Hines Elementary Handbook

The beginning of a new school year is always an exciting time, and we are looking forward to another successful year! We are eager, prepared, and anticipating the arrival of your child!

At Christopher J. Hines Elementary, we believe in collaboration with parents and community members to ensure our students' success. Hines Elementary provides a safe, caring, and positive learning environment. Our goal is to build relationships that empower students and develop responsible, kind, and confident leaders.

The 2025-2026 Conroe Independent School District Student/Parent Handbook is available online here. The Hines handbook addendum informs you of important information regarding day-to-day life at Hines. At times, it may be necessary to make a few changes during the school year. In such cases, the addendum will be updated, and you will be notified via letter, email, or our website. I encourage you to visit our school website at http://hines.conroeisd.net, as important information and events will be posted frequently. You may want to bookmark this address for easy access.

Please ensure we have every available phone number and contact we might need in case of an emergency. If your phone number changes throughout the year, please update our records by sending in a note with your child or emailing our registrar, Vianey Block. I am certain you will enjoy being part of the Hines Husky family! If we haven't had the opportunity to meet in person yet, please come by and introduce yourself. I look forward to working alongside all of you this year!

Erin Mathe

Principal

General Campus Information

School Hours

7:55 am-3:10 pm

School begins promptly at 7:55 am and dismisses at 3:10 pm. Plan to arrive at school between 7:25 am and 7:55 am. Supervision is not available before 7:25 am.

7:25 am - Students are welcomed into the building and go directly to the cafeteria for breakfast or their classroom
7:55 am - Students are tardy if they are not in the school doors. Front office staff will scan student ID tags as they arrive after 7:55 am and will be counted tardy.
8:00 am - Students arriving to school after 8:00 am must be signed in by an adult at the front desk.

Communication

The Hines staff is committed to keeping our students and parents informed. Follow us on Facebook for reminders and updates. Every Friday we send, via email, an overview of the next week’s events in our newsletter called the Hines Herald. We also encourage you to familiarize yourself with the Hines Website. Hines' website provides up-to-date school information. Various items can be viewed and printed from our website including our calendar of school events and daily lunch menu. Our website also provides links to all teacher email accounts.

Communication is vital to our student’s success. Your child’s teacher will further explain their methods of communication at Parent Information Night.

Conferences with Teachers

Parents are welcome to request a parent/teacher conference, if so desired. To request a conference, you may contact your child’s teacher by email or by phone. Teachers are available to conference during their scheduled conference time. Teachers may hold a virtual or in-person parent conference based on parent preference.

Conference Times

Kindergarten - 9:35-10:35

1st Grade - 11:55-12:55

2nd Grade - 1:00-2:00

3rd Grade - 2:05-3:05

4th Grade -8:15-9:15

Hines Spirit

At Hines, we will show our Husky spirit on Fridays! We encourage all students and staff to wear their Hines Husky school shirts, or one of our feeder school shirts, on Fridays. The Hines PTO will have spirit wear for sale throughout the school year.

As part of our mission at Hines to spread kindness, we will wear kindness shirts on Monday. Let's start the week positively by spreading joy!

There will be various additional Grand Oaks Feeder school spirit days during the year. These will be communicated through our school newsletter. We encourage all Future Grizzlies to participate!

Breakfast and Lunch

The CISD Child Nutrition website contains lunch and breakfast menus and prices as well as information on applying for Free and Reduced Meal Programs. Each student is provided with a lunch card that includes his/her lunch PIN number (student ID). This card will stay at school. If you have questions regarding your child’s account, please contact our cafeteria manager at d lcarrington@conroeisd.net

Click on Link Below for Breakfast/Lunch Menus:

http://www.conroeisd.net/department/child-nutrition/

For the 25-26 school year, school meal prices are as follows:

Breakfast

Breakfast Meal Prices
o Student Breakfast $2.00
o Student Reduced Breakfast $0.00
o Non-student Breakfast/2nd Student Breakfast $3.40

Students who are car riders in the morning and plan to eat breakfast at school should arrive with enough time to eat and be in class before the tardy bell rings at 7:55 am.

Lunch

Lunch Meal Prices
o Student Lunch $3.20
o Student Reduced Lunch $0.00
o Non-student Lunch/2nd Student Lunch $5.00 (Teachers, Parents, Siblings)

Lunch visitors will be permitted beginning Monday, August 25, 2025. This will allow our staff and students to learn our lunch processes and procedures.

