Deretchin Digest

September has finally arrived! Our school year is off to a great start, and we are very excited to be back at school! It is wonderful to see our students and teachers doing an incredible job getting back into the "swing of things" while delving into their curriculum with amazing learning!

Providing our students with a safe and stimulating learning environment that inspires them to be successful students is what we strive for each and every day. We appreciate the amazing support of our wonderful Deretchin families, and we look forward to continuing to have a great year with you!

If you have any questions or need anything, feel free to contact me at 832-592-8700 or by email at toliver@conroeisd.net.

Sincerely,

Tina Oliver

September 1- Labor Day Holiday😀

September 3- Destination Imagination Zoom Meeting, 6:30 PM

September 8-19- Dollars for Dragons fundraiser

September 8-Site-Based Committee Meeting, 3:35 PM in library

September 9- Spirit Night-Gringos

September 17 - Read for a Better Life Day, Coffee with the Counselors 9:00 AM

September 25- PTO Meeting, 8:30 AM in cafeteria

September 26- Spotlight on Respect, 9:15 AM in cafeteria

September 30- CISD Special Education Department hosting "Snack and Chat" for parents at 10:00 AM

Character Pillar of the Month: RESPECT

Habits of the Week:

• Treat other people the way you want to be treated.

• Listen to understand not to respond.

• Stop when someone asks you to.

• Be mindful of others and their personal space.

• When asked to do something, do it right away.

• Appreciate others' work and effort.

Complete Leia’s permission form: (click here) https://forms.gle/W1R3ScwbXmiXnPh58

Upcoming Dates:

9/17/25 9:00 AM - 10:00 AM

Coffee with the Counselors in the cafeteria

Topic: Deretchin Counseling Program Overview & Dynamic Deretchin Volunteers

9/25/25 6:30 PM - 7:30 PM Supporting Youth Mental Health Webinar

Presented by Dr. Stephanie Duer, ESC 6 & Tri-County Liaison (click here to register)

9/26/25 9:15 AM - 10:15 AM Character Spotlight: Respect (wear yellow)

Last Call: Calling all business owners! We are looking for sponsors to contribute to our Spotlight of Character t-shirt. Please contact Darcy Kieke (dkieke@conroeisd.net) or Jenna Hendon (jhendon@conroeisd.net), if your business is interested. We can provide advertisement opportunities for you!

At Deretchin, we’re lucky to have such an amazing community of parents, teachers, and students! But here’s something many people don’t know — the district can only provide so much funding for our school. That’s where the PTO comes in, and why your support matters so much.

Every donation, volunteer hour, and bit of involvement helps us give our students and teachers the tools and experiences they need to succeed. Together, we make Deretchin a place where every child can thrive — and we couldn’t do it without you. Thank you for helping us stay Fired Up for our Dragons!

September 8th we kick off our Dollars for Dragons campaign.

What is D4D?

Dollars for Dragons (D4D) is our school’s biggest fundraiser of the year! It’s a simple cash, check, and online contribution campaign where 100% of the funds go right back to supporting our school. Keep an eye on your email, texts, and social media for links to donate online — every little bit makes a big difference!

Find out more information here: deretchin.membershiptoolkit.com/d4d

The 2025-2026 Destination Imagination season is kicking off with a virtual Informational Meeting on September 3 at 6:30 p.m. See the Destination Imagination page on the school site for more information. We are looking forward to another engaging and rewarding D.I. year at Deretchin!

The State of Texas passed Senate Bill 10 that requires the posting of the 10 Commandments in all classrooms. Even though lawsuits have been filed regarding the posting and an injunction has been issued for specific school districts, we are required by law to post them. As of September 2, our classrooms will comply with law and have the 10 Commandments posted in all classrooms. We understand that this is a controversial topic for many. Please know that our teachers, school and district have no opinion on this topic. It is a law passed by the Texas 89th Legislature and signed by the Governor, and we are required to comply. Thank you for your understanding.

