Week of January 6, 2020

We hope you have enjoyed our December to Remember.  How can it already be done??!!!  There are some breakfast pastries in the lounge from another Yellow House parent.  Load up on those carbs- ANYTHING to help you get through the half day!!   Have a REMARKABLE TWO WEEKS OFF, sweet staff.  We wish you nothing short of the most safe, memorable, and restful break and can't wait to hear about the FUN you have.

Fond farewells to Taylor, Jessie, and Jacque, as they begin their new adventures.  We thank each of you for the imprint you have left on each of us and our learners.  I hope that you will visit often and treasure the great memories you had at Lee Elementary.  Please welcome Sasha Vargas (May's student teacher) in P3 and Brittany Saucedo (a former Coppell student and ACU grad) in P1.  They will both start on January 6.  I will share their contact info with you so you can welcome them on board.  CISD has not finalized our IC hire, as of this time.  I will keep you posted as I learn more.

Best wishes go out to Shelby.  She will be getting married this weekend.  We know she will be a beautiful bride!

Congratulations to Brooklyn, Hannah, Laura, Kaitlin, Stormi, and Tabitha!  These first year teachers have done an incredible job with their first class of their own.  With their drive and determination and the help of their mentors, teams, our coaches, and Layne they do not look or behave like beginning educators.  Kudos to this year's new hires: Meredith, Shari, Maddie, Makenzie, Ruby, Corinne, Natalie, and L'Oreal.  You have made it to Christmas!  We are so proud of each of you and the journey you are on with us.  I'm confident that onboard training and our FamiLEE have helped you get accustomed to Lee!  Thank you, returning staff, for pouring into our newest FamiLEE members the first two nine weeks and helping them along the way!  I am a proud principal who is blessed to have a staff that I trust and that "gets" the vision of Lee. Each of you returning staff member are a huge part in helping to actualize our guiding purpose.  THANK YOU, each of you, for choosing Lee!  

Have the BEST last day of 2019 with our children.  They deserve it!

DID YOU KNOW:

• you only have a few more weeks to get your Go Red shirt?  For a link to order your Go Red t-shirt (credit card only) and show your support during the Month of Mondays in February - American Heart Month - simply text DHCCOPPELL to 41444. 

BEFORE LEAVING ON FRIDAY       

1. Please get any items form the fridge by 10:00.  The office will be tossing anything "suspect."
2. Please, also visit your mailbox by 11:00.  Empty it of all contents.  There are many thank you notes in there. Please make sure these get in take home folders.  
3. Custodial does a deep cleaning of the campus these next two weeks.  May I suggest a FRESH START and take everything down off your idea paint so that your room gets cleaned as much as possible.  Erase what you can on your glass- you may return to some shiny glass if you do!  PLEASE take down and store any holiday displays and decorations before leaving.  
4. If you have pets, please take them home with you or email Chantel your plans for the two weeks. 
5. Please change your computer password, before leaving campus, so you don't get locked out over the break. 
6. Make sure all projectors, computers, digital signage and tv's are turned off before leaving.  This includes your Vivatek boards.
7. iPads and MacBooks should be plugged in and charging.  
8. Take your ornament off of the office tree, if you want to keep it.

SPIRIT ASSEMBLY
We will start at 8:15.  Purple and Yellow, please sit in front of the bleachers so your learners have a good view of Spirit Rally.

LUNCHES ON FRIDAY:

We will have lunches in your spaces.  Thanks for doing your best to bag up their trash for the custodians.  You can get sack lunches as you exit Spirit Rally.

EARLY RELEASE
Please plan on ALL staff members assisting us with dismissal.  All of specials will be gone, so we will need people at every bus checking backpack tags.  We also ask that teachers assist with any learners that are not picked up on time.  We will make an announcement when all learners are gone so that you may leave and start your holiday break.  Please wait for the announcement before leaving.

