Hello Families!

 Happy Red Ribbon Week!  

• • Monday, October 27th- Crazy Sock Day

  • Tuesday, October 28th- Team Day (Wear Team Shirt and/or Workout Gear)

  • Wednesday, October 29th- Wear Red

  • Thursday, October 30th- Pajama Day

  • Friday, October 31st- Book Character Day

Reading: In reading this week, we will work on our inferring skills. We will start the week by talking about what an inference is. Students will practice using their background knowledge and text evidence to make an inference.  Then, later in the week, we will work on inferring the themes of books. We will end the week practicing with inferring context clues again.  We are also continuing our next round of book club. This book club will be realistic fiction books. TAG ELAR students will be reading Mysteries. Students have already received their books. Our first meeting will be on Friday, October 25. Students have reading, sticky notes, and double-entry notes due Friday. This round of Book Club will go until Thanksgiving Break. As a final note, students will have the opportunity to redo their plot diagram assignment from Friday. Many of them struggled with it. If they are going to redo it, it will be due this Friday, October 31st. They will get the redo paper tomorrow. 

Writing: This week, we will then be starting Personal Narratives. We will talk about the elements of personal narratives, and then we will be using those elements to write our own narratives. At the end of the week,  will be brainstorming our Small Moments and the theme or lesson we learned from this moment.

Grammar/Word Study:  This week in grammar, we will be reviewing subject a predicate. This is the base of all simple sentences. This is important groundwork before we move into compound sentences soon. 

For word study this week, our root is -miss/mit. Students will be given a list of 10 -miss/mit words that they should learn. Students will have words glued into their notebooks and will have access to a Quizlet to study as well. Students will have an affix quiz this Friday, October 31st. This quiz will cover both this week's affix words and last week's.

Social Studies: We will be continuing our American Revolution unit. This week, we will start by talking abou the Boston Massacre. Then we will discuss the differences between loyalists and patriots. Then we will talk about the Boston Tea Party. Finally, we will discuss the midnight ride and the Battles of Lexington and Concord. This marks the official start of the American Revolution. We will be making paper flashcards for students to study within this unit. Please go over these notecards at home to help them study. This Social Studies Unit will have a test at the end. 

On top of all of the amazing learning we are doing, some important dates are also coming up. They are:

• Tuesday, October 28 - TAG (Talented and Gifted) Parent Information Session 5:00-5:45pm in cafeteria (for those interested, NOT for current TAG students.) 

• Thursday, Octover 31th- Math STAAR Interim

• Friday, October 31, 2025- Permission Slip for Adam Gidwitz Author Visit Field Trip Due

• Friday, November 7, 2025- No School

• Tuesday, November 11, 2025- Veterans Day Assembly- RSVP Here

• Wednesday, November 12, 2025- Adam Gidwitz Author Visit Field Trip

• Monday, November 24-Friday, November 28- Thanksgiving Break No School

We also have an important announcement:

Veteran's Day

Is there a Veteran in your family? If the answer is “yes”, the students and staff would like to show our appreciation and honor your Veteran in person as well as be included in a slideshow that will be presented at our Veterans Day Assembly on November 11th at 7:45 am in the Sommer Cafeteria.  If your family would like to contribute a photo to the slideshow, please send a digital photo to your child’s homeroom teacher, no later than Wednesday, November 5th.  When emailing your child’s teacher, please include:

• A digital photo of your family’s Veteran(.jpg or .png format)

• Your Veteran’s name, military branch, & years of service

• Relation to your child (examples: grandparent, great-grandparent, aunt/uncle)

Will your Veteran be joining us at our November 11th assembly?  If the answer is “yes,” please fill out the form below, no later than Thursday, November 6th.

Veteran RSVP for our Assembly 

From PTA

Pony Up October 3 - 31, 2025

Goal: $25,000 • Benefiting every Stallion

(This equates to approximately $30/student --- Our school record is $48/student)

Pony Up is our fall PTA fundraiser—no door-to-door sales, just direct support that powers the extras our kids and teachers love: guest speakers, gym equipment, after-school enrichment, classroom libraries, and more.

Every dollar stays at Patsy Sommer and is applied to THIS school year.

How it works

• Donate Oct 3–31 to your student’s class.

• We track progress on a giant wall at school and will run the campaign in four quarters (10/3–10/9, 10/10–10/16, 10/17–10/23, 10/24–10/31).

• Each quarter, two teachers and two classrooms win prizes (Round Rock Amp tickets, dinner gift cards, Round Rock Express, smoothie cards, a night at Kalahari—plus bragging rights!).

• If we hit $25,000, the whole school earns Board Game Day

Add a message (optional +$10)

Make your donation extra-special with a red-and-gold note on our hallway display: Sommer Stallion Shout-Outs. Share a 1–2 sentence pep message for your student and we’ll post it on campus.

DON'T FORGET: Matching & receipts

Many employers match gifts—please check your benefits portal. The Patsy Sommer PTA is a nonprofit; your receipt will include details for potential tax deductibility.

Thank you for helping our Stallions gallop to the finish line!

Donate at: https://ponyup2025.cheddarup.com/

 Hello Families!

Happy Diwali to all of those who celebrate. 

Reading: In reading this week, we will be starting our fiction unit. To start this unit, we will be talking about the Plot, which is the structure of all fictional stories. We will talk about the parts of a plot and then work to put a story on a plot diagram. Then, students will independently put a story on a plot diagram. We are also about to start our next round of book club. This book club genre will be realistic fiction books. TAG ELAR students will be reading Mysteries. Students have already received their books. Our first meeting for TAG ELAR students was today. For everyone else, it will be on Friday, October 24. Students have reading, sticky notes, and double-entry notes due Friday. This round of Book Club will go until Thanksgiving Break. 

Writing: This week in writing, we will return to our nonfiction writing. We will be continuing our work on planning out each section of our nonfiction writing. Our planning will also use the boxes and bullets strategy and focus on the text structure of students' writing.  Then, students will start drafting their essays. 

Grammar/Word Study:  This week in grammar, we will be reviewing subject a predicate. This is the base of all simple sentences. This is important groundwork before we move into compound sentences soon. 

For word study this week, our root is -port. Students will be given a list of 10 -port words that they should learn. Students will have words glued into their notebooks and will have access to a Quizlet to study as well. Students will have an affix quiz next Friday, October 31st. This quiz will cover both this week's affix words and next week's.

Social Studies: We will be continuing our American Revolution unit. This week, students will be talking about the taxes that King George passed for the colonies. Students will work in groups to learn about and present one of the Acts. We will also be learning some important language of the discipline, including propaganda, monopoly, and taxation. We will end the week by talking about the differences between and loyalist and a patriot. We will be making paper flashcards for students to study within this unit. Please go over these notecards at home to help them study. This Social Studies Unit will have a test at the end. 

