Newsletter

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We had a great first day! Thank you all for your help in making today a great first day for the students!!  Below, I have a few reminders for our in-person learners and a few reminders for our online learners.

In-Person Learners- It was wonderful to see all of the students today! We had a great first day and we absolutely loved having them on campus!  We appreciate all of your patience with morning drop-off and afternoon pick-up!  I know the lines were long today and we are so thankful for your support and patience as we are working on getting those lines faster!  I promise it will get quicker!  It is going to take a few weeks so please continue to be patient with us as we are tweaking procedures.  One thing that would help is to put the sign that you should have received today in your car window because having to ask the parent for the child's name and grade is slowing the process down.  If you didn't receive it, you can make one with the child's name and grade level.  I have a template attached to this email.  Also, please remember that the car line is two lines.  Again, continued patience and we are looking forward to another wonderful day tomorrow!  Please remember, students are still not allowed to be walked in in the mornings; students will continue to arrive either by bus or car line.  There is no track drop off.  Thank you for your understanding!

Online Learners- Thank you so much for being patient with us today as we tried our very best to work out any problems that arose.  Please click the following link to view a video to allow me to introduce myself to your online learners and outline online expectations, attendance, who to contact for help, etc.  This will be helpful for both students AND parents.  https://drive.google.com/file/d/1cSic69BdaMk18fVVxAoXIEJKszsLw5Mf/view?usp=sharing

Your child's teacher is a great resource about assignments.  Please keep in mind that they are also teaching an in-person class during the day so we ask for patience in responding to emails. They will get back with you, it just won't be instaneous. However, our campus has a Technology Specialist, who is an incredible resource and would be a great person to contact regarding any technology based questions, is Mrs. Begesse, and her email is: tbegesse@chinaspringisd.net.  You can also call the school at 254-836-4635 and asked to speak with Mrs. Begesse on the phone regarding technology needs.  We will all continue to get more fluent with this format the more we use it.  These are very uncharted waters for everyone, and we appreciate your support and patience as we work through this!

All Learners- Whether the students are attending in-person or virtual, we are so happy to have them with us this school year!  I couldn't be more proud to be the principal at China Spring Elementary and consider it a privlege to work with our great students!  We are going to have a great school year! Go Cougs!!

Kristen Dutschmann

Principal, China Spring Elementary School

Attachments:
CSE Morning Door Entrance Map
Sample Student ID
Car Rider Sign

We are so excited for the first day of school tomorrow morning, August 19, 2020!  Our doors open at 7:00Am each day.  Please read the friendly reminders below.

1. There will be NO walking in students on the first day of school per TEA guidelines. The track parking lot will be blocked off.  We know this is difficult for both students and parents, so please be assured that we will have lots of people out there helping the students feel comfortable and guidng them to their correct entrances.  All parents will stay in their cars.  Your student will either be arriving to school by bus or be dropped off in the car line.  The car line will be the same as it has been.  There will be signs and you will see the line.  We have videos posted to the website that demonstrate morning drop-off procedures.  We encourage you to watch them and familiarize yourself with the drop-off process.  The website link where the videos are posted is: https://elementary.chinaspringisd.net/.  Scroll down to the bottom of the page where it says: Campus News and you will be able to see the videos.    Students riding the bus to school need to follow the bus procedures that Dr. Pitts emailed out last week.  All bus students MUST wear a mask on the bus, even elementary students, on the bus only.  There is a video for that located on the website as well.  There is also a video where I introduce myself and read a story to the kids to help them feel a little more comfortable on the first day.  The school day starts at 7:50AM, please keep in mind that the line in the morning and afternoon will be moving pretty slow the first couple of weeks, so try to aim to arrive as early as possible, particularly on the first day.  It will get better, but we appreciate your patience while we are greeting the students and teaching them where they need to go.  Once they get out of their car, employees will be greeting them and helping them to their appropriate entrance.  Each grade will come in a different entrance, unless they are eating breakfast.  If they are eating breakfast, they will come in through the main entrance along with Pre-K.  The map is attached.

2. All changes to your student's afternoon transportation have to be submitted to the school in a written note by 2:15PM.  No changes for that day will be able to be made after that time.

3. In an effort to help get every student to their correct classroom as quickly and safely as possible, it would be greatly appreciated if you would send your student with a tag on the first day of school.  We are attaching a template that has the required information that needs to go on the tag.  Please make a tag that has all of the information contained in our sample.  This tag is in addition to the bus tag.  They will need both if they are a bus rider.  

