Dear WRE Parents,

It finally feels like fall outside and it's hard to believe we are already through the first nine weeks of this school year! We have quite a few fun fall activities coming up at WRE in October and November!

Our annual Book Fair begins today and is open until Friday, October 25. Parent shopping times and Book Fair info is detailed below. We hope to see you at the Book Fair this week, especially on Thursday evening from 6:00-7:30 for our annual Literacy Night and open shopping at the Book Fair!

Finally, we wanted to send one more reminder that today is the last day for parents to refer their children for an evaluation for gifted and talented services. More details are below. Please note that ALL 2nd and 5th grade students will automatically be evaluated, including GT2 students and a referral is not needed for students in those grades.

Thank you so much for your support and have a great weekend!

Principal Stevens

The 2024 WILD Book Fair is here!

Our annual book fair is the only fundraiser for our library each year. Money generated from the book fair helps support initiatives like purchasing books for our library & school, hiring visiting authors, stocking the STEM lab, and much more. Plus the students always love this fun week each year!

We’ve packed this special edition of the Seahawker with all the details you need to know about the book fair, so make sure to scroll down to the end and save this email for future reference. You can also follow us on social media @wrebookfair for all the latest up to date information and reminders.

Set up and previews for the kids start this week, and then shopping begins on Tuesday! There are student-only shopping times, parent-only shopping hours, and family shopping hours. Please refer to the graphic or the back of your student’s wish list to see the shopping schedule.

Note that we have an Early Release Day on Wednesday October 23 and shopping hours have been adjusted accordingly.

Scholastic eWallet is the easiest and most convenient way for students to shop on their own. Parents use a credit card to load an eWallet for each child. You can also invite other people to contribute funds to your child’s eWallet. Students can then shop the book fair using a printable bar code or name look up at the register. We will refresh and print out lists of students with money in their eWallet each day at school. Click this LINK for simple instructions on how to set up your student’s eWallet.

This Wednesday, October 23 is another early release day for RISD elementary schools! Please make plans for your child to be dismissed two hours earlier at 1:10 pm.

Early Release Dates - 2024-2025

September 18

October 23

December 20

February 13

April 17

May 23

Join us at this month’s PTA general meeting at 8:00 am on Thursday October 24 in the cafeteria. Just a reminder that all visitors must bring an ID and check in to the front office each time they visit WRE. Starting at 7:00 am on the day of the visit, guests can check-in and have a visitor badge preprinted for them using this QR code.

After the meeting you can go directly to the library for parent shopping hours. Local business Clinic Concierge will be briefly featured at our PTA meeting, and then a nurse practitioner will be administering FREE B12 shots for anyone interested. Other injections available will include Vitamin D, Skinny Shots, Flu Shots, Tri Immune Boost and Amino Blend - all $30 per injection. Spend your Thursday morning with us and leave feeling boosted!

Lake Highlands Learning Community

RISD elementary students in grades K-5 may test once per year to determine if they qualify for gifted/talented services. The window to refer your child/ren for testing opens October 4, 2024 and closes October 18, 2024. If you would like your child/ren to be tested to determine if they qualify for gifted/talented services, please complete this 2024-2025 Elementary Referral for GT Testing Google Form. This form will not accept responses outside of the referral window.

Please see the information below to determine if you should refer your elementary school child/ren to participate in testing for potential gifted identification.

• Kindergarten, 1st grade, 3rd grade, 4th grade: referral form required
• 2nd grade: Please do not complete a referral. All 2nd grade students are automatically tested.
• 5th grade: Please do not complete a referral. All 5th grade students are automatically tested.
• GT2 students: Students who are identified for GT2 services (30-45 minutes per week) may retest for potential qualification for GT3 services (2 hours per week). Referral form required if you want your GT2 child to test.

• Please note: All 2nd and 5th grade students are automatically tested, including GT2 students. Please do not complete a referral for your GT2 child/ren if they are in either of these grades.