On top of all of the amazing learning we are doing, some important dates are also coming up. They are:

• Wednesday, October 22, 2025- Round Rock ISD Unity Day-Wear Orange

• Thursday, October 23, 2025- Spelling Bee Round 1 (in classroom)

• Thursday, October 23, 2025- RLA STAAR Interim

• Monday, October 27-Friday, October 31- Red Ribbon Week

• Monday, October 27, 2025- Author Visit: Nicholas Solis

• Tuesday, October 28 - TAG (Talented and Gifted) Parent Information Session 5:00-5:45pm in cafeteria (for those interested, NOT for current TAG students.) 

• Friday, October 31, 2025- Permission Slip for Adam Gidwitz Author Visit Field Trip Due

• Wednesday, November 12, 2025- Adam Gidwitz Author Visit Field Trip

We also have an important announcement:

From Ms. Mensing

Author Visit

Dear Families,

We are excited to host author Nicholas Solis!  This visit has been made possible with support from our Sommer PTA and funds raised through our Scholastic Book Fair (our next one is coming October 10th).

If your family would like to pre-order one of the author's books, he will personalize it on the day of the event. Click here to pre-order!

From PTA

Pony Up October 3 - 31, 2025

Goal: $25,000 • Benefiting every Stallion

(This equates to approximately $30/student --- Our school record is $48/student)

Pony Up is our fall PTA fundraiser—no door-to-door sales, just direct support that powers the extras our kids and teachers love: guest speakers, gym equipment, after-school enrichment, classroom libraries, and more.

Every dollar stays at Patsy Sommer and is applied to THIS school year.

How it works

• Donate Oct 3–31 to your student’s class.

• We track progress on a giant wall at school and will run the campaign in four quarters (10/3–10/9, 10/10–10/16, 10/17–10/23, 10/24–10/31).

• Each quarter, two teachers and two classrooms win prizes (Round Rock Amp tickets, dinner gift cards, Round Rock Express, smoothie cards, a night at Kalahari—plus bragging rights!).

• If we hit $25,000, the whole school earns Board Game Day

Add a message (optional +$10)

Make your donation extra-special with a red-and-gold note on our hallway display: Sommer Stallion Shout-Outs. Share a 1–2 sentence pep message for your student and we’ll post it on campus.

DON'T FORGET: Matching & receipts

Many employers match gifts—please check your benefits portal. The Patsy Sommer PTA is a nonprofit; your receipt will include details for potential tax deductibility.

Thank you for helping our Stallions gallop to the finish line!

Donate at: https://ponyup2025.cheddarup.com/

 Hello Families!

It was great meeting with all of your for parent conferences. 

Reading: In reading this week, we will start by continuing our work on summarizing. We will focus on adding to a paragraph to create a complete summary. We will end the week by reviewing everything we've learned in our unit. These will be the last big skill before our Nonfiction Assessment.  Students will test this week on Friday, 10/17. A practice passage went home today that students can do to help them study.

Writing: This week in writing, we will return to our nonfiction writing. We will be continuing our work on planning out each section of our nonfiction writing. Our planning will also use the boxes and bullets strategy and focus on the text structure of students' writing.  Then, students will start drafting their essays. 

Grammar/Word Study: This week, we will be thinking about Parts of Speech. There are eight parts of speech: nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, pronouns, conjunctions, interjections, and prepositions. 

We will be developing our vocabulary this week using Flocabulary. Students will wear a name tag on Wednesday, saying, "Ask me what _____ means." This will encourage them to teach their word to others. 

Social Studies:  We will be starting our new unit this week. We will be learning about the American Revolution. Students will be learning about the 1st cause of the American Revolution- the French and Indian War. Then, we will be talking about the taxes that King George passed for the colonies. This will be another major cause of the American Revolution.  We will be making paper flashcards for students to study within this unit. Please go over these notecards at home to help them study. 

On top of all of the amazing learning we are doing, some important dates are also coming up. They are:

• Monday, October 13-Friday, October 17- Book Fair

• Friday, October 17, 2025- Nonfiction Assessment

• Monday, October 20, 2025- PTA Reflections Due

• Monday, October 27-Friday, October 31- Red Ribbon Week

• Monday, October 27, 2025- Author Visit: Nicholas Solis

• Tuesday, October 28 - TAG (Talented and Gifted) Parent Information Session 5:00-5:45pm in cafeteria (for those interested, NOT for current TAG students.) 

• Friday, October 31, 2025- Permission Slip for Adam Gidwitz Author Visit Field Trip Due

• Wednesday, November 12, 2025- Adam Gidwitz Author Visit Field Trip

We also have an important announcement:

From Ms. Mensing

Author Visit

Dear Families,

We are excited to host author Nicholas Solis!  This visit has been made possible with support from our Sommer PTA and funds raised through our Scholastic Book Fair (our next one is coming October 10th).

If your family would like to pre-order one of the author's books, he will personalize it on the day of the event. Click here to pre-order!

Book Fair

Our Fall Scholastic Book Fair begins Friday, October 10th before PTA Movie Night! Book Fair proceeds help us host Author & Storyteller Visits, add more library books to the collection, & reward student readers with books. 

Please sign up to volunteer at the book fair! We would appreciate your help in one of the following ways:

• Setting up (Th 10/9 or packing up (Fri. 10/17)

• Helping students with Book Fair Previews (Fri. 10/10)

• Book Fair Sales (M-F 10/13-10/17)

Sign up here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0C48AAA829A2F49-59077220-sommer#/

Please be on the lookout for Teacher Wish Boxes at the fair or Teacher eWallet links, if you’d like to contribute to their classroom libraries. (Ms. Wood's eWallet link is here)

EWallets are a CASHLESS way your student can shop independently during the school day.

You will need to create a Scholastic account, and if you have funds left over from a previous book fair, it will appear as an eCard:

https://account.scholastic.com/my-scholastic/profile/ewallet.html?fairID=6020819 

Thank you for your support! 

From PTA

Reflections Program

Calling the creators of tomorrow!!!

Theme for Reflections 2025-2026 is "I Belong",

The PTA Reflections Program gives space for students to benefit from creative expression and help in finding their own voice in telling their unique story.  Express your artistic talent in 1 of the 6 arts categories: Dance Choreography, Film Production, Literature, Music Composition, Photography, or 2D Visual Arts. 

• Accepting digital submissions only

• Check eligibility criteria before sending entries @https://www.txpta.org/reflections-participation

  • At east one member of the household must be a PTA member to be considered - Join PTA

• Student Entry form is must & Check guidelines before submission : Scan QR code or click here

• Submit digital file with entry forms @ patsysommerptareflections@gmail.com

• For Visual Arts entry if submitting the original artwork, please drop it off at the Patsy Sommer front office

• More than 1 entry in any category, requires additional student entry form to be submitted.

DEADLINE for Submission: Monday, October 20th, 2025

Pony Up October 3 - 31, 2025

Goal: $25,000 • Benefiting every Stallion

(This equates to approximately $30/student --- Our school record is $48/student)

Pony Up is our fall PTA fundraiser—no door-to-door sales, just direct support that powers the extras our kids and teachers love: guest speakers, gym equipment, after-school enrichment, classroom libraries, and more.

Every dollar stays at Patsy Sommer and is applied to THIS school year.

