UP PLAN: Now is a good time to establish the morning routine of telling your child how he/she will be going home at the end of the school day: bus rider, daycare rider, car rider, or independent walker/bike rider. Please do not instruct your child to call you after school. Our teachers and front office staff are responsible for many children and are required to be on after-school duty. They are unable to assist your child with phone calls.
5. CHECKING OUT A STUDENT EARLY: If you decide to come to school to check out your child before the 3:00 p.m. GCISD elementary dismissal time, please allow us plenty of time to locate your child. It takes a while to locate students in a building as they are not always in their classroom. If you send a note requesting an early dismissal with your student in the morning, you will help eliminate the time spent waiting for us to locate your student. Also, we kindly ask if you need to pick up a child before our 3:00 p.m. dismissal, please do so before 2:30 p.m.
6. CHANGE IN DISMISSAL OR PICK UP: If you find your child must go home a different way than planned, please notify the office by a phone call by at least 2:00 p.m. Teachers and our front office staff do not always have access to email or are busy teaching or helping others. A phone call is required. Sometimes we have only one person in the front office, so we want to provide ample time to be able to meet your needs.
Counselor, Stacy Whisman
Whisman's Words
My name is Stacy Whisman, and I am the counselor at OC Taylor. I have a section in the Parent Tiger Den each week, Student Assistance, that is updated with our monthly guidance theme, important dates of upcoming events and links to get in touch with me for any student needs and concerns.
Please don't hesitate to reach out!
October is National Bullying Prevention Month! In our Classroom Counseling lessons, we will be focusing on Responsibility to ourselves and others and do a lesson specifically on how to be kind friends to everyone. We have two important days to concentrate as a Tiger Family on showing kindness, empathy, and acceptance to everyone. Join us in wearing BLUE on Monday, October 2 and ORANGE on Wednesday, October 18!
Mrs. Whisman
(817) 305-4880
Nurse, Katy Faught
Nurse Katy's News
HaPPy ThAnKsGiVinG: I wish all of our Tiger families a very happy and healthy Thanksgiving break. Friends, Family, Food, Faith and Fellowship are SO important! I am incredibly thankful for all of YOU!!! :)
VISION and HEARING REFERRAL LETTERS: If you have already received a vision and/or hearing referral letter,use the extra time over Thanksgiving break to call and schedule your student an appointment. There may be a wait time to get them in and want them to be evaluated ASAP!
POP TABS DONATIONS: We are collecting pop tops again! This is an easy way we can help support the families at Ronald McDonald House. Have your students bring in all kinds of pop tops and tabs! There is labeled bucket in the clinic for donations. :)
LION'S CLUB RECYCLE FOR SIGHT PROGRAM: This is another way we can be servant leaders. Donate any old eyeglasses/lenses/cases! There are collection boxes in the front vestibule and in the front office. Most of the recycled glasses are sorted and distributed to people in need in developing countries where they will have the greatest impact.
FEVER FACTS: Fever can be concerning to parents of school-aged children, but most healthcare professionals believe fever is a good sign that the body is responding to an infection. It means the body's immune system is turned on!
- The body's temperature changes throughout the day and is naturally higher in the afternoon and evening.
- Fevers do not cause brain damage or have long-term side effects.
- Fevers rarely cause seizures (only in 4% of children).
- Fevers only need to be treated if the child is uncomfortable. There is no harm in not "treating" a fever with Tylenol or Ibuprofen.
- How your child looks and acts is what is important, not the actual temperature reading.
- The height of a fever and how long it lasts does not tell us whether it is caused by a virus or bacteria.
WHEN TO STAY HOME: Students must stay home from school if any of the following are present:
● fever of 100 degrees or higher in the past 24 hours
● vomiting and/or diarrhea in the past 24 hours
● itchy, red eyes with discharge
● unknown rash
● jaundice
● ringworm of the scalp (until treatment has begun)
GCISD has a 24-hour policy related to stomach illness or fever. Students may not return to school until free of fever, vomiting, and/or diarrhea for a minimum of 24 hours without the aid of any medication. If your student is sent home from school with fever, vomiting, or diarrhea, you must still abide by the 24-hour policy, and keep your child home for a minimum of 24 hours after symptoms have subsided without the aid of medication.
