The Cannon Connection
2025-2026 Newsletter for Cannon Elementary Families
October 12-18, 2025
Good morning Cannon families,
Community Spirit on the MOVE! Thank you to the over 200 people—our students, families, and staff—who joined us for National Walk or Roll to School Day on Wednesday, October 15th! It was wonderful to see so many of our Cubs getting active together.
A special shout-out goes to our Dads Club President, Nick Gesualdi, and volunteers, who went above and beyond! They led fantastic, fun bike safety stations during specials time, in collaboration with Coach Gregston and Officer Smith, ensuring that our students learned important skills while having a blast. Events like this truly show our AMAZING community spirit!
Two quick reminders! There is No School for Staff & Students this Monday, October 13 (District Closed). A quick reminder to all families: Please pay your outstanding Technology Fees as soon as possible; Outstanding fee emails are sent to parents weekly. Paying your fee in a timely manner ensures that your student's device access and digital learning experience remain uninterrupted. Please complete the payment via Skyward at your earliest convenience. Thank you for your cooperation!
Our PTA Silent Auction has truly created some memorable experiences! Imagine winning a delicious, specially prepared lunch delivered right to your child and their selected teacher. Auction winners enjoyed a gourmet picnic (on the stage) with a decadent dessert, and a Italian cuisine specialty, this item was a wonderful way to treat your student while supporting our school. It's more than just food; it's a personal touch that creates this memorable treat!
All funds raised by PTA directly support our students and school programs - Thank you for your generosity and support!
Congratulations to our 2nd and3rd grade STEM Habit of Mind Hall of Fame Inductees for Questioning & Posing Problems!
STEM teaching and learning is an instructional approach to learning and development that integrates the areas of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Through STEM education practices, students develop key skills including: problem solving, creativity, and critical analysis. We are PROUD to honor our scholars for exhibiting STEM thinking, and we can't wait to celebrate our next group of inductees this Friday.
If your scholar is selected, your teacher will reach out to you with ceremony details about the specific date and time for each grade's ceremony. We hope you will join us in celebrating our young innovators!
Last week, we took a moment to celebrate our incredible coaches! Coach Gregston and Coach Pilar do so much more than teach skills and strategies; they are mentors who inspire commitment, teamwork, and resilience in all of our Cubs. Please join us in thanking them for their dedication, time, and positive impact on our students! We are so grateful for all you do to support our Cannon Cubs!
Join me in celebrating our latest STEMtastic Staff Superstar Spotlights!
Mrs. Dorety joined our team late, but she has hit the ground running and has been an absolute delight. You can always count on her bright smile and contagious positive energy. She has already impressed us by coming up with creative, engaging new ways to teach her "Cubs." From hands-on projects to dynamic classroom discussions, she is dedicated to making learning fun and impactful.
We also want to shine a much-deserved spotlight on our incredible Pre-Kindergarten Team, Miss Foreman and Miss Smith! Our youngest Cubs require a very special level of care, structure, and patience, and the Pre-K team works diligently every day to provide it. They are doing fantastic work supporting the foundational skills, social-emotional growth, and overall well-being of our little learners. Thank you, Pre-K team, for your tireless dedication and deep commitment to setting our youngest students up for success!
Join us in showing support for Dyslexia Awareness Month! On Thursday, October 16th, all students and staff are encouraged to wear red to help raise awareness and visibility for dyslexia. Wear red to symbolize our collective commitment to supporting all learners, celebrating their strengths, and promoting greater understanding of dyslexia.
Proud to be your principal,
Dr. Tina Garrett
#BeCannonProud ☮️💗🐻
🐾Our CAN PTA Spirit Shop CLOSES TONIGHT - Last Chance to Order🐾
Welcome to the Cannon Cubs Spirit Shop - NEW DESIGNS AVAILABLE!!!
- New designs available, including a STEMapalooza shirt, options for Grand Friends, and and a neon GLOW day option! *Correction - the Neon shirt will NOT glow in the dark. It's a neon shirt for our school GLOW day activities - still fun! This spirit style is perfect for our January Glow Pep Rally and our April Glow What You Know Review Days!
- The STEMapalooza Option celebrates and highlights our amazing PTA sponsors! Help support our PTA and our STEMtastic Community Sponsors and ORDER TODAY!
- Orders will be accepted through October 12th at midnight
- Orders will be delivered to Cannon Elementary three weeks after the store is closed.
- You will receive an email once your order is delivered. If you have not received an email, your order is not ready for pickup.