How it works

• Donate Oct 3–31 to your student’s class.

• We track progress on a giant wall at school and will run the campaign in four quarters (10/3–10/9, 10/10–10/16, 10/17–10/23, 10/24–10/31).

• Each quarter, two teachers and two classrooms win prizes (Round Rock Amp tickets, dinner gift cards, Round Rock Express, smoothie cards, a night at Kalahari—plus bragging rights!).

• If we hit $25,000, the whole school earns Board Game Day

Add a message (optional +$10)

Make your donation extra-special with a red-and-gold note on our hallway display: Sommer Stallion Shout-Outs. Share a 1–2 sentence pep message for your student and we’ll post it on campus.

DON'T FORGET: Matching & receipts

Many employers match gifts—please check your benefits portal. The Patsy Sommer PTA is a nonprofit; your receipt will include details for potential tax deductibility.

Thank you for helping our Stallions gallop to the finish line!

Donate at: https://ponyup2025.cheddarup.com/

Stock the Lounge - 4th and 5th grade

This year we are hoping to help bring the staff daily joy by stocking the teacher's lounge with snacks and treats they can enjoy whenever they want! Every three months, different grades will be taking the lead for this, and for the months of October- December, the 4th and 5th grade classes will be helping to make this happen. Please click HERE to sign-up to bring in some goodies.

Items can be dropped off directly to school - there will be a box in the lobby (see picture) or in a box on the porch at 3903 Winchester Drive by October 8th! 

Hello Families!

As a reminder, conferences will be held on Monday, October 13th.

Reading: In reading this week, we will practice with context clues. This is a review from previous years. Students will be asked to determine the meaning of words. Students will test next week on Friday, 10/17. We will also be spending time this week working to prepare for our student-led conferences.

Writing: This week, students will work on planning out and drafting an Extended Constructed Response. This will be a major focus in writing this year. Students will also work to prepare for Student-Led Conferences. 

Grammar/Word Study: This week, we will be thinking about Parts of Speech. There are eight parts of speech: nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, pronouns, conjunctions, interjections, and prepositions. 

This week, our root is -sect. Students will be given a list of 10 -sect words that they should learn. Students will have words glued into their notebooks. Students will have an affix quiz Thursday, October 9th. This quiz will cover both last week's (ject) and this week's (sect) affix words.

Social Studies: This week,  we will compare the New England, Middle, and Southern colonies. We will talk about the differences in the reason for founding, geography, economy, and government.  Students will have a Social Studies Assessment on Friday, October 10th, 2025. They received their reviews last week to start working on them. They will be due Thursday, October 9th. 

On top of all of the amazing learning we are doing, some important dates are also coming up. They are:

• Wednesday, October 8, 2025- Walk, Bike, Roll to School 

• Friday, October 10, 2025- Colonization Assessment

• Friday, October 10, 2025- Fall Picture Day

• Friday, October 10, 2025 @ 6 pm- PTA Movie Night

• Friday, October 10, 2025- End of First Nine Weeks

• Monday, October 13, 2025- Student Holiday / PARENT CONFERENCES

• Monday, October 13-Friday, October 17- Book Fair

• Friday, October 17, 2025- Nonfiction Assessment

• Monday, October 20, 2025- PTA Reflections Due

• Monday, October 27, 2025- Author Visit: Nicholas Solis

• Tuesday, October 28 - TAG (Talented and Gifted) Parent Information Session 5:00-5:45pm in cafeteria (for those interested, NOT for current TAG students.) 

• Friday, October 31, 2025- Permission Slip for Adam Gidwitz Author Visit Field Trip Due

• Wednesday, November 12, 2025- Adam Gidwitz Author Visit Field Trip

We also have an important announcement:

From ITS

Our district is providing families access to GoGuardian Parent, a mobile app designed to provide parents/guardians insight and control over their student's online activity when on school-managed devices and accounts. GoGuardian Parent was created to help provide students additional educational support and is a companion to the classroom engagement and internet filtering tools that our school uses. The GoGuardian Parent app provides an overview of the apps, extensions, documents, and websites your student visited, as well as internet controls that you can set for out-of-school hours. 

To access the app, please follow the below instructions:

1. Download the app: Apple Store  |  Google Play Store

NOTE: GoGuardian Parent is currently compatible with iOS versions equal to or newer than iOS 8 and Android version equal to or newer than Android Jelly Bean, v16, 4.1.x.

2. After the app is successfully downloaded and installed, open it up and enter the email address registered with the school. This will only work using the email address submitted on RRISD Student Registration Forms (InfoSnap).

3. Login/Check Email: Check your email on your phone for a link to log in to the app. Tap the "Verify your email", and it will take you straight to the app. Note: If you don't have access to your email through the device you used to log in, tap on "Login with verification code", and copy and paste the verification code from the email into the app.

Check out Getting Started with GoGuardian Parent to learn more about the settings and features within GoGuardian Parent.

If you experience issues and are unable to log in to GoGuardian Parent, please complete this form. You will receive an email when your issue is resolved.

From Ms. Mensing

Author Visit

Dear Families,

We are excited to host author Nicholas Solis!  This visit has been made possible with support from our Sommer PTA and funds raised through our Scholastic Book Fair (our next one is coming October 10th).

If your family would like to pre-order one of the author's books, he will personalize it on the day of the event. Click here to pre-order!

Book Fair

Our Fall Scholastic Book Fair begins Friday, October 10th before PTA Movie Night! Book Fair proceeds help us host Author & Storyteller Visits, add more library books to the collection, & reward student readers with books. 

Please sign up to volunteer at the book fair! We would appreciate your help in one of the following ways:

• Setting up (Th 10/9 or packing up (Fri. 10/17)

• Helping students with Book Fair Previews (Fri. 10/10)

• Book Fair Sales (M-F 10/13-10/17)

Sign up here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0C48AAA829A2F49-59077220-sommer#/

Please be on the lookout for Teacher Wish Boxes at the fair or Teacher eWallet links, if you’d like to contribute to their classroom libraries. (Ms. Wood's eWallet link is here)

EWallets are a CASHLESS way your student can shop independently during the school day.

You will need to create a Scholastic account, and if you have funds left over from a previous book fair, it will appear as an eCard:

https://account.scholastic.com/my-scholastic/profile/ewallet.html?fairID=6020819 

Thank you for your support! 

From PTA

Reflections Program

Calling the creators of tomorrow!!!

Theme for Reflections 2025-2026 is "I Belong",

The PTA Reflections Program gives space for students to benefit from creative expression and help in finding their own voice in telling their unique story.  Express your artistic talent in 1 of the 6 arts categories: Dance Choreography, Film Production, Literature, Music Composition, Photography, or 2D Visual Arts. 

• Accepting digital submissions only

• Check eligibility criteria before sending entries @https://www.txpta.org/reflections-participation

  • At east one member of the household must be a PTA member to be considered - Join PTA

• Student Entry form is must & Check guidelines before submission : Scan QR code or click here

• Submit digital file with entry forms @ patsysommerptareflections@gmail.com

• For Visual Arts entry if submitting the original artwork, please drop it off at the Patsy Sommer front office

• More than 1 entry in any category, requires additional student entry form to be submitted.

