What an incredible staff you are! Thank you for preparing and hosting your learner-led conferences. I know you have all spent a great deal of time preparing with your children. I want you to know I appreciate all of your hard work to communicate the strengths and areas for growth on each child.
DID YOU KNOW:
- this is a final reminder that parents can sign up to attend lunches on Fridays? Lunch with Your Lee Learner Google Form is open. Please post in your weekly newsletters for the remainder of the year.
- your staff badge gets you +1 into district varsity sport events, including football?
- there is and Edutopia article that lists 16 Variations on Think-Pair-Share to Keep Students Engaged? Use or lose!
- that all CISD employees should be able to access the Amazon app that is in the “My Applications” menu in SSO? This doesn't mean we can take care of your personal shopping cart, but we CAN use this to assist Amy with orders through Amazon. Video directions are HERE. Name your cart with your last name and the date. I still need a paper copy to code and for documentation, but you can share lists with Amy now, instead of emailing the PO to her.
THANK YOU LEARNING COACH
October 6, is National Instructional Coaches Day. Join me in thanking Julie for leading us all so well. We appreciate her, loads!
WORLD DAY OF BULLYING PREVENTION
October is National Bullying Prevention Month and the first Monday of every October is World Day of Bullying Prevention. On this day students, schools, and communities all over the world go BLUE together against bullying. We want you and your learners to join us to stop bullying and cyberbullying by wearing a blue shirt on Monday, October 6.
VIRTUAL PTO MEETING ON TUESDAY
Our next virtual PTO Meeting is coming up this Tuesday, October 7th at 6pm - join us for some exciting updates from your PTO and RJL Admin Team. We will also have Coppell ISD Board of Trustees member Nichole Bentley to provide a district update. *Link to join will be emailed home*
New this month: visit rjlpto.org/rjlspeaks to submit anonymous questions for the PTO or the RJL Admin team prior to the meeting.
OCTOBER IS DYSLEXIA AWARENESS MONTH
October is National Dyslexia Awareness Month. CISD will raise awareness on each campus with a variety of events and activities. On Wednesday, Oct. 8, all CISD students and staff are encouraged to "Light It RED for Dyslexia" by wearing red to school. Learn more about CISD Intervention Services/Dyslexia HERE. Additional resources include the Texas Dyslexia Handbook, and the International Dyslexia Association Handbook.
SOCIAL SPURS BAKED POTATO BAR
SPIRIT RALLY
We will host our Fall Spirit Rally on Thursday from 2:00-3:00. Please have learners packed up in your spaces before we call you down, by houses, over the intercom. Parents are welcome to attend and can arrive starting 1:45 to check in. Be prepared to have staff and learners participate in interactive games. We will also have a "special guest" to celebrate the end of the 1st 9 weeks!
UPCOMING PROFESSIONAL LEARNING DAYS
October 10 – Campus PL Day
General Information
At Lee, we will host 1/2 day design time for house from 8:00-11:00 and 1/2 day design time for grades from 12:00-3:00. Please add notes in your agendas so that Admin and specialists can support your design work.
The following groups will meet as district teams for PL. (SpEd Paras, ECE and PreK Paras, Elementary Specials Educators, educators needing CPI) Please ensure these specialized groups on your campus are aware of their district sessions.
Paraprofessional Attendance
November 4 – District PL Day
General Information
Paraprofessional Attendance
FINAL INVENTORY: 2025-26 HOUSE COLOR SHIRTS
Missed the preorder window? Don’t worry—you’ve got one FINAL chance! The PTO ordered a few extra shirts just in case. Supply is LIMITED, so when they’re gone, they’re gone. Grab yours while you still can and show off your house spirit in style!
Delivery for all orders: Week of October 20.Order now at rjlpto.org/spurstore before it’s too late.
CHIPOTLE SPIRIT NIGHT: OCTOBER 14TH
Our next PTO Spirit Night is coming up on Tuesday, Oct 14th at Chipotle at 8445 N Belt Line Rd. This is always one of our most successful spirit nights of the year! Join your Spur FamiLEE for dinner - dine in or take out - from 4-8pm. Remember to use code VTF62NA to send 25% of your purchase back to RJL PTO!
FROM THE LIBRARY
Let’s light up our library together! Families are invited to create festive crafts: diyas, lanterns, rangoli, and more for our Diwali display in the library, Oct 16–22. Check out the QR codes for fun craft ideas and join us in celebrating the color and spirit of Diwali!