Welcome to PreK Newsletter

PreK Family Newsletter | Smore Newsletters

Happy September! We will kick off the month by studying all things Fall (leaves, apples, Johnny Appleseed, etc.) In science, we will study our five senses and properties of matter. In social studies, we will continue learning about rules and learn the pledge. In math, we will explore and compare numbers 0-5, 2D shapes and the penny. In Bluebonnet, we will begin building background knowledge on the five senses and how they allow us to explore the world around us. We will read inspirational stories about the lives of Ray Charles and Hellen Keller who overcame significant challenges posed by blindness and deafness. If your student is struggling to identify letters and their sounds, please begin working on this each night with them. At home, please have your child practice their pencil grasp, writing their name with one capital letter, packing their own backpack, and opening and closing their own water container. Reading at home with your child every day is a great way to promote early literacy, vocabulary, and comprehension.

Welcome back to school! We are excited to embark on another wonderful year with your first graders. As we begin our journey, we want to share some of the engaging and educational activities we have planned for this school year.

In math, we’ll explore the world of numbers and patterns. Your child will dive into graphing, practice simple addition and subtraction, and build on their learning about place value. These foundational skills will help build their confidence and understanding in math.

In science, we’ll focus on safety and the role of scientists. We’ll also explore the concept of matter, discovering the different states and properties that make up the world around us. We will end our matter unit with a S’mores celebration!

In social studies, we will discuss good citizenship and explore U.S. symbols. This will help students understand their role in the community and recognize important national symbols.

In reading, students will be engaging in our sharing stories unit. We will read a variety of stories such as The Goose and the Golden Eggs. Students will focus on key vocabulary terms embedded within those stories. We’ll focus on what good readers do to understand and enjoy the stories they read.

In writing students will explore the genre of narrative writing. Students will identify important elements of a story. In groups students will begin to write a narrative story with elements such as a story map.

We are looking forward to a fantastic year of learning and growth. Thank you for your continued support and partnership in your child’s education. If you have any questions or need further information, please feel free to reach out to us! First Grade Teachers.

Our second graders are settling into their routines. We have lots of fun projects and activities planned for September. We will focus on our student assessments in early September and will contact you soon to arrange our parent-teacher conferences for the fall. Homework will begin mid-September.

We will begin our unit learning about the Ancient Greeks in reading. This month we will focus on our non-fiction skills, retelling facts, and answering comprehension questions about what we read. As writers, we will start our journal writing, making sure we have correct sentence punctuation.

Our mathematicians are working on their place value skills, ordering numbers to 120, using empty number lines, and finding the value of a number. They will then focus on addition and subtraction skills and problem solving within 20. Students will be using part, part, whole mats and other tools to help.

In science, students are learning about matter. From the characteristics of materials; solids and liquids; cutting, folding and sanding; to changing matter. We have some fun experiments planned for this unit!

Students are wrapping up our unit on citizenship in social studies. We will learn the Pledge of Allegiance and the Texas Pledge, as well as write letters to thank our community workers for working on Labor Day. We will then turn our attention to map skills in geography. This would be a great time to make sure your child knows their address and someone's phone number.

We have had an amazing first week! We have thoroughly enjoyed getting to know your precious kiddos and look forward to the days to come. 🙂

In our reading language arts block, students have been working hard on our first unit, Personal Narratives. Students are immersed and engaged with the written word through reading and writing routines and a variety of whole-class, small group, partner, and independent activities. Students will focus on three pieces of literature, one personal narrative and two accounts based on the lives of influential Texans. Students will use these texts to identify elements of the genre as well as write personal narratives of their own throughout the unit. Specifically, students will look for different paragraph structures, character traits, dialogue, sensory details, and figurative language as well as writing strong introductions and conclusions for their own narratives.

We appreciate your support as students establish a routine of reading each night for their Status of the Class homework grade.

We are working hard in math, science, and social studies!

In math, we are working hard to complete our place value unit, specifically understanding how to read, write, and represent decimal numbers to the hundredths place and whole numbers to the billions place. Once this unit is complete, we will spend the rest of September working through our addition and subtraction unit. Our main focus during this unit is understanding and solving multi-step word problems.

