News from the Ranch - September 24, 2012

Howdy Pardners,

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Watch DOGS
Calling all Dads Of Great Students!
Please mark your calendar for our kick-off meeting this Thursday, September 27th, at 6:00 p.m. in our NRE cafeteria. 

Mr. Kennedy spent all day on the Ranch last Friday and we greatly appreciated his assistance.  He helped with drop off and pick up, lunch, library and in the classrooms.  We recognized him on our morning broadcast and he even helped choose the top 10 Longhorn Pride students.  A big YEE HAW to Mr. Kennedy for your support of our campus and our little Longhorns.  Dads Of Great Students help our ranch run smoothly!  We are so very thankful for our "extra" ranch hands!

Dads, make an effort to attend our first meeting and become involved on our campus.  It is a wonderful experience for all involved and you are welcome and greatly appreciated on the Ranch.

NOMINATE OUTSTANDING EDUCATORS

Texas Best Educator
As mentioned in my Meet the Principal meeting in August, I believe that it is critical to continuously recognize the efforts of our educators.  No matter what the position, when it comes to educating our
youth, we all work tirelessly to ensure their success.  As a result, I believe we should take every opportunity we can to reward the hard work of those who hold our future in their hands.  Join many Texas associations for a 180-day educator recognition marathon.  Recognize a teacher, librarian, principal or superintendent whose work ensures that Texas students are successful.  The goal is to recognize at least 100,000 educators by completion of the first 180 days of this school year.  Nominate an educator today at http://texasbesteducator.org
Let's show them that North Ridge has outstanding educators!  
If you submit a nomination, please email me at allison.cobb@birdvilleschools.net and I will personally reward each of our North Ridge educators who were nominated.
Thank you so much for supporting our educators!

YEE HAWS!
In addition to Longhorn Pride tickets for good student behavior and for exemplifying our CORE values and character traits, we also give our staff (otherwise known as Ranch Hands) YEE HAWS for a job well-done. If you would like to "YEE HAW" a staff member for a job well done please complete a "YEE HAW" form at the front reception desk and put it into the basket (similar to what we do with Longhorn Pride tickets). Or, you may email me your "YEE HAW" at allison.cobb@birdvilleschools.net. I will forward your "YEE HAWS" (including the paper ones) to the teachers and each "YEE HAW" will go into a drawing for the "Star" parking spot in the front of the school. The winning teacher will be announced on broadcasting and each teacher who is "YEE HAW'd" will get a jeans pass. The best gift you can give a North Ridge employee is to let him/her know how much he/she is appreciated. This is truly a gift that touches their hearts and makes their day! 

Touch of Class
Don't forget that BISD also recognizes outstanding educators through "Touch of Class" nominations. The "Touch of Class" nomination form can be accessed through the front page of the BISD website.


Myths and Truths About Elementary Attendance Accounting
Did you know that parents of elementary students are responsible for ensuring that that their child arrives to school on time?  Did you know that parents in violation of the compulsory attendance laws can be prosecuted by law?  A parent just shared with me that this is news to her, and she has been on our campus for several years.  Most of you do not have to worry about the consequences of attendance violations because like this parent, you do a superb job of getting your child/children to school on time, and your child misses very few days of instruction.  For those of you who aren’t “morning people” don’t worry.  You won’t get thrown into attendance jail for violating the law, but you could be assessed a fine.  The following information will ensure that you stay out of trouble when it comes to attendance. 

 It is important that all students arrive at school on time each day.  Consistent punctuality to school each day sets the tone for future attendance habits. It teaches children that being on time to their “job” (school) is important and beneficial.  At the elementary level, the parent is held responsible for violations of the compulsory attendance law.  There are two attendance requirements that must be followed:

1. 90% Attendance Law -  This law states that a student must be in attendance for 90% of the instructional days offered during the school year to receive credit for that school year. This requirement relates to both excused and unexcused absences.  If a student falls below the 90% requirement (no more than 18 absences per school year) an attendance committee must meet to review the student’s attendance and school progress. 
2. Truancy Law - This law relates to unexcused tardies and/or absences.  The law states that if a student is absent without excuse for 3 or more days or parts of days within a four week period, or 10 or more days or parts of days within a six month period, then he/she shall be considered truant.  Truancy charges are filed with the courts after warning notices are given to the parent.