SWEETEN UP RJL TRUNK OR TREAT
The Annual Richard J. Lee Trunk or Treat on October 28th at 5:30pm is one of our favorite community events of the year, but we can't do it without our FamiLEE! To help support the work our designer teams put into their fabulous trunks, we will be gathering candy donations for them to hand out on the big night! Please sign up to send in a bag of 150+ pieces of candy/prizes with your learner by Wednesday, October 22nd. rjlpto.org/candy
FALL INTO WELLNESS
Looking for something to help you challenge yourself to support healthy eating, consistent sleep habits, exercise and water goals, ridding yourself of stress, or discovering your passion? Mayo Clinic's "Fall into Wellness" monthly challenge may be just what you need. Thanks, Annah, for sharing.
SILENT SPUR
Looking for a consistent way to quiet your learners? Feel free to use the hand signal for being a "Silent Spur." Here is a graphic Angel designed for us. We will use this hand signal at our Spirit Rally.
ATTENDANCE MATTERS
Look at the graphic above to see how missing school can impact your learner initially and over time! As you make vacation plans this year, remember that missing school can impact your child's learning and success, and it also affects attendance laws. Please schedule trips following the holidays on the CISD academic calendar to ensure compliance and support your child's education. An online absence note is required for any part of the day that a student is missing from school: an hour, a half day, a full day. For your convenience, this is the link to the online absence note form:
School Absence Note
RESPECT AGREEMENTS
October 13 starts the 2nd 9 weeks. Please build time in your SS lesson design, for the week of October 13, to include time to revisit and update your respect agreements with your classes. New copies should be shared with Angel for our discipline binder.
DIGITAL CITIZENSHIP
Speaking of a new 9 weeks, remember to review digital citizenship with your class. Revisiting digital citizenship conversations throughout the year helps to keep a healthy digital classroom environment. Common Sense Media is a fabulous resource for supporting children as they navigate the waters of digital learning. Please make sure all new learners to your class have signed your digital citizenship contracts hanging in your spaces.
MORNING / CLASS MEETINGS
Class circles are going to help learners (and you) as we maintain relationships. THEY ARE A REQUIREMENT IN CISD. They provide social/emotional support in your space. You should have a structure within the class meeting to foster authentic relationships, provide safety for everyone's voice to be heard and allow vulnerability to occur. Class meetings build secure relationships in a safe and structured setting. Remember to be completing your Second Step lessons once a week.
REPORT CARD COMMENTS
As you work on adding comments for K-3 report cards, remember that comments can extend beyond the classroom and influence a child's self-esteem, motivation, and future learning experiences. Meaningful comments can inspire life long love of learning and personal growth. Need some ideas or a place to start? Here are some.
WALKTHROUGHS AND OBSERVATIONS IN OCTOBER
Kudos to those of you that have already had your formal TTESS observation and for others who are planning for their observations. What awesome visits we have had so far! For this month, we will be giving you feedback on Domain 2.5: Monitor and Adjust during walkthroughs. We will be looking for:
How you adjusts instruction and activities to maintain student engagement (movement, music, manipulatives, small groups and individual work, conferences with learners).
How you address learner engagement/disengagement.
Questioning and feedback used to check for understanding.
How you use of a variety of assessment/input from learners to gather data.
RED RIBBON WEEK APPROACHING IN TWO WEEKS
We will participate in these Spirit Days, the last full week in October, in celebration of Red Ribbon Week. Here are the theme days, now, so you and your families can prepare.
COACHES CORNER
Thinking Maps ContinueWe’re continuing our Thinking Maps series to strengthen visual thinking and Tier 1 instruction. This week, the spotlight is on the Bubble Map, a tool for describing and characterizing.
Encourages use of precise adjectives and academic vocabulary
Strengthens learners’ ability to describe attributes in detail
Works across subjects (character traits, science concepts, math vocabulary)
LESSON IN LEEDERSHIP
DATES TO REMEMBER:- GLOBAL MATH WEEK (Oct 10-17)
- PURPLE HOUSE TAKES CARE OF THE LOUNGE THIS MONTH
- HISPANIC HERITAGE MONTH
- NATIONAL DYSLEXIA AWARENESS MONTH
- STOMP OUT BULLYING MONTH
- BREAST CANCER AWARENESS MONTH
- HINDU HERITAGE MONTH
Oct 6- Wear Blue for Bullying Prevention
National Instructional Coaches Day
4th Grade Conferences
Oct 7- Virtual PTO Meeting (6:00 PM)
Write a Check campaign begins through Oct. 31
5th Grade Conferences
Oct 8- Wear RED for Dyslexia
Kindergarten Conferences
Leadership Meeting (3:15 PM- Laura's Space)
Oct 9- Social Spurs Potato Bar Luncheon
Spirit Rally (2:00)
End of 1st Grading Period
Oct 10- Curtis' Birthday
Professional Learning Day
1st SLO artifact completed and scored
Oct 13- NO SCHOOL
RED RIBBON WEEK IS TWO WEEKS AWAY!
.png)
.png)
.png)
.png)
