Schorlemmer Bear News

7:15 am - Front doors open at Schorlemmer

7:15 -7:45 am - Hot Breakfast is served in the cafeteria

7:45-8:00 am - Sack Breakfast is served

7:45 am - Students walk to class and are greeted by their teacher

7:55 am - Announcements begin

8:00 am - Tardy

• IF YOUR CHILD ARRIVES TO SCHOOL 8:00 AM OR LATER, YOU WILL NEED TO WALK THEM INTO THE SCHOOL OFFICE. THIS IS DUE TO ADULTS NOT BEING ON DUTY AFTER 8:00 AM AND THE SAFETY OF YOUR CHILD. THANK YOU.
• THERE ARE NO EARLY CHECK OUTS AFTER 2:45.

At Schorlemmer Elementary, student safety is our top priority. All visitors must present a valid, government-issued photo ID each time they enter the building — whether you are:

• joining your child for lunch 🍎

• checking out a student early 🕐

• volunteering or attending a school event 🎉

Our Raptor Visitor System scans your ID to verify your identity and maintain a secure campus.
➡️ If you do not have an ID, you will not be permitted to enter beyond the front office, pick up a student, or attend school activities. Thank you for helping us keep our Bears safe by always bringing your ID when you visit campus! 💙🐾

August 31

-Texas Roadhouse Night (remember to tell them you are with Schorlemmer. We will receive a 20% donation of all ticket sale's)

September 7

-No School

September 8

-PTO Meeting 6:00

September 11

-Grandparent Day Parade for PK-5 8:45-9:15

September 14

-Attendance Week "Team Up for Attendance" Wear your favorite sports team shirt or jersey

September 15

-Attendance Week "Hats Off to Great Attendance" Wear your favorite hat.

-Open House 5:00-6:30pm

September 16

-Attendance Week "Attendance Rocks!" Wear your favorite rock band shirt, concert tee, or school spirit shirt.

September 17

-Attendance Week "Sock It To Absences" Wear your craziest or most colorful socks.

-School Board Meeting 6:00

September 18

-Attendance Week "Picture Perfect Attendance" Dress your best for Fall Picture Day, because great attendance always deserves a picture-perfect smile!

-Fall Picture Day

September 23

- RLA CBA #1 3rd-5th Grade

September 30

-Math CBA #1 3rd-5th Grade

October 1

-Science CBA #1 5th Grade

We are excited to host Schorlemmer’s 1st Annual Grandparents Day Parade on Friday, September 11, from 8:45–9:15 a.m.! We can’t wait to celebrate the wonderful grandparents who are such a special part of our Bear family!

Grandparents are invited to decorate their vehicles, make signs, and show their Bear spirit as they follow our parade route around the school. Our students will be lined up along the route, ready to wave, cheer, and celebrate their grandparents as they drive by! We look forward to making our first Grandparents Day Parade a special memory for our Bears and their families! 🐻

Open House will be held on Tuesday, September 15th, from 5:00–6:30 PM. We’re looking forward to welcoming all our Bear families to campus. Come see all the great things happening at Schorlemmer!

📣 Calling all future West Warrior Cheerleaders! ❤️🖤

West Cheer is hosting their Little Warrior Cheer Clinic on Saturday, September 19, and we would love to see some of our students join in the fun!

Participants will spend the morning learning cheers, jumps, and dances with the West Cheerleaders and then show off what they learned at the Parent Showcase at 11:30 a.m.! 📣✨

❤️ Saturday, September 19
🖤 Clinic: 8:00–11:30 a.m.
📣 Parent Showcase: 11:30 a.m.
💲 Early Registration: $50 by September 12 and includes a camp shirt
💲 After September 12: $60

Scan the QR code on the flyer to register!

Come cheer, dance, have fun, and spend the morning with West Cheer! Go Warriors!

Join us for Spirit Night at Texas Roadhouse on Monday, August 31st!

When you dine at Texas Roadhouse, 20% of the proceeds will be donated back to Schorlemmer Elementary, helping support our students and campus programs. Come out and cheer on our Bear Cheer Squad, who will be leading the line dance during the event! We hope to see our Bear families there for a fun evening of food, school spirit, and community support. Be sure to show our school flyer!

Good news! The issues we were experiencing with ParentSquare have been resolved, and it is now good to go! Thank you for your patience!

The VISD Citizenship Ready Plan is a districtwide initiative designed to support students in becoming responsible, respectful, and engaged members of both their school and the broader community.

