Elementary Done Different "LEE": April 2025

Wednesday, April 30, 2025

Week of May 5, 2025

Thank you to everyone who is helping with Kindergarten Round Up tonight. It is always so fun to feel the energy and see the excitement our newest Spurs have. Enjoy an incredible weekend and pull out your stretchy pants for Staff Appreciation Week. It is time to celebrate all of you!! We LOVE you beyond words and so does our PTO!

DID YOU KNOW:

we are so grateful for everyone signing their Power School documents and submitting their final Student Growth Trackers? THANK YOU!
we are having some issues with trash around our school? Please encourage learners to pick up after themselves and leave our school better than they found it. I see problems in our restrooms and the playgrounds.
there is a fundraising opportunity for our Kendra fans?

TEACHER APPRECIATION WEEK IS HERE!

Teacher Appreciation Week is here and PTO will be celebrating our amazing Designers and Staff at Lee all week long May 5-9! Details and suggestions on how to join in the fun is included below. Also- make sure to check out the staff Favorites list for ideas on how to make their week even more magical.

In addition to what PTO is doing this week, your Admin Team has planned some additional celebrating, as well.
Turn up your sound and enjoy the video below.

PARIS BAGUETTE SPIRIT NIGHT MAY 6TH
Our final Spirit Night of the year is here! Come join us for a delicious treat between 4pm-8pm on Tuesday, May 6th, at Paris Baguette Coppell. Just mention our incredible school Richard J Lee Elementary when you order and 20% of your purchase will come back to RJL PTO!

COLLEGE SHIRT DAY
Wednesday is College Shirt Day. All learners and staff are encouraged to participate in wearing a college shirt on the first Wednesday of each month.

VOLUNTEERS STILL NEEDED FOR CAR DROP OFF LINE ON MAY 7TH

As part of giving back to our staff during Teacher Appreciation Week, we’d like to cover drop off car line duty on their special breakfast day. Please sign up here to help open car doors, manage the sidewalk traffic, and get kids in the door with a great start to their day! We still need at least five more volunteers to make this a success! We are hoping this 7-7:40 time slot allows even working parents to get in on the fun!

SUPPORT THE LEARNERS AND STAFF FOR FIELD DAY
We still need YOU to make Field Day a success! Please sign up to contribute through volunteering or donating! Whether you can spare some time to supervise the little ones at the event or provide snacks to keep our staff and volunteers energized, every bit counts! NOTE: This signup will go out to other volunteer organizations on Monday, so if you plan to volunteer, grab your slot asap! Reminder, all volunteers will need a completed background check for this school year.

LIBRARY BOOK REMINDER

FIELD DAY

Field Day is here and thank you to coaches and PTO for getting it all organized. Here are some reminders:

Please be sure to show the Field Day presentation to your house before Field Day to ensure everyone is familiar with what to expect.
Please fill up the front parking lot before parking in the rear parking lot on Friday. We need spots in the back for our volunteers who will check in with PTO by the custodial door.
Please permit learners to eat breakfast in your learning spaces because the cafeteria will be set up and used for one of the zones.
No chalk on walls or areas that rain will not wash away.
Officer Thames will watch the PE door closer to the ecoPond for learners who need to go in to use the restroom. Staff will have to badge in learners on the cafeteria side.
Please make sure whatever movie you show your class/house is rated "G" and NOT DISNEY.
Please make sure that ANY adult you see outside has a Raptor sticker on them. If you see someone without a sticker, please ASK.
Staff may wear appropriate shorts and hats. Don't forget to wear/have your "schedule" to keep everyone on track.
All kids should bring a change of clothes.
PTO will provide snacks and Jimmy Johns, for lunch, in the teacher's lounge.

STORAGE ROOMS

Please start inventorying and organizing your storage closets. Please make this a team effort and not left to your Leadership member. Here is the Shared Curriculum List. Please save and mark up for us. We will have you share your house inventory on the last 1/2 day of school.

END OF YEAR UPDATES AND TASKS

The last cycle of Team time will conclude May 13. Thank you to our wonderful Specials Team for continuing to take learners from the 13-20. Grades, please use this time to inventory closets, get done with assessments, work on report card comments, pull staples out of walls ;) and all other end of year tasks.

