Week of November 3, 2025

Thank you for ALL of your help with this year's Write a Check.  I KNOW you have been working so hard to ramp up participation and to reward your learners.  Wristbands were sent home yesterday.  Now, please send the following Parent Square before leaving school today (Thursday). 

Dear Parents,

I’m writing to remind you that we have just one more day to meet our $31,000 goal for our Write a Check fundraising campaign. So far, our school has raised $25,000 with a participation rate of 35%. Your support is critical to our ability to continue to provide the exceptional educational initiatives that make Lee Elementary such an incredible place for our learners and staff. With your help, we would like to reach 100% participation and achieve our goal! LET'S GO, WE CAN DO THIS! 

Please head over to bit.ly/RJLWAC and consider donating today, if you haven’t already, to join us in this final push to meet our goal.  

Thank you for your consideration,

Your name here

DID YOU KNOW:

• all Sage Hill parents should plan to meet their learners at the crosswalk at 3:05? This parent meet-up is an important expectation to help ensure the safety of all learners. If any concerns arise involving learners, please bring them directly to a staff member so we can address them appropriately and maintain a safe environment for everyone. (please share in your newsletters)
• Educators have until November 2 to apply for the H-E-B Excellence in Education Awards, with multiple award categories available, including Teacher, School Counselor, Principal, Early Childhood Facility, School Board, and School District.
• Hour of Code is coming up next month?  Please sign up if you plan to participate and start reaching out to Julie and Priscilla for coding assistance for the week of December 8-14. 

THANK YOU FOR AN AMAZING TRUNK OR TREAT
Our Admin team and PTO would like to extend a great BIG THANK YOU to ALL who participated in our annual Trunk or Treat and made it an event to remember. We couldn’t have done it without everyone who donated candy, volunteered their time, and for all of the FamiLEE community who attended the event! An extra special THANK YOU to Specials for winning the Trunk or Treat contest.

LEEDERSHIP COUNCIL MEETING

We will have a LEEdership Council meeting on Friday (tomorrow) morning at 8:00.  Please send them with their iPad when the announcement is made. 

WRITE A CHECK DEADLINE EXTENDED: 3 DAYS LEFT TO DONATE

We’ve extended our annual fundraising campaign through November 2nd in an effort to help us reach our goal! This is the final opportunity to contribute for this year. Thank you to everyone who has already donated - your generosity makes a huge difference for our FamiLEE PTO and allows us to avoid sending learners door to door selling items each year. We suggest a donation of $100 per student, but any amount you’re comfortable giving truly makes an impact. As of Wednesday, we’ve reached 67% of our goal with 27% participation — we know we can pull together and get that participation rate over 50%! Thank you so much for your incredible support! If you haven’t yet had the chance to give, please consider making your donation today rjlpto.org/WAC

NO SCHOOL FOR LEARNERS ON TUESDAY

PROFESSIONAL LEARNING DAY ON TUESDAY

Ayesha and other GT Specialists will be presenting on Tuesday.  You might want to take advantage of the opportunity to earn your GT Update hours this day.  Julie also has some session suggestions in her Coach's Corner.

Please make sure that you have signed up for five sessions for Tuesday. All staff has to attend professional learning this day, including paraprofessionals. Thank you to all of you Spurs who are presenting and hosting sessions. You make your Admin Team SO PROUD!

COLLEGE SHIRT DAY
Wednesday is College Shirt Day. We encourage learners to participate by wearing a college or university shirt on the first Wednesday of each month.

NATIONAL STRESS AWAY DAY

LEVEL UP  LUNCH IT IS NATIONAL NACHO DAY

On Thursday it is National Nacho Day. Admin will be providing a nacho lunch for our staff in the teacher's lounge.  ENJOY!!

CIP

The 2025-2026 Lee Campus Improvement Plan goals and strategies can be found here (trying to make it easier for you all).  Each quarter the CIP must be reviewed by our stakeholders. Leadership, please review this document in your House Meeting next Thursday (you have MTSS this Thursday) and add evidence under strategies (CK added some already).  Please add bullets for new or additional evidence, don't repeat.  Add any evidence by Friday, November 7, please and thank you.

