The Hoot Owl

This newsletter includes all the September information with a few additions. If there is something new, it will be noted with an asterick (*) in the title so you know what is new.

We hope you have a great Labor Day Weekend and we will see you back on Tuesday.

Just a few things I want to remind parents of:

• Morning Car Rider - Take advantage of early drop off for morning car rider. We open the doors at 7:15 a.m. I've noticed a slow time between 7:30 -7:40 a.m. then it picks up. Do your best to get here early to ensure your child is on time to their class.
• Morning drop off - If your child can be unbuckled and have their backpack and lunch kit ready to go when you stop at the drop off location, that would be helpful to moving the car rider line. We will gladly open the door and help them get out but it is best if they are ready to get out and go.
• Report absences or change of transporation - Communnication for change of transportation or absence needs to come through our school email address at contactore@conroeisd.net. This will help prevent any missed emails to the teacher in the event the teacher is sick or doesn't see the email.
• Afternoon car rider - Please continue to have your sign visible and follow the correct procedures for joining the car rider line. We are doing a great job of moving the line quickly and hope to continue and get even better.
• Afternoon conversations - When you pick up your child from school or the bus stop or day care, ask specific questions about their day instead of the generic questions like "how was your day?" and "did you have a good day.?" Specific questions will give you more information. Things like - "who did you play with at recess?" "What book did the teacher read today or what was the book about the teacher read?" "What was something that made you happy at school today?" "What was your favorite thing that happened at school today."

Tardies start at 7:56 a.m. With us opening our doors at 7:15 a.m., tardies are less this year than in the past few, but it is our goal to have even fewer than we currently have.

In order to allow our staff to be at their assigned job starting at 8:00 a.m., we are asking that if you arrive after 8:00 a.m. that you park your car, walk your child inside the building and sign them in at the front desk.

This applies to anytime after 8:00 a.m. For example, your child is late due to a doctor's appointment, please park, walk your child in the front office, deliver the doctor's note, and sign your child into school. It is not safe for them to be dropped off at the front doors.

Please take a minute to read through the Counselor's Corner Newsletter. If you need assistance, you will find information located in the newsletter.

One of our campus goals this year is to increase parent participation at our schoolwide events. Please help us reach our goal by making it a priority to attend Parent Information Night.

All parents will start in their child's homeroom teacher's class for a short presentation about the school year expectations. Once that is complete, you will receive a Bingo Board to complete before leaving. This will allow you to see the school, get to know Specials teachers, join PTO, sign up to become a Watch D.O.G. as well as other things. At each stop you will receive a ticket that can be used to put in for your chance to win a raffle basket. Winners will be drawn at 7:00 p.m. and parents contacted if not present at the time of winning.

Reservations can be made at the link below. When you arrive for lunch, please have your picture identifcation available as you will not be allowed in the school without a picture id. You will be directed to the cafeteria to meet your child and join them for lunch at the special reserved "Parent Table." We consider it a treat that you are coming to have lunch with your child so we want to make it special by having a reserved table just for you and your child.

Lunch reservations

Our doors are opening at 7:15 a.m. As a reminder, we will have a staff member greeting students at the front door but we do not have staff to open car doors. Students will go directly to the cafeteria where staff members will meet them.

We are excited to see many of you taking advantage of this early drop off. We are hopeful it will help with the length of the car rider line thus reducing tardies.

Once again this year we will have a Watch D.O.G.S. program here at ORE. This is a program that encourages dads, uncles, grandfathers, or other important men to take an active roll in supporting our school. This person must be at least 21 years of age and completed the Volunteer Background Check before serving our school.

FAQs:

What is a Watch D.O.G.S - It is the Dad of Great Student.

What do I do? We are flexible and work with your schedule. Here are some options -

• work the morning car rider line
• work the afternoon car rider line
• volunteer half day - check premises for security, read to students, help with math, support in the cafeteria for lunch duty
• volunteer all day - check premises for security, read to students, help with math, support in the cafeteria for lunch duty, help with recess, etc...

How many times a year do I volunteer - as often as your schedule will permit

Is there a cost? No! Some Dads choose to buy their own Watch D.O.G.S. shirt but we have them for daily loan.

Where do I start? Complete the CISD Volunteer Check here. Once you have completed that, email us at contactore@conroeisd.net or call the school and ask for Mrs. DeAlencar. She will get you scheduled.