DEADLINE for Submission: Monday, October 20th, 2025

Pony Up October 3 - 31, 2025

Goal: $25,000 • Benefiting every Stallion

(This equates to approximately $30/student --- Our school record is $48/student)

Pony Up is our fall PTA fundraiser—no door-to-door sales, just direct support that powers the extras our kids and teachers love: guest speakers, gym equipment, after-school enrichment, classroom libraries, and more.

Every dollar stays at Patsy Sommer and is applied to THIS school year.

How it works

• Donate Oct 3–31 to your student’s class.

• We track progress on a giant wall at school and will run the campaign in four quarters (10/3–10/9, 10/10–10/16, 10/17–10/23, 10/24–10/31).

• Each quarter, two teachers and two classrooms win prizes (Round Rock Amp tickets, dinner gift cards, Round Rock Express, smoothie cards, a night at Kalahari—plus bragging rights!).

• If we hit $25,000, the whole school earns Board Game Day

Add a message (optional +$10)

Make your donation extra-special with a red-and-gold note on our hallway display: Sommer Stallion Shout-Outs. Share a 1–2 sentence pep message for your student and we’ll post it on campus.

DON'T FORGET: Matching & receipts

Many employers match gifts—please check your benefits portal. The Patsy Sommer PTA is a nonprofit; your receipt will include details for potential tax deductibility.

Thank you for helping our Stallions gallop to the finish line!

Donate at: https://ponyup2025.cheddarup.com/

Stock the Lounge - 4th and 5th grade

This year we are hoping to help bring the staff daily joy by stocking the teacher's lounge with snacks and treats they can enjoy whenever they want! Every three months, different grades will be taking the lead for this, and for the months of October- December, the 4th and 5th grade classes will be helping to make this happen. Please click HERE to sign-up to bring in some goodies.

Items can be dropped off directly to school - there will be a box in the lobby (see picture) or in a box on the porch at 3903 Winchester Drive by October 8th! 

Hello Families!

As a reminder, conferences will be held on Monday, October 13th.

Reading: We will be spending time this week working to prepare for our student led conferences. 

Writing: This week, students will start the week by setting a writing goal for themselves. They will pick one of the 6 traits of writing as a focus. Students will also work on reading responses about their book club books now that they are finished. 

Grammar/Word Study: This week, we will be thinking about Parts of Speech. There are eight parts of speech: nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, pronouns, conjunctions, interjections, and prepositions. 

This week, our root is -ject. Students will be given a list of 10 -ject words that they should learn. Students will have words glued into their notebooks. Students will have an affix quiz Thursday, October 9th. This quiz will cover both this week's (ject) and next week's (sect) affix words.

Additionally, students will have an opportunity for a requiz over their Spec/Dict words this Friday, October 3rd.

Social Studies: This week, we will be learning about famous colonists. This will include William Bradford, Anne Hutchinson, William Penn, John Smith, and Roger Williams. Students will be able to learn about the different colonists and how they impacted their colony. Then we will discuss two important economic systems- Mercantilism and Free Trade. Students will have a Social Studies Assessment on Friday, October 10th, 2025. They received their reviews today to start working on them. They will be due Thursday, October 9th. 

On top of all of the amazing learning we are doing, some important dates are also coming up. They are:

• Friday, October 3, 2025, from 5-7 pm- Spooky STEAM Night

• Wednesday, October 8, 2025- Walk, Bike, Roll to School 

• Friday, October 10, 2025- Colonization Assessment

• Friday, October 10, 2025- Fall Picture Day

• Friday, October 10, 2025 @ 6 pm- PTA Movie Night

• Friday, October 10, 2025- End of First Nine Weeks

• Monday, October 13- Student Holiday / PARENT CONFERENCES

• Monday, October 13-Friday, October 17- Book Fair

• Monday, October 27, 2025- Author Visit: Nicholas Solis

We also have an important announcement:

A Note from Ms. Gagliardi and Ms. Wood

An important note in case you missed our Parent Night last week. 

• First, we are doing 5th-grade class shirts through Amazon this year. The Woodliardi pairing color is Navy. You can order using this link. 

From ITS

Our district is providing families access to GoGuardian Parent, a mobile app designed to provide parents/guardians insight and control over their student's online activity when on school-managed devices and accounts. GoGuardian Parent was created to help provide students additional educational support and is a companion to the classroom engagement and internet filtering tools that our school uses. The GoGuardian Parent app provides an overview of the apps, extensions, documents, and websites your student visited, as well as internet controls that you can set for out-of-school hours. 

To access the app, please follow the below instructions:

1. Download the app: Apple Store  |  Google Play Store

NOTE: GoGuardian Parent is currently compatible with iOS versions equal to or newer than iOS 8 and Android version equal to or newer than Android Jelly Bean, v16, 4.1.x.

2. After the app is successfully downloaded and installed, open it up and enter the email address registered with the school. This will only work using the email address submitted on RRISD Student Registration Forms (InfoSnap).

3. Login/Check Email: Check your email on your phone for a link to log in to the app. Tap the "Verify your email", and it will take you straight to the app. Note: If you don't have access to your email through the device you used to log in, tap on "Login with verification code", and copy and paste the verification code from the email into the app.

Check out Getting Started with GoGuardian Parent to learn more about the settings and features within GoGuardian Parent.

If you experience issues and are unable to log in to GoGuardian Parent, please complete this form. You will receive an email when your issue is resolved.

From Ms. Mensing

Dear Families,

We are excited to host author Nicholas Solis!  This visit has been made possible with support from our Sommer PTA and funds raised through our Scholastic Book Fair (our next one is coming October 10th).

If your family would like to pre-order one of the author's books, he will personalize it on the day of the event. Click here to pre-order!

From Mrs. Macre:

Parents, on Friday, you should have received an email from Round Rock ISD about the Panorama Survey. Round Rock ISD Board Goal Four measures student perceptions of Sense of Belonging, Safety at School, and Student Self-Efficacy. Since 2023, the district has used a survey from Panorama Education to help us understand these perceptions.

• In previous years, parents could opt-out of this survey. However, with the passage of Senate Bill 12, your student must be opted-in for them to participate.

• To review the questions on the survey, please click the link. 

• 3rd-5th Grades: Student Perception and Climate

• See this link for more information

The survey will be administered during the weeks of October 6-17 (Fall Survey) and March 2-13 (Spring Survey). To give your consent for your student to take the survey, please view this email and make your selection by September 29, 2025. 

From PTA

Spooky STEAM Night 

Hello Sommer Families.

The PTA is thrilled to announce the return of STEAM Night—and this year it’s going to be a little spooky! Join us for an evening packed with 30 + hands-on activities in Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math. 

Meet awesome raptors and cool reptiles, dive into hands-on science fun, send a postcard to space, learn how to be a CPR hero, go on a creature hunt, craft your very own yarn monster buddy, uncover Austin’s sneaky invasive plants, play with friendly robots, create adorable anime art, make magical dry ice, and even bring home your very own glowing bug friend! Enjoy this and more and don’t forget Students are encouraged to come dressed in their favorite spooky costumes!