VETERANS DAY

As Veteran’s Day approaches, we would like to honor and recognize the brave men and women who have served our country. We invite anyone who has served in the military—or has/had a family member who has served—to share a photo and information about them so we can include them in our Veteran’s Day recognition wall. If you would like to participate, please send the following information with your picture:

• Name of Veteran
• Branch of Service, Rank, and Dates of Service (if known)
• Name/House/Grade of learner
• Relationship to learner

Please send your submissions to rkazebee@coppellisd.com. We are excited to celebrate and honor our heroes and share their stories with our community. Thank you for helping us recognize the sacrifices and service of our veterans.

ALL NEW WINTER WEAR TO SHOW OFF YOUR SCHOOL SPIRIT

Winter is on its way! With chilly days and exciting field trips ahead, now’s the perfect time to gear up. Stop by the Spur Store to grab everything you’ll need for the season — including our all new RJ hoodie, available in two classic school colors! Early Bird Special: Place your pre order by November 10th and enjoy an exclusive discount. All pre-orders will be ready for pickup by December 10th. **We are unable to guarantee inventory and preferred sizes after November 10th.** Order today: rjlpto.org/spurstore

BUY YOUR TICKETS NOW- NOVEMBER PARENTS NIGHT OUT

We’re excited to host a Parents’ Night Out at Texas Dreams Gymnastics on Saturday, November 15th! Enjoy a well-deserved evening off while your kids have a blast with gymnastics, games, and fun activities in a safe, supervised environment. 20% back from the event comes back to PTO! Register today! rjlpto.org/PNO

SAVE THE DATE FOR FAMILEE FEAST
Please let your famiLEEs know if they want to attend our annual Thanksgiving Lunch that they need to sign up ahead of time. This lunch will be in place of FamiLEE Friday lunch this week. Parents can Sign up here.  THIS YEAR: Child Nutrition has requested guests PREPAY ($8) for their meal to expedite their lunch line.  Please send payment to your child's lunch account before the event. 

FROM OUR GT SPECIALIST

COACHES CORNER

Thinking Maps Continue: Brace Map – Whole to Parts

Use the Brace Map to analyze how something is made or structured.

• Breaks down a whole into its component parts
• Strengthens understanding of structure and relationships
• Great for all areas and subjects!

📂 Learn About Double Bubble Maps: Presentation | Educator Guide 

Still looking for November 4th sessions? 

Here are some great ideas for session specifically targeting intentional use of iPads and technology! 

• Screen Time --> Dream Time: Students as Digital Producers
• Intentional Technology Use to Deepen Hands-On Learning
• Schoology: Setting Your Course Up for Success (for those looking to take courses to the next level!)
• Small Group Instruction Utilizing Digital Tools

WALKTHROUGHS IN NOVEMBER

This month we will give you feedback in Domain 3.2 Managing Student Behavior.  We will be looking for:

• Routines that are clearly communicated and reinforced
• educator responds to off-task behavior respectfully
• proximity control and awareness of classroom
• Smooth and timely transitions
• use of attention signals
• respect from learners toward teacher, peers, and materials
• Students managing supplies/equipment
• learners are responsible for behavior with minimal teacher prompting
• materials and routines support independence and responsibility
• Organization of space
• classroom layout promotes safety
• tone of classroom is positive, calm, and conducive to learning

LESSON IN LEADERSHIP

DATES TO REMEMBER:

• NATIVE AMERICAN HERITAGE MONTH
• NATIONAL SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGY WEEK
• YELLOW HOUSE LOUNGE DUTY

Nov 2- Daylight Savings Time

Nov 3- Father of Texas Day

     Kindergarten Lunch Date

     Sky Ranch Chaperone Mtg. (5:30 Yellow House)

Nov 4- Julie's Birthday

     District Professional Learning Day

Nov 5- College Shirt Day

      5th Grade Sky Ranch Student Mtg. (2:00)

      Leadership Mtg. (3:15 Yellow House)

      UNT Doctoral Student Tour of Lee (5:00 PM)

Nov 6- Red House Music Performance (2:00 and 6:30)

      Red House Art Show (following performance)

      Menaka's Birthday

Nov 7- Evidence of Student Progress #2 completed and scored

     CIP documentation due

Nov 8- Annah's Birthday

Week of October 26, 2025

Cheers to wrapping up the week.  Thank you for all of your participation in our upcoming Red Ribbon Week and for learning with Dr. De La Isla after school.  I appreciate how hard you work to meet the needs of ALL of our children!  The weekend is almost here!

