News from Mrs. Graves

Upcoming Events

Monday, 10/13
Tuesday, 10/14
Wednesday, 10/15  4th Gr Field Trip; Middle School Information Night, 6:30-7:30 p.m.
Thursday, 10/16  2nd Gr Field Trip; SDMC Meeting, 3:30
Friday, 10/17  

Monday, 10/20
Tuesday, 10/21
Wednesday, 10/22  
Thursday, 10/23
Friday, 10/24  

Wednesday, 10/29  Early Dismissal - Parent Conferences

Communicable Disease Management

Taken from Health and Medical Services webpage on www.houstonisd.org

Infectious and communicable diseases account for millions of school days lost each year, most often as a result of colds and flu. Because students are in group settings in which people are in close contact and share supplies and equipment most of their day, transmission of infections from person to person can occur. During flu season it is especially important to use good hygiene practices to reduce the spread of germs. Please help to keep your child and our schools healthy by:

• observing your child each day for signs of infection which may include coughing, colds, fever, itching on the skin and scalp and unusual rashes. 
• keeping sick students at home and seeking medical attention for severe illness.
• encouraging your child to practice good hand hygiene.
• adopting healthy practices, such as disposing of used tissues and coughing into a sleeve rather than into a hand.
• keeping children home until free of fever for 24 hours (without fever reducing medication) reduces the risk of spread.

Choosing the Right Middle School

You have so many wonderful choices for middle school!  Choosing the right school for your child may seem like a daunting task.  There are a number of online resources to help you with choosing the right school for your child. I particularly like the checklist found on greatschools.net 

Here are a few things they recommend to a prospective parent for consideration:

· Do the classrooms look cheerful?

· Is student work displayed, and is it appropriate for the grade level?

· Do teachers seem enthusiastic and knowledgeable? (Notice whether they are asking questions that stimulate students and keep them engaged.)

· Is the principal confident and interested in interacting with students, teachers and parents?

· Do students act respectfully toward each other in class, during transitions and at lunchtime?

· Are facilities well maintained, the bathrooms clean and well supplied and do the grounds look safe and inviting?

· What is the school’s state rating?

Here is a list of MUST SEE places when you are visiting a campus:

1. Go into the bathrooms to see if they are clean and feel safe.

2. Ask to visit the cafeteria during the lunch period if it is not on the standard tour.

3. Make a stop in the library.

You may want to talk with any students or parents who might be helping with the tour.  How do the students feel about their school?  What is the best thing, and what is the most challenging?  Ask parents about the PTO.  An active parent group will help you stay connected at a time when it is difficult to stay connected with your child’s life away from home.

You can also do some of your research online before you go.  Visit the school website to learn about special offerings, extracurricular activities and special awards the campus may have received.  Visit the HISD website for the school profile.  It will tell you about academic standing, attendance, discipline, and enrollment.  You may also visit the Texas Education Agency website for a school academic profile. 

Middle School is a dynamic time in the life of your child.  While this decision is definitely a decision for parents, it is important your child is involved in that process.  

I would encourage you to visit schools first without your child.  Apply to many schools then take your child to tour after you receive admission letters.  It may save some heartache if the first choice school really isn’t an option.   

If you want to take your child with you on the first round tours, all area Middle Schools will host tours in the afternoons during Magnet Week.  Removing your child during the afternoon for those tours will not impact your child’s attendance record.  I remind you though that absences to visit schools when official attendance is taken at 9:30 are unexcused.