Hutsell Herald

Happy Sunday, Hornet Families!

We had another great week at the Hive! Our little Hornets continue to work hard, learn, grow, and make us proud each day. We are grateful for the continued partnership of our families as we work together to make this an amazing year for every student.

This week, we especially enjoyed collaborating with our families during our Parent & Family Engagement Meeting. During this meeting, we gathered valuable feedback from parents and staff that will help us develop our 2026–2027 Parent-School Compact. Your voice matters, and we appreciate everyone who took the time to share ideas about how our school, families, and students can work together to support student success.

Our Parent & Family Engagement Meeting was also paired with our first PTA meeting of the year! If you haven't already, please consider joining our amazing PTA. Your membership and involvement are wonderful ways to support our students, staff, and the many special experiences that make the Hive such a great place to be.

As always, thank you for being our partners in education and for helping us make the Hive stronger! We are looking forward to another wonderful week of learning, growing, and making memories with our Hornets.

Have a fantastic week, Hornet Families!

• Sept 15: Read, Deed, Run Parent Orientation - 5:00 PM
• Sept 17: Lunch and Learn - 11:00 AM
• Sept 17: Read, Deed, Run Applications due
• Sept 17: Writing Club Meeting
• Sept 18: No School
• Sept 21-Oct 2: Boosterthon Fundraiser
• Sept 21: Sewing Club
• Sept 22: Choir Practice
• Sept 24: Writing Club Meeting
• Sept 25: Scarecrow Parade - Kinder and Pre K - 8:15

Please help us raise funds for Choir shirts, purchase of Music, and our End of Year Celebration- https://katyisd.revtrak.net/elementary-schools/elementary-a-h/hutsell-elementary/he-clubs-and-enrichment-programs/#/f/he-choir-donations

Set up your eWallet today!!

The GT Screening deadlines are quickly approaching!

Volunteer Registration Katy ISD is grateful for the thousands of volunteers who make a difference in our schools each year. To help maintain a safe and secure environment for our students and staff, all volunteers serving on or off campus during or outside the instructional day are required to register annually through the district's Raptor volunteer management system. A valid government-issued photo ID and email address are required to complete registration. Your information will remain confidential and will not be shared outside of the volunteer program, except for applicants who register as a Community Volunteer (not a parent, grandparent, or guardian of a current Katy ISD student) or as a KEYS Mentor. For these volunteer roles, the information required to complete a background check will be shared only with our authorized background screening provider, JDP. Once registered and approved, volunteers can:

• Sign up as a campus volunteer by completing the volunteer recruitment form provided by their campus organization(s) or by contacting the campus volunteer coordinator.

• Track volunteer hours through their volunteer profile for every Katy ISD campus where they serve.

• Quickly and easily submit individual off-campus volunteer hours.

Volunteer Application – English

Volunteer Application – Spanish

Volunteer Portal – Log Your Hours

Lunch Visitors

PLEASE READ PRIOR TO SIGNING UP:

IF YOU SIGN UP FOR A SPOT BUT ARE UNABLE TO ATTEND, PLEASE REMOVE YOUR SIGN-UP TO ALLOW FOR ANOTHER VISITOR TO TAKE YOUR SPOT.

• To ensure the cafeteria is not overcrowded, we will be limiting lunch visitors to 5 students per day per grade level (2 for PreK). It will be on a first-come, first-serve basis.
• On Fridays when the newsletter comes out, there will be a sign-up link for the following week for you to sign-up. There can only be two visitors per student per day, so please enter both visitor names into the comment box. Please be considerate of other families and limit your sign-ups to only one day a week (preferably one day each month) so that all families have the opportunity to enjoy lunch visits with their students.
• Lunch visitors are ONLY parents/step-parents/guardians/grandparents and non school-aged siblings. If someone other than a parent or guardian, i.e. stepparent or grandparent) is to have lunch with your child, the Parent Permission for Elementary Lunch Room Visitors must be completed prior to their attending. This form can be obtained from the front office or by requesting one from your child's teacher.
• Visitors should remain in the cafeteria during their child's lunch period.
• Visitors are to sit with their child at the visitor's table.
• Visitors may bring food for their children only.
• Visitors should not have any interactions with students other than their own children.
• Due to privacy issues, there are to be no photographs or video recordings made while in the cafeteria.
• Please review the available slots below and click on the button to sign up.
• Reminder, there can only be two visitors signed-up per student per day. Thank you!