Here is the EOY Checklist. Please make a copy on your iPad and check off items when you complete them. We will ask you to email your completed checklists on the last 1/2 day of school. The link is live for your Furniture Inventory and you may want to wait until the last week of school to complete that portion as a House. Please do not work on EOY tasks during teaching time. It is important to me that we teach and that "learning happens until the last day at Lee." You can use before school, conference time, after school and your Team Time to wrap up these tasks.

LEEDERSHIP COUNCIL- SAVE THE DATE

Kiddos will be selling lemonade at recess. Please spread the word.

KINDERGARTEN PROJECT- SAVE THE DATE

Paper fliers should have been sent home on 4/30/25. Please share with learners and families that Zoo Crew will be at Lee on May 14. This mobile truck will have stuffed animals that will be made with the learners during the school day. Learners will bring them home in a string backpack with a birth certificate. Here is the link to order one of the two packages online. Money earned will be used to help Kindergarten adopt animals at the Dallas Zoo.

RJL SENIOR RECEPTION- SAVE THE DATE

Please help us spread the word as we welcome back former Spurs to Lee Elementary. We can't wait to see our learners from #rjlyear4.

RETIREMENT RECEPTION- SAVE THE DATE

We can't wait to celebrate Suzi. She has a special luncheon with CISD, today, at San Danielle.

FIFTH GRADE GRADUATION- SAVE THE DATE

2025 SPUR SUPPLY KITS ARE LIVE

FamiLEEs - can you believe it is time to start thinking about next school year already? It may seem early, but we are here to help you be fully prepared! Our one stop shop for EVERYTHING you need for the 2025-2026 school year is here! Grade level school supplies, Spiritwear, House Fund contributions, Stadium blankets, and the Online directory are available all in one place. Ordering through us also saves you time and money with discounted prices on the school supplies, and in addition, you don’t pay tax or shipping!

Place your orders by 6/30/2025 to guarantee delivery to your child's classroom by Meet the Designer Night!

STAFFING UPDATES
We have made a recommendation for a designer to replace Jenny We wish Jenny the very best as she stays home with her sweet baby next year. Once the candidate is Board approved, we will introduce them to you. Stay tuned.

LEE LIFE PRINCIPLE:

Responsibility- Making the right choice to be reliable and dependable

LESSON IN LEADERSHIP:

After we eat, we will clean up after ourselves. This includes cleaning off the tables and making sure we haven’t left any trash on the floor or around the eating area.

LEE QUOTE OF THE WEEK:

“Hold yourself responsible for a higher standard than anyone else expects of you. Never excuse yourself.”- Henry Ward Beecher

DATES TO REMEMBER:

MCLASS WINDOW OPEN

MAP WINDOW OPEN

ASIAN AMERICAN AND PACIFIC ISLANDER HERITAGE MONTH

TEACHER APPRECIATION WEEK

May 3- CISD Run to Fund

May 6- Angel's Birthday

MAP Reading Testing All Houses

Blue House Music Performance (2:00 and 6:30)

Paris Baguette Spirit Night (4:00-8:00)

May 7- College Shirt Day

National School Nurse Day

Leadership Meeting (3:15)

May 8- MAP Math Testing All Houses

Final LEEdership Council Meeting (8:00-8:30)

May 9- Field Day

Thursday, April 24, 2025

Week of April 28, 2025

We made it through the second day of state testing- YAY! We hope the Babes lunch filled your bellies. One more test day. We will feed all of you some sandwiches from Market Street on Tuesday. Thank you to Tara for making lunches happen for everyone. If there is one great thing state testing brings us...is catered lunches-YUM! Thank you to the entire staff for the efforts you pour into all of our learners to make sure they are prepared for the next grade level every year! Thank you, Angel, for tackling your CTT responsibilities.

DID YOU KNOW:

we see you? THANK YOU for everything you do behind the scenes that makes Lee shine!

BABY CRAMER SPRINKLE

We hope you will find the time to join us as we celebrate Kaitlin and baby Collins, tomorrow, in the teacher's lounge. Here is a link to her registry for those interested.

COPPELL EARTHFEST

Want something fun to do on Saturday? Join us at the Biodiversity Center for our two stations of Lee learners. Thank you to Priscilla and Keiko for their hard work and dedication. Thank you to our learners who are showcasing their knowledge, too.

KINDERGARTEN ROUND UP

We will host Kindergarten Round Up on Thursday night. If you would like to meet our newest Spurs and help at the event, please reach out to Taylor. We will take all the help we can get! Thank you, Kindergarten team and those that have already volunteered your time!

