Hutsell Herald
Volume 8, Issue 4 - August 30, 2026

A Message from Mrs. Smith
Hutsell Families!
We had another wonderful week at the Hive! A huge thank you goes to all of our families who joined us for Parent Orientation Night on Tuesday. We loved welcoming you into our classrooms and sharing more about what your little Hornets will be learning and experiencing this year. Your involvement and partnership are so important to your child’s success, and we are grateful to have you on this journey with us! When families and schools work together, our little Hornets soar!
We were also excited to welcome our amazing superintendent, Dr. Gregorski, to Hutsell on Friday! It was a proud moment as we toured the Hive and showcased the incredible teaching and learning taking place throughout our school. During our classroom visits, we saw highly engaged students, rigorous learning tasks, small-group instruction, and teachers providing meaningful learning experiences aligned to grade-level standards. The best part is these were not things we prepared just for a special visit. This is what we see happening in our classrooms every day! We are incredibly proud of our teachers and students for the hard work they continue to put in each day.
Another huge thank you goes to all of the parents who joined us for our Campus Advisory Team meeting last Thursday! It was wonderful to see our staff, families, and community partners come together to share ideas and collaborate as we continue building upon the excellence happening at the Hive. We truly value your voices, your involvement, and your partnership. It takes a village to help our little Hornets learn, grow, stay safe, and become successful, productive members of our community, and we are grateful to have you as part of our village!
Thank you, families, for your continued support, encouragement, and partnership. We are building something special at the Hive, and you are an important part of it! Have a wonderful Sunday and a fantastic week ahead!
Let’s keep learning, growing, and soaring together!
HORNET HAPPENINGS
- Sept 4: All Pro Dad - 7:00 AM Gym
- Sept 7: No School - Labor Day
- Sept 8: PTA Meeting - 3:30 PM Library
- Sept 10: CAT Meeting - 3:30 PM LGI
- Sept 17: Lunch and Learn - 11:00 AM
- Sept 18: No School
- Sept 25: Scarecrow Parade - Kinder and Pre K - 8:15
Volunteers
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
This year's reading challenge for 1st-5th Grade starts September 1st!
The GT Screening deadlines are quickly approaching!
HOUSE HIGHLIGHTS
LETTERS FROM THE LIBRARY
We are so excited to welcome students back to the library in the coming weeks. 3rd Graders will receive their CLASS 1:1 Chromebook during the first week of school. Please be on the look out for specific 3rd grade 1:1 information in the coming days.
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
Beanstack
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.
COUNSELOR'S CORNER
HEALTHY HORNET
PTA NEWS
JOIN PTA!
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!
COMMUNITY EVENTS & PROGRAMS
IMPORTANT SCHOOL INFORMATION
New Change of Transportation Process
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.
Attendance Matters
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.
Hutsell Pay N Go
Scan the QR code or click the link below.
https://katyisd.revtrak.net/elementary-schools/elementary-a-h/hutsell-elementary/#/list
Arrival/Dismissal
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.
Attendance Information
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
Free Meals at Hutsell for Students
School Hours
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
Volunteer at Hutsell
Join our volunteer community by registering using the QR codes below. Required for all Katy ISD Volunteers
Hutsell Watch DOGS
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!
Hutsell Clinic Notes
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.
HUTSELL ELEMENTARY
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
Administration Team
Shauntá Smith - Principal
Timothy Hurt - Student Support Principal
Brooke De La Garza - Assistant Principal
Rocio Sokol - Assistant Principal
Katherine Hodgins - Counselor