REMINDER
Don't forget!  Grades are due January 7th, the Tuesday after we return from winter break.  Please go into e-school, today, to make sure you are able to enter grades, have all of your learners, etc. so that if Leigh Ann needs to correct anything, it can be done before the holiday.  Also, if you enter grades over the break, please remember that they must be back-dated to a date before December 20th, or they will not save.

iSTATION
Please take time to resend log in information to the parents/guardians of learners for use at home.  This link will give you directions for enabling the parent portal access to parent letters for accessing iStation at home. 

PTO MEETING
Don't forget to have someone prepared to give your house CBL Updates on the Tuesday we get back from the break.  The meeting starts at 6:30.  Also, did you know there is a bin for PTO Thank You cards under the teacher mailboxes?  I'm sure they would love to hear your gratitude for the luncheon and personalized gift bags.

#ONEWORD2020
Since opening year, we, as a staff, have come back in January and had a word for the year.  Just one word.  My first word was INSPIRE, then LEAD, followed by GRATITUDE, KIND, and LISTEN.  This year my word is.still being determined  Your word can be something tangible or intangible.  It can be a thought, a feeling, or an action.  The key is to find something that has personal meaning for you.  This word may not make sense to anyone but you, and that is okay.  This is YOUR word!  This little word can have big meaning in your life if you allow yourself to be open to the possibilities.  Sometimes a word will pop into your brain, and it will not make any sense to your right now.  Give it some time.  Let it percolate a bit.  Maybe this is a word you need to hear, but just aren't ready for it yet.  Again, be open to the possibilities.  Between now and Wednesday's staff meeting, please determine what your #oneword2020 will be.  We will have an activity to go along with your word, so come prepared with yours. 

ESL FOR THE WEEK

Your Lee ESL Facilitators, Mrs. Rios and Mrs. Allen, have a new web page that they will be distributing information through. Please share the ESL at LEE Webpage with parents. Let them know they can also visit our school webpages as well. Mrs. Rios and Mrs. Allen.

Offer sentence frames or sentence stems

Sentence frames or sentence stems are an entry point into academic or social conversations for students. ELs benefit from these because they give inertia to their thoughts. They are like a push on a swing set. When our kids aren’t able to push themselves, we give them the initial pushes on the swing and then they take over. Sentence stems are similar. They are like a push to propel our students’ thoughts forward. A couple things to keep in mind about sentence stems/frames: we should model the use of them, offer them but not require them, and tailor stems to meet various language proficiency levels.

DATES TO REMEMBER:
Dec 21-Jan 5-  NO SCHOOL
Dec 21- Metrocrest Volunteering #rjlcaresJan 6- Day 5F
     Red House Lounge Responsibilities
     iStation ISIP  must be administered this week
Jan 7- May's Birthday
     Grades Due (8:00 am)
     CISD Education Foundation Shirt w/ Jeans
     Dyslexia Screener training for K&1 (3:30)
     PTO Mtg. (6:30 Cafe)
Jan 8- College Shirt Day
     Staff Meeting (3:30 Hannah H's Space)
     Parent Book Club (6:00 Media Center)
Jan 9- Priscilla's Birthday
     Rikki's Birthday
     Spurs Savings (7:20-7:40 Cafe)
     CISD Spelling Bee (CMSW)
Jan 10- 8 Hours of Comp Time must be accrued for hourly employees
     Report Card Day
Jan 11- Ruby's Birthday

Week of December 16, 2019

Thank you for the #HourOfCode activities you planned and shared with your learners this week.  While at Apple these last two days, multiple people mentioned how they are inspired by what our educators are doing at Lee- YOU MATTER and inspire so many others!  I can't wait to see the entire video of the Red House performance, the pictures and video online have me so excited.  THANK YOU, Linda and Red House, for all of your hard work and extra time.  Enjoy yourselves at the Holiday Open House, today!  I can't wait to see pictures of our teams in GREEN and am keeping my fingers crossed with Hannah's creation on display.