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/60B0B4EACAB2CA3F94-59404322-helunch

We've kicked off our 26-27 Reading Challenge for 1st-5th Grades: Path of Jedi Reader. Every student is working to finish at least 4 badges in Beanstack by April 20th to be invited to the end of the year reading celebration. 1st and 2nd will have 8 monthly challenges 3rd-5th will have 15 challenges based on genres, formats, and other categories. Be on the lookout for more information!

Our summer reading challenge is still going on. Students can complete the challenge for awesome rewards through September 15th.

Mrs. Hancock and Ms. Davis

Library Staff

Library Facebook page

Library Website

Library Twitter

We're so excited to launch Beanstack for this year's reading challenge! Use the link below as a quickstart guide for logging books through the Beanstack tile in MyKaty Cloud and through the Beanstack app for Apple and Android users. Watch the video to learn more about the student experience in Beanstack.

Please join PTA for the 2026-2027 school year! Your membership helps bring amazing programs to our students and staff throughout the school year. It also gets you awesome discounts at lots of businesses and companies and DOES NOT require you to volunteer, though we would love to see all of you around the school and at our family events!

Join PTA

In an effort to improve the process we have in place for Changes of Transportation, we will be implementing the changes listed in the following flyer effective Monday, August 17th. We appreciate your cooperation and support as we implement these changes.

Change of Transportation Form

Attendance is key for student success. Every time your student is absent, he/she loses learning opportunities. One of our goals this year is to increase attendance and reduce tardies. Statistics show that students that show to school everyday have a greater chance of graduating high school and attend college. Please join us in our incentive program "Race to School" and help your student win the school reward and PBIS points for their house.

Scan the QR code or click the link below.

https://katyisd.revtrak.net/elementary-schools/elementary-a-h/hutsell-elementary/#/list

Students are tardy if they arrive after 7:50am. If you arrive after 7:50am, you will be required to walk your child into the school and check them in using the iPad in the front office. Students are counted as a late pick-up after 3:25pm. Car rider tags will stop being recorded in the line at 3:25pm. If you are not in the line by 3:25pm, you will be required to come into the building to pick up your child and check them out using the iPad in the front office. Students arriving to school with time to spare have the luxury of settling in, greeting their teachers and classmates, completing morning work, and focusing their minds on the lessons to come. Students arriving late miss out on this natural transition period, and chronic tardiness may cause students to struggle with academic focus and relationships with peers. Showing up on time to school every day can help students develop the habit of being punctual, illustrates to them your commitment to their learning and friendships, and helps reduce classroom interruptions and distractions for all students.

School starts at 7:50am

If you are here after that time, you must park and come inside to fill out the google doc before your student may come inside.

If you arrive after 9:15am for a reason that is unexcused, the student will receive an absence for the day, and you will receive the automated phone call from the district in the afternoon at 4:15pm.

Please send in any excuse notes within 5 days of the absence.

Please see the link below for all attendance rules and regulations: https://www.katyisd.org/Domain/3790

Free Meals at Hutsell for Students

7:25 am - Staff arrives

7:30 am - Doors open and students go to classrooms

7:43 am - First bell

7:50 am - Tardy bell

3:00 pm - Dismissal

3:25 pm - Staff leaves

Join our volunteer community by registering using the QR codes below. Required for all Katy ISD Volunteers

The WATCH D.O.G.S. continues!

WATCH D.O.G.S. is one of the nation’s largest and most respected school-based, family, and community engagement, organizations in the country. In 1998, the very first WATCH D.O.G.S. program launched at Gene George Elementary in Springdale, AR. Today, more than 6,800 schools across the country have launched a WATCH D.O.G.S. program of their own. Each school year hundreds of thousands of fathers and father figures make a positive impact on millions of children by volunteering millions of hours in their local schools through this amazing one-of-a-kind program.

If you or another father figure in your family would like to sign-up, please fill out your information using this link: WATCH D.O.G.S. Sign Up You must also complete the district volunteer registration.

Order your t-shirt at dadsofgreatstudents.com. Shirt is required to volunteer.

Thank you for your support!

Please contact the clinic with regards to your children taking medication during the school day, so we can discuss the proper forms to be filled out.

If you have any questions, please call 281-237-6525.

Website: https://www.katyisd.org/HE
Location: 5360 Franz Road, Katy, TX, USA
Phone: (281)237-6500
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HutsellElementary/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/officialhutsell

Shauntá Smith - Principal

Timothy Hurt - Student Support Principal

Brooke De La Garza - Assistant Principal

Rocio Sokol - Assistant Principal

Katherine Hodgins - Counselor