DID YOU KNOW:

• that there will be Global PD training for teacher leaders on November 4?  The course is called "Empowered to Lead: Strengthening Your PLC from the Inside Out" if you are interested in signing up.
• there is a link on Lee Links for you to get to the folder to add pictures for yearbook?  There are folders created for Red Ribbon Week, Trunk or Treat, Spirit Rally, etc.  Let's make sure as many kids are represented as possible!
• it would help Margie if you notify her if you learn a student is withdrawing?  We need to make sure parents fill out specific forms and teachers upload all grades before their last day. 
• our leaders accepted a trophy for our LEEdership Council for their service to the community last year?  Our new fifth grade leaders are pictured below and represented us well at their training at Wilson Elementary.

• there is a link to the Glitch online portal where staff can purchase the Lee Building sweatshirt, long sleeve, and t-shirt? Go here (on your phone-our school filter blocks it) https://theglitchco.com/rjlee-staff-apparel for orders through Oct. 31st. Glitch will deliver the items to school on Friday Nov. 7th.
• our newest Spur was born yesterday? Josna had Alice and she is beautiful and healthy.  Congratulations Joseph family!

50TH DAY OF SCHOOL IS HERE

We will celebrate the 50th day of school tomorrow.  We are excited to see learners and staff dress up and for the fun experiences that our learners will participate in.  Take lots of pictures so we have some for our yearbook.

ONE WEEK LEFT TO DONATE

We’re down to the final week of Write-A-Check! This is the FamiLEE PTO’s biggest fundraiser of the year—and your support means we can keep all our amazing programs going (no selling required!). A $100 donation per student is suggested, but every contribution—large or small—makes an impact. Let’s get our participation rate to 100%. Together, we can make great things happen for our learners! Please consider donating TODAY! rjlpto.org/wac

RED RIBBON WEEK

Red Ribbon Week is HERE! On Monday, we’ll celebrate this year’s theme — “Life Is a Puzzle, Solve It Drug Free!”  Please feel free to join in on the fun and dress up days.  Thank you in advance, coaches and specials, for your flexibility! We’ll kick off the week with an exciting assembly from Team Big Air in the gym:

• K–2 Assembly: 8:00 a.m.
• 3–5 Assembly: 9:00 a.m.

On Wednesday, Ms. Garvin will stop by classrooms to deliver a special “puzzle” surprise to our learners. It’s going to be a fantastic week of fun and learning!

JOIN US FOR RJL TRUNK OR TREAT

It’s almost time for our favorite fall tradition — RJL’s Annual Trunk or Treat! Join us on Tuesday, October 28th, at 5:30pm for candy, costumes, and community fun! This year we’re excited to add two food trucks to the event, Indian Express and La Bandida Mexican Street Food, so come hungry and support these amazing local businesses!

Staff will get information from PTO about the directions for the evening.

COMMUNITY LEARNING WALK

As part of our campus parent engagement goal and a strategy in our Campus Improvement Plan, the last Thursday of every month, Mrs. Kastrounis will host a community learning walk at Lee.  This month the walk will be from 9:30-10:30 on Thursday, October 30 and parents planning to attend should arrive with their ID to check in at 9:15.  

Make sure that during this time your learners are engaged in small group instruction, hands on experiences, and your class engaged in varied activities (not all doing the same exact thing and 100% on an iPad).  These learning walks are a fabulous way to showcase the incredible learning in our building and also to erase misconceptions about Lee and public education.

MTSS THIS THURSDAY

Here are some friendly reminders from Angel to help facilitate Thursday's MTSS meetings. 

TOY

REMINDER!!!  NOMINATIONS DUE OCTOBER 31!!!  Please take time to nominate someone in our building for this incredible honor.   If you need admin to cover your class so you can observe your nominee, to help you better answer the questions, please arrange that with us.  We are happy to help.  Here is the TOY Website and Nomination Criteria and Form.