What do I do when I arrive? Let the front office know you are here as a Watch D.O.G.S. volunteer. Mrs. DeAlencar, Family Engagement Liaison, will walk you through everything you need to know about the day.

Please note that our school hours have changed per the state and district guidelines. Our new school hours are 7:55 a.m. - 3:10 p.m.

Doors will open this year at 7:15 a.m. We ask that you do not drop students off prior to 7:15 a.m. as we have no one to supervise them prior to the doors opening.

Students are tardy at 7:56 a.m.

Dismissal begins at 3:10 p.m.

Students should be picked up by 3:30 p.m.

Visitors on campus:

Things to know about visiting our campus.

*Arrive at the front door and ring the doorbell (facing the doors to your right)

*Let the front office staff know what you need.

*Once you have communicated with front office staff, you will be buzzed into the front vestibule.

*An ID will be required to enter the main part of the building or check a child out. Please make sure you have it with you as you will be sent to get it.

Volunteering on campus:

Please remember that in order to volunteer on campus (reading to a class, going on a field trip, helping with PTO, attending class parties, etc...), parents must have completed the Volunteer Background check for the district. This must be completed each year for every school where you will volunteer so if you have students at 3 different schools, you must complete it for all 3 schools.

Volunteer Background Check

Before school starts, it is highly recommended that you register your child to ride the bus whether you plan on using transportation or not. There may be times when you need your child to ride the bus because of an emergency. If they are not registered, they cannot ride. Register for bus here.

Transportation the first few weeks of school runs slower than normal. Please be patient. If we all work together, follow expectations set forth, things will get faster. Bus drivers are learning routes, students and their families and car riders are learning the process. By the third week of school, things should smooth out and get into a normal routine.

BUSSES -

Please make sure you have registered your child for the bus, even if they rode last year. Also, if your child has an alternate route - such as dropping off or picking up at an alternate address or daycare, you MUST complete the alternate bus request PRIOR to your child being allowed to be picked up or dropped off at an alternate location.

The first couple of weeks busses will run 20-30 minutes behind the projected schedule. Drivers are working hard to make sure students are delivered to the right location safely so please be patient. Things to know about bus riders:

• PK and Kinder students will receive a "PK" or "K" sign added to their backpack. Please leave it on there.
• Parents will receive a bus rider sign where you will add your child's name. A person over the age of 18 must be present at the stop with the sign, in order to get the child off the bus. If no one is there, the child will be returned to school and the parent will have to come pick them up at school. The sign will be given out to parents at Meet the Teacher night.
• Good behavior is expected on the bus. For the safety of all, please review expectations with your child.
• talk to your seat mate or the students across the aisle
• remain seated at all times
• use an "inside" voice when talking to friends on the bus, refrain from yelling or screaming
• keep your hands to yourself

CAR RIDER LINE

Once we get the hang of car rider line, we will be finished no later than 3:30 most days. The first few weeks of school will be much longer, but it will get better.

Things to know about car rider line:

• Parents are not allowed to park and walk up to the porch for drop off in the morning or the afternoon.
• Students may not be dropped off in the parking lot nor near the playground fence.
• Students may not be dropped off or picked up on the outside of the covered drive-through.
• Car rider signs must be displayed in window when picking up students.
• Parents may not enter car rider line from our driveway entrance. See map below.
• Parents coming north on I-45 feeder must join the line using Oak Ridge School Road, between the hotel and Saltgrass.
• Please allow merging at that stop sign.

How does the car rider line work:

• Your child's name will be entered into a car rider spreadsheet when the staff member comes by your car. (This is from your car rider sign so please have it displayed for easy access)
• Your child will come to the front of the school to a specified location.
• Your child will then be brought to the outside of the building to one of 6 locations.
• Please pull all the way forward, even if you do not see your child.

Parents who cut the line will be asked to move forward past the car rider line and wait for your child. This will take a few minutes as we find your child and get them to the front office.

WALKERS/BIKERS

Students can be walkers ONLY IF they live in the no bus zone. This is typically the 1 mile zone of the school according to transportation. If your child is eligible for bus service, they are not eligible to be a walker. We do monitor this and will notify parents if your child cannot be a walker.

Walkers are delivered to parents in the cul de sac at the fence cut through. We expect parents to be present to get their children from this area. If there is not adult at this location, your child will be brought back to school and you will need to walk over and get them from the front office.

