Kaufman Paw Print

Kaufman Elementary is a learning community committed to preparing our students to become confident, life-long learners who strive to reach high academic goals through personal initiative and perseverance. In collaboration with our parents and community, we will instill honesty, compassion, respect for others, and the importance of good citizenship in a safe, positive, family-focused learning environment.

Our goal at Kaufman Elementary is to educate and motivate students by meeting their individual needs in an exciting, fun, and positive instructional environment through the joint partnership of parents, teachers, and community, while preparing them for a successful year.

Happy Dolly Day! Who knew so many of our kids would recognize all the Dolly Partons in our building today? Our administrators dressed up as Dolly to spread some positivity to the staff, and students loved seeing all the pink, the wigs, and hearing "9 to 5" playing throughout the school.

We are excited to announce the names of our Kaufman horses you have seen students riding as part of our fundraiser kickoff. Classes voted and the winning names are Ranger (the black horse) & Rosie (the brown horse). Students will continue earning opportunities to take a ride on Ranger & Rosie throughout the year.

Here is what is coming up next week:

• Book Fair Begins! Our book fair kicks off next week. Students are thrilled and ready to shop in the library for some great new reads.

• Monday - Ice Pop Treats: All students will enjoy an ice pop at lunch as part of our fundraiser incentive.

• Thursday: Wear animal print or camo on Thursday to support the Oak Ridge High School football team as they take on Conroe High!

• Future Friday & Custodian Appreciation: Friday marks our very first Future Friday, where students will watch a short video highlighting different career paths.Teachers will discuss future career in their morning meetings. We will also be celebrating our amazing custodial team, Ms. Lou & Ms. Celia for everything they do to keep our school looking beautiful!

• CISD Coat Drive: Conroe ISD is collecting new and gently used coats. If you have a coat to donate, please drop it off in the front office.

We hope you all get to enjoy the slightly cooler temperatures this weekend. See everyone on Monday!

A big SHOUT OUT to some amazing Kaufman artists. Last weekend their art was displayed in the administration building in Conroe. Mrs. Rowley selected Brighton Glover, Noah Kvalo and Shany Dong's art to represent us. Way to go Cougars!

• September 28 - October 2 - Book Fair
• September 28 - Fundraiser Ice Pops during ALL lunches
• September 30 - Fundraiser Winners Popcorn Treats

• October 1 - Animal Print/Camo to support ORHS vs CHS
• October 2 - Future Friday, Custodian Appreciation Day
• October 2-16 - COATS for KIDS Drive

• October 6 - Instructional Coaches Appreciation Day
• October 7 - Walk, Bike, Roll to School Day / Bullying Prevention Day
• October 8 - Fundraiser Winners Black Light lunch with Mrs. Corliss, PBR Spirit Night, PINK OUT to support ORHS vsGOHS
• October 9 - Student Holiday

• October 12 - School Holiday
• October 13-15 - 2nd grade CoGat Testing
• October 15 - Cool Cougar lunches
• October 16 - PTO Meeting 10AM

• October 21 - Overall Spirit Day (wear overalls), ORHS Homecoming Parade 6pm
• October 22 - 4th grade Fine Arts Day at the Pavillion, Cherrydale Fundraiser Pick up 4-7PM
• October 23 - Kinder 50th day of school, ORHS Homecoming Game

• October 26-30 - Red Ribbon Week
• October 27 - District Dyslexia Parent Meeting - 6:30PM @ Jett
• October 28 - HERO Sales begin
• October 30 - Storybook Character Parade 8:30AM

Thank you again to everyone who participated in our fall fundraiser. We raised over $42,000, exceeding our goal! Order pickup date will be Thursday, October 22 from 4-7pm, and you can expect reminders closer to that date.

On to the moment many of you have been waiting for: here are the winners for prizes sponsored by PTO! If there isn’t a date noted below, you can expect notification soon. Please remember, any prizes coming from Cherrydale will be delivered with your order. Congratulations to all of our winners!

Join us on at PBR Food Park on Thursday, October 8 for a family-friendly kickoff to the long weekend. Don’t forget to complete the waiver before you arrive!

Would you like to level up your PTO participation by taking on a larger role? We need a few more people to round out our leadership team and support school operations!

Check out our open positions and apply by 6pm on Wednesday, September 30: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1PbaO0f8ZSyieKotUes9-wHt-eWsgwYurwwRlqAwlVaI/edit

Did you know that you can give back to Kaufman every time you use your Kroger Shopper’s Card? All you have to do is:

1. Sign in to your Kroger digital account.
2. Open Community Rewards enrollment.
3. Search for Kaufman Elementary
4. Select our school and choose Save

We are always looking for sponsors to partner with us throughout the year! If you or someone you know is interested, contact fundraising.kaufmanpto@gmail.com any time.

Please see the attached flyer from Interfaith of The Woodlands if you are in need of holiday assistance.

This year, students will have the opportunity to earn tickets for exhibiting Kaufman ROAR-ing behaviors. We will have weekly drawings during lunches. If you are able to contribute, we have an Amazon Wish list below. We appreciate your support!

MAP Growth Assessment Family Reports have been uploaded to the Conroe ISD Home Access Center (HAC). The MAP Growth Family Report summarizes how your student is performing academically, as measured by the most recent MAP Growth test taken. Families can access this report by logging into their Home Access Center Account through the CISD Parent Portal. Directions for logging into the Home Access Center are linked below.