CEF CHILI COOK OFF

The Coppell Ed Foundation is having a Chili Cook Off on November 16.  If you want to join in and submit a chili for judging, we would love your participation.  Use the code TEACH25 to avoid any entry fees.  If you go, please vote for our entry- "The Best ChiLEE in Town."  Thanks Liliana for your culinary skills. 

CIP
The 2025-2026 Lee Campus Improvement Plan goals and strategies can be found here (trying to make it easier for you all).  Each quarter the CIP must be reviewed by our stakeholders.  Leadership, please review this document in your House Meeting next Thursday (you have MTSS this Thursday) and add evidence to the bullets under strategies (CK added some already).  Please add bullets for new or additional evidence, don't repeat.  Add your evidence by Friday, November 7, please and thank you.

WALKTHROUGHS IN OCTOBER

For this month, we will be giving you feedback on Domain 2.5:  Monitor and Adjust.  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.

• Checks for understanding through purposeful questioning and feedback.

• The pacing of the lesson.

COACHES CORNER

Thinking Maps Review (So Far!)

We’ve explored Circle, Bubble, Double Bubble, and Tree Maps—each helping learners organize and deepen their thinking in unique ways.

🔵 Circle Map – define or brainstorm ideas in context

🟡 Bubble Map – describe qualities or attributes

🟢 Double Bubble Map – compare and contrast

🟣 Tree Map – classify or sort into categories

💡 Challenge: Try using two different maps this week!  Would you like to review the maps? Check out the presentation! 

🔍 Unpacking for Clarity: Honing In on the First Critical Question of a PLC 

Before teams can plan meaningful lessons, they have to get clear on what the standard truly asks. Use this 🔗 Deconstructing an Essential Standard template (login to Global PD required - ask me for help if you need it!) to help your team get insanely clear on what students need to know and be able to do. 

This tool makes it easy to identify key learning targets, skills, and vocabulary to guide instruction and assessment. This is fantastic work to do during CTT as a grade level - shout out to 4th grade for already starting to unpack upcoming standards this week!

In need of support? Book time with me!

LESSON IN LEADERSHIP

DATES TO REMEMBER:

• WRITE A CHECK WINDOW
• NATIVE AMERICAN HERITAGE MONTH
• RED RIBBON WEEK

Oct 27- Math and ELAR @ 2nd Team Time

Oct 28- 1st GT Testing 

     Trunk or Treat (5:30-7:00)

Oct 29- 1st GT Testing 

     Onboarding (3:15-4:15 Conference Room)

Oct 30- 1st GT Testing

     MTSS Meetings

     Community Learning Walk (9:30-10:30)

Oct 31- Fall Holiday Celebration (Purple House 10:30-12:00)

     Evidence of Student Progress #2 should be completed for SLO

     Therapy Dog Day

Nov 1- 3rd and 5th GT Make Up Testing

SAVE THE DATE!!! Nov 20- FamiLEE Feast Luncheon @ Lee

Week of October 20, 2025

Thank you for all of your thoughtful design work last Friday. I hope you enjoyed the long weekend and found some time to relax and recharge. We truly appreciate your efforts in completing report cards and the meaningful feedback you provided for families. As we begin the new nine weeks, thank you for taking time to revisit your respect agreements, reinforce digital citizenship, and review our school-wide expectations with learners. Your consistency and care make such a difference in setting the tone for a positive start to the quarter.

DID YOU KNOW:

• there is now a link in the CISD SSO page for SLO? Use or lose!

• that I WANT our learners to experience and learn about the many traditions and cultures represented within our Lee community? Thank you to the classrooms, houses, and grade levels that are celebrating the various fall holidays. Your efforts help our learners appreciate diversity in meaningful ways. As you plan these experiences, please ensure that discussions remain focused on cultural traditions rather than religious practices or beliefs. (I know you know this!) Additionally, consider offering an alternative activity for any learners who may prefer to opt out of a particular celebration.