          Helpful Tips to Ensure That Attendance Law is Not Violated:

·         Remember that excessive tardies can be just as harmful to your

                   child’s attendance record as absences. 

·         Three (3) tardies accrue into an unexcused absence. 

·         Signing your child out of school early is also harmful, as your child misses important   

       instructional time.  Signing a child out early is as much a violation as a tardy, as it is

       considered part of a day that your child is missing.

·         The expectations for school arrival are as follows:

                   Official school reporting time is 8:10 a.m.  Most of our students arrive to  
                   school between 7:50-8:10 a.m.- At that time, they go directly to their
                   classroom to begin morning learning activities. We begin counting tardies at
                   8:15 a.m.  If your child/children arrive late, they must enter through the front
                   doors and go to the reception desk.  Students who are tardy will be given a
                   pass to enter the classroom.

·         If your child is absent, please call the office the day of the absence to let us know.  It is also very helpful to send a signed note the day the student returns from the absence.  Sending a note documents your excuse and helps to curtail truancy law violations. 

·        It is also helpful to make up all work missed during an absence.  Teachers will give you all work missed upon arrival back to school after an absence.  The number of makeup days allotted to complete the work equals the number of days missed.

Further information regarding attendance policies and makeup work may be found on pages 11 and 13-16 of the Elementary Student Handbook.  The bottom line is that students are required to be in attendance at school, and our elementary students need your assistance to help form good attendance habits that will last a lifetime.  Thank you for helping us toward that end and for ensuring that together, we raise up responsible citizens.

 

Thank you for following my blog.  Please tell all of your friends to join to get the latest Ranch news.   Until the next blog, I'll see you at the Ranch!

 

Cowgirl Cobb

 

 

 

 

News from the Ranch - September 20, 2012

Howdy Pardners,

Welcome to my first Ranch Blog!  You can follow NRE news by logging onto the Ranch Reporter.  I hope to update it at least twice a month, and more frequently if needed.  It's hard to believe we have been on the ranch for three weeks!  Our trail ride is off to a great start and we have much to celebrate!

PTA NEWS
What an amazing picnic we had Sunday.  The rainy day made it extra special, as we all enjoyed a rainbow right over North Ridge Ranch!  Mrs. Luppy slung some cow patties and the families who bid on the lucky squares went home with great prizes! Thank you to our fabulous PTA who made our special event possible!  Be on the lookout for those rainbow pictures to be posted to our NRE website soon!  We know our ranch is "special" because it was doubly blessed with the beginning of a double rainbow! I can't think of a better way to start off our school year!  Get ready for our upcoming PTA events including a Grandparent/Special Person lunch and bookfair browse on October 26th and our second annual "Trunk or Treat" coming in October as well.  Be thinking of creative ways to display your "treats" for our little ones.

WELCOME TO OUR NEW RANCH HANDS
New staff members were introduced at "Meet the Principal" in August, but for those of you who have not had the opportunity to meet them, I would like to introduce them via the "blog".  Our biggest change has occurred in the front office where we have several new team members.  I am one of them, but by now, I think you know who I am, so I will move on to more important people....
Lisa Fraze -Lisa is not new to North Ridge, as she is a NRE parent. Her husband began Watch Dogs on our campus, and we are so very blessed to have both of them blazing the trail with us!  Lisa is our Attendance Clerk and the one you speak with about attendance issues and absences.  She comes to us from Watauga Elementary where she was the social worker.  She has an extensive background in social work and counseling, so that is an added bonus for us!
Jessica George - Jessica is also a NRE parent and her husband is an Assistant Principal in Grand Prairie ISD.  As a result, Jessica is familiar with the school setting through association.   She was a receptionist at Gateway Church prior to coming to NRE as our receptionist. 
Lee Ward - Lee is our school nurse.  Although this is his first rodeo as a school nurse, he brings a wealth of information from his years of nursing outside of the school setting.
Noelle DuPont - Noelle is our new Instructional Support Specialist.  She helps support our teachers as well as students with special needs.  Noelle has two masters degrees (Reading and Educational Leadership) as well as certifications in Early Childhood, English as a Second Language and Gifted and Talented.  She has served as a kindergarten, fourth grade and special education teacher.  She most recently comes to us from Lake Travis ISD in Austin.