Once you have entered the Home Access Center:

• Click on the District Applications tab

• Click on "MAP Testing Reports"

To learn more about the MAP Growth test, you can view the What is MAP Growth Video for Families (English) or Qué es MAP Growth-Video for families (Spanish). Additional information about MAP Growth can be found by visiting NWEA.org/familytoolkit.

Logging into Home Access Center

Conroe ISD families are invited to the 12th Annual Trunk or Treat, hosted by the Conroe ISD Police Department and CISD Police Youth Leadership Program, on Saturday, October 24, from 5 to 8 p.m. at Woodforest Bank Stadium.

Bring the family and friends for a safe evening of fun featuring decorated vehicles and free candy. The event will be held at 19115 David Memorial Drive in Shenandoah.

We now have 4 ways for parents to notify the school about transportation requests. As we all learn the new feature in the CISD App, we will continue to take email requests through the Kaufman Transportation Changes email below. Parent notes, emails, notification through the CISD app are the preferred methods for changing transportation. Due to the volume, we ask that phone calls are used as a last resort.

The ability for parents to request transportation changes at elementary and intermediate schools is active in the CISD app on the SSO. This is the same app that was used last year for parents to report absences. Parents can select their student and notify the school of the transportation request. This features automatically sends the teacher a notification. The front office will pull the request and continue to send the paper transportation change to students before dismissal.

If you need to change your child's transportation from their typical way home, please send a note with your child to school or call our front desk by 2:00pm. Your note should include your child's name, teacher and how they are to go home.

Example of note:

• My son, John Smith in Mrs. Kaufman's 4th grade class will be a walker today only. From: Mom Smith

Parents/guardians can now send an email to: kaufmantransportationchanges@conroeisd.net

Please include in your email:

• Student full name
• Student's date of birth
• Homeroom teacher
• Form of transportation change requested
• Date or date range for the transportation request change
• Parent name and phone number

The email must come from one of the emails we have on file for your student's account and be received by 2:00 pm. A "received" reply will be sent once processed.

If there are any questions regarding the transportation change request, a phone call will be made to the parent/guardian.

Parents/guardians can send a note to school with their student notifying the front office of a transportation change.

Due to the volume of calls, we ask that parents use phone calls as a last resort to change transportation when emergencies arise.

For the safety of all students, staff, and visitors, the riding of bicycles, scooters, skateboards, e-bikes, e-scooters, or any other motorized or wheeled vehicles is prohibited on school property. If you or your child use any of these modes of transportation to travel to school, you must:

• Dismount at the property line: You must completely get off your vehicle immediately upon reaching the school boundary.
• Walk your vehicle: all bicycles, scooters, skateboards, and electronic riding devices must be walked by hand once you are on school grounds.
• Proceed directly to parking: Walk your vehicle directly to the designated bike racks or designated parking areas.

Golf carts should follow all traffic laws. Golf carts must be parked along the street or in designated parking spots. For the safety of our students, golf carts should not be parked on school property unless in a designated parking spot.

We want to remind families about the importance of students bringing their SMART Tags every day. These tags are not only used for transportation, but also for recording when a student arrives at school and for purchasing lunch. It is extremely important that students keep up with their tags and have them with them daily. All students were provided with a tag at the beginning of the school year, and we will replace it twice before imposing a $2 replacement fee.

Thank you for helping us ensure a smooth and safe process for all of our students!

Parents please sign up for the SMART tag™ Parent App, as we are no longer providing Bus Hubs to notify parents of bus delays. This app offers real-time updates on their

child’s school bus, including arrival alerts, and notifications for delays or route changes.

The transportation app is a reliable and convenient way for you to stay informed about your child's transportation. Simply download the app, register, and link your child's student ID to begin receiving important transportation updates.

The link below will provide step-by-step instructions to help you register and get started.

SMART tag Parent App Instructions

All Parents:

Medications must be kept in the clinic. If your child needs medication during the school day, you must check it in with the school nurse. Medications cannot be transported on the school bus.

Kinder- 1st Grade Parents:

Accidents happen. Please make sure your child has a change of clothes daily labeled and in their backpack. This is especially helpful after rain events when students get muddy.

Did you know there's an app for that? The MealViewer app allows parents and students to see the lunch menu for the day, week, or month. It includes pictures, nutrition information, and even information on allergens all from your computer, tablet, or phone. You can also find more information about school meals at Kaufman by visiting the https://www.conroeisd.net/page/child-nutrition-home

Don't forget! You must complete an application every year if your child receives Free or Reduced meals.

We are excited to announce a new feature that will enable you to submit student absences directly through an app in the Parent Portal.

This application is designed to report only full day absences and offers multiple options when selecting a reason for the absence; be it illness related or not. The app will take the place of needing to call in or send an email to report an absence to the Attendance office.

However, if your child has been evaluated by a physician prior to returning, all doctor notes will still need to be sent in either upon return to school or emailed to our Registrar at mfournier@conroeisd.net. Directions for using the Absence Reporting App can be found here.

We look forward to providing this new and convenient option for all future absence reporting!

Home Access Center is an important information hub for all of our families. You can access so many things that are vital for your family's day to day access to our campus. Below are some items you will find in home access.

Are you following our social media accounts? We often send out helpful reminders, pictures of kids in action, and upcoming events...delivered right to your newsfeed!