The Weekly Splash

Dear Dolphin Parents,

Thank you for a fantastic first week of school! We are so grateful for your support and partnership as we kicked off the year.

A special shout-out goes to our Carpool Lane parents for your patience and kindness as we continue to fine-tune our process. We are already seeing great progress — on Friday we started dismissal right at 3:10 and finished by 3:31, which was a big improvement from day one. With our enrollment growing to 606 students this year, some changes are necessary, and we appreciate your cooperation as we make things more efficient.

We would also like to thank our AMAZING PTA for hosting the annual Seas The Day breakfast on the first day of school and for generously providing lunch for our teachers and staff. What a gift it was not having to think about packing lunch that day!

It was such a joy to see all of our students’ smiling faces and to visit each classroom last week. We are looking forward to a full and exciting second week of school!

Sincerely,

April D. Kenely

Principal

We are looking forward to welcoming you to our upcoming Parent Orientations! These sessions are designed specifically for parents to hear important information about our school/district policies and classroom routines, expectations, and how we can work together to support your child’s success this year.

We kindly ask that children not attend Parent Orientation. This allows us to maintain a focused and productive environment for all families. If this is not an option, we completely understand!

If you already came to the New to Donald Parent Orientation, you don’t need to come to the Principal Session — it’s the same information. We’ll also be sending everything out to families once all of the orientations are finished.

Thank you for your understanding and support. We can’t wait to partner with you for a great school year!

Monday, August 18th

5:00-5:30

Principal Session

5:30-6:00

1st Grade (classrooms)

3rd Grade (Library)

5th Grade (Cafeteria)

COMM (Classrooms)

6:00-7:00

GT (Classrooms)

Tuesday, August 19th

5:00-5:30

Principal Session

5:30-6:00

2nd Grade (Cafeteria)

4th Grade (Library)

Help us get the year off to a smooth start by completing your Back-to-School Forms as soon as possible!

Why It Matters:

• Required to receive district-issued iPads
• Required to participate in field trips
• Ensures we have the most up-to-date emergency and contact information

If you are wanting to attend your child's field trips, help with events, or volunteer on campus you MUST have a VOLY background check complete. It is a very easy process and nice to get out of the way early before it's too late!

Lewisville ISD's VOLY site is open and ready to accept volunteers for the 2025-2026 school year. All volunteers on LISD campuses must have an approved background check on file. LISD uses LewisvilleISD.voly.org to post volunteer opportunities and to process background checks. Please go to the site and either create an account or update your account from a previous year. VOLY also has an app! You can find it in the app store for either Apple or Android products. Be sure to select that you want to work with Lewisville ISD. We look forward to having you on campus as a volunteer soon!

If you would like your child's picture to appear in the yearbook, school videos, or other school publications, you must select "Yes, I do want." Otherwise, your child will be placed on our "Do Not Photo" list.

Help us reduce paper waste by opting not to receive a printed copy of your child’s report card. You can update your preferences in the Skyward/Parent Portal – see the photo for an example. When you leave the “Printed Report Card” box unchecked, you’ll still have full access to your child’s grades online while helping us save resources and protect our environment.

For the 2025–2026 school year, LISD will increase student and adult meal prices to align with federal guidelines and rising food service costs. This marks the first student lunch price increase since the 22-23 school year. Breakfast and lunch prices will increase by $0.30. These adjustments help ensure compliance with USDA requirements and reflect the district’s efforts to maintain high-quality, sustainable meal services.

All students that qualify as receiving reduced price meals at the previous price of $0.30 for breakfast and $0.40 for lunch will now get all breakfast and lunch meals for FREE at all LISD campuses for the 2025-26 and 2026-27 school years. Find out if you are eligible and apply HERE.

You must apply each year for the Free and Reduced Lunch program. Complete the application by clicking on the button to see if qualify.

To help us keep all students safe, please remember:

• If your child is a walker, you may not drive up and park on campus.

• If you choose to drive, your child must be picked up through the carpool line.

• The Staff Parking Lot is reserved only for:

  • Buses

  • Daycare vans

  • Reserved Parking- Auction Winers

  • Families with Pink Car Tags (students in our Communications Classroom who need extra assistance)

This change is necessary due to our larger student enrollment this year. We truly appreciate your kindness and patience as we adjust. While change can be hard, these steps are important for keeping our dismissal safe and efficient for everyone.

Thank you for your cooperation and support!

7:15 - School Doors Open!

Student safety is always our number one priority, so we have a very structured arrival and dismissal at Donald. Our students who walk or ride their bikes to school will always enter and exit the building through the main entrance. Students who ride the yellow school bus or daycare bus will enter the main entrance.

Staff is always monitoring campus entrances, the front crosswalk, and the carline during arrival and dismissal to make sure our students remain safe.

Carpool Lane

• All students in K-5 who arrive by car may be dropped off in the carpool lane at the back of the building.

• Parents/Guardians should pull forward as far as possible before letting the student exit the vehicle.

• A staff member and/or safety patrol student will assist your student with opening the car door.

• If possible, please ensure that your student can exit the vehicle from the driver's side to prevent walking between cars.