We ask you limit the number of lunch visitors to no more than 2 visitors.
While visiting your child at lunch, you will be asked to sit at a separate table from other students with only your child.
Students will return to their homeroom table for the last 5 minutes of lunch to prepare for recess.
Visitors are asked to utilize the restroom located in the front office while on campus.
Taking pictures of or engaging with other students is not appropriate.
Deliveries to students including lunches will be limited and on an emergency basis only.
Students forgetting lunches will be allowed to charge a meal in the cafeteria up 15 meals. If a charge balance remains unpaid, students will receive an alternate meal.

Recess

Students attend recess daily. For the safety of our students, only Hines staff and students will be allowed on the playground. Students will participate in indoor activities when the weather outside is too hot/cold or if there is precipitation falling.

Specials

“Specials” is the term used to describe the rotations students take through Art, Music, Physical Education, and Library. During specials, students rotate through the classes. Each class will follow a specific schedule. Teachers will explain the rotation at Parent Information Night.

Specials Teachers:

P.E.- Shannon Butler and Christopher Perkins
Music- Sarah Carlisle
Art- Jessica Couch, Emily Rodriguez
Library- Alison Igoe
Specials paraprofessional- Karen McEvilly

P.E. Footwear

Students shall wear appropriate shoes to participate in physical activities in P.E.

Approved for P.E. - Footwear must have a rubber sole, provide ankle support, cover the front and back of the foot, and have an adjustable strap, velcro, or laces. Examples: tennis shoes, basketball shoes, cross trainers, running shoes, etc.

Not approved for P.E. - Dress shoes of any kind, boots, sandals, flip flops, slip ons (crocs, vans, Toms, etc) and/or open toe shoes.

Excused from P.E.

Physical education is an important part of a child’s educational experience and is required by State law. A written excuse is required in the event a child needs to be excused from participation in physical education. If a child cannot participate for a period of more than five days, a doctor’s statement must be presented to the school. A note from the physician releasing the student to return to regular participation in physical education will also be required.

Students who are temporarily restricted from participation in physical education will remain in the class and shall continue to learn the concepts of the lessons but not actively participate in the skill demonstration.

Safety

Building Visitors / Security

All parents, visitors, and volunteers must:

Enter through the front/main entrance only, all other exterior doors will remain locked.
All visitors must exit through the front doors of the school as well.
Anyone permitted to visit the campus will sign in & out at the front office.
Present a valid, state issued ID to be scanned into the Raptor System.

When submitting names of guardians/emergency contacts to our school systems, ensure the name matches the name on their government issued ID. If the adult goes by a different name, feel free to put that in "quotations".

All visitors must wear a visitor badge while they are in the building at all times.
Adhere to school dismissal procedures.
Pick up students who need to leave early before 2:30pm.

Other Safety Guidelines

We regularly conduct campus safety drills and will be teaching your child procedures to follow in the event of an emergency. These drills include a monthly fire drill, shelter in place, lock out, lock down, and a medical response drill.
We conduct weekly door audits to ensure all exterior doors function properly.
All classroom volunteers must complete the CISD Volunteer Application and be approved prior to volunteering.

School Clinic

If your child gets sick at school, he/she will be sent to the school clinic. Parents will be contacted if necessary to pick up their child within a reasonable amount of time. If we are unable to reach you, emergency contacts will be called to pick up an ill or injured child. Please visit with our school nurse if your child has any health concerns.

Illness/Absence

If your child is running a fever of 100 degrees or more, they will not be permitted to attend school until fever free for 24 hours without the use of fever reducing medications.
It is recommended children should remain at home until vomiting has ceased for 24 hours.
If your child tests positive for Covid-19, they are recommended to isolate for five days after symptoms first began.
If your child is having diarrheal illness, they will not be permitted to attend school until diarrhea free for 24 hours without the use of medication to stop the diarrhea.

Diarrheal illness is 3 or more episodes of diarrhea in a 2 hour period.

If your child will be absent due to illness, email the school at contacthines@conroeisd.net and the school nurse, kmarra@conroeisd.net

Medications

Students are never allowed to bring or transport medication to school. Do NOT send it with your child in their backpack, this includes cough drops.
Adults must bring any medications to the school clinic and give specific information before medication can be dispensed at school.
Medications that are to be administered once daily, twice daily, and sometimes three times daily should be given at home when possible.

For students who will have allergy or asthma medications at school, please obtain an allergy and asthma action plan from your child's doctor prior to dropping off the medication.