Lastly, I want you to have the BEST final week of school for 2019.  It has been so much fun to make your December one to REMEMBER and hope that you know how very much you mean to me!  ENJOY an incredible two weeks off as you take time to be grateful for all around you and the happiness of the giving season.  May you make memories with those you love. I will miss you during the break, and am excited to see everyone in the new year!

DID YOU KNOW:

• we have GEMS being recognized at Monday night's Board Meeting?  Congratulations to Megan, Jessica, and Layne for being Great Educators that Matter!  Please come to the Board Room at  5:15 to cheer our FamiLEE members on!  This is a big deal!
• that CISD will continue our wireless upgrade install next week?  Please excuse the interruption when they are in your space.  They assure us that it will take 10-15 minutes per space.
• that CISD Curriculum Department is monitoring both your iStation and Dreambox usage?  When I ran reports in my Principal's Meeting, we have quite a few that are not using these resources with their learners.  PLEASE MAKE SURE that learners who are on levels 3, 4, and 5 are using iSation 30 minutes per week.  Learners on Level 1 and 2 should be using iStation 40 minutes per week.

DECEMBER TO REMEMBER UPDATES
Monday-  Feel free to bring your favorite cookies to school on Monday.  We will have some cookies and coffee for all WHOs that want them.

Tuesday- Sleep in a couple extra minutes, we will start the day with bagels from a Yellow House family.

Wednesday- We will not have roast beast for lunch, instead we will have On the Border catered in by our wonderful PTO.  

Thursday- Sleep in another couple of minutes, we will start the day with breakfast donated by our partners at Irving Bible Church.

LUNCHES THIS WEEK:

We thank you all for the many "floor picnics" you will have this week.  Great job communicating with the cafeteria what your lunch needs are on our special lunch days.  

SCHEDULE CHANGES
We kindly ask for your flexibility with schedules this week.  With multiple school events and programs, there can sometimes be a "hiccup."  Please assume that we have best intentions when we run alternate schedules. We have tried our best to try and accommodate all.  Thank you, Layne, for helping to design Wednesday's schedule.  It is also on the second tab our our master schedule document.  Other schedules will be updated on the flight home tonight.  We are adding Days and Numbers to the Faculty Calendar starting Jan 5.  If you see any errors, please let me know.

STAFF HOLIDAY PARTY

We hope everyone can join us for some time together at Cane Rosso, after school, on Wednesday. This is NOT a school sponsored event, so you are free to have "tea."  THANK YOU to Social Spurs for planning this fun event!

FROZEN MOVIE DATE

What FUN it will be to take our learners to the movie on Thursday.  If you have a learner not attending, please let Chantel know so we can work out supervision for the child.  This REALLY is NOT an option, but I will work with each individual case.  We will plan on loading the buses at 10:30, so we will eat brunch at 10:00 ,as a school.  Kids in grades K-2 need to sit 3 learners to a seat.  Grades 3-5 will sit 2 learners to a seat.  The movie start time is 11:15, and the movie should end between 1:00 and 1:15.  We will load the buses as we plan to be back for our parties at 2:00.  If we are back way too early for parties, you have permission to watch The Grinch with your house.  (Thank you for remembering that ANY movies must be pre-approved by Chantel.) Please have learners packed up for the end of the day, before we leave for the movies.  If you are a Specialist or Support Staff member, we are excited to have you join your house for the movie.  Please get with your Leadership member to see if there are any learners in the house that they need extra help with.  Those staff members with children, please feel free to help in your child's house (or let your child join your class) so you can enjoy the movie with them.  Our Admin Team is happy to lend a hand, too, if you have friends who need to sit next to one of us.

SPIRIT RALLY
Please invite parents to attend our event on Friday.  We will start at 8:15.  Red and Black Superstars will be recognized and Yearbook winners (Jessica will inform you) will be announced.  We also have some festive games for you to join in- BE READY!