If weather dictates that children cannot be walkers, parents will receive notification via text message through the district notification system. At that time, parents will be able to join the car rider line or walk to the art room door to retrieve your child. This decision is based upon lighting, heavy rain, or other hazardous weather situations.

TRANSPORTATION CHANGES

If you find that you need to change your child's method of transportation, there a couple of ways to make that happen.

If you know ahead of time, the best option is to send a handwritten note to the teacher in the child's folder.

If you need to change during the school day, please email the change to contactore@conroeisd.net including your child's name, teacher name, specific change of transportation requested. This will only be put into place for the one day requested.

As a last resort, please call the front office and let them know the change of transportation.

Once the school day has started, we ask that you NOT email or text change of transportation to the teacher. This will help prevent a miscommunication due to something like the teacher being absent or not having time to check email during the school day.

ALL CHANGES MUST BE MADE BY 2:30 P.M.

Each year parents who need breakfast/lunch assistance are asked to renew their application. Breakfast and lunch are not free this year. For students to receive free or reduced lunch, parents need to complete the online application and be approved. If you need assistance with the online application, please call the school and ask for Mrs. DeAlencar. She can assist you with this application.

As a special note - students who qualify for both free or reduced lunch this year will eat free!

As offers come in from different organizations to assist students with back to school clothes/supplies, Christmas gifts, food, etc...only those families who are on free/reduced lunch will be eligible to receive these services. Please use the link below to update your application:

https://www.myschoolapps.com/

Breakfast and lunch menus can be found at the link below:

Oak Ridge Menus

The district has changed the policy for students who charge their lunches when their lunch accounts are out of money. Students will be allowed to charge up to 15 days. Once that limit has been reached and the account has not be updated, students will be given an alternate breakfast and lunch.

Please ensure that your child's account is kept updated. If you need assistance due to finances, please take time to apply for the free/reduced lunch at the application above.

Any and all medications that need to be administered during school hours must be delivered to the nurse by an adult. Parents will need to sign in the medication and it must be in the original container. Students may not transport medication to and from school.

Parents can begin dropping off medication starting August 5 from 8 - 3:30 daily or at Meet The Teacher Night on August 11.

All communication from the school is sent electronically. The Hoot Owl will be sent out bi-weekly. Once at the beginning of the month and once in the middle of the month. This newsletter will be sent in English and Spanish. If you wish to have a paper copy of correspondence sent home, please reach out to our parent liaison and she will ensure a copy is sent home with your child. Her name is Viri DeAlencar and she can be reached by calling the main number of the school or by email at vdelancar@conroeisd.net.

Quick reminders and/or important announcements will be sent via text to the numbers on file. Please make sure we have up to date numbers so you receive the messages.

Your child's teacher will also be sending communication home regularly. If you do not hear from the teacher, please feel free to reach out and inquire as to what your child is learning. We are working to strengthen our lines of communication this year.

We are asking our teachers to ensure that they have a fall and a spring conference with every parent. It is preferred that these be in person, but teachers are open to Zoom and phone calls. Please make this meeting an important part of your year so that you can stay current on your child's learning progress.

We are encouraging families to join our PTO this school year to help support them. The cost is $5 PER FAMILY for the year. This joining fee not only supports the PTO in their projects for the year, but it also keeps you updated on the latest news directly from PTO.

Families can join at Parent Informatin Night. Thank you for choosing to support PTO.

AUGUST

29- Goodies with Grans

SEPTEMBER

1 - School holiday

4 - Parent Information Night - 5:30 - 7:00 p.m.

15 - PTO Fundraiser Kick Off

17- ORHS Homecoming Parade/Read for a Better Life Kick Off

18 - Pizza and Read Event 5:30 - 7:00 p.m.

25 - Fall Pictures

26 - Moving with Moms 7:00 - 7:45 a.m.

OCTOBER

10 - Student holiday

13 - School holiday

25 - Fall Festival Trunk or Treat 9:00- 12:00

27-31 - Red Ribbon Week

30 - Class Pictures

31 - Storybook Character Parade

NOVEMBER

3 - School holiday

4 - Student holiday

11 - Veterans Day Program - 3rd grade @ 2:00 p.m.

24 - 28 - Thanksgiving Holidays

DECEMBER

2 - PTO hosted pictures with Santa

3-5 - PTO hosted Holiday shop

11 - Holiday Program - 2nd grade @ 2:00 p.m.

18 - Holiday parties

19 - Early dismissal at 12:00 p.m.