ARRIVAL AND DISMISSAL NEWS - IMPORTANT!

Final Touches on our Arrival and Dismissal Plan
Thank you for your patience as we continue to troubleshoot our dismissal plan.  I am confident that if we all work together, we can make our dismissal system smooth and easy.  We are in the process of clearly labeling our lanes and adding signage to the front and side drop-off/pick-up lots. We waited to add the final touches until we worked out the kinks in our plan, and now we are ready to finalize it by adding some permanent changes.  Our Assistant Principal, Mr. Burbach, deserves a big "YEE HAW" for putting out approximately 50 cones on a daily basis to direct traffic to the right areas.  When you see Mr. Burbach, make sure you give him an extra pat on the back for a job well done!  Some of the final touches you can expect to see are permanent stakes in the front drive delineating the separation between the daycare van and car lanes,  stakes in the front drive dividing the left and right turn exit lanes and clearly labeled grade level lanes.  The final touches in the side lot will include permanent stakes delineating entrance to the parking lot/bus loading area and the grade level drop-off and pick up area, as well as signage clearly stating which lane is for bus/parking lot, which lane is for car drop-off/pick-up and which lane is for exiting the lot.  These changes, and clear markings are a result of your input regarding our arrival and dismissal plan. I heard from many families that it was hard to enter the side parking lot to park, so I have made changes to make it easy for entrance, exit and for parking.  Please note that if you are picking up your child in one of the 2nd-5th grade car lanes, that you will need to enter the lane on the far right side of the lot.  If you need to park in the lot, you will enter the left side of the entrance.  The far left side is for exiting vehicles only and should never be entered. 

What You Can Do To Help Us With Arrival and Dismissal
In order to keep your child as safe as possible, we still need your help on a few things: 
1.  Please cross only in the crosswalk area.  We still have many families who park at Adventure World and walk across Starnes in areas that are not designated as crosswalks. Families should park in our lot to safely pick up children, or walk to the corner of Starnes and Holiday to cross with the crossing guard.
2.  Please do not call your child across the lot, or across Starnes or Holiday Lanes.  Please walk to your child to pick him/her up and then walk back across with your child.
3.  During arrival, please do not pull into the visitor parking in the front drive and drop children off without adult supervision to walk across the traffic in the front drive.  If you are dropping off, please enter the front or side car loop and drop off curbside.  It is much safer.  I do understand that some people are doing this to save time, but please know that the car lanes move quickly and it is much safer to drop off curbside. 
4.  Reminder that 2nd-5th graders should be dropped off in the side lot and Kinder-1st graders should be dropped off in the front lot.  Older siblings drop off in the lot of the youngest child in the car (Ex: If dropping off a 3rd grader and a 1st grader, you many drop both children off in the front lot).  We are seeing many people drop off in front regardless of age.  We ask that the children be dropped off in the designated lot to help with traffic flow. 
5.  Please form one line on Starnes for the 2nd-5th grade drop-off/pick up lot and one line on Holiday for the K-1st drop-off/pick up lot.  Please do not try to pass other vehicles in an attempt to drop off or pick up sooner, as other parents have been waiting patiently in line and get upset when someone cuts them off. 
6.  When dropping off in the morning please form one line next to the curb and stay in that line until you exit the drive.  When cars try to move into another lane in the morning after dropping off their precious cargo, it poses a danger, as the traffic is not at a standstill like it is in the afternoon when all 3 lanes are full, and fast moving cars in the lanes are very dangerous when mixed with pedestrian traffic.  Again, please form one line in the mornings to drop off curbside and stay in that line/lane until you exit the drive.
7.  Remember that to enter the K-1st lot at afternoon pick up, that you must enter from Starnes to Holiday lane and form one line.  North Richland Hills police department has advised that cars should not be turning left into the front lot from Holiday or turning left into the side lot from Starnes. You have been doing a great job with this, and we have had minimal problems with this lately. Way to go parents!