- If you do not receive an emailed receipt, your checkout is incomplete, and your order has not been submitted. Be sure to enter a valid email address during checkout
- Please note that all items are custom, and once the store closes, all sales become final. Please select items carefully when ordering.
- CLICK THE LINK BELOW TO ORDER:
Butterfly Flutterby Art Contest
Get ready to soar with your creativity! GCISD students in grades K-5 are invited to participate in this year's art contest with the theme “Wings of Change.” This is an exciting opportunity for students to research the life cycle of the monarch butterfly and create an artwork that shows what they've learned.
Contest Details and Submission Guidelines
The deadline to submit artwork is Tuesday, October 14, 2025.
Each piece of artwork must have the words "Wings of Change" written clearly on the front.
The entry form must be securely attached to the back of the artwork. This form must be signed by a parent or guardian. Entries without a parent's signature will not be judged.
Please turn in all artwork and attached forms to Mrs. Mattox by Oct. 14th @ 4pm.
Judging and Awards
Local artists will judge the entries. Ribbons will be awarded for 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and honorable mention in each grade level.
Three grand prizes of a $25 gift card will also be awarded to one winner in each of these categories:
Budding Artist: Grades K-1
Sprouting Artist: Grades 2-3
Blooming Artist: Grades 4-5
Viewing the Artwork and Award Ceremony
You and your family are invited to view all the submitted artwork on Saturday, October 18, 2025, at the annual Butterfly Flutterby event at the Grapevine Botanical Gardens.
All winners will be announced and the three grand prizes will be awarded at the event, which usually happens around noon.
Returning the Artwork
Most artwork will be returned to your child's school the week after the Butterfly Flutterby event. However, winning pieces will be displayed at different locations before they are returned.
Grand Prize and 1st Place art will be displayed at the Grapevine Library.
2nd and 3rd Place art will be displayed at The REC.
All winning artwork will be returned to schools before Thanksgiving break.
We look forward to seeing the incredible artwork your students create!
Are you ready for Cannon's annual Fall STEM Book Challenge?
This fall, students will take on a Book Design Challenge inspired by Iggy Peck, Architect, combining literacy, creativity, and math to design unique structures based on grade-level themes. After lessons in the library (Sept 30–Oct 9), students will build their projects at home and return them with a planning sheet by October 24 for our Architecture Expo!
Click below to learn more!
The character trait we are focusing on during October is RESPONSIBILITY. Students will learn how to take action and understand the impact of their choices. Lessons will focus on the difference in friendly behavior, bullying, peer conflict, and mean moments. We will also discuss healthy choices at the end of the month when we celebrate Red Ribbon Week (Oct 27th - Oct 31st).
October is Bully Awareness Month
How is bullying defined? It is an action (usually repeated) that targets a specific student with the intent of gaining power over them. Bullying creates an intimidating, threatening, or abusive educational environment. Bullying should always be reported to Mrs. Bailey and Mrs. Coburn so we can contact parents of all involved students and conduct a full investigation.
How is a peer conflict different than bullying? Peer conflicts occasionally occur when there is a disagreement and an equal balance of power between students.
What is a mean moment? Sometimes students may act impulsively and make mistakes with words or actions once or twice with a peer. These actions could result in someone getting hurt. This behavior is a violation of the student code of conduct and results in consequences, but does not fit the definition of bullying.
We encourage parents and students to use the above definitions when reporting incidents.
Contact Mrs. Coburn
If you would like Mrs. Coburn to contact you or check on your student, you can complete the following link: Request to Talk to Counselor
Please be advised: If you make any changes to your Skyward form for Senate Bill 12 (Counseling Services, Health Services, or Club Participation), you must notify the campus support staff either verbally or via email. The Skyward system does not alert staff of resubmissions, so your communication is necessary to ensure your changes are received.
Monday, October 13 - District Closed - No School Staff & Students
Wednesday, October 15 - Report Card 1 Posts in Skyward; To view your student’s progress report, please follow the instructions below:
Visit www.GCISD.net and click “Quick Links” at the top of the page
Click the Skyward icon and the “Log In Here” box in the middle of the page
Click “Progress Reports/Report Cards” on the menu to the left
Choose 2025-2026 Report Card 1”
Thursday, October 16 - Wear RED for Dyslexia Awareness
Friday, October 17 - 🏕️5th grade Sky Ranch Final Payment & Chaperone Payment Due
Friday, October 17 - STEM Hall of Fame (PreK, Kinder, & 1st, STEM) - Questioning & Posing Problems
Monday, October 20 - 🐝Spelling Bee Pretest
Wednesday, October 20 - PTA Wise Guys Pizza Kit Pick Up
Friday, October 24 - 🏰Fall STEM Book Challenge - Architecture Expo Artifacts due!