As always, please make sure your child is practicing their multiplication facts and division facts nightly.

In science, we are enjoying hands-on labs and activities! We are currently finishing up our safety and matter units. We have learned about appropriate behavior during a science lab, and the different physical properties of matter. Next, we will learn about mixtures and solutions, and then different forms of energy, including mechanical, sound, electrical, light, thermal.

In social studies, we have learned about and practiced various map skills and how to read a map. We will start to learn about the four regions of Texas, focusing on the major cities in each region, plants and animals that are found there, and some major attractions that can be found in each region. We will end the month by beginning our American Indian unit. We will learn about the different Native American tribes that lived in the four regions of Texas and their ways of life.

Welcome to Deretchin Elementary I am Nurse Robby Bruner and the Clinic Aide on campus is Shara Bracho. We are looking forward to meeting your student and meeting their health needs while on campus. Below is information regarding the common processes and procedures within the clinic to meet the health needs of your student.

Clinic Contact Information Phone: 832-592-8770 Fax: 832-592-8780 Email: jrbruner@conroeisd.net

Parental Consent for School Health-Related Services

In order to receive any health-related services while on campus, each student must have a consent signed by a parent or guardian. To complete the consent, please look back in your student’s registration form or verification of registration form. Please complete as soon as possible to allow your student to receive health related services on campus.

Clinic Communication to Parents

We encourage parents to save the clinic phone number, 832-592-8770 or 832-592-8769, in your mobile device to avoid missed calls. The clinic phone number may show up as “spam” on your mobile device. The clinic will contact parents for any of the following reasons: • Illness/Student pick up • Follow-up regarding immunization requirements or vision/hearing referral • Notify parent of an injury that you may notice when student arrives home or requires higher level of care

Illness and Attending Class

Students that should stay home or will be sent home from school: • Fever of 100 degrees or more • Suspected contagious condition or disease • Vomiting or Diarrhea • Severe stomachache, headache, or earache • A child who is too ill to function in the classroom Student must be free of fever, vomiting or diarrhea for 24 hours without medication to suppress sign or symptom before they can return to campus.

Vision and Hearing Screening

Texas requires a Vision and Hearing screening, every school year, for all students new to Conroe ISD, as well as, every student in Pre-k, Kinder, 1st, 3rd, and 5th grade. These screenings are completed by campus clinic staff during the first 120 days of school. Parents will receive a referral, requesting you to follow-up with a healthcare provider, if your student does not pass a screening. If your student does not meet the above criteria but you would like them screened, please contact the clinic. Parents do not receive a notice if their student passes the screening.

Activity Restrictions

If your student experiences an injury or illness that requires them to avoid physical activity during PE or recess, please email the clinic the physician’s note or written formal request. All activity restriction request should have the following: • Student name • Date of Visit • Specific Restrictions • Duration of time to implement restrictions

Medications on Campus

Medications can be administered to your student while on campus if the following requirements have been met. • Parent must drop off medication to clinic. • Parent must complete required documents giving campus permission to administer medication. • All medications must be kept in the clinic for the duration it will be administered. Prescribed Medication • Labeled with student name, dose, route, and frequency • Labeled in English • Cannot be expired No more than 90-day supply • Must be prescribed by licensed healthcare provider in Texas Over-the-Counter Medication • Dose cannot exceed recommended dose on bottle • Cannot be expired • No more than 30-day supply • Must be medication approved by FDA All medications must be picked up by parent or guardian before the end of the last day of school. No medication is kept in clinic over the summer months. Medications left after last day of school will be disposed of using the appropriate disposal method.

Asthma/Anaphylaxis/Seizures/Diabetes

Students that have a chronic health condition that require emergency medications or health management while on campus must have multiple documents completed prior to attending campus. • Must meet “medication on campus requirements” listed above • Completion of emergency action plan/ diabetic treatment plan • Completion of document outlining health history

Welcome back to school! We are excited to kick off a new school year! Coach C, Coach Parra, and Ms. Lindsay are looking forward to getting to know your children and having them in P.E. this year.