We are so excited to welcome new FamiLEEs and younger siblings of our current FamiLEEs to our annual Kindergarten Round Up May 1 at 5:30pm. Please plan to join us out back on the playground for some community building and delicious snacks for purchase. PTO will be there to help you order school supplies and make sure you get connected to our amazing FamiLEE. We will see you there!

AUTHOR VISIT ON MAY 2

We will follow the schedule below for our author visit and it is a DAY 2. This means we will have to ask for some flexibility on this day. If your author visit is during your conference time, the specials designer will go to the author visit in your place. Green Lunch and Red Recess are at different times. Please share with 5th grade parents in Green and Red that lunch schedules are different this day. It causes stress when parents don't realize when lunch schedules are different. Thanks, Holly, for scheduling this fantastic guest for our Spurs.

8-8:50- K-2 cafe
9-9:50 3-4 cafe
10:55-11:45 5th grade flex space

RJL PTO BOARD WE NEED YOU

There are only a few days left to join the fun for next year on our PTO board! Click here for all the details on what to expect, the open positions, and the application form. We’d love you to join our team! Applications are due April 30, 2024. Newly elected members will be announced at our May 13th PTO meeting.

TEACHER APPRECIATION WEEK COMING

Teacher Appreciation Week will be here before we know it!! We will be celebrating our amazing Designers and Staff at Lee all week long May 5-9! Be on the lookout for more details coming soon. In the meantime, check out the staff Favorites list to get a jumpstart on ideas for spreading the love.

PARIS BAGUETTE SPIRIT NIGHT MAY 6TH

Our final Spirit Night of the year is almost here! Come join us for a delicious treat between 4pm-8pm on Tuesday May 6th at Paris Baguette Coppell. Just mention our incredible school Richard J Lee Elementary when you order and 20% of your purchase will come back to RJL PTO!

VOLUNTEERS STILL NEEDED FOR CAR DROP OFF LINE ON MAY 7TH

As part of giving back to our staff during Teacher Appreciation Week this year, we’d like to cover drop off car line duty on their special breakfast day. Please sign up here to help open car doors, manage the sidewalk traffic, and get kids in the door with a great start to their day! We still need at least five more volunteers to make this a success! We are hoping this 7-7:40 time slot allows even working parents to get in on the fun!

SUPPORT THE LEARNERS AND STAFF FOR FIELD DAY

The coaches have asked for our help this year for field day, and we need all our parents’ helping hands to make it a success! Please sign up to contribute through volunteering or donating! Whether you can spare some time to supervise the little ones at the event or provide snacks to keep our staff energized, every bit counts! NOTE: This signup will go out to other volunteer organizations soon, so if you plan to volunteer, grab your slot asap! Reminder, all volunteers will need a completed background check for this school year.

KINDERGARTEN PROJECT OPEN FOR CAMPUS PARTICIPATION

Please start sharing with learners and families that Zoo Crew will be at Lee on May 14. This mobile truck will have stuffed animals that will be made with the learners during the school day. They will bring them home in a string backpack with a birth certificate. Here is the link to order one of the two packages online.

RJL SENIOR RECEPTION- SAVE THE DATE

Please help us spread the word as we welcome back former Spurs to Lee Elementary. We can't wait to see our learners from #rjlyear4.

FIFTH GRADE SAVE THE DATE

STORAGE ROOMS

It is that time where you need to start inventorying and organizing your storage closets. Please make this a team effort and not left to Leadership. HINT: START NOW!! Here is the Shared Curriculum List. Please save and mark up for us. We will have you share your house inventory on the last 1/2 day of school.

LEE LIFE PRINCIPLE:

Resiliency- recovering from or adjusting easily to misfortune or change

LESSON IN LEADERSHIP:

Accept that you are going to make mistakes. Learn from them and move on.