 Friday, October 3rd

 5:00 – 7:00 PM

    Free for all

To insure a successful, safe, and fun filled event we need lots of parent volunteers especially during the event.

Please review the available slots and sign up for as much time as you can. 

 Spooky Steam Night at Sommer- PARENT VOLUNTEERS ONLY

Volunteers, we thank you for supporting our school community—we couldn’t do it without you!

PTA Membership

Join our PTA!!! No Volunteering Required! Don't forget to add a student membership! Join Here! 

Spirit Wear Wednesdays!

Show off your school pride by rocking your Stallion gear every Wednesday!
Snap a pic in your spirit wear and tag us on Facebook or email (sommerptaspiritwear@gmail.com) for a chance to be featured or win a prize!  Let's turn the halls into a STAMPEDE of Red and Gold! 

1st General Meeting

We are excited to host the Hey Dude, Nice Shoes! Anti-Bullying presentation on Thursday, September 25th. Mrs. Carolyn Brown does an amazing job and will be holding a parent session that evening. We will have our first General PTA meeting at 5:15pm with the presentation immediately following around 6:00. We would love to have you join us for both! Come meet some other stallion families. You do NOT want to miss this event! This event is co-hosted by our fabulous PTA! We will have high school students volunteering for childcare in the gym while parents attend the event. Students will be able to write notes of appreciation to staff members during this time, along with other activities. 

https://calendar.app.google/o749U5MaQLooGooR6 

Reflections Program

Calling the creators of tomorrow!!!

Theme for Reflections 2025-2026 is "I Belong",

The PTA Reflections Program gives space for students to benefit from creative expression and help in finding their own voice in telling their unique story.  Express your artistic talent in 1 of the 6 arts categories: Dance Choreography, Film Production, Literature, Music Composition, Photography, or 2D Visual Arts. 

• Accepting digital submissions only

• Check eligibility criteria before sending entries @https://www.txpta.org/reflections-participation

  • At east one member of the household must be a PTA member to be considered - Join PTA

• Student Entry form is must & Check guidelines before submission : Scan QR code or click here

• Submit digital file with entry forms @ patsysommerptareflections@gmail.com

• For Visual Arts entry if submitting the original artwork, please drop it off at the Patsy Sommer front office

• More than 1 entry in any category, requires additional student entry form to be submitted.

DEADLINE for Submission: Monday, October 20th, 2025

Hello Families!

Reading: We will be continuing our Nonfiction unit this week. The skill focus for this week will be nonfiction text structures and the author's purpose. These are review skills from previous grades. At the beginning of the week, we will be taking notes on author's purpose and the 5 text structures. As part of the notes, students will be identifying keywords to help them know which structure their reading is in. Then, in the middle of the week, students will read different nonfiction passages and work with a partner to identify their text structure and the author's purpose for the texts. We will end the week by reviewing everything we have learned so far about Nonfiction Texts. We will have our next Book Club meeting on Friday, September 19th. Students have reading, sticky notes, and double-entry notes due for this meeting. Please check in with your child about their assignment. 

Writing: In writing this week we will be brainstorming topics for our expository nonfiction writing. To do this, students will create an expert list to see what topics they are already knowledgeable on. This writing will not be researched, so students must pick a topic they are "experts" in. Then, we will be working on drafting thesis statements. Students' thesis will be the guide for their expository writing. 

Grammar/Word Study: This week, we will learn about the root -dict. This means to speak. Students will be given 10 words using this root to learn the meaning of. Students will have a word study quiz on this Friday, September 19th over this week's words and last week's. 

 We will continue to focus on capitalizing proper nouns. This is a review skill from previous grades, which is very important as we continue into 5th grade. 

Social Studies: We are starting our colonization unit in Social Studies. We will be starting the unit by reading the book Encounter by Jane Yolen. Students will think about the different perspectives presented in the book (colonists and native tribes). Then, students will use the ethics and paradox depth and complexity icons to dig deeper into those perspectives. Then, we will learn about a couples type of government- Monarchy, Democracy, and Republic. Finally, we will discuss the colonies of Jamestown and Plymouth, why they were founded, and what life was like for a colonist in one of these colonies.

On top of all of the amazing learning we are doing, some important dates are also coming up. They are:

• Monday, September 15-Friday, September 19, 2025- Start with Hello Week

• Friday, September 19, 2025- Grandparents' Lunch option 2

• Monday, September 22, 2025- NO SCHOOL

• Tuesday, September 23, 2025- NO SCHOOL

• Thursday, September 25, 2025 @ 5:15- PTA Meeting

• Thursday, September 25, 2025 @6:00 - Hey Dude, Nice Shoes- Parent Presentation 

• Friday, September 26, 2025- Grandparents' Lunch option 3

• Friday, October 3, 2025 from 5-7pm- Spooky Steam Night

• Friday, October 10, 2025- Fall Picture Day

• Friday, October 10, 2025 @ 6pm- PTA Movie Night

• Monday, October 13- Student Holiday / PARENT CONFERENCES

We also have an important announcement:

A Note from Ms. Gagliardi and Ms. Wood

Two important notes in case you missed our Parent Night last week. 

• First, we are doing 5th-grade class shirts through Amazon this year. The Woodliardi pairing color is Navy. You can order using this link. 

• Second, our 5th graders have an amazing opportunity to celebrate their elementary school journey with a special field trip to Reunion Ranch in May! This trip is designed to be a fun-filled celebration as our students prepare to transition to middle school. We are considering using charter buses this year. However, charter buses would require additional funding beyond our regular transportation budget. Please fill out this form to help us to gauge parent interest and support before moving forward with planning. 

From Cafeteria:

Grandparent's Day is coming up soon - Sunday, September 7th. We would like to welcome our grandparents to lunch. We will extend this invitation to the remaining Fridays in September if you are unable to make it on the 12th. Grandparents are welcome to sit with their grandchildren during lunch, bring a special lunch for their grandchildren, or join them in eating from the cafeteria. There will not be a special lunch, it will be a Friday Pizza lunch. IF your child's grandparents will be ordering pizza, we need you to email your child's teacher with the number of people ordering so that there is enough food. Thanks for your help with this! They will also need to bring the exact amount of $4.50 per adult lunch. 

From PTA

PTA Membership

Join our PTA!!! No Volunteering Required! Don't forget to add a student membership! Join Here! 

Spirit Wear Wednesdays!

Show off your school pride by rocking your Stallion gear every Wednesday!
Snap a pic in your spirit wear and tag us on Facebook or email (sommerptaspiritwear@gmail.com) for a chance to be featured or win a prize!  Let's turn the halls into a STAMPEDE of Red and Gold! 

