FAlcon FAMILY

Weekly Newsletter

October 23-27

Week 10

Courtney Brandel

Principal

courtney.cullum@kellerisd.net

Mrs. Brandel's Message

Dear Falcon Families,

I hope that you all had a wonderful fall break! It has been great to hear about all of the fun that your families had together!

Today, your child's first 9 weeks report cards have been published and are accessible through Aeries. Should you have any questions about your child's progress, please contact their teachers.

We have kicked off the 2nd nine weeks, and are off to a great start of the quarter with learning in full swing! We are making great progress toward our campus improvement goals. Our teachers and staff have been working closely with our students to help them grow as learners throughout the first 9 weeks. I encourage you to take a look at the poster below that is in the "Important Information" section of the newsletter to see all of our goals and actions that we are working on as we "build a nest for success at FES!"

As we wrap up the month of October, we hope that you can join us tomorrow from 4-7 for our PTA fall carnival! I cannot wait to share in celebrating the fun of reading together next Friday!

Courtney Brandel

Highlighting the tradition of excellence at Florence Elementary School!

Emma He- 1st Place!

Congratulations to FES 2nd grade student, Emma He, on her winning submission in the Trinity River Authority Art Contest! There were over 1900 submissions and Emma's artwork was selected as the 1st place entry for 2nd grade! Her artwork will be featured in a calendar, we will receive a poster to display here at school, and she has been invited to a celebration with all of the winners for the TRA art contest. We are so proud of Emma!

Mrs. Thompson

"My daughter is new to hybrid math this year and has had a little bit of a learning curve with the increased rigor and pace that comes with hybrid math. Mrs. Thompson has gone above and beyond to help my daughter catch up and not be overwhelmed. She has spent one on one time with her, sent home extra resources for us to practice at home, and just been there every step of the way to ensure her success. It’s the extra effort and genuine care for students like this that makes Florence a really special place!"- FES Parent

Mrs. Stetz

"Allison is so kind every time I enter the front office. She greets my kids and me by name and always has a smile on her face. My toddler is often with me when I need to do an early pickup, and Allison will come say hi to her too and give her stickers. She's a genuinely thoughtful person, and I appreciate her so much!"- FES Parent

Mrs. Howard

"We are so thankful for Mrs. Howard! She is patient, loving, and kind, and she always has a smile on her face and a hug to give. She is beyond patient with our son and provides honest, helpful ways to allow us to work with him at home to improve; she really does have the best interest of her kiddos at heart and it’s evident in all she does. Thank you, Mrs. Howard! We truly appreciate you!"

Mrs. Hetherington

It’s very evident that Mrs. Hetherington loves her job and truly cares about her students. She sees them as individuals and really takes her time with differentiated learning. Her communication is excellent and she is honest, fair, and brings joy to our child’s day each day!

Want to shout out an FES Staff member for embodying the tradition of excellence?

We love celebrating the tradition of excellence at FES! As a part of that process, we will be recognizing our amazing staff members and would like your help.

Please share the name and information of the staff member you feel who is deserving of recognition along with some words that share the reason they are being recognized. Please note, your response with be shared with the staff member and may be featured in our publications/ social media and any student names that are included may be omitted for confidentiality.

Fill out a shout out on this Staff Shout Out Form to help us celebrate excellence among our FES teachers and staff!

upcoming events:

October 21- FES Fall Carnival and Silent Auction (4:00-7:00 PM)

October 23- Red Ribbon Assembly for students with a presentation by KidStand!

October 25- Keller High School Theatre is Presenting a number from The Addam's Family Musical at FES

October 27- Storybook Character Parade (during co-curr) and Reading Activities

college spirit days 2023-24 (1).pdf

Click here to access the district Academic Calendar.

On Monday night, the KISD board of directors is set to review and approve all of the district's campus improvement plans.

Completed plans in their entirety will be published on the KISD website. The above is a condensed version of the information in our campus improvement plan. Throughout the year, we will monitor our progress we make toward our goals through the action steps. You will be updated throughout the year as we review our plan.

New News

2nd 9 Weeks Math Overview

Wanto to know more about what your child is learning in math this 9 weeks? Take a peek at the newsletter that our district mathematics team has created. The newsletter contains an overview of upcoming material, important concepts, student misconceptions, ideas for supporting student at home, and DreamBox support.

(Click here for the link to each grade level's Math Newsletter)

⭕Red Ribbon Month

Red Ribbon Week is a national campaign that focuses on educating youth about substance abuse prevention. This year the official Red Ribbon Week is October 23rd - 31st. The theme is "Be Kind to Your Mind - Live Drug Free." At Florence we celebrate Red Ribbon Month so we can spread the activities out over each Friday for our theme days. At the elementary level, the lessons focus on making healthy choices for our bodies. For example, healthy food, exercise and positive peer relationships. For parents, the conversation about safe and unsafe items for kids can start with conversations about common household products that are poisonous for human consumption, such as cleaning products, detergents, etc. Feel free to contact Mrs. Bowen if you have any questions.

We will be celebrating with the following dress up days and activities:

October 20- You have the power to live drug free! Dress up as your favorite superhero!
October 23- Red Ribbon Assembly- Performance by KidStand!

The KidStand Performance team engages the students with games, hip hop dance, singing and a skit that will empower the students to know they can make good choices!

