News from Mrs. Graves

Upcoming Events
Monday, 2/24
Tuesday, 2/25
Wednesday, 2/26
Thursday, 2/27  3rd grade Musical: Annie, Jr, 6:30 p.m; 4th gr Austin Field Trip
Friday, 2/28

Monday, 3/3
Tuesday, 3/4   Spring Picture Day
Wednesday, 3/5  School Tour, 9:00 a.m.
Thursday, 3/6
Friday, 3/7   PTO Meeting, 8:10 a.m.
Saturday, 3/8   School Auction, 6:30 p.m. (ticketed event)


Mardi Gras Masquerade
Auction
Saturday, March 8th, 6:30 p.m.
Rice University Grand Hall
Have you turned in your response card to let us know you are joining us for the Mardi Gras Masquerade? Turn those in as soon as possible!  This event is one of the most important fundraisers each year for Roberts Elementary.  You will have a great time and help improve teaching and learning in every classroom.  

**NEW** Online Auction Catalog now available!


Roberts Elementary presents Annie, Jr.
Thursday, February 27th, 6:30 p.m.
This year we have grown our Fine Arts program to include musical stage productions.  This week our 3rd graders will be performing Annie, Jr. on the Roberts' stage.  You are invited to join us for the performance.

With full stage musicals, we are using more elaborate lighting, sound, costumes and props.  We will not open the house for seating until 6:15 p.m. to allow for sound checks and to ensure our stage crew has adequate time to set props and costumes.  We will ask that you wait in a line at the back entrance in the south hallway when you arrive until the stage crew opens the door.


Enrollment and Residency
Many times families move during a school year and are interested in staying at Roberts. The only way to stay at Roberts if you have moved out of the school attendance zone is to apply for a magnet transfer.  Magnet Transfers are granted by lottery, when space is available in the specific grade level.  

The question that often arises during enrollment relates to residency.  Residency is what qualifies you as an “in-zone” student.  So, what is residency?  Generally it is referred to as where you live and sleep every night, but there are more detailed and specific criteria.  Simply owning property in the school zone does not qualify your child as an in-zone student if you actually live somewhere else.

1. Does the parent/guardian who establishes residency own, rent or lease a home, condominium, apartment or living quarters within the attendance zone?

2. Does the family have furniture and personal effects in the attendance zone with no furniture or personal effects at a previous residence?

3. Does the parent/guardian receive personal mail in the attendance zone?

4. Are the parents/guardians registered to vote in the attendance zone?

5. Does the parent/guardian regularly live in the attendance zone and plan to live there indefinitely?  Have all licensed drivers in the household complied with DPS regulations for changing address?

News from Mrs. Graves

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Upcoming Events
Monday, 2/17
Tuesday, 2/18  4th/5th grade Field Trip: Lamar Theatre
Wednesday, 2/19  Early Dismissal, 12:30 pm; NO AFTER SCHOOL ACTIVITIES
Thursday, 2/20  Student Coalition Meeting, 11:15-11:45; SDMC Meeting, 3:30
Friday, 2/21  3rd grade Field Trip

Monday, 2/24
Tuesday, 2/25
Wednesday, 2/26
Thursday, 2/27  4th gr Field Trip: Austin; 3rd gr production of Annie, 6:30 pm
Friday, 2/28

President's Day
Many of you may have tomorrow off, but at Roberts we will be working hard! Know your children will be learning and well-cared for, and enjoy your day off. Maybe it's time for a spa day or a round of golf.

Transportation Services
Magnet students have long relied on district-provided transportation to get to and from school. Some of you may have never used district transportation before, but will in the coming years if utilizing the school choice system to attend a magnet middle school.  You may ask yourself, so how does transportation work?
 
The Transportation Department is a centralized service of the Houston ISD.  There are two primary divisions of transportation that you may come in contact with, Routing and Scheduling, and Motor Pool.

Routing and Scheduling uses an automated system to build the most cost-effective routes based on the number of students and stops.  Usually, stops for elementary school students are located on elementary campus and stops for middle or high school students will be located on similarly leveled campuses within 2 miles of the rider's home.  After the automated system creates a route, drivers provide feedback for about two weeks and then the Routing and Scheduling department makes manual adjustments to the stops.  These adjustments may be due to unforeseen traffic patterns or unexpected riders.