1st General Meeting

We are excited to host the Hey Dude, Nice Shoes! Anti-Bullying presentation on Thursday, September 25th. Mrs. Carolyn Brown does an amazing job and will be holding a parent session that evening. We will have our first General PTA meeting at 5:15pm with the presentation immediately following around 6:00. We would love to have you join us for both! Come meet some other stallion families. You do NOT want to miss this event! This event is co-hosted by our fabulous PTA! We will have high school students volunteering for childcare in the gym while parents attend the event. Students will be able to write notes of appreciation to staff members during this time, along with other activities. 

https://calendar.app.google/o749U5MaQLooGooR6

STEAM NIGHT

The PTA is thrilled to announce the return of STEAM Night—and this year it’s going to be a little spooky! Join us for an evening packed with hands-on activities in Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math that are guaranteed to be loads of fun. Students are encouraged to come dressed in their favorite spooky costumes!

Friday, October 3rd -  5:00 – 7:00 PM

This is our 2nd Annual STEAM Night, and you won’t want to miss it!

To make this event successful, safe, and fun, we need lots of parent volunteers.
Spooky Steam Night at Sommer- PARENT VOLUNTEERS ONLY

Please review the available slots and sign up where you can. If you’d like to help with prep work from home, email us at sommerptasteamnight@gmail.com.

Thank you for supporting our school community—we couldn’t do it without you!

Reflections Program

Calling the creators of tomorrow!!!

Theme for Reflections 2025-2026 is "I Belong",

The PTA Reflections Program gives space for students to benefit from creative expression and help in finding their own voice in telling their unique story.  Express your artistic talent in 1 of the 6 arts categories: Dance Choreography, Film Production, Literature, Music Composition, Photography, or 2D Visual Arts. 

• Accepting digital submissions only

• Check eligibility criteria before sending entries @https://www.txpta.org/reflections-participation

  • At east one member of the household must be a PTA member to be considered - Join PTA

• Student Entry form is must & Check guidelines before submission : Scan QR code or click here

• Submit digital file with entry forms @ patsysommerptareflections@gmail.com

• For Visual Arts entry if submitting the original artwork, please drop it off at the Patsy Sommer front office

• More than 1 entry in any category, requires additional student entry form to be submitted.

DEADLINE for Submission: Monday, October 20th, 2025

Hello Families!

I hope you are all enjoying the cooler weather. 

Reading: We will be starting our Nonfiction unit this week. The skill focus for this week will be nonfiction text features. Students will work to understand the purpose of the text features and the information they provide readers. We will look at an article where the words are removed with just the text features left behind. This will show us the important role text features play. Then, we will look at the passage with the words added back in. Finally, students will add their own text features to an article that is missing them. I am also excited to say that we will be starting our first round of book club at the end of this week. For this first round, we will be reading graphic novels and discussing them. Students got their books on Friday, September 5th. We will have our first official meeting on Friday, September 12th. Students have reading, 5 sticky jots, and 3 double entry notes due on Friday. 

Writing: In writing, we will start the week by doing our writing benchmark for the beginning of the year. This information will help to form writing goals in this unit. For this, students will be asked to write about a nonfiction topic. This will help to determine what students know about nonfiction writing. 

Grammar/Word Study: This week, we will learn about the root -spec. This means to see or look. Students will be given 10 words using this root to learn the meaning of. Students will have a word study quiz on Friday, September 19th over this week's words and next week's. 

We will continue to focus on capitalizing proper nouns.  This week, the focus will be on capitalizing organization names. This will be an important stepping stone as we prepare for next week's lesson on acronyms. 

Social Studies: This week is we will be celebrating Constitution Week. We will be spending this week discussing important parts of our Constitution, including the executive branch. We will start by learning about the constitution as a whole and then 6 presidents who made a big impact on our country: Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Polk, Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, and Franklin D Roosevelt.

On top of all of the amazing learning we are doing, some important dates are also coming up. They are:

• Friday, September 12, 2025- Grandparents' Lunch option 1

• Monday, September 15-Friday, September 19, 2025- Start with Hello Week

• Friday, September 19, 2025- Grandparents' Lunch option 2

• Monday, September 22, 2025- NO SCHOOL

• Tuesday, September 23, 2025- NO SCHOOL

• Thursday, September 25, 2025 @ 5:15- PTA Meeting

• Thursday, September 25, 2025 @6:00 - Hey Dude, Nice Shoes- Parent Presentation 

• Friday, September 26, 2025- Grandparents' Lunch option 3

• Friday, October 3, 2025 from 5-7pm- Spooky Steam Night

We also have an important announcement:

A Note from Ms. Gagliardi and Ms. Wood

Two important notes in case you missed our Parent Night last week. 

• First, we are doing 5th-grade class shirts through Amazon this year. The Woodliardi pairing color is Navy. You can order using this link. 

• Second, our 5th graders have an amazing opportunity to celebrate their elementary school journey with a special field trip to Reunion Ranch in May! This trip is designed to be a fun-filled celebration as our students prepare to transition to middle school. We are considering using charter buses this year. However, charter buses would require additional funding beyond our regular transportation budget. Please fill out this form to help us to gauge parent interest and support before moving forward with planning. 

Mrs. Hollis and Mrs. Macre- No Place for Hate

Are you interested in being an ambassador, leadership or coalition member for the No Place for Hate. Mrs. Macre and Mrs. Hollis are hosting the first No Place for Hate meeting Wednesday, September 10th at 7:15am in the library. We are looking for students who can help support the mission to create a school environment where everyone belongs and is safe at school. Please complete this form. 

Even if your 4th or 5th grade student is unable to attend the first meeting but is interested in working with No Place for Hate they can complete the form. Please feel free to reach out to Mrs. Hollis or Mrs. Macre if you have any questions. 

See you there!

From Cafeteria:

Grandparent's Day is coming up soon - Sunday, September 7th. We would like to welcome our grandparents to lunch on Friday, September 12th. We will extend this invitation to the remaining Fridays in September if you are unable to make it on the 12th. Grandparents are welcome to sit with their grandchildren during lunch, bring a special lunch for their grandchildren, or join them in eating from the cafeteria. There will not be a special lunch, it will be a Friday Pizza lunch. IF your child's grandparents will be ordering pizza, we need you to email your child's teacher with the number of people ordering so that there is enough food. Thanks for your help with this! They will also need to bring the exact amount of $4.50 per adult lunch. 

From PTA

PTA Membership

Join our PTA!!! No Volunteering Required! Don't forget to add a student membership! Join Here! 

Spirit Wear Wednesdays!

Show off your school pride by rocking your Stallion gear every Wednesday!
Snap a pic in your spirit wear and tag us on Facebook or email (sommerptaspiritwear@gmail.com) for a chance to be featured or win a prize!  Let's turn the halls into a STAMPEDE of Red and Gold! 

1st General Meeting

Please join us for our first General Membership PTA meeting of the school year on 9/25 at 5:15 pm. Our meeting will precede Carolyn Brown's parent presentation, "Hey Dude, Nice Shoes" that begins at 6 pm. RSVP below! 

https://calendar.app.google/o749U5MaQLooGooR6

STEAM NIGHT

Sommer PTA is excited to host SPOOKY STEAM NIGHT on October 3rd (Friday, 5pm-7pm). Bring your FAMILY, wear your COSTUME & join us for a fun night of SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING, ART, AND MATH ACTIVITIES! To help out planning this fun night please email to sommerptasteamnight@gmail.com

Hello Families!