Reading Celebration and Storybook Character Day

Friday, October 27th, we are celebrating a day of reading at FES with different activities. In addition to showcasing costumes in parades, we have an entire day of reading activities planned including a visit and activities with special guests who will be joining us thorughout the day! We will kick off our day in K-3 with some of our Keller High School student leaders, representing KHS band and Theatre, who are coming as guest readers in our classrooms. We will continue the day with a visit and activities with an illustrator for our K,1, and 2 classes, an author visit for our 3rd and 4th grade students. We will also kick off our cross-grade level reading buddies on this day and our students will be partnering with a class from another grade level to share in reading together. We have several guest readers coming including the principals of BCI, Keller High School, and several of our campus and district leaders, and community members who will be joining different classrooms to share in reading a story with them! We are also excited to welcome, Watson Polk, a motivational speaker who has a rare condition and who will share with our 4th grade students using an assisted communication device to share some of his favorite stories and inspire our students to understand more about the unique needs of others. Our teachers have fun activities planned in the classroom to celebrate a special day of reading and to share in their character selections as a class!

We look forward to welcoming our visitors to the parades which will take place during Co-curr times in our cafeteria- immediately following the parade, we welcome you to join in watching your child play games in the gym. If you plan to join us for the parade, please plan to be at school around 10 minutes before the time listed below for your grade level. Please bring an ID to check in and you will receive a visitor sticker. If you have not yet checked in using raptor this year, you will need to enter and check in through our Raptor kiosk and office.

Parade Times:

4th: 8:10am - 9:10am

2nd: 9:15am - 10:15am

3rd: 11:20am - 12:20pm

1st: 12:55pm - 1:55pm

Kinder: 2:00pm - 3:00pm

If you are unable to join us for the parade, don't worry, as we will be recording each one and sharing the videos!

Storybook Character Costumes

We are excited to continue our celebration of the love of reading at FES! On Friday, October 27th, students are invited to dress up like a favorite character or something related to a favorite book! Students may wear their costume for the duration of the school day, so please ensure that they are able to sit, move, and participate in the day while wearing their costume. We ask that all costumes be school appropriate and follow general KISD student dress guidelines:

No scary, gory, or violent costumes/masks
No weapons or pretend/toy weapons including swords, guns, knives, num-chuks, etc.
No inflatable costumes

Veterans Day

Veterans Day is quickly approaching. We will celebrate all our Veterans on Friday November 10th at our Veterans Day Program and Breakfast. We would love for your Veteran to be included in our Wall of Honor. Include a picture and information about your Veteran and return it to the basket in the front office, or email a copy to stacimleonard@gmail.com. Please have them submitted by Thursday November 2nd. We cannot wait to honor all of your Veterans!

Watch D.O.G.S.

Thank you, to those who attended our kick off meeting! We had a great start and a wonderful group of participants on Tuesday! Mrs. Bowen will share the link to the Watch D.O.G.S. calendar to those who have forwarded their volunteer approval email to her (angelina.bowen@kellerisd.net). The first day for Watch DOGS will be October 2nd.

We LOVE VolunteerS!

✅Get Cleared to Volunteer! All volunteers must complete a yearly background check. Click the link to apply for a volunteer position through KISD.

Click here to access the KISD background check application.

✅Check out our events and let us know how you can get involved! Click here to sign up to help!

✅Check the PTA Website for upcoming volunteer opportunities.

https://florenceelempta.membershiptoolkit.com/Volunteer

Add your photos to the yearbook

Please upload your pictures on www.TreeRing.com

PTA Events and Volunteer Opportunities

Information Central for PTA!

Check out Membership Toolkit for valuable information concerning PTA events, dates, ways to volunteer, directory, teacher favorites list and much more. Check it out! ➡️

https://florenceelempta.membershiptoolkit.com/

Help us reach our goals this year by joining FES PTA and receive membership perks!

JOIN ➡️ www.JOINPTA.org

Membership Perks ➡️. https://www.txpta.org/member-perks

Community Store House-Run in the Dark Oct 2023-Boo Run. Please register on the CSH website to participate!

https://www.communitystorehouse.org/run-in-the-dark

Reflections

Two weeks to go to get your Reflections creations in! Please bring your child’s entry form and art, music, dance, film, photography or literature project to the front office by Monday, October 30!

https://www.txpta.org/reflections-participation#:~:text=Eligible%20students%20may%20enter%20any%20or%20all%20of,conform%20to%20the%20guidelines%20developed%20by%20National%20PTA.

Monday October 23rd- FES Red Ribbon Assembly (students only)

We have a Spirit Night coming up Thursday October 26th from 11am-7pm @ JR’s BBQ & More located at 121 Rufe Snow Drive, Suite 127 Keller, TX 76248. Make sure you mention Florence as you check out!

https://jrsbbqnmore.com/menu/67152174

carnival/silent auction/chili cookoff

Don’t forget to come to Fall Carnival TOMORROW- we will have a jump house, hotdogs, fun kid activities, Chili Cookoff, Games and more! It’s a special Florence Tradition that I don’t think your family will want to miss on October 21st, 4pm-7pm.

We will also have our traditional Chili Cook-off during the silent auction. Come taste some wonderful chili prepared by our FES families and let them know how much you love it!

Silent Auction began today online at noon and will close tomorrow at 7pm. We will have auction items out to be viewed during the Fall

carnival tomorrow in the cafeteria from 4-7pm! We hope to see you there and that you bid on some of our awesome items! Thank you!

Cafeteria Menu- October 2023

Cafeteria information

https://kellerisd.sodexomyway.com/

What time is breakfast? Breakfast will begin at 7:25. The line will close at 7:50 for students to be in class at 7:55.

How do I add money to my child’s cafeteria account? You may place money on your child's lunch account by setting up an account for them on School Cafe. The link is below and you will need your student's ID # to do so.

Sodexo - Breakfast and Lunch.