EARLY RELEASE 

Friday is a half day of school.  The elementary school early release time is 12:15.  Please communicate this to your parents.  You may leave once the office is clear of ALL learners AND YOU HEAR THE ANNOUNCEMENT ON THE INTERCOM.  We will need all hands on deck to make sure learners get home the proper way so EVERYONE can leave early.  

GEOGRAPHY BEE
There is a study guide website for 4th and 5th graders participating in the Geography Bee?  Your class Geo Bee is scheduled for 1/27.  The school Geo Bee is scheduled for 1/30.  The State Geo Bee is on 2/7.  Thank you, Kristina, for getting our dates organized.

ESSENTIAL TRUTHS BOOK STUDY
Please make sure you have been participating in the Twitter Slow Chat so you can get six hours of flex credit for our Book Study. 

REMINDER

Don't forget!  Grades are due January 7th, the Tuesday after we return from winter break.  Please go into e-school this week to make sure you are able to enter grades, have all of your learners, etc. so that if Leigh Ann needs to correct anything, it can be done before the holiday.  Also, if you enter grades over the break, please remember that they must be back-dated to a date before December 210th, or they will not save.

ESL THIS WEEK

DATES TO REMEMBER:
Dec 14- Choir Performs at The Sound
Dec 16- Third Grade Early Leave
     GEMS Recognized (5:00 Admin Bldg.)
     School Board Mtg (7:00 Admin Bldg.)
Dec 17- Winter Choir Performance (8:10 and 6:30 Cafe)
Dec 18- Grade Level Schedule Today
     2nd Grade Reader's Theater Day
     4th Grade Poetry Slam Day
     PTO Holiday Luncheon!!!
     1st Grade Fairy Tale Ball (1:00-2:00 Cafe)
     1st Grade Fairy Tale Parade (2:15)
Dec 19- Ayesha's Birthday
     Day ZERO
     Spurs Savings (7:20-7:40 Cafe)
     Frozen Movie Date
     Winter Parties (2:00-3:00)
     Staff Holiday Party (Cane Rosso)
Dec 20- Spirit Rally (8:15 Gym)
     Early Release (12:15)
Dec 21- Metrocrest Volunteering #rjlcares
Dec 21-Jan 5- WINTER BREAK
Jan 6- Day 5F

Week of December 9, 2019

We hope you are looking forward to another week of treats from Leigh Ann and I.  It is SO MUCH FUN planning out ways to show you how much we care for you!  You are the BEST staff on the planet and deserve to be thought about and acknowledged!  Thank you, Linda, for the incredible choir performance at Northpark Mall and for Kristina joining us as an additional chaperone.  Thank you to the Fifth Grade Team and Kristi and Christina for an incredible three days at Allaso Ranch and for all of the planning and organizing that went into another wonderful experience for our FamiLEEs.  Staff, your tweets continue to show bright spots in our school!  Keep them up!  It was awesome being able to see the learning our kids participated in all the way from Allaso Ranch.

DID YOU KNOW:

• it is not a bad idea to review appropriate use of technology (Technology Ted) and to review/update your\ Treatment Agreements during this time of year?
• we have a visit from the CMSW Band and Choir on Monday?  What a great time to see our former Spurs thriving in fine arts!  Join us at 9:00, in the gym, if you can.  Thank you, Julie and Aparna, for always sharing your gym so graciously!
• that Red and Black Superstars are due Friday by 5:00 pm.  We request that each staff member please nominate at least one learner in our school! 
• that early dismissal time for December 20 is 12:15?  Remember to start sprinkling this with your parents, NOW!
• the district will Go Red for staff wellness the month of February? For a link to order your Go Red t-shirt (credit card only) and show your support during the Month of Mondays in February - American Heart Month - simply text DHCCOPPELL to 41444. 

DECEMBER TO REMEMBER UPDATES
Who has time to pack a lunch this time of year?  We will be kicking off the week with "Who Hash" (Babes Chicken) on Monday and a pajama day for all.  You are going to need those elastic waistbands for those potatoes, chicken tenders, biscuits, and cobbler!  ENJOY!