I hope you all had a great Labor Day weekend. 

Reading/Writing:

We will be combining our reading and writing skills this week to learn how to write reading responses. This is an important way to practice our metacognition.  We connect our reading response to the depth and complexity icons through different prompts. To start practicing this skill we will review different response examples and rate them on the rubric. Then we will write a response as a class over a read-aloud book. At the end of our learning for the week, students will be asked to write their own response about a depth and complexity prompt using evidence from the text. This will help support one of the new STAAR components on Evidence-Based Writing. We will continue to do responses throughout the year over our book club books.

Grammar/Word Study: This week, we will be learning about the root -man/manu. This means hand or handily. Students will be given 10 words using this root to learn the meaning of. Students will have a word study quiz on Friday, September 8th over this week's words and last week's. 

 We will focus on capitalizing proper nouns. This is a review skill from previous grades, but one that is very important as we continue into 5th grade. 

Social Studies: 

This week, students will learn about the regions of the United States.  Students will work in groups to research their region's landforms, history, people, resources, and challenges. We will be presenting to the class later in the week. Then, we are starting our colonization unit in Social Studies. We will start the unit by learning key language of the discipline students will need to know for this unit. 

On top of all of the amazing learning we are doing, some important dates are also coming up. They are:

• Thursday, September 4, 2025 @ 4pm- 5th Grade Parent Night

• Monday, September 8, 2025 @ 4pm- TAG Parent Night for current TAG students

• Friday, September 12, 2025- Grandparents' Lunch option 1

• Friday, September 19, 2025- Grandparents' Lunch option 2

• Monday, September 22, 2025- NO SCHOOL

• Tuesday, September 23, 2025- NO SCHOOL

• Thursday, September 25, 2025 @ 5:15- PTA Meeting

• Thursday, September 25, 2025 @6:00 - Hey Dude, Nice Shoes- Parent Presentation 

• Friday, September 26, 2025- Grandparents' Lunch option 3

• Friday, October 3 from 5-7pm- Spooky Steam Night

We also have an important announcement:

From Mrs. Elarms

Based on NEW Legislation, parents are now required to give consent for their child to be given health care needs by the school nurse and teachers (for minor things such as cleaning a scrape and providing a band-aid.) We also have to give consent for our counselor to provide any services beyond a short check in with a student. Sometime on Friday, or close to it, you should have received an email from POWERSCHOOL. (This is the same place that you complete registration forms.) There are NEW FORMS there which allow you to give consent to these two specific area. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE fill these out. The new legislation goes into effect on September 1st. We really need to have this form for every student by then. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out! 

Important Reminders:

• If Nurse Stephanie does not have consent, she legally cannot assess or treat the student until she has parent permission. This includes something as simple as taking a student's temperature.

• If you haven’t received the form, please email Nurse Stephanie so we can get it straightened out quickly.

From Cafeteria:

Grandparent's Day is coming up soon - Sunday, September 7th. We would like to welcome our grandparents to lunch on Friday, September 12th. We will extend this invitation to the remaining Fridays in September if you are unable to make it on the 12th. Grandparents are welcome to sit with their grandchildren during lunch, bring a special lunch for their grandchildren, or join them in eating from the cafeteria. There will not be a special lunch, it will be a Friday Pizza lunch. IF your child's grandparents will be ordering pizza, we need you to email your child's teacher with the number of people ordering so that there is enough food. Thanks for your help with this! They will also need to bring the exact amount of $4.50 per adult lunch. 

From PTA

PTA Membership

Join our PTA!!! No Volunteering Required! Don't forget to add a student membership! Join Here! 

Spirit Wear Wednesdays!

Show off your school pride by rocking your Stallion gear every Wednesday!
Snap a pic in your spirit wear and tag us on Facebook or email (sommerptaspiritwear@gmail.com) for a chance to be featured or win a prize!  Let's turn the halls into a STAMPEDE of Red and Gold! 

1st General Meeting

Please join us for our first General Membership PTA meeting of the school year on 9/25 at 5:15 pm. Our meeting will precede Carolyn Brown's parent presentation, "Hey Dude, Nice Shoes" that begins at 6 pm. RSVP below! 

https://calendar.app.google/o749U5MaQLooGooR6

STEAM NIGHT

Sommer PTA is excited to host SPOOKY STEAM NIGHT on October 3rd (Friday, 5pm-7pm). Bring your FAMILY, wear your COSTUME & join us for a fun night of SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING, ART, AND MATH ACTIVITIES! To help out planning this fun night please email to sommerptasteamnight@gmail.com

From the 5th Grade Teachers:

With the weather continuing to be sweltering, we ask your help in keeping kids safe. Please send your child to school each day with a water bottle. Also please talk to your child about taking their jacket off when we go to recess. We had some 5th graders wearing their jackets as they played soccer last week. We appreciate your help in this manner. 

Hello Families!

We are excitedly finishing up August and are looking forward to some enjoyable learning. As a reminder, it is VERY important that your child's computer is fully charged and ready each day. 

Reading: This week we continue to focus on purposefully talking, thinking, and writing about or reading. This is an important way to share and deepen our thinking. We will practice purposeful talk in small groups about our reading. Once we know how to talk about our reading, we will then start jotting about our reading. We will do this on sticky notes, including our thoughts and one of the depth and complexity icons we learned about at the beginning of the week. Then we will record our thinking using double-entry notes. This is when we record a quote from the text on the left side of the paper and our elaborated thoughts with icons on the right side. 

Writing: In Writing this week, students will focus on our first published writing of the year. Students will be writing poems about their favorite parts. This writing will be inspired by the mentor text "The Best Part of Me" by Wendy Ewald. By the end of the week, students will have this writing published in the hallway along with a picture of their favorite part. 

Word Study: This week, we will be learning about the root -ped. This means foot or feet. Students will be given 10 words using this root to learn the meaning of. Students will have a word study quiz on Friday, September 6th, over this week's words and next week's. 

Social Studies: This week, students will learn about the regions of the United States.  Then we will practice interpretting maps of these regions. We will finish this unit by discussing Deforestation and how humans and the environment interact. We will be testing over our first unit on Friday, August 29th. Students reviews are due Thursday, August 28th.