4. Your students may bring a lunch with them to school.  However, if they are eating school lunch please send your student with lunch money on the first day of school.  You can also go to: myschoolbucks.com and upload money to your student's account.

5. Please keep in mind that the buses will be running late the first couple days of school as they are learning the routes.  The car line will be much slower the first couple weeks as well.  We appreciate your patience with this!

6. The Campus Virtual Tour videos and Meet the Teacher videos are posted on the  following link from our website: https://elementary.chinaspringisd.net/covid-19/meet-the-teacher  We hope you watch these and help the kiddos familiarize themselves with the school, their teacher, and their classroom.

7.  If your student is a virtual learner for this 6 weeks, their teacher should have emailed them a qr code and email to login to schoology.  They will post assignments each morning and the student will have until 11:59PM that day to complete each days' assignments.  If you did not recieve a login or have any questions about the assignments please email your child's teacher.

Again, we can't wait to see your student tomorrow!  

Kristen Dutschmann (Mrs. D.)

Principal, China Spring Elementary School

Attachments:
CSE Morning Door Entrance Map
Sample Student ID
Car Rider Sign

We are so excited to see the students on Wednesday August 19, 2020 for the First Day of School!!  We have a few reminders to help the first day of school go as smoothly as possible.    Please see below.

1.  There will be NO walking in students on the first day of school per TEA guidelines.  We know this is difficult for both students and parents, so please be assured that we will have lots of people out there helping the students feel comfortable and guidng them to their correct entrances.  All parents will stay in their cars.  Your student will either be arriving to school by bus or be dropped off in the car line.  The car line will be the same as it has been.  There will be signs and you will see the line.  We have videos posted to the website that demonstrate morning drop-off procedures.  We encourage you to watch them and familiarize yourself with the drop-off process.  The website link where the videos are posted is: https://elementary.chinaspringisd.net/.  Scroll down to the bottom of the page where it says: Campus News and you will be able to see the videos.  We also encourage you to drive by tonight, or tomorrow to familiarize your student with the car line and entrance they will use to help ease any anxieties on the first day.  Students riding the bus to school need to follow the bus procedures that Dr. Pitts emailed out last week.  All bus students MUST wear a mask on the bus, even elementary students, on the bus only.  There is a video for that located on the website as well.  There is also a video where I introduce myself and read a story to the kids to help them feel a little more comfortable on the first day.  School starts at 7:50AM, please keep in mind that the line in the morning and afternoon will be moving pretty slow the first couple of weeks, particularly on the first day.  It will get better, but we appreciate your patience while we are greeting the students and teaching them where they need to go.  Once they get out of their car, employees will be greeting them and helping them to their appropriate entrance.  Each grade will come in a different entrance, unless they are eating breakfast.  If they are eating breakfast, they will come in through the main entrance along with Pre-K.  The map is attached.

2. In an effort to help get every student to their correct classroom as quickly and safely as possible, it would be greatly appreciated if you would send your student with a tag on the first day of school.  We are attaching a template that has the required information that needs to go on the tag.  Please make a tag that has all of the information contained in our sample.  This tag is in addition to the bus tag.  They will need both.  

3. School  supplies can still be dropped off tomorrow, August 18th, in the front office foyer to help ease the load for your student on the first day of school.  Please bring your child's supplies in a trashbag labeled with your student's name, grade, and teacher between 7:30AM-4:00PM.

4. Each child will be given a car rider sign on the first day of school that they will bring home.  I am attaching one to this email.  If you are able to print it off and fill it our for the first day of school, that would be greatly appreciated, as it would help speed up the line on the first day.

5. Please send your student with lunch money on the first day of school.  You can also go to: myschoolbucks.com and upload money to your student's account.

6. Please keep in mind that the buses will be running late the first couple days of school as they are learning the routes.  We appreciate your patience with this!

7. The Campus Virtual Tour videos and Meet the Teacher videos are posted on the  following link from our website: https://elementary.chinaspringisd.net/covid-19/meet-the-teacher  We hope you watch these and help the kiddos familiarize themselves with the school, their teacher, and their classroom.

We are excited to see everyone on Wednesday August 19th!

Kristen Dutschmann (Mrs. D)

Principal, China Spring Elementary School

Attachments:
CSE Morning Door Entrance Map
Sample Student ID
Car Rider Sign

Parents will be able to view their student's schedule (classroom teacher) today, Thursday morning, in Parent Portal.