LEE QUOTE OF THE WEEK:

"Effort only fully releases its reward after a person refuses to quit.” -Napoleon

DATES TO REMEMBER

EOY MAP/MCLASS WINDOW

ASIAN PACIFIC AMERICAN HERITAGE MONTH

MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS MONTH

April 28- Progress Reports Generated

April 29- Morgan's Birthday

STAAR Math Test

Kindergarten Zoo Field Trip

April 30- Kathy's Birthday

May 1- Hannah's Birthday

MAP Science Testing all houses

MTSS Meetings

Kindergarten Round Up (5:30)

May 2- Author Visit

School Lunch Hero Day

May 3- CISD Run to Fund

Thursday, April 17, 2025

Week of April 21, 2025

What a FABULOUS Volunteer Breakfast this morning. Thank you to all of you for your contributions and to Mary and her helpers for getting it all set up this morning. What a GREAT turnout! We even had a full table of dads there talking about a resurgence of our Dad's Club. We are SUPER EXCITED for STEAM NIGHT and our family picnic next week! Thank you for being present at this campus event and to everyone for all of your hard work and preparations! Priscilla has gone above and beyond, too. PTO says the food trucks should be here at 4:00 if you want to beat the lines. You did a great job with STAAR Reading and STAAR Science will be smooth on Tuesday. Be ready for BABES!

DID YOU KNOW:

today is Abeer's LAST day in Rachael's class? Thank you, Abeer, for doing such a great job! Welcome back to Rachael on Tuesday.
STEAM Night will mean there are people all over the building? Please lock the closed classrooms and make sure your open spaces have items put up that you do not what disturbed.

NO SCHOOL FRIDAY AND MONDAY

Enjoy the long weekend!

STEAM NIGHT THIS WEEK

STEAM NIGHT / FAMILEE PICNIC

We are so excited to invite you to our Spring FamiLEE STEAM NIGHT and Outdoor FamiLEE Picnic on April 24th. We will have a DJ, Raffle, Food Trucks, games, and more! It is sure to be an evening to remember. Please mark your calendars today and plan to join us!

STEAM NIGHT 5:00-7:00pm FAMILEE PICNIC 6:30-8:00pm

We are also offering a Fleece Picnic Blanket perfect for our upcoming Spring FamiLEE event and beyond. Featuring our adorable Lee Elementary Mascot RJ in school colors. Grab yours today while supplies last!

$20 for pre-orders - price will increase after April 22nd. All proceeds go towards supporting RJL PTO and our school FamiLEE.

***Pre-Order your blankets through April 22nd for delivery to your learner's classroom April 24th (prior to our FamiLEE Spring event)***

BABY CRAMER SPRINKLE

We hope you will find the time to join us as we celebrate Kaitlin and baby Collins on Friday in the teacher's lounge. Here is a link to her registry for those interested.

COPPELL EARTHFEST

Want something fun to do on Saturday? Join us at the Biodiversity Center for our two stations of Lee learners.

RJL PTO BOARD WE NEED YOU

Join the fun and serve your community on the PTO Board for the upcoming 2025-26 school year! We have roles that will be a great fit for you, no matter how much or how little time you have to give. Click here for all the details on what to expect, the open positions, and the application form. We’d love you to join us! Applications close April 30th.

TEACHER APPRECIATION WEEK COMING

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED FOR CAR DROP OFF LINE ON MAY 7TH

As part of giving back to our staff during Teacher Appreciation Week this year, we’d like to cover drop off car line duty on their special breakfast day. Please sign up here to help open car doors, manage the sidewalk traffic, and get kids in the door with a great start to their day! We are hoping this 7-7:40 time slot allows even working parents to get in on the fun!

SUPPORT THE LEARNERS AND STAFF FOR FIELD DAY

FROM THE LIBRARY- AUTHOUR VISIT COMING IN MAY

COPPELL ED FOUNDATION RUN TO FUND MAY 3

Mark your calendars and lace up your running shoes! The Coppell ISD Education Foundation will be hosting its Annual Run to Fund at Andy Brown East Park on Saturday, May 3, 2025. Proceeds from the Run to Fund will allow CEF to award transformative classroom grants and bring innovative learning opportunities to all students in CISD. As if that is not enough, CEF will give $2 from every Run to Fund race entry to the Physical Education Department at the CISD school of your choice.

This year’s Run will include a one-mile Fun Run, perfect for adults and children of all ages, followed by a 5K, timed and untimed. Be on the lookout for more information to come. CEF can't wait to see you and the CISD community at this fun event that benefits the teachers and students of CISD. Register today at https://runsignup.com/Race/TX/Coppell/RuntoFund. If you are interested in hosting a vendor booth at this event, please email edfoundation@coppellisd.com.

PANORAMA SURVEY

The Panorama Survey is open? We will provide time in Wednesday's staff meeting for you to complete the staff survey.