Week of Oct 13, 2025

I hope you have time on the three day weekend to disconnect from school and enjoy time for rest and relaxation.  Maybe go to the state fair?  LOVE TO YOU ALL!

DID YOU KNOW:

• we are going to host another "underground teacher spirit day?"  Come to school on Thursday wearing PINK.  What a great time (it's Breast Cancer Awareness Month) to see if our kids notice.
• we are overjoyed to welcome sweet Roman Thomas who made his debut this week?  He was born 5 lbs 14 oz and 17/5 inches long.  Brittany and baby are doing great.

SOCIAL SPURS BAKED POTATO BAR

Social Spurs will host a Baked Potato Bar tomorrow.  Don't forget to bring your sides.

SPIRIT RALLY

We will host our first Spirit Rally, tomorrow, from 2:00-3:00.  Please have learners packed up in your spaces before we call you down, by houses, over the intercom.  Purple House will sit along the wall closest to the playgrounds and Yellow House will sit along the wall closest to the coaches office.  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!

 

FRIDAY'S PROFESSIONAL LEARNING 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 

• Instructional paraprofessionals: Attendance is required, with some groups of paraprofessionals meeting as district teams.
• Clerical paraprofessionals: May use available comp time, provided the office is covered.

NATIONAL SCHOOL LUNCH WEEK

The Child Nutrition Department is excited to announce that National School Lunch Week (NSLW) is next week, October 14-17th. Paper copies of the lunch menu went home this week. This year’s NSLW theme is “Taste the World: Your School Lunch Passport!” Come join the adventure across multiple countries as we try new flavors and explore the important aspects of a healthy school lunch. This year, a local vendor, Oak Farms Dairy, has donated two bikes to be raffled off to those who eat with us throughout the week. Each day a student purchases a complete school meal, their name will be entered into the bike drawing (up to 5 entries!)! #CISDNSLW25

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!

FALL PICTURE DAY

We will begin school pictures immediately following the morning broadcast at 8:00 AM in the cafeteria.

• Order of Pictures:

  • We will follow the Specials schedule, beginning with Kinder Purple, 1st Purple, 2nd Purple, and continuing until all of Purple House is complete.

  • Then we will move through houses in this order: Yellow → Red → Green & Blue (in tandem due to specials/recess schedules).

  • If needed, please host indoor recess to help keep learners “fresh.”

• Staff Photos:

  • Specials and Support Staff: Please take your photos between 7:40–8:00 AM.

  • Teachers may take pictures with their class or before school.

• Logistics in the Cafe:

  • Specials Designers: If your class is not finished by your Specials time, you may be asked to wait with them in the cafeteria.

  • Please bring your learners to the cafeteria quickly when volunteers come to get you.

  • Once half of your class is finished, you may return to your classroom. Volunteers will send the remaining learners back when they are done.

• Tips for a Smooth Day:

  • Learners should wear their ID badges before arriving at the photographer to speed things up.

  • Thank you for your flexibility with schedules and routines (teaching, lunch, recess, and Specials) on this day.

Reagan and Rikki, we will make sure volunteers come and get your learners as well.

CONGRATULATIONS MORGAN

COACHES CORNER
We will host a flex learning session on AI tools to enhance your lesson design.  Bring your charged Mac.

Thinking Maps: Double Bubble Map

Next up in our Thinking Maps series is the Double Bubble Map, ideal for analyzing similarities and differences.

• Promotes critical thinking and comparison skills
• Builds connections between concepts, characters, or events
• Consider building two individual bubble maps first, then working to connect them to scaffold comparisons

📂 Learn About Double Bubble Maps: Presentation | Educator Guide 

Want to learn more or plan together? Book time with me!

ATTENDANCE MATTERS

Our September campus attendance rate has increased from 97.35% for last year to 97.61% this year! That’s a great start! All of our houses are hovering right around the district’s 97% goal, with Purple House leading for September and fourth grade currently at the top by grade level. Everyday counts! Even a small increase in attendance adds up to more learning and growth for our learners. Thank you for helping us keep up the momentum by scheduling appointments outside of school hours, submitting absences promptly, and encouraging students to come even on those “I’m tired” mornings. Let’s keep making attendance something worth celebrating!

WRITE A CHECK FUNDRAISING IS LIVE!!

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

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

50TH DAY OF SCHOOL APPROACHING

We will celebrate the 50th day of school on October 24?  Please share with your famiLEEs.

(thanks Julie for the graphic!)

RED RIBBON WEEK APPROACHING IN TWO WEEKS

We will participate in these Spirit Days the last week in October.  Get your outfits ready! 

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
• NATIONAL DYSLEXIA AWARENESS MONTH
• STOMP OUT BULLYING MONTH
• BREAST CANCER AWARENESS MONTH
• NATIONAL PRINCIPAL MONTH
• HINDU HERITAGE MONTH
• NATIONAL SCHOOL LUNCH WEEK

Oct 13- NO SCHOOL

Oct 14-  Chipotle Spirit Night

Oct 15- Report Card Grades DUE (8:00 AM)

     Fall Picture Day

     Bridal Shower for Morgan (lounge)

     Flex Learning (3:30-4:30)

Oct 16- 5th Grade TX Wildlife Visit

     Wear PINK today

Oct 17- FamiLEE Lunches begin

     Report Card Day / Grades Posted in HAC

     Zoey the Therapy Dog @ Lee today

Oct 18- Diwali starts through Oct 22

RED RIBBON WEEK IS TWO WEEKS AWAY!