DATE grant Cycle 1 year 2

Message From The Principal

I hope all of our Schallert families are having a great beginning for 2010! Here at Schallert things are moving fast as we prepare for spring state testing. The district goal is to be a high achieving school district. Schallert will be working hard to make sure we meet the high expectations of our community. Third grade and Fourth grades will be hosting TAKS night this month. We are expecting a great turnout. TAKS nights are intended to provide parents with information that will help them understand the state standards and how they are tested. On March 3, state testing will begin with 4th grade writing. Third and Fourth grade reading and math TAKS test will follow on April 27 and 28. The traditional TAKS pep rally will be held on March 2. If there are any parents available to help on that day, please contact our parent involvement coordinator Mrs. Leal.

Our first Saturday Academy was held January 30th. I was disappointed that we only had 50 to 80 students we invited to attend. Teachers are making every effort to provide the students with multiple tutoring opportunities. If your child is invited to a Saturday Academy, please make every effort to bring them. It is imperative that we work together to prepare our students. Last week participating students took home a letter with 5 more Saturday Academy dates. Please make it a priority to have you child here if he or she is invited. 

As you know, Coach Vela left to the high school earlier this year. Coach Hinojosa and Coach Salinas have been doing a great job organizing and implementing P.E. classes. Although I feel it is important to replace Coach Vela soon, I want to be sure the replacement is highly qualified to meet the needs of our school. Few coaches are available for positions this time of year. In order to ensure we have a quality P.E. program, Mr. Martinez, a state certified teacher, will be substituting. Mr. Martinez  has worked in education for 32 years. We look forward to having him on campus to work with our coaches and provide a quality P.E. program till a new coach is hired.

With the large student population at Schallert, it is important that we have standards for cafeteria behavior. The past couple of months, we have been using "The Golden Spoon Award" as a class incentive for good cafeteria behavior. Although it has worked well, we have had some parent concerns about only one class per grade level being able to achieve the weekly goal. Our discipline committee met and has come up with a new plan. Students will be working toward a weekly point goal. Any class that achieves the point goal will receive a jean pass for Friday. Charts for the new plan are being prepared at this time. We will continue with our current cafeteria behavior management plan until the charts are prepared.

It is important that our school keep good lines of communication with our parents. In an effort to improve our communication, I will soon be hosting coffee with the principal mornings. These will be conducted by grade levels to keep the numbers small enough for good conversation. I hope many of you will attend and look forward to meeting with you.

Thank you for the part you play in making our school a success. I look forward to the rest of the year working with you to form minds, build hearts and change the lives of our children.

Sincerely,
Mrs. Patricia Garcia
Schallert Elementary Principal