The Citizenship Ready Plan isn’t just about enforcing rules, it’s about teaching students how to make thoughtful choices, take responsibility for their actions, and understand the impact of those actions on others. It also prepares them to contribute positively to their schools today and their communities tomorrow.

By equipping students with the tools they need to thrive both academically and socially, the Citizenship Ready Plan supports VISD’s vision of empowering every student to reach their full potential and become a force for positive change in the world.

To learn more about the VISD Citizenship Ready Plan, click below 🔽

Our VISD Value for September is Excellence. Excellence starts at home! This month, let’s work together to help our students understand that excellence isn’t about being perfect—it’s about giving your best, growing, and encouraging others along the way. Here are some simple, family-friendly weekly challenges and discussion prompts that focus on the idea that excellence means doing your best—not being perfect.

🌟 Week 1: “My Best Effort”

Family Challenge: Pick one everyday task—making the bed, cleaning up toys, homework, cooking, etc. Ask your child to do it with their best effort.

Talk about it: “What did you do differently when you decided to give your best effort?”

🌟 Week 2: “Practice Makes Progress”

Family Challenge: Choose something your child wants to improve at—reading, shooting a basketball, drawing, tying shoes, math facts, or even learning a new recipe. Spend 10 minutes practicing together.

Talk about it: “What got a little easier after practicing?”

🌟 Week 3: “Catch Someone Being Excellent”

Family Challenge: Throughout the week, look for someone in your family demonstrating excellence. Maybe they helped someone, kept trying when something was difficult, showed kindness, or took responsibility.

Give them a “Caught Being Excellent!” shout-out.

Talk about it: “What did you notice that showed excellence?”

🌟 Week 4: “Raise the Bar”

Family Challenge: As a family, choose one small goal for the week. It could be keeping bedrooms cleaner, reading together, being more helpful, spending less time on devices, or getting ready for school on time.

At the end of the week, ask: “Did we meet our goal? What can we do even better next time?”

At Schorlemmer, we’re aiming for 95% or higher attendance every day—because every day counts! We’ve added some fun incentives to keep our Bears motivated:

🐾 Grade-Level Challenge:
Each day, the grade level with the highest attendance earns a paw print. The grade with the most paw prints at the end of the 1st nine weeks will celebrate with Chips & Pickles party! 🧀🎉

🐾 Classroom Challenge:
Classes earn a letter in the word ATTENDANCE for each perfect-attendance day. When they complete the word, they’ll enjoy a popsicle party! 🥳

Let’s reach our Strive for 95 goal together—because when our Bears are here, they grow and shine! ✨

We love having parents and guardians join their children for lunch! To help ensure a safe and enjoyable experience for everyone, please keep the following guidelines in mind:

• Only adults listed on a student's emergency contact card may join them for lunch.
• Lunch visitors are welcome to sit with their child at the visitor tables located in front of the cafeteria.
• Visitors may eat only with their own child during lunch.
• No outside food allowed in the cafeteria. Lunch boxes and food from home are acceptable.

Thank you for helping us maintain a safe, organized, and welcoming lunch environment for all of our Bears. We appreciate your partnership in creating a safe and positive experience for everyone!

The safety of all students is our highest priority. Please review the arrival and dismissal procedures below:

Morning Drop-Off:

• Please bring your child to the front of the school. Faculty members will be outside to assist by opening car doors and helping students safely enter the building. If you park, please use the front parking lot and cross at the designated crosswalk. Parents may walk their child to class only the first week of school (3 days). After that, we have a designated “Hug Zone” in the front of the school, this is a special area where you can say your goodbyes and share well wishes for the day before your child walks in independently. This supports both student independence and campus safety.
  

  Please help your child practice their teacher’s name so we can assist them in finding their classroom after the first week.

  Note: The back parking lot is reserved for faculty, school bus drop-off and special education students only. These doors remain locked for security purposes.

• Bus and daycare students will be dismissed from the back of the building.

• Walkers:
  Students who walk home will be escorted by faculty. For safety reasons, walker students may not be picked up from a parking lot, they must walk to the road before entering a vehicle. Faculty members will walk students to the property line; students must then walk home independently from that point.

• Car Riders:
  Please display the provided car rider card clearly on your dashboard during pick-up. Every family will receive two cards per student. Be sure to assign your designated pick-up person(s) and give them one of your cards.
  Requests for additional cards can be made in the front office for a $1.00 charge per card to help offset rising paper costs and recent budget cuts.
  Staff members will be outside calling for students and assisting them into vehicles. Only vehicles with visible car rider cards will be called. We do not allow porch pickups. Thank you for your patience as we work to safely and efficiently reunite students with their families.