Notice to Parents with Court Orders Affecting the Parent-Child Relationship

A few years ago the Texas legislature passed law clarifying the Texas Family Code provision that sets out the rights and duties of parents when there is a court order affecting the parent-child relationship. The legislature clarified “school activities”, as the term is used in the Family Code, includes, “school lunches, performances, and field trips.” Prior to the passing of this law, each Texas school district determined what activities were considered “school activities.” In compliance with this law, when lunch is open to visitors, either parent may attend school lunch with his or her child, regardless of their period of possession, unless attending lunch is specifically prohibited by a court order. All parents are welcome to attend school performances. Field trips are limited to parents selected to serve as chaperones.

Hallway Expectations

Students will be taught hallway expectations. These expectations will be taught and reinforced by all supervising adults in the building throughout the year. When students know what is expected of them they feel safe.

Restroom Expectations

Students will be taught restroom expectations at the beginning of the year. These expectations will be taught and reinforced by all supervising adults in the building throughout the year. When students know what is expected of them they are more likely to act appropriately and they feel safe.

General Student Information

Student ID

All students are issued a 6 digit ID number upon registration. This number is used in the cafeteria line, library check out, online log ins, bus registration, and Parent Portal.

You can find the Student ID on their previous report card from CISD, in Parent Portal, or on your child's transportation tag located on their backpack.

If you are a new student to Hines or have any questions, please contact the front office at 281-939-0400.

Dress Code

At Hines, our students are expected to follow the Conroe ISD dress code as outlined in the Student Code of Conduct. To highlight some of the dress code expectations, here is a basic checklist:

All hair color should be a natural hair color or color that does not cause a distraction for other students in the classroom
Shorts should be mid-thigh or longer
No tank tops/spaghetti straps
No cosmetics
No flip flops (students may wear sandals with a back strap)
Shorts should be worn under dresses/skirts
We encourage students to wear tennis shoes/closed toed shoes on days they will be attending P.E.
Students should make sure their shirts are not offensive or violent
Shirts should meet the top of pants (no midsection of the body exposed)

Students who violate dress code will be sent to the clinic to call home for a change of clothes.

Celebrations

When students celebrate a birthday at Hines, his/her name appears on the morning announcements. Parents may bring store bought treats to be distributed, by the teacher, at the end of lunch. For the safety of our students, parents will not be allowed to pass out food items to the class in the lunchroom. Please contact your child’s teacher prior to the special occasion to make arrangements.

We ask parents refrain from bringing other items such as balloons, flowers, and candles. We will be unable to deliver any of these items to your child.

Parents often request to pass out birthday invitations to their child's classmates. We are unable to distribute personal invitations for non-school sponsored events to students. However, if you join the PTO as a member, you will gain access to a school directory in which you could contact your child's classmates for parties outside of school.

Personal Items

If your child leaves something important at home, please deliver to the front office, labeled with your child’s name, their teacher’s name, and their grade level. Articles will then be delivered to the classroom when it causes the least amount of disruption to the learning environment. However, please work with your child to develop good habits of responsibility, helping them to be prepared every day.

Please write your child’s name on all sweaters, coats, backpacks, water bottles, and lunch kits. All students are encouraged to bring refillable water bottles to school. Water bottles need to have a sport top to prevent spills. Only water is allowed.

iPods, electronic games, laser lights, toy guns, electronic devices, fidget spinners, pop its, and other toys should not be brought on the school campus unless they are used as part of a classroom project, or requested by the teacher. Students may bring cell phones to school, but they must be turned off and in their backpacks during school hours. Knives, weapons, or other dangerous objects (pretend or real) are never allowed.

Possession and Use of Electronic Devices

The District is not responsible for any item brought to school by a student. A student bringing any electronic device including cell phones, smart phones, smart watches, laptops, iPods, MP3 players, video/audio recorders, DVD players, electronic readers, cameras, Google Glass, etc. does so at his or her own risk.

Hines Electronic Device Expectations

We understand some students may bring these items for use after school, however during school hours, electronic devices are expected to be turned off or in airplane mode. Students should not be receiving phone calls or text messages from any person during school hours, 7:25 am - 3:10 pm, as it interrupts the learning environment. If a child answers a call on their watch/phone during school hours, they will be given a warning and the staff member will explain the expectation for electronic devices. If there are repeated offenses, the device may be taken up and consequences will be handled as a student misbehavior.

The Conroe ISD Student Handbook provides additional information regarding district policies about electronic devices.