Friday, October 24 -🐾Cannon Spirit Gear Friday - Wear your Cub Gear!
Friday, October 24 - 🪂Parachute with the Principal PTA Silent Auction Event
Friday, October 24 -🦇PTA Costume Dance for 3rd-5th 👻- Cannon Cafe 6:30-8:30 - $20 cash at the door - More details coming soon!
October 27-31 - National Red Ribbon Week; More information below.
Friday, October 31 - Cannon's 5th Annual STEMapalooza! We are extremely excited to launch our fifth annual STEMapalooza on Friday, October 31st. The goal of this school-embedded STEM fall instructional festival is to support all four of our STEM pillars: Curriculum, Culture, Community, and Career Pathways. All of our scholars will use STEM design challenges aligned to engineering pathways, with a focus on instructional technology, to grow our culture and community as STEM thinkers! It will be an amazing, STEMtastic day for your Cubs! Volunteers are not needed during this school day festival. All Cubs will receive a popsicle on this day; however if you would like for your child to purchase a cup of Dippin' Dots from our fabulous PTA, they may bring $5 cash to purchase on that day!
Monday, November 3 - Staff Professional Development - No School for Students
Monday, November 3 - Father of Texas Day; Today is the birth date of Stephen F. Austin. We celebrate and remember him today - a great pioneer patriot and the Father of Texas.
Tuesday, November 4 - PTA Mario Kart Penny Wars Begin! More information coming soon...
Friday, November 7 - 🕵🏼♀️ Hats Off to Learning! $1 wear a hat - All proceeds go toward reducing field trip costs. 🐾Cannon Spirit Gear Friday - Wear your Cub Gear!
Friday, November 7 - STEM Hall of Fame (4th & 5th) -Thoughtful Planning
Friday, November 7 -📽️🍿PTA General Meeting & Movie Night 6:30-8:30 at Cannon
Tuesday, November 11 - Veterans Day; Cannon will honor our Veterans with a 2nd grade performance from 2:00-2:30.
Veterans Day, November 11, originated as “Armistice Day” on Nov. 11, 1919, the first anniversary of the end of World War I. It became a national holiday 1938. Veterans Day pays tribute to all American military veterans (living or dead). Today, let us all give thanks to veterans who served or serve our country during war or peacetime.
Wednesday, November 12 - Friday, November 14 - 🏕️ 5th Grade Sky Ranch Camp Field Trip!
Friday, November 14 - STEM Hall of Fame (2nd & 3rd) -Thoughtful Planning
Monday, November 17 - Cannon Campus Excellence Committee Meeting - Engineering Lab 3:30-4:30
November 17-21 -📔Cannon Book Fair; Starting November 20 - 🖼️ Cannon Art Show
Friday, November 21 - Cannon's Annual Grand Friend's Day 8:30-10:30! Grand Friends, get ready for some STEMtastic fun!
Friday, November 21 - STEM Hall of Fame (PreK, Kinder, & 1st) -Thoughtful Planning
Monday, November 24-Friday, November 28 - Thanksgiving Break!
Last Chance to Order your Pizza Kit - Orders close October 14!
Cannon PTA is partnering with Wise Guys Pizza for a Pizza Kit Pre-Order!
Available for purchase on the PTA Website - Pizza kits will be ready for pick up @ Wise Guys Pizza on October 22. Cut off Date for orders is October 14. https://cannonpta.membershiptoolkit.com/store/17332
Exciting news! Do you or someone you know own a local business and want to partner with the Cannon PTA? We have sponsorship opportunities! If you sign up to be a sponsor between now and September 30, depending on the sponsorship level, your business’ logo will be included on our STEM-A-Palooza t-shirt! Join us here!
Review the 2025-2026 Student Code of Conduct, Parent Handbook
GCISD is having a successful start to the school year! Please help us keep that momentum going by taking a moment to review with your students the 2025-2026 Student Code of Conduct and 2025-2026 Student Parent-Handbook, which includes dress code and updates from the 89th Legislative Session.
Cannon Elementary: A GCISD STEM School
Email: tina.garrett@gcisd.net
Website: https://can.gcisd.net/
Location: Cannon Elementary School, West College Street, Grapevine, TX, USA
Phone: 817-251-5680
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cannonSTEM/
Twitter: @canSTEM
Instagram: @CannonSTEM