Ms. Morgan
Morgan's Art Message
O.C. Taylor Specials’ Curriculum Update, November 2023
Art - November Update
O. C. Taylor Yearbooks on Sale!
You can order a yearbook and create an Ad/ dedication page online at yearbookordercenter.com. The order number for O. C. Taylor is 17833.
Last day to purchase and create an Ad/ dedication page is March 8th.
Last day to pre-order a Yearbook is April 13th.
Keep on creating,
Mrs. Morgan
cristie.morgan@gcisd.net
Ms. Vencill
Vencill's Voice
O.C. Taylor Specials’ Curriculum Update, November 2023
Music - November Update
Recorders went home with 4th grade students the week before Thanksgiving break. 4th graders will need their recorder and their Recorder Karate book in music EVERY day for the rest of the year.
The Taylor Tiger Choir is performing at the Colleyville Tree Lighting Friday, Dec. 1 at 7:45 p.m. in front of the Colleyville Public Library.
Please add your child's grade level performance date to your calendar. All students are expected to attend their grade level music performance.
Have a great month, Tigers! I am thankful for you!
Mrs. Vencill
bethany.vencill@gcisd.net
Coach Mester
Mester's PE Press
O.C. Taylor Specials’ Curriculum Update, November 2023
PE - November Update
Thank you so much for all your efforts towards our Kids Heart Challenge event. We are so proud of our students for putting their hearts into this program, learning all about their heart, helping and building skills along the way. We raised an amazing $25,081.00, had 158 students join our team, and 56 students learned Hands-Only CPR online. We expect the remaining student Thank You Gifts to arrive in 4-6 weeks.
See you in the Gym!
Coach Mester
jason.mester@gcisd.net
GT LEAD Mrs. Waters
Mrs. Waters News
What are our GT Leaders learning?
1st - Authentic Research
2nd - Simple Machines
3rd - 3D Discoveries
4th - Detective School
5th - Geometric Wonders
Testing Dates:
November 27 - December 15 GT Referrals Accepted
January GT Data Collection and Testing
GT LEAD Results available in March
Aspire Results available in April
December 4th: 5th Grade Field trip to The Dallas Museum of Illusions!
Articles to help:
Video -Meeting the Affective Needs of Gifted Children
Please feel free to contact me at any time via email at Donna.Waters@gcisd.net
X: @OCTWaters
Mrs. Quinn's Corner
Always a good time in the Learning Commons!
This week, Kinder, 1st and 2nd grade learned about the basics of coding. They learned the terms algorithm, sequence and loop in relation to coding a robot. They even got to "code" a classmate! Ask your child what algorithm means and about the different robots they coded in the Learning Commons.
3rd and 4th grade tigers got a refresher on how to use the Learning Commons Resources on their chromebooks as well as how to cite their work when doing research assignments. Ask your child about plagiarism and the importance of looking at the copyright of a source material.
After break, not every class will get a chance to come to the Learning Commons as we set up for the Book Fair. Those that will be able to come will have time to check out a new book and utilize some of the Makerspace activities.
LITERATI BOOK FAIR: The book fair will be in the Learning Commons December 4-8th. The online book fair is currently OPEN and can be accessed HERE. 30% of the total sales from both online and in-school book fair will go directly to the OC Taylor Library! Literati also has book club options. If your family subscribes to a Literati Book Club, 10% of every dollar spent on the club goes back directly to OC Taylor. Books make great gifts!
The Colleyville Public Library has several events for families during our break next week. See the flyer below for more details.
The Grapevine Public Library has several themed events happening next week as well. You can view all they have to offer through their newsletter (here)
Please make sure your child has their book ready to turn in before the next time they see me so they can check out a NEW book! When the entire class brings back their books, the whole class gets to play with all the different coding robots we have in Makerspace!
If you have any questions about our library, want to volunteer or donate books and supplies (Check out the Learning Commons Amazon Wishlist), please reach out to me - I'd love to hear from you!
Johanna Quinn, Librarian
Email: johanna.quinn@gcisd.net
X (Twitter): @OCTQuinn
OCT Cafeteria
Nutrition News
GCISD NUTRITION SERVICES: Click here to see the school menus.
In accordance with program guidelines, the Free and Reduced application will be available online as part of skyward registration. The free and reduced application should be filled out electronically at https://www.nlappscloud.com/. For those parents that still would like to complete a paper application, they may download an application on the website or stop by the Nutrition Services office at 5800 Colleyville Blvd.