Field Trips

The Hines PTO is sponsoring student field trips this year! Information will be sent home prior to the grade level’s scheduled event. Parents that are approved volunteers may be asked to chaperone field trips. Chaperones are selected to adequately supervise the number of children attending. All chaperones may be required to ride CISD school buses with the children to and from Hines or drive themselves following charter buses. Students must also ride the bus to and from Hines. To register as a volunteer please visit the CISD Volunteer Website.

Attendance and Tardies

Attendance

School attendance is a major factor in student success. The best instruction is the initial instruction teachers provide on a daily basis. When a student misses school, they are missing an opportunity to work with peers, to be instructed in a small group at their level, and receive any necessary interventions.

Healthy students are expected to be in attendance every day from 7:55 am -3:10 pm. Attendance is officially recorded at 9:00 am. Students arriving after 9:00 am will be counted as absent.

If your child will not be at school for any reason, please notify our school by email, contacthines@conroeisd.net. Upon returning from an absence, if a child was attending a medical appointment, please send the note documenting the reason.

Notifications of a students absence will be emailed and a phone call will be placed by the district's automated service at 10:45 am.

Please try to schedule routine medical appointments outside of school hours. Likewise, please schedule vacations during school holidays/long weekends. It is extremely important to maximize our instruction time.

Tardies

School announcements and instruction begin at 7:55 am. Students benefit from having time once they arrive at school to settle into their classroom, unpack, and visit with peers prior to learning beginning. The school doors open at 7:25 am to allow for this time for students. Make a habit of arriving to school with enough time for your child to walk to their class, unpack, and get settled before instruction starts at 7:55 am. This is a great habit to begin for your child.

The tardy bell rings at 7:55 am. Students are tardy if they are not in the school doors at 7:55 am. Front office staff will scan student ID tags as they arrive after 7:55 am and will be counted tardy.

If you are arriving after 8:00 am, please escort your child into the building. Students arriving to school after 8:00 am must be signed in by an adult at the front desk to indicate the reason for their tardiness.

Transportation

Arrival

Students may walk, bike, scooter (non-motorized), blade, ride in a car, bus, or daycare van to arrive at school.

Students arriving to school in a car need to remain in the car and pull through the car line. A staff member or safety patrol member will open the passenger side door to unload your child along the curb of the front of the school. Please say your "good-byes" as you are pulling through the front drive so when you approach the helpers at the front of the building, your child is ready to unload in a safe, timely manner.

Refrain from dropping students off along the street to have them walk to the front doors. This is a safety and traffic concern. Also, refrain from pulling into parking spots in the front of the building or on the bus ramp to send your child across the car line to the front doors. This is also a major safety concern. The car line moves quickly and is the safest way to unload your child in the morning.

Students arriving by bus will be unloaded and monitored by staff as they enter the building.

Front walker/bikers will enter the building through the front doors. They will park their bike/scooter on the front bike rack and walk in through the front doors. Back and middle walker/bikers will park their bike/scooter on the bike racks by the bus ramp and enter into the doors on the bus ramp.

Dismissal

Your mode of transportation should be chosen based on the ability to arrive on time, consistency, and convenience. If you choose to physically bring your child to school, please say your "good-byes" prior to entering the front porch. This reinforces independence for our students and it helps keep our front porch clear of crowds for safety. Staff will be on duty daily to help assist unsure students to their classrooms.

Thank you for sharing our concern about safety and for helping us follow procedures allowing all children to arrive home safely. All students will receive a bar code tag that will be scanned before leaving the building. Please be sure this tag remains on your child’s backpack all year. If you purchase a new backpack for your student during the school year, please transfer the tag to the new backpack prior to sending them to school.

Choose dismissal transportation from the following:

Bus
Daycare
YMCA
Car rider
Front Walker - released by the front drive of the school onto Woodbridge Cove Dr.
Back Walker - Released by the gym onto Lexington
Middle Walker- released down the sidewalk that runs between parking lots onto Lexington

Bus Riders

Buses in CISD are available to every student living more than one mile from school. The Transportation Department website contains bus arrival and departure times and valuable safety information which will help you teach your children about bus safety. Please note bus route adjustments may be made during the first few weeks of class due to changes in student and neighborhood populations. Kindergarten students will not be dropped off at a stop unless a parent is present with the Yellow CISD Bus Sign. http://www.conroeisd.net/department/transportation/

After 4:00 pm, any concerns regarding bus transportation should be directed to The Oak Ridge Transportation Center at 832-592-8850.

