Upcoming Events
Monday, 1/13
Tuesday, 1/14 Report Cards go home; NTB Reading Day
Wednesday, 1/15
Thursday, 1/16 Spelling Bee, Cafe at 8:15; Kinder Field Trip, 8:45 am; SDMC Meeting, 3:30 pm
Friday, 1/17
Monday, 1/20 No School, MLK Holiday
Tuesday, 1/21
Wednesday, 1/22
Thursday, 1/23 Staff Appreciation Luncheon
Friday, 1/24 3rd Gr Traditions Feast, Covered Area 12:00-1:00
Monday, 1/27
Tuesday, 1/28
Wednesday, 1/29 Early Dismissal, 12:30; Parent Conferences
Thursday, 1/30
Friday, 1/31 Kinder Snow Day
Parent Conferences
Later this month you will have the opportunity to meet with your child's teacher to learn more about your child's progress. If you have not already met with your child's teacher this year, please contact your child's teacher to schedule a conference. This is a great opportunity to learn more about how your and the classroom teacher can work together to help your child succeed.
Attendance
During the month of December we took a big hit to our attendance rate, under 97%. It is critical that your child attend school every day. The District expects elementary schools to have a 98% attendance rate. Attendance directly impacts school funding, with an increase or decrease of 1% equal to approximately $26,000, annually. This is a tough goal to meet, and it will take everyone's diligence to make it happen.
Remember, if your child is sick, and has a fever of 100 degrees or more, home is the best place to be.
Monday, 1/13
Tuesday, 1/14 Report Cards go home; NTB Reading Day
Wednesday, 1/15
Thursday, 1/16 Spelling Bee, Cafe at 8:15; Kinder Field Trip, 8:45 am; SDMC Meeting, 3:30 pm
Friday, 1/17
Monday, 1/20 No School, MLK Holiday
Tuesday, 1/21
Wednesday, 1/22
Thursday, 1/23 Staff Appreciation Luncheon
Friday, 1/24 3rd Gr Traditions Feast, Covered Area 12:00-1:00
Monday, 1/27
Tuesday, 1/28
Wednesday, 1/29 Early Dismissal, 12:30; Parent Conferences
Thursday, 1/30
Friday, 1/31 Kinder Snow Day
Parent Conferences
Later this month you will have the opportunity to meet with your child's teacher to learn more about your child's progress. If you have not already met with your child's teacher this year, please contact your child's teacher to schedule a conference. This is a great opportunity to learn more about how your and the classroom teacher can work together to help your child succeed.
Attendance
During the month of December we took a big hit to our attendance rate, under 97%. It is critical that your child attend school every day. The District expects elementary schools to have a 98% attendance rate. Attendance directly impacts school funding, with an increase or decrease of 1% equal to approximately $26,000, annually. This is a tough goal to meet, and it will take everyone's diligence to make it happen.
Remember, if your child is sick, and has a fever of 100 degrees or more, home is the best place to be.
What it means if your student’s report card has an ‘NG’ from www.houstonisd.org
When HISD parents from grades K-12 receive report cards on Jan. 10, they may
be finding a new notation – “NG” – that blocks the grade from being seen because
of poor attendance.
NG isn’t a reflection of failure – in fact the grade may be passing – but under expanded state requirements for school attendance, the student didn’t put in enough time in class to receive a grade in it.
“Excessive, unexcused absences,” is the official explanation parents will see – meaning the student was missing 10 percent or more of the time the class met. A grade will actually be assigned and recorded by HISD, but it will, in effect, be masked on the report card.
That’s the bad news. The good news, says Mark White, HISD’s director of School Support Services, is that the situation can be remedied – but only if the student has a passing grade for the period. “It’s up to parents to find out from the school right away what corrective steps they and their student might be able to take as they enter the second half of the school year to recover credit or move toward promotion,” White says.
Depending on the student’s circumstances, that could include repeating the course, credit recovery, or credit by exam for grades of at least 70 percent.
Another option is one that has been available for several years to students who missed class between 11 and 25 percent of the time. They can work with the principal to create a plan to remediate the situation, which allows credit to be awarded upon completion.
A final option, for students with extenuating circumstances, is to file an appeal with the campus attendance committee.
The “NG” is part of new regulations – known as HB 5 — passed by the Texas Legislature in its last session to create uniform, rigorous standards for promotion and graduation. It’s one one of several changes students and parents are seeing due to HB 5.
The number of required STAAR end-of-course exams required to graduate from high school has been reduced from 15 to five. Starting with the 2014-2015 school year, entering ninth-graders will have to select from two graduation paths of varying rigor and will have to choose “endorsements” – areas of academic and career focus – to pursue as part of their graduation plan.
NG isn’t a reflection of failure – in fact the grade may be passing – but under expanded state requirements for school attendance, the student didn’t put in enough time in class to receive a grade in it.
“Excessive, unexcused absences,” is the official explanation parents will see – meaning the student was missing 10 percent or more of the time the class met. A grade will actually be assigned and recorded by HISD, but it will, in effect, be masked on the report card.
That’s the bad news. The good news, says Mark White, HISD’s director of School Support Services, is that the situation can be remedied – but only if the student has a passing grade for the period. “It’s up to parents to find out from the school right away what corrective steps they and their student might be able to take as they enter the second half of the school year to recover credit or move toward promotion,” White says.
Depending on the student’s circumstances, that could include repeating the course, credit recovery, or credit by exam for grades of at least 70 percent.
Another option is one that has been available for several years to students who missed class between 11 and 25 percent of the time. They can work with the principal to create a plan to remediate the situation, which allows credit to be awarded upon completion.
A final option, for students with extenuating circumstances, is to file an appeal with the campus attendance committee.
The “NG” is part of new regulations – known as HB 5 — passed by the Texas Legislature in its last session to create uniform, rigorous standards for promotion and graduation. It’s one one of several changes students and parents are seeing due to HB 5.
The number of required STAAR end-of-course exams required to graduate from high school has been reduced from 15 to five. Starting with the 2014-2015 school year, entering ninth-graders will have to select from two graduation paths of varying rigor and will have to choose “endorsements” – areas of academic and career focus – to pursue as part of their graduation plan.
For more on STAAR and HB 5, go to www.houstonisd.org/STAAR.
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