Elementary testing occurs on each campus throughout the late fall and winter. To learn more about testing timelines, please read this Smore newsletter. Your campus' Advanced Learning Teacher will communicate specific testing dates with you as the testing window approaches.

Kindergarten test results will be shared with families and campuses on February 28, 2025. Results for 5th grade will be shared January 17, 2025. All other grade level test results will be shared on March 7, 2025. GT services will begin for all newly identified GT students no later than fall of the 2025-2026 school year.

WRE recently launched Fuel Squad - a volunteer opportunity for WRE parents to to help in the cafeteria at lunch. Volunteers help kids that need assistance opening lunch packaging, help with trash pick-up, encourage positive cafeteria behavior and adherence to lunchtime guidelines. This is a great way to volunteer at WRE!

Due to an overwhelmingly positive response to Fuel Squad, spots filled up quickly! We heard feedback that more of you want the opportunity to serve!

We so appreciate the eagerness & enthusiasm and

we are happy to let you know that we've added additional volunteer spots on Wednesdays!

WRE Parents & Community Members, YOU SURE KNOW HOW TO SHOW UP! Thank you!

Live Wise Live Healthy provides community wide training, programming, and opportunities to empower young people through healthy and wise decision making and meaningful life changing experiences. Each month students, staff, and parents will receive information about a different topic. Below are the topics for each month:

August - Start Safe

September - Together for Mental Health

October/November - Be Kind to Your Mind

December - Managing Stress & Mental Health

January/February - Healthy Relationships

March - Up Close and Cultural

April - Safe Kids, Healthy Futures

May - Making Connections

As shared at the end of last school year, the district is implementing a new Richardson ISD Code of Civility this school year to set expectations for how students, parents, employees, and visitors treat and interact with each other while at school or communicating about school-related activities.

“It’s important that everyone value safety, respect, and responsibility when interacting with someone at school or activities related to school,” said Superintendent Branum. “Treating each other with civility is an expectation in our schools and when interacting with our educators. We can all support students most effectively when we prioritize safety, respect and responsibility this school year by understanding the practices and attitudes of the Code of Civility.”

Please click here to read more about the RISD Code of Civility. RISD is a beautiful community in which safety, respect, and responsibility are an active part of the fabric of our schools, community, and staff. Play your part by adhering to these practices and attitudes.

Parents can find RISD Back to School information and resources here.

• Create a Focus account – RISD provides electronic access to a student’s attendance, grades, and other information via the Focus school software system.

• Download SchoolCafe app – RISD’s school cafeteria payment system is called SchoolCafe.

• Download RISD Mobile Parent app – Access student information, view the latest news, receive important alerts, review archive of parent messages sent by RISD, view school menus and lunch account balances, find your bus stop, access student schedules, assignment grades, attendance and more via the RISD Mobile Parent app.

• Follow RISD on social media

• FB: @RichardsonISD
• IG: @instaRISD
• X: @RichardsonISD
• YouTube: RichardsonISDVideo

• Volunteer in RISD – There are a lot of opportunities to volunteer on RISD campuses all year long. If you are interested in becoming an RISD volunteer, please sign up through risd.voly.org.

  All volunteers must complete a background check through the VOLY system EACH YEAR.

If you would like your child to ride the school bus to or from WRE, you must complete this Google form:

Click here for more information:

RISD TRANSPORTATION DEPARTMENT INFO

If you would like to volunteer at White Rock Elementary, you must complete a volunteer background check EVERY new school year. Volunteering could include helping by attending field trips with your children, working in the library, helping at Field Day, or many other activities. We will not allow anyone who has not completed and passed the volunteer background check to volunteer.

Please click on the link below to complete the background check. You MUST also watch the full length of the very short powerpoint at the end to complete the entire background check. Failure to watch the powerpoint will make your application incomplete and you will not be able to volunteer.