The goal of Physical Education at Deretchin is to teach students to develop healthy living habits that will last a lifetime. We accomplish that by having students participate in a wide variety of activities, sports, and challenges that will increase their physical, social, and mental abilities, as well as teamwork and cooperation skills. We hope to provide a safe, fun, and motivating class that will encourage all students to want to participate, have fun and try their best. Focused fitness activities, health, nutrition, muscular strength, and cardio endurance are implemented into P.E. class, as well as Core subject areas such as math and spelling.

So far, our Dragons have learned a handful of new warm-up activities and participated in fun cooperative games that get them moving and grooving (and a little sweaty). These activities reinforce some of our Physical Education rules/expectations and help our students get physically fit.

Here are some things that will help make P.E. as fun and SAFE as possible this year:

1. Everyone must wear athletic style sneakers. Flip flops, Crocs, boots, slippers, open-toed shoes and shoes with high heels should not be worn.

2. Girls should wear shorts under dresses and skirts.

3. If a student has a medical condition or injury, please send a note/medical excuse.

We are looking forward to a great year here at Deretchin! If you ever have questions or concerns, please feel free to contact us at school or via email.

Coach C (Mary Chernitsky), Coach Parra (Tammy Parra), Pinit Lindsay

Greetings,

For those of you who do not know me, my name is Cristofer W. Mattern, and I am so excited to be able to serve as the librarian here at Deretchin Elementary School. This will be my sixth year at the school. I feel so very blessed to share my passions for teaching, reading, and learning with every single student and teacher here at the school. In the library we do lots of fun things including: listening to stories, talking about books, learning about different elements of a book, writing, learning about authors and illustrators, exploring different resources for research, and much, much more. This is the breakdown of the number of books students are able to check out: Kindergarten/1st grade- 1 book, 2nd /3rd grade- 2 books, and 4th-6th grade- 3 books.

Also, I LOVE to have volunteers in the library, so if you’re interested please sign up on the Sign-up Genius: http://tiny.conroeisd.net/6pryJ. Students are now coming to the library every six days.

If you have any questions feel free to email me at CMattern@conroeisd.net or call me at my direct line, 832-592-8778.

Happy Reading,

Cristofer W. Mattern

Library Media Specialist

We’re excited to introduce the Conroe ISD Special Education Parent Advisory Committee (SEPAC), a new parent-led group created in collaboration with the CISD Special Education Department. SEPAC is here to connect, support, and empower families of students with IEPs or 504s. SEPAC is focused on building stronger partnerships between families and our district's special education services.

Learn more and get involved: https://conroeisdsepac.com

Please take a few moments to read the documents below regarding school discipline.

Come support The Woodlands High School Theater as they present Men on Boats by Jaclyn Backhaus September 11-13 in the TWHS Blackbox Theater. Tickets will be available at www.twhstheater.com.”

Deretchin Elementary School is a school for the community, promoting a safe and nurturing learning environment while developing the whole child and encouraging excellence in all we do.

Deretchin Elementary is a community that builds on best practices in order to help our students reach high academic, social, and emotional goals. Our school collaborates with our parents and community to provide a safe and positive culture the embraces the diversity on our campus where everyone is equal and achievements are celebrated.

Email: toliver@conroeisd.net
Website: https://deretchin.conroeisd.net/
Location: 11000 Merit Oaks Drive, The Woodlands, TX, USA
Phone: 832-592-8700
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DeretchinCISD/
X: @DeretchinCISD

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/deretchinconroeisd/

The Conroe Independent School District (District) as an equal opportunity educational provider and employer does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, religion, age, or disability in educational programs or activities that it operates or in employment matters. The District is required by Title VI and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, the Age Discrimination Act of 1975, as amended, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Americans with Disabilities Act, as well as Board policy not to discriminate in such a manner.

For information about Title IX rights or Section 504/ADA rights, contact the Title IX Coordinator or the Section 504/ADA coordinator at 3205 W. Davis, Conroe, TX 77304; (936) 709-7752.