You might want to wear your warm ups and sneakers with your holiday shirts on Wednesday as it will be a day full of fun and games!

Pull out your finest holiday green attire on Friday as we "Go Green" on Grinch Green Day.  Green  holiday hats, socks, shirts, and more!  Tweet out to #DecemberToRemember if you are interested in being entered in a prize drawing for participation.

HOUR OF CODE:

Computer Science Education Week and #HourOfCode are next week! This is a great time to use the coding and robotics resources located in your houses and in our Design and Create studios, while celebrating problem solving and deeper thinking. Check out some of the resources curated by the DLCs on the Hour of Code Website. The reflection piece will be done district-wide through FlipGrid! Once your learners have participated in the Hour of Code, we encourage you to celebrate and award them their Hour of Code Certificate of Completion. A digital version of this certificate is available through the Flipgrid reflection topics. These could be easily added as a celebration to Bulb. We want to encourage you to participate and reflect in the hour of code along with your learners. 

Please use #HourOfCode #CISDCode2Learn & #CISDOurStory in your Tweets!

MENTOR MENTEE CELEBRATION

HOLIDAY OPEN HOUSE

Please plan on going to the CISD Open House during your conference time on Friday (ha- you are going to look swell in all that green).  If you are an hourly employee, please work with your supervising teacher to arrange a time to go over.  You will NOT want to miss this fun event!  Don't forget to vote for Lee's Gingerbread entry.  THANK YOU, Hannah H, for leading our school in this!  

LET IT GO, AGAIN
Since we are taking the ENTIRE school on a field trip to see the new Frozen 2 movie on Thursday, December 19 (our class Winter Party day) we need to make sure you are collecting $7 per learner. Here is the form to document who has paid. We will eat BRUNCH, on campus, before leaving for the show. Please find out who will need a school sack lunch this day, as well.

MACY'S BELIEVE LETTERS TO SANTA

Want an authentic writing experience for your learners?  For every letter to Santa receives through Christmas Eve, Macy's will donate $1 to Make-A-Wish, up to $1 million. Need inspiration for your letter to Santa? Let Violet's video explain how your letters make a difference.  If you'd like to participate, please have your kids bring their finished letters in the mailbox in the office by 3:05 Friday, December 13th. You can also have learners send letters digitally and/or you can print letterhead here.  Feel free to use the hashtag #MacysBelieve to promote this event.

LUNCHES ON DECEMBER 21:

We will have lunches in your spaces on Friday, December 20.  Please take time to find out what your learners plan to eat so that our cafeteria can place an order that meets our needs and not have left over food for the break.  Please complete this form by December 13.  THANKS for your help on this!

ESL THIS WEEK

Visual supports can be sketches that you create yourself on the fly or they can be google images that you pull up on a device when you realize that a student needs to see what you are discussing. Visuals also include real objects (realia) that you or students bring in to support vocabulary and concept development. Not enough can be said about visuals. One of our4 favorite ways to use visuals to support ELs is through Picture Talks or the Picture Induction Method. Learn more by clicking on the link. They are super powerful!

DATES TO REMEMBER:
December 9-13- Hour of Code Week
Dec 9- CMSW Band and Choir (Gym 9:00-9:30)
Dec 10- April's Birthday
     Fifth Grade Gift of Time
     Mentor/Mentee Celebration (3:45 OTB)
Dec 11- Julie B's Birthday
     Kindergarten Gift of Time
     Leadership Meeting (As we "Focus on the Bright Spots" enjoy NO MEETING-Happy Holidays!)
     Parent Book Study (6:00 Media Center)
Dec 12- Spurs Savings (7:20-7:40 Cafe)
     Red House Music Performance (8:00 and 6:30 Cafe)
     Tour (9:00)
     First Grade Gift of Time
Dec 13- Second Grade Gift of Time
     CISD Holiday Open House (during your conference time)

Dec 14- Lee Choir Performs at The Sound (1:00 pm- Join us for some holiday cheer)