Arrival and Dismissal in Inclement Weather
Please note that we will have the same drop-off/pick-up plan during inclement weather.  However, we will make small changes on our end so that children spend minimal time in the elements.  In the case of inclement weather at morning drop-off  we will open the side lot doors for easy access to the building.  In the case of inclement weather at pick-up, we will keep the children right inside the exit doors and will call them so that we can escort them to their waiting vehicle.  As parents, you will follow the normal pick up plan.  The changes in convenience for inclement weather will occur on our end, so just keep doing the great job you have been doing at pick up and drop off and we will take care of the rest!

Important Note Regarding Time Change for Kindergarten and First Grade Dismissal 
In an effort to relieve traffic during dismissal we initially dismissed Kindergarten and First grade students and their siblings at 3:15 p.m.  Beginning on Monday, September 24th, we will dismiss Kindergarten and First graders and their siblings at 3:25 p.m. in order to maintain consistency with other elementary campuses. This means that the entire school will dismiss at the same time - 3:25 p.m.  Please note that staggering the pick up on your end will help relieve traffic a great deal, so I encourage you to consider arriving a bit after 3:25, so that initial traffic is cleared out and you do not have to wait in line so long.  The backup occurs when so many cars try to come at the exact same time.  If each of you will experiment with timing, then I am confident that we can all do our part to relieve the backup that occurs during dismissal. 

TRANSPORTATION CHANGE REQUEST FORM AND DEADLINE
We are asking that you communicate all transportation changes to our receptionist, Jessica George, or our Attendance Clerk, Lisa Fraze.  In the past, teachers were notified by parents via email and phone and valuable instruction time was interrupted.  In addition, many times the messages were not received until after school hours because the teachers were busy teaching.  In order to minimize classroom disruptions, protect the integrity of the instructional day, and make sure that your request is granted, we ask that you now forward all such requests to the front office staff, who will then communicate with the classroom teachers. 
For your convenience, a "Daily Transportation Change Request Form" is located on the NRE website in the left hand column.  As you know, we have new staff in our front office and they are learning our families. Many times we receive incomplete transportation change notes which are missing critical information that will ensure your wishes are followed and your child arrives to his/her destination safely.  We ask that you complete a "Daily Transportation Change Request Form" anytime you wish for your child to go home a different way than his/her permanent backpack tag indicates.  You may open the form, type your information, save the document, then attach it to an email to Jessica George, our receptionist, at jessica.george@birdvilleschools.net.  Mrs. George's email address in on the link for easy access.  You may also complete the form electronically, print and send to school with your child, or you can print the form and hand write the information and send with your child.  You can also print the form and scan it to Mrs. George's email. As always, we do accept emails, but we ask that you include the information that is noted on the Transportation Change Request form to ensure that the information is relayed as precisely as possible. 
Our office communicates with the teachers twice a day through a system that minimizes loss of instructional time.  Teachers place notes received from home regarding absences, transportation changes and various other pertinent information for front office staff outside their doors.  Office staff retrieves that information at 10:30 a.m. daily and begins making transportation change forms and sorting the information to arrive to the designated office personnel.  Office personnel then communicate back to the teacher at 2:30 p.m.daily by hanging the transportation change forms and other pertinent information outside of the teachers' doors.  Teachers know to check their hook outside of their doors at 2:30 p.m.  As a result, we ask that all transportation changes are made by 2:00 p.m. to ensure that the change is properly communicated to the teacher.  In the case of an emergency, we will make every effort to honor your request (examples of an emergency are a sick parent, a medical condition, accident, etc...). 

EARLY RELEASE OF STUDENTS
If you need to check your child out of school early please enter the main office area and sign him/her out.  We have had some instances where the child was called to the  front office and the parent intercepted the child without checking out at the front office.  It is imperative that we have documentation of your child's presence or absence, as we will need to account for the whereabouts of all staff and students should an emergency arise.  Thank you for your help with this!

CHECK OUT OUR "LASSO OF LOVE" GALLERY!
I have created a web-based gallery where I will post notes and pictures from our little longhorns.
You can find the gallery on the right hand side of our NRE webpage.  Our Longhorns will enjoy showing their family members their wonderful creations!  Thanks to Ms. Sampson for helping to make my vision a reality!  YEE HAW to Ms. Sampson!

Thank you for following my first blog!  Please subscribe to receive posting notifications and to be "in the know" about North Ridge current events and information.  See you at the Ranch!

Cowgirl Cobb