• When in car line loops, please drive slowly and avoid using technology/cell phones.

• A staff member and/or safety patrol student will assist your student with opening the car door.

• Please remain in your vehicle at all times while in the drop off loops.

Entrance Options, Arrival Locations, and Breakfast

• Students in grades K-2 who arrive prior to 7:35 will go to the cafeteria.

• 3rd-5th grade students will go to the gym

• Students wanting to eat breakfast may eat in the cafeteria.

• All students will go to the classrooms at 7:35.

• Students who arrive after 7:40 and want to purchase a breakfast will take the food with them to the classroom.

• As always, all visitors must enter through the front doors and check in at the front desk.

• Students are expected to be in their classroom, unpacked, and ready to begin learning by 7:45AM!

• Tardy slips are provided to students arriving on campus after 7:45 AM. For safety reasons, a parent must escort any tardy students into the building to receive a tardy slip.

Students are dismissed at 3:10PM according to how they will be going home for the day:

1. LISD Yellow Bus
2. Daycare
3. ESD
4. Carline
5. Walkers & Bikers

Car Line

• All students in K-5 who go home by car should be picked up using the car line.

• Parents/Guardians should enter the car line and have the Car tag visible with the student’s number

• A staff member will call the student to an assigned colored cone.

• When arriving at the back of the school by the colored cones, pull forward as far as possible to the next available cone.

• A staff member and/or safety patrol student will assist your student with opening the car door.

• If possible, please ensure that your student can enter the vehicle from the driver's side to prevent walking between cars.

• When in the car line, please drive slowly and avoid using technology/cell phones.

• If passing another vehicle is necessary, a staff member will guide you in doing so safely.

• Please remain in your vehicle at all times while in the car line.

Car Tags are REQUIRED for student pick-up in the carline!

• All families were be issued 1 car tags at Meet The Teacher

• If you need an additional car tag, check with the front office

• Car tag number must be prominently displayed on your rearview mirror prior to pulling in to the carline

• Please drive slowly as you enter campus so the staff member on duty is able to see your number!

LOST CAR TAG?

Contact the office to purchase a

replacement car tag for $1

Important Bus Info for Families

Transportation is now in-house through LISD

• Parent App- Here Comes the Bus

• The GPS function will update in the app every 1-2 seconds.

• Parents & students can track their bus by the bus number.

• The app will update in the fall - communication will come with directions for families at that time.

• Transportation Call Center

• Opens August 4th

• Purpose is to handle bus issues, answer questions, and provide customer service to families and the community.

• 469-713-5983

• A QR code will be posted on the district website daily with any bus changes.

  ✅ Visit the LISD Transportation Page

  www.lisd.net/transportation

  ✅ Click "View Bus Locator" to check if there’s a bus stop for their address and to access other important details about bus service.

Lawmakers recently passed House Bill 1481, which prohibits the use of cell phones and smartwatches during the school day.

Cell phones and smartwatches can be both a communication tool for families and a distraction to learning for our students. In order to focus our learning and instruction time with students, all elementary school students are required to put personal devices/cell phones away in their backpack from the time they enter the building in the morning until the dismissal bell. Smartwatches are not allowed at school.

Students are expected to use wired earbuds/headphones with their iPads. Please do not bring wireless earbuds/headphones to school.

You can reach your student by calling the front office at 469-713-5198. If your student needs to reach you, they can call you from the office phone.

Each family comes with a different perspective on device usage; these changes still allow for iPad and personal device parental controls that go above and beyond district settings and expectations. To learn more about parental control settings on district and personal devices visit lisd.net/ipads.

For this coming school year, there will be 5 absences allowed with a parent note for any reason. For pre-planned trips or outside school activity absences, parents will have 5 additional absences and will need to complete a pre-planned absence form. We will provide more information with back to school resources on how to access the pre-planned absence form. For additional details, view the May 2025 LISD RAPPort newsletter from Dr. Rapp HERE.

FRONT DOORBELL

Per district policy all visitors to the school must ring the doorbell and present their driver's license/proper identification to the camera before being granted access to the building. Without proper identification, we will not be allowed to enter. Thanks for understanding and prioritizing the safety of our students and staff.

Dear Parents,

Our staff at Friday Nite Live hopes you had a fantastic summer and are back in "school mode" with your children.

Friday Nite Live will be back this year, however, we will be at a new location! We hope you can join us for the same great program at Forest Vista Elementary! We are ready to entertain YOU most Fridays each month! For our first few weeks, we will have DJ Reggie spinning tunes and playing games with you! He will bring tons of fun, dances and pizzazz to the party!! Be sure to join us THIS Friday, August 22nd, starting at 7:00 p.m. for our "Back to School Bash"! Details are attached to our digital flyer below. Actual flyers should come to your home this week via the students' backpacks.

Our new staff at Friday Nite Live can't wait to see YOU!!!

Thank you!

Rita Bacque, Friday Nite Live Team Leader

Website: https://donald.lisd.net/
Location: 2400 Forest Vista Dr. Flower Mound, TX 75028

Phone: 469) 713-5198

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/donaldelementary

Twitter: @Donald_ES