• the window is open to nominate this year's Teacher of the Year?  We have such talent here at Lee, so please take time to acknowledge someone.  Nominations are due October 31.  Please turn them in to CK so we have time to score them with the rubric.
• TOY Website: https://coppellisdtx.sites.thrillshare.com/o/cisd/page/teacher-of-the-year
• Nomination Criteria Website: https://coppellisdtx.sites.thrillshare.com/o/cisd/page/nomination-criteria-and-form
• Dr. DeLaIsla and her team will be coming to campuses to do learning walks?  They hosted one, yesterday.  If you are curious, below is what they will be looking at when they visit campuses:

WRITE A CHECK IS LIVE

The success of our Write-A-Check campaign depends on the energy and enthusiasm we build together! Please help us spread the word, encourage participation, and motivate learners by celebrating progress toward your class goals.

Our RJL PTO annual Write-A-Check fundraising campaign is officially underway! This is our main source of funding for the FamiLEE PTO, and this year’s goal is $31,000. Every dollar raised goes right back into our school—supporting programs like Red Ribbon Week, Author Visits, enrichment programs, field trip transportation, and much more.Please consider making your donation today at rjlpto.org/wac

STAFF MEETING

Classroom teachers and specialists, please plan to attend staff meeting on Wednesday afternoon.  We will have campus training, in the cafeteria, from CISD (and Dr. DeLaIsla) on teaching our EB's. 

50TH DAY OF SCHOOL APPROACHING

We will celebrate the 50th day of school on Friday, October 24.  We are excited to see learners and staff dress up and for the fun experiences that our learners will participate in.

LIBRARY HELPERS NEEDED

Mrs. Stout would love library helpers to help shelve books and with other small projects. Please sign up and consider becoming a regular volunteer for the library! rjlpto.org/library

New this year, for anyone shelving books, we’ve worked with Mrs. Stout to create a quick training video you can watch before your volunteer slot!

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

RED RIBBON WEEK APPROACHING IN ONE WEEK

Red Ribbon week is IN TWO WEEKS!  Thank you to Angela for planning out this week.  

ATTENDANCE MATTERS

🌟 Thank you, CISD families, for your commitment to student attendance! 🏫💙. Regular attendance is key to student success—it keeps them engaged in lessons, fosters peer relationships, and maximizes their educational opportunities. Plus, it helps teachers assess each student's progress and plan effectively.  Your dedication to attendance makes a significant difference. Attendance Matters...You Matter!

DOCUMENTING YOUR DATAT POINT ON TSP RUBRIC
At my principal meeting this week, CISD shared a helpful suggestion for your student growth tracker. They recommended linking the tool you used directly to the data point column header for easier reference and consistency.

COACHES CORNER

Next in Thinking Maps: Tree Map

The Tree Map helps learners organize information into categories. It is my personal favorite and has so many great uses!

• Encourages classification and logical grouping
• Supports writing organization and note-taking
• Ideal for sorting ideas, main ideas/details, or scientific categories 
• Use through induction or deduction (whole to parts or parts to whole)

📂 Learn About Tree Maps: Presentation | Educator Guide 

WALKTHROUGHS IN OCTOBER

For this month, we will be giving you feedback on Domain 2.5:  Monitor and Adjust.  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.

• Checks for understanding through purposeful questioning and feedback.

• The pacing of the lesson.

LEEDERSHIP FOR THE WEEK

DATES TO REMEMBER:

• RJL WRITE A CHECK CAMPAIGN (REMAINDER OF THE MONTH)
• NATIONAL DYSLEXIA AWARENESS MONTH
• STOMP OUT BULLYING MONTH
• BREAST CANCER AWARENESS MONTH
• HINDU HERITAGE MONTH
• DIGITAL CITIZENSHIP WEEK
• TEXAS SAFE SCHOOLS WEEK

Oct 20- 3 & 5 GT Testing

Oct 21- 3 & 5 GT Testing

Oct 22- Staff Meeting (3:15-4:45)

     3 & 5 GT Testing

Oct 23- Jacky's Birthday

     TEPSA Leadership Training for 5th Graders @ Wilson

Oct 24- Math and ELAR Curriculum Review-1st Grade Team Time

     GEMS due