• Missing Car Rider Card:
  If you do not have your car card at dismissal, you will need to park and go to the front office with a photo ID to pick up your child. Your child will be called to the front office at 3:30 p.m.

• This procedure helps keep our dismissal process safe and efficient. During dismissal, staff are continuously calling students' names over the intercom. Interrupting those announcements to page individual students could delay the dismissal process or cause a student's name to be missed. Thank you for your patience and understanding as we work to ensure all students are dismissed safely.

Dismissal Policy:
It is the parent’s responsibility to pick up their child on time. Dismissal ends at 3:35 p.m. Any student not picked up by this time must be signed out from the front office.

Happy September,

With the new school year, brings new germs, here are some reminders to help ensure every student is safe and healthy in school.

· Please ensure your child(ren) are getting plenty of rest so they can come to school ready to learn. It is recommended that children 6-12 years of age get 9-12 hours of sleep daily.

· We are a nut and peanut allergy aware campus. Please do not bring/send food containing peanuts or tree nuts onto campus. If your child has a documented allergy to peanuts and/or tree nuts and you have not spoken to me, please contact me so that we can ensure they are cared for properly while on campus.

· Please ensure you have checked your child(ren) for head lice and have provided treatment. Each year we continue to have several children whom struggle with head lice through the year, making it difficult for them to remain attentive and learn, as they are constantly scratching. Constant scratching can also lead to head sores, bleeding, and increases the risk of infection.

· Please keep your child(ren) home if they are ill.

· When to stay home:

Ø your child(ren) has a temperature of 100 degrees or higher

Ø your child(ren) is vomiting and/or has diarrhea

Ø your child(ren) has a rash that has not been evaluated by a physician.

· When to return:

Ø your child(ren) may return when they are free of fever, diarrhea, or vomiting for at least 24 hours without the use of medication to relieve symptoms.

Ø If they have a rash they may return if rash is gone or determined to be non-contagious by a doctor. A note from a physician will be necessary for your child to return to campus.

· If your physician decides it is necessary for your child to receive medication during the school day, the approval and specific directions must be provided to the school by the physician.

o Parents must bring the medication to the school in the original box or bottle with the current prescription label on the container

o All medications (even over the counter medications) require a written physician’s order. This includes cough drops.

o Students are not to have medications in their possession.

· Keep all home, work, and emergency phone numbers at school up-to-date. When children become suddenly ill or injured at school, it is essential that we have current phone numbers. Please also keep the nurse informed of significant changes in your child’s health. For example: daily medication, new allergies, and changes in physical restrictions, vision and/or hearing impairment. By communicating your child’s special health and safety needs to us, we can ensure a safer and healthier school year.

· Younger students (Pre-K and Kindergarten) or students with health conditions requiring a change of clothing are recommended to keep a change of clothing in their backpacks in case of illness, spills from lunch, or mud at recess, etc. Extra clothing is not guaranteed from the nurse as clothing is based on what is received in donation.

Please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns you may have about your student’s health.

My contact information:

email: lisa.pena@visd.net

phone: 361-788-2860.

fax number: 361-788-2807

As always, I look forward to caring for your children and working with you to ensure a safe, happy, and healthy school environment for your kiddos.

Lisa Pena, RN

We are thrilled to welcome our 2026–2027 PTO Board! This incredible group of parent volunteers is excited to partner with our staff to support our students, encourage our teachers, and help make this a fantastic year at Schorlemmer Elementary.

We are so grateful for their willingness to serve our school community. Their time, ideas, and dedication will help create meaningful opportunities and memorable experiences for our Bears throughout the year. We look forward to working together to make this our best year yet!

Be sure to stop by and meet our PTO Board during Open House!

Applications will open August 1st. Please note, after August 1st, it may take up to 10 business days

to notify you of the status of your application. All volunteers are required to complete a new application each school year. Volunteer forms will also be available at our Sneak Peek Event on 8/10.

Parents have immediate access to their child’s academic information through our online gradebook. With just a single click, you can view grades, attendance records, upcoming assignments, and other important updates to stay informed and engaged in your child’s education.

Accounts and log in information created for the prior school year are still valid. A new account does not need to be established. Parents who are new to Parent Gradebook for 2026-27 school year will need to establish an account.

As always, if you have a question, concern, or compliment, please reach out by phone or email. We LOVE our Bear Family! 🐻

Phone: 361-788-2860

Email: Schorlemmer.office@visd.net