The Motor Pool is responsible for the drivers and the condition of the buses, and basically anything after the initial request for transportation and route creation.  It is most likely that you will have contact with the Motor Pool if your child is a bus rider.  There are people attending to incoming phone calls as long as any bus is still in route.  You can call at any time and ask for the location of your child's bus, or request an estimated time of arrival if the bus is not there on schedule.  The Motor Pool maintains a GPS location on all buses.

Any problems you have with transportation should be reported to the Area Manager or Terminal Manager and the school bus coordinator (Ms. Verner at Roberts).  We like to know if you are having trouble with a route so that we can also contact the people in transportation to help you resolve the problem more quickly.
You can find the numbers for the Northwest Motor Pool, or the people in charge of transportation, on the HISD website by accessing the Transportation Department webpage and viewing "Contact Us".  Or, print this blog post for handy reference.

Northwest Motor Pool       713-613-3049

Chandra Robertson – Terminal Manager                          713-613-3049 (ofc)    713-553-9847 (cell)

Email: crobert1@houstonisd.org

Tawana Rubit- Area Manager                                             713-613-3049 (ofc)    832-453-7568 (cell)

Email: trubit@houstonisd.org

Chester Glaude – Operations Mgr. - Transportation        713-613-3093 (ofc)     713-933-7017 (cell)

Email: cglaude@houstonisd.org

Aladdin
Our 5th graders will begin rehearsals during Session III of our Magnet Enrichment.  There is no cost, but there is quite a commitment required.  If your 5th graders is interested, get those forms in by the end of the week.

Auditions will take place the first and second day of rehearsals (Mar 4 and 6) to match skill to role for those interested in principle roles in the cast or those interested in dance.  All interested will be cast in the production.

The performance will take place on May 22nd on the Rice University Campus at Hamman Hall.  Seats are limited, and tickets will go on sale in the coming weeks.  Ticket sales will open for 5th grade families first, and then will be made available to the school community at large.  Want to get the best seats in the house?  Five seats, front row, center, will be auctioned off on March 8th!


New on the Library Shelves
Last week we received another shipment of books for the school library.  More than 300 new titles, including award winners in all genres are now available for our students! What do 300 new titles cost? About $7500!  That is in addition to the acquisitions last summer and the $2500 spent last fall to complement our IB Units of Inquiry, all part of the annual expenditure of $13,000.



Big Thanks!
Dan Easley, PTO Grounds Chair spent his Sunday afternoon on campus with a small work crew to trim the Crape Myrtles and clean out the water fountains.  You can show your appreciation by telling Dan thanks the next time you see him!

And next time you are on campus for an evening event, take a minute to appreciate the new lighting on the outdoor stage.  This improvement for our school community was funding by the PTO and installation was completed during the past week.



Are you a framer or do you know one?
Our after school art club has created a mosaic reproduction of Vincent van Gogh's Starry Night for the Auction on March 8th.  We are looking for someone to donate framing services.  Contact Ms. Ballard if you can help!  jballard@houstonisd.org

News from Mrs. Graves

Upcoming Events
Monday, 2/10  Peace Rally, 2:30 pm
Tuesday, 2/11  5th Grade Leaves for Camp; Progress Reports go Home
Wednesday, 2/12  
Thursday, 2/13  
Friday, 2/14  Valentine Parties

Monday, 2/17
Tuesday, 2/18  4th/5th Grade Field Trip (Lamar)
Wednesday, 2/19  Early Dismissal, 12:30 pm
Thursday, 2/20  SDMC Meeting, 3:30 pm
Friday, 2/21  3rd gr Field Trip


NTB Qualifier Test
Students began reading books for Name That Book last spring when the list of 34 titles was announced. More than 50 students began spending their lunch on Tuesdays reading in my office.  And over the last three months, more than 35 students have been joining together on Fridays during lunch to talk about those books.  The time has come to select the 6 most prepared Name That Book team members to represent us in the District competition. 

On Monday, beginning at 7:25, we will administer the NTB Competitive Team Qualifier test.  Students who have been reading the books from the NTB list should be at school no later than 7:20. The test will contain a quote from each of the 34 books. Participants will match the book title to the quote.  Students with the six highest scores will serve on the team.  The student with the seventh highest score will serve as the alternate.  I will also be selecting the next 10 highest scoring students to attend the competition to cheer on our team.


5th grade Goes to Camp
The weather forecast is showing temperatures as low as 32degrees with rain on Tuesday with it possibly rising to 72 degrees by Friday. Students need to come prepared for this weather. Please pack appropriate clothing for this weather.