When you login to Parent Portal, you will select SUMMARY from the menu on the left.

This will show you each student that is linked to the account and the student's class schedule (their classroom teacher).

This is the same location for Progress Reports and Report Cards, current class averages for each class, and attendance for the current date.

If you are having touble logging into parent portal please reach out to our registar, Judy Kemp at: jkemp@chinaspringisd.net for assistance.

*Please remember that you can drop off your student's school supplies prior to the first day of school if you wish.  You can drop off the school supplies by 3:30PM on 8/17/20.  The office will be available for drop-off anytime between 7:30-3:30 Monday-Friday.  All of your student's school supplies need to be placed in a trash bag labeled with your student's name, grade level, and teacher name if you have looked it up in Parent Portal.  Again, that will be available starting tomorrow.

*Meet the Teacher videos will be posted next week.  I will be sending out instructions for accessing the videos, as well as first day reminders, next week.

We can't wait to see the students on August 19th!

Kristen Dutschmann
Principal, China Spring Elementary School

Good Afternoon China Spring Elementary Parents! You will be receiving many mass emails over the next couple of days with information regarding the beginning of school. Some of the information will be for our entire campus and some will be grade specific. If the information does not apply to your student, please disregard.

Update on school supplies

We had several parents inquire about the possibility of dropping off school supplies before the first day of school. As this is usually done at meet the teacher, we understand that this is an added stress and would like to make the first day as easy as possible. You may drop off your child’s school supplies August 10-14 and August 17 from 7:30-3:30. In order to drop your child’s supplies off they will need to be placed in a single trash bag. The trash bag will need to be clearly labeled with your child’s first name, last name, and grade level. Tables will be set up in the front foyer. Please drop off your child’s labeled trash bag on the table. We will then have runners that will be taking the bags to the correct classrooms. This is not required! Students may still bring their supplies with them on the first day and we will have people to assist them.

 

Pre-K and Kindergarten

Dear Pre-K and Kindergarten Parents,

In order to help limit the spread of germs, we need to add an item to our supply list for the upcoming school year. We would like all students to have an individual plastic supply box (approximately 8.5”x 5.5”) for their personal school supplies. You can find these school boxes at HEB, Walmart, Target,etc. We are looking forward to meeting our new students in just a few weeks!

Thank you!
The Pre-K and Kindergarten Teams

Assistance Registering Returning Students Online

As stated in yesterday’s email, we do have computers available in the front foyer to register your returning student. A correction to this is that the latest time you may arrive to use the computers is 3:30.

Thank you so much for your patience and flexibility. We are so excited to see all of the kids on the first day of school! Go Cougs!

Please see the attached letter regarding information about the 2020-2021 school year.  We are very excited to see your student soon!  Also, read below about an addition to the 2nd grade supply list and a note from the PTA regarding an upcoming Staff Appreciation breakfast.  We appreciate your support and look forward to a great school year!

Addition to 2nd Grade School Supply List

Dear Second Grade Parents, 

In order to help limit the spread of any germs, we need to add an item to the school supply list for the upcoming school year. We would like all students to have an individual supply box for their school supplies in order to limit sharing. There is an example picture attached to this email. You do not need to have this exact one, but something similar that will hold their personal supplies. The color of the box does not matter, but should be about the size shown below. They have these available at Target, Walmart, Dollar Tree, etc. 

We are looking forward to seeing you all in a few weeks. Have a great rest of the summer.

Thank you,
The Second Grade Team 

Message from the PTA

Hi Elementary parents!

The PTA is providing breakfast for our elementary teachers and staff during their in-service on August 10^th. Typically, this would be done in a potluck fashion but during these COVID times we are having to change it up a bit and will be purchasing breakfast burritos from Griff’s (keeping it local!). In order to make this happen, we are asking for donations. I have set up donation slots for the amount needed on SignUp Genius in increments of $15- if you’d like to contribute more please make a note of this in the comment section of your sign-up. Once you are signed up, we can invoice you for the amount you’d like so you are able to pay electronically. If electronic payment is not an option for you, we can make additional arrangements to pick up your contribution. The PTA truly thanks you for your help in getting our teachers/staff off to a great start.

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/60B0948ACAD2AA1F58-elementary

Kristen Dutschmann
Principal, China Spring Elementary School

 

Parent Happenings-8.4.20.pdf
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