Procedure for Students with Unpaid Meal Charges - Parents/Guardians shall monitor their student’s school meal account to ensure that they always have a positive balance. In the event that a student does not have a positive balance, the student may charge up to 6 meals to their account. Only reimbursable meals may be charged. A la carte items may not be charged. Communication about a negative meal balance will be sent to parents/guardians via email. Students who have exceeded the 6 charged meal limit, will be offered an alternative meal that will be charged to the student’s account.
O.C. Taylor PTA
PTA News
THANK YOU
Our Boots & Bling Gala and Silent Auction raised over $65,000 for our school. Your generosity will directly impact the O.C. Taylor Community! We will be able to fund all of our fun programs and events that are planned and we will begin the process to bring a new shade structure and staff lounge remodel to O.C. Taylor!
BOOK FAIR VOLUNTEERS NEEDED
Our fall book fair will be the week of December 4th-8th. We need many volunteers to make this happen! Ms. Quinn would like at least one volunteer there all day to help run the register. Please click the sign up genius link and sign up if you are able to help.
LIBRARY BOOK DONATIONS
Our library needs books! Ms. Quinn has compiled an Amazon wish list of books that are already approved by the district. Click the link below if you would like to donate.
Ms. Quinn will gladly accept any books, but in particular books with Pokemon, Super Mario/other Nintendo characters, mermaids, books about learning other languages, American Sign Language books and any popular TV characters like Paw Patrol or Shimmer and Shine. She can read through those really quickly and get them on the approval list if they pass the rubric. You can drop book donations in the front office.
JOIN PTA!
💙Join our PTA today!!
🌟 Be sure to sign up your whole family at: https://octaylorpta.membershiptoolkit.com/
WELCOME TO O.C. TAYLOR PTA!
We are so excited to start a new school year! Our goal is to connect with our school community by hosting fun events such as Rock Out, Grandparents Day, Sock Hop and our inaugural Gala Fundraiser. We partner 100% with our wonderful school to make it the very best! We continue to raise funds for much-needed shade structures for our outdoor play areas.
BACK TO SCHOOL FORMS
We've got all your Back to School forms in one spot! Forms were Due Friday, September 1st but you can still pay your Homeroom Fund if you haven't done so yet! You can find all the forms and information on our website: https://octaylorpta.membershiptoolkit.com/
You will want to complete the following:
Homeroom Fund + Class Shirt
PTA Membership (no commitment to volunteer!)
PTA Annual Fuss Free Fundraising
PTA Volunteer Interest Form
Grade Level Parents Form
Join Dads’ Club
Happy Birthday!
CLASS SHIRTS
Class shirts have been delivered. Please contact us if you want to purchase a class shirt. We have limited stock/sizes left. Class Shirts will worn during field trips and can be worn during spirit days this year.
STAFF DRINK FRIDGE
Help us show appreciation to the OCT Staff by keeping the Staff Lounge Drink Fridge stocked with their favorites! If you would like to donate drinks, please see the Sign Up Genius!
Click Here to Sign Up to Donate
Don’t have time to shop but still want to help? You can donate on Membership Toolkit and we will do the shopping for you! Thank you for your generosity!
Click Here for Monetary Donations
GRACE DONATIONS
Drop off a new, unwrapped toy under the Christmas tree in the front lobby to benefit the GRACE Christmas Cottage.
TEACHER FAVORITES
We are working to update all of our staff favorites! Take a look at these lists here: https://octaylorpta.membershiptoolkit.com/favorites Let's spoil our teachers and staff with their favorites all year long!
SAVE THE DATE!
Fri 12/1 Run Club 3:15-4:00 p.m.
Fri 12/8 Run Club 3:15-4:00 p.m.
Mon 12/4-Fri 12/8 Literati Book Fair Week
Thur 12/7 Grapevine Parade of Lights
Fri 12/8 Grandparent's Event
Mon 12/11 Santa Visit
Thu 12/14 Polar Express Day
Thu 12/14 Choir Performance & PTA General Meeting 6:30 p.m.
Fri 12/15 Class Holiday Parties 10:45 a.m.
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!
Julie Odietus
President / O.C. Taylor PTA
octaylorptapresident@gmail.com