On top of all of the amazing learning we are doing, some important dates are also coming up. They are:

• Tuesday, August 26, 2025- Vision and Hearing Screening for Gagliardi and Wood

• Tuesday, August 26, 2025- Spinal Screening (Girls-Only)

• Friday, August 29, 2025- Social Studies Assessment

• Monday, September 1, 2025- Labor Day- NO SCHOOL

• Thursday, September 4, 2025 @ 4pm- 5th Grade Parent Night

• Monday, September 8, 2025 @ 4pm- TAG Parent Night for current TAG students

• Friday, September 12, 2025- Grandparents' Lunch option 1

• Friday, September 19, 2025- Grandparents' Lunch option 2

• Monday, September 22, 2025- NO SCHOOL

• Tuesday, September 23, 2025- NO SCHOOL

• Thursday, September 25, 2025- Hey Dude, Nice Shoes- Parent Presentation

• Friday, September 26, 2025- Grandparents' Lunch option 3

We also have an important announcement:

From Mrs. Elarms

Based on NEW Legislation, parents are now required to give consent for their child to be given health care needs by the school nurse and teachers (for minor things such as cleaning a scrape and providing a band-aid.) We also have to give consent for our counselor to provide any services beyond a short check in with a student. Sometime on Friday, or close to it, you should have received an email from POWERSCHOOL. (This is the same place that you complete registration forms.) There are NEW FORMS there which allow you to give consent to these two specific area. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE fill these out. The new legislation goes into effect on September 1st. We really need to have this form for every student by then. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out! 

From Ms. Gagliardi and Ms. Wood:

I want our classroom to represent the students and the families that occupy it all day long. I would be honored if you could send ONE 4x6 photograph of your student with their family to display in our classroom. Please know that though we will send home the photos at the end of the school year, they may have staples or push-pin holes in them. I will tell your students about this as well, so hopefully, they will bring it up with you. 

A Note From Nurse Stephanie:

Please see the attached letter regarding our mandatory yearly spinal screenings. Spinal screenings will be conducted on ONLY 5th-grade girls on Monday, August 25th, and Tuesday, August 26th. If you choose to exempt your student from the screening, please provide current documentation of the physician's spinal screening results or a notarized affidavit stating that this screening conflicts with religious tenets. Do not hesitate to reach out to me directly if you have any questions!

From Cafeteria:

Grandparent's Day is coming up soon - Sunday, September 7th. We would like to welcome our grandparents to lunch on Friday, September 12th. We will extend this invitation to the remaining Fridays in September if you are unable to make it on the 12th. Grandparents are welcome to sit with their grandchildren during lunch, bring a special lunch for their grandchildren, or join them in eating from the cafeteria. There will not be a special lunch, it will be a Friday Pizza lunch. IF your child's grandparents will be ordering pizza, we need you to email your child's teacher with the number of people ordering so that there is enough food. Thanks for your help with this! They will also need to bring the exact amount of $4.50 per adult lunch. 

From PTA

PTA Membership

Join our PTA!!! No Volunteering Required! Don't forget to add a student membership! Join Here! 

Spirit Wear Wednesdays!

Show off your school pride by rocking your Stallion gear every Wednesday!
Snap a pic in your spirit wear and tag us on Facebook or email (sommerptaspiritwear@gmail.com) for a chance to be featured or win a prize!  Let's turn the halls into a STAMPEDE of Red and Gold! 

From the 5th Grade Teachers:

With the weather continuing to be sweltering, we ask your help in keeping kids safe. Please send your child to school each day with a water bottle. Also please talk to your child about taking their jacket off when we go to recess. We had some 5th graders wearing their jackets as they played soccer last week. We appreciate your help in this manner. 

Hello Families!

We've had a great 1st week of school. We ended the week all together creating our class treatment agreement. This is our agreement on how we will treat each other throughout the year. You will be getting paper copies this week. I encourage you to talk about this agreement with your child. 

Reading: This week we are focusing on purposeful talking, thinking, and writing about or reading. To start we will be learning about the depth and complexity icons that can help guide our thinking.  Purposeful talk can be done both in-person and through online discussions. This is a great way to share and deepen our thinking. We will practice purposeful talk in small groups about our reading. 

Writing: In writing, we will be working on brainstorming in our Writer's Notebooks. Students will brainstorm about their writer's heart.. Students will have a chance to write long on these ideas. These ideas are important because a writer's notebook is a place writers can return to when they are stuck or don't know what to write about. We will also start our first published writing of the year. Students will be writing about their favorite part. This writing will be inspired by the mentor text "The Best Part of Me" by Wendy Ewald.

Social Studies: In Social Studies, we will start the week by discussing different Rural, Urban, and Suburban communities. Then, we will work on interpreting maps. This will help us learn about important geographical features in the United States and the climate of different regions. We will also look at some of the major US cities. This will also lead to discussions about why people settle in certain areas over others. 

On top of all of the amazing learning we are doing, some important dates are also coming up. They are:

• Tuesday, August 26, 2025- Vision and Hearing Screening for Gagliardi and Wood

• Tuesday, August 26, 2025- Spinal Screening (Girls-Only)

• Friday, August 29, 2025- Social Studies Assessment

• Monday, September 1, 2025- Labor Day- NO SCHOOL

We also have an important announcement:

From Ms. Gagliardi and Ms. Wood:

I want our classroom to represent the students and the families that occupy it all day long. I would be honored if you could send ONE 4x6 photograph of your student with their family to display in our classroom. Please know that though we will send home the photos at the end of the school year, they may have staples or push-pin holes in them. You may send a digital photo for me to print on your behalf if you need or do not want to send an original photo. I will send what photos I receive to the printer by Friday, August 22nd, at 3:30 pm. I will tell your students about this as well, so hopefully they will bring it up with you. 

A Note From Nurse Stephanie:

Please see the attached letter regarding our mandatory yearly spinal screenings. Spinal screenings will be conducted on ONLY 5th-grade girls on Monday, August 25th, and Tuesday, August 26th. If you choose to exempt your student from the screening, please provide current documentation of the physician's spinal screening results or a notarized affidavit stating that this screening conflicts with religious tenets. Do not hesitate to reach out to me directly if you have any questions!

From Cafeteria:

I wanted to make sure that everyone is aware if your child's account balance falls into the negative, they will receive a sun butter and jelly sandwich. This can make for some very sad kiddos, so please be sure to keep their lunch accounts up to date. You can do this through www.myschoolbucks.com
Also, if you were set to receive free and/or reduced lunch last year, remember that you have to reapply each year. The grace period is about to end, so please be sure to reapply by CLICKING HERE.

From PTA

PTA Membership

Join our PTA!!! No Volunteering Required! Don't forget to add a student membership! Join Here! 

Spirit Wear Wednesdays!

Show off your school pride by rocking your Stallion gear every Wednesday!
Snap a pic in your spirit wear and tag us on Facebook or email (sommerptaspiritwear@gmail.com) for a chance to be featured or win a prize!  Let's turn the halls into a STAMPEDE of Red and Gold! 

From the 5th Grade Teachers:

With the weather continuing to be sweltering, we ask your help in keeping kids safe. Please send your child to school each day with a water bottle. Also, please talk to your child about taking their jacket off when we go to recess. We had some 5th graders wearing their jackets as they played soccer last week. We appreciate your help in this manner. 

Hello Everyone! 

Teachers are excitedly preparing rooms for the year. Sommer's supply drop-off will be on Thursday, August 7th. Please come at the time based on your last name. Families with last names beginning:

A-M: 4:00 - 4:45 PM

N-Z:  5:00- 5:45 PM

The First Day of School is Tuesday, August 12th. I cannot wait for the year ahead full of fun and learning. 

Hello Everyone! 

We are officially out for Summer Break. If you need anything, please contact the school.