Also, we had originally asked for parents to pack clothing in a large black (Olympia) or white (Forest Glen) garbage bag, depending on which camp your child is attending. If you are having difficulty finding the specific color requested, please pack the items in a garbage bag of any color. We will take care of this Tuesday morning and will ensure bags are labeled correctly and sent to the right camp.


Peace Week
Students are invited to wear a tie-dye tshirt or a shirt with a peace sign, or something that represents peace tomorrow for our Stand Up For Peace Rally.

We are collecting used men's button down dress shirts for our upcoming production of Annie. Can you help us out?

News from Mrs. Graves

Upcoming Events
Monday, 2/3
Tuesday, 2/4  District Spelling Bee; NTB Reading Day
Wednesday, 2/5  School Tour, 9:00 am
Thursday, 2/6  Student Coalition Meeting, 11:15 am
Friday, 2/7  PTO Meeting, 8:10 am

February 10-14  Peace Week
February 11-14  5th Grade Camp

Monday, 2/10  NTB Competetive Team Qualifier Test, 7:25 am; Peace Rally, 2:30 pm
Tuesday, 2/11  Progress Reports Go Home
Wednesday, 2/12
Thursday, 2/13
Friday, 2/14  Class Valentine Parties

Wednesday, 2/19  Early Dismissal Day (Professional Development), 12:30 pm

Kinder Stanford (SAT-10) Scores
Kindergarten parents will be receiving score reports from the December administration.  This administration is considered a baseline score for your child, and is not used for promotion decisions at the end of the year. The SAT-10 gives us a comparative look at your child’s academic performance level and that of other children across the nation in the same grade level.  The SAT-10 is designed with stretch, meaning the test includes prerequisite skills for Kindergarten, as well as items that test skills more traditionally taught in the grade level above.  The letter included with your score report will give you information on how to read the report, but a good place to start is by looking at the column labeled PR-S.  This column will tell you your child’s percentile rank and stanine.  A percentile rank of 50 is considered average, or typical for this test.  You may use the stanine to help you determine performance in broader bands.  Stanines 1, 2 and 3 represent performance that is below average.  Stanines 4, 5 and 6 are in the average range.  Stanines 7, 8 and 9 are above average performance.  Be cautious about using the GE (grade equivalence).  This information is often misunderstood.  A kindergarten student with a grade equivalence of 3.2 on the reading subtest, does not suggest the student is performing at the 3^rd grade 2^nd month level, but instead suggests the student made the same score as a 3^rd grader would on the kindergarten reading test. 


Magnet Enrichment
5th Grade Musical: Aladdin
Session III: March 4-May 22
5th graders will receive information this week about participating in our 5th grade musical this spring. Students will be able to choose their level of participation.  Students interested and able to stay after school will be able to choose from being part of dance, cast or stage crew.  Those who are not able to stay after school will be part of the chorus and will learn the music during their music ancillary class.

There is no fee for participating in the Magnet Enrichment after school, but students must be committed to the work.  Students who chose to take on a role as cast, dancer or stage crew are expected to attend all after school enrichment classes, Tuesdays and Thursdays from 3:30-5:30.


Inclement Weather Make-Up Days
from www.houstonisd.org

HISD schools will now be open April 18 and May 26 for students, faculty and support staff to make up the days lost to wintry weather last Friday and this Tuesday.  The decision, made Thursday, adheres to the district’s 2013-2014 calendar adopted by the HISD Board of Education, which designated the Spring Holiday and Memorial Day as makeup days.

The Texas Education Agency mandates procedures for setting calendars and for designating and publicizing makeup days, and the public has an extended opportunity in advance of adoption of the calendar to comment on those days.  The calendar, as well as the 2014-2015 calendar, are posted on this website, as well.

For FAQs on makeup days, go to http://blogs.houstonisd.org/news/2014/01/27/your-make-up-day-questions-answered/.

Science Night
UT Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences
Saturday, February 15th, 3:00-6:00 pm
Roberts families have been invited to Science Night, hosted by UT GSBS and MD Anderson Cancer Center.  Find more information in your Tuesday folder.


Pershing MS Accelerated Math and Science Placement Test
Many of our 5th graders will be attending Pershing in the Fall.  You can ensure your child is placed in the appropriate level math and science class by taking the placement tests scheduled for Saturday, 2/22 or Saturday, 3/1.  You will receive more information in this week's Tuesday folder.