Daycare/ YMCA

Daycare- If your child typically attends daycare and will be absent for any reason, please notify the daycare.

YMCA- Students are dismissed to the YMCA room and remain in the care of YMCA employees until they are picked up by parents.

Car Riders

We ask parents do not park or leave their car. For safety reasons, we do not allow parents on the front porch at dismissal. Signs will be issued to put in car windshields; this will help speed up the car rider line and identify adults/guardians that are eligible to pick up a student at the end of a school day. If you have multiple children, please display all names and grade levels on your car rider signs. If you have lost your sign, you will be asked to show your ID to verify you are permitted to pick up a student.

Walkers/ Bikers/ Bladers

We have have 3 areas of dismissal for students that are walking/biking/blading home. Please view the map below to locate the parent meeting spot for walkers. The hearts indicate where parents should wait. Please do not come on campus during dismissal time if meeting your child to walk them home. A teacher will walk students to the end of the sidewalk. Kindergarten (all year) and 1st grade (until January) students must be met by an adult or accompanied by an older sibling. All kindergarten and 1st grade parents must display a pick up sign so the staff knows who is permitted to pick up each child. These procedures are put in place to ensure the safety of our students. DO NOT park along the street of Woodbridge or Lexington subdivisions at dismissal. Only students who walk to their homes should be walkers.

Extreme Weather Dismissal

This only affects WALKERS/BIKERS.

This alert will be sent if we are experiencing sideways rain, thunder/lightening or tornado warnings. Extreme weather dismissal notifications will be sent by 2:50 pm. (Please opt-in for text message alerts!) If your child walks home normally and you choose to bare the harsh weather to pick up your child, you may still pick up your child up at the door closest to the area in which they walk from (back walkers- gym doors, middle walker- bus ramp doors, front walker- doors by the front bike racks) as indicated on the map below. We will not allow students to walk in extreme weather unless an adult meets them at the school doors.

For everyone's safety, we ask when the weather is this extreme you come through the car line to pick up your child. Walker/Biker students who are not picked up at the school doors will be placed in the car rider line.

Please note our weather changes drastically in a matter of minutes. Administration use their judgment in favor of student safety...please be patient when the weather changes.

Transportation Changes

A note must be sent to the teacher each and every time your child deviates from his/her “usual” way home. If the teacher does not receive a note, your child will be sent home the “usual” way. This transportation change note should always include the date, grade level, classroom teacher, your child’s full name, and how the child is going home (and with whom, if applicable). If plans change during the day and you haven't sent a note, you can email your request to contacthines@conroeisd.net or drop off a note in person to the school by 2:00 pm. The e-mail must include a copy of your driver’s license or identification. For safety reasons, phone calls and emails without identification will not be accepted for a transportation change. In the event of an emergency or unforeseeable circumstances, call us.

Bus riders: Only under extreme last minute emergencies we may be able to approve a change of transportation to another bus stop/route. It is impossible to efficiently utilize our buses when taking into account each and every child’s outside school activity needs. Transportation is a privilege provided for each child from home to school and school to home or daycare. If you will be out of town and know in advance or if your child needs to go to another child’s home after school for any reason, parents should work out transportation issues together ahead of time. A parent will be required to pick up these students. If permission is granted for your child to ride another bus and all of the students assigned to that bus ride and there is no room left for extra passengers, only those students assigned to that bus will be given transportation service. Even with permission for your child to ride another bus, you still may receive a call from the school requesting a parent to come and pick up a child due to the lack of seat availability. Permission will be granted only to the parent requesting a change in their child’s transportation service. We cannot grant permission to the receiving parent for a change in another child’s transportation service. Students must have a signed Transportation Emergency Request form signed by a campus administrator before the child will be allowed to ride the alternate bus to another student’s home. Please contact the school to request this approval.

Above all, if you have a problem and need our help, please call us. The safety of our students is our top priority!

Early Release Dismissal

Conroe ISD has scheduled two early dismissal days this year to accommodate for parent conferences and extended grade level planning. Hines Elementary students will be dismissed at 12:05 p.m. on December 19, 2025 and May 22, 2026. Regular dismissal procedures will be followed on these days.

All students will be fed lunch on our early release days; however, lunch will be at a different scheduled time. Lunch visitors will not be permitted on early release days.

Checking Students In and Out

Anything that deviates from regular arrival/dismissal time

Only persons listed on your child's information will be permitted to check out your child.
Parents must come into the front office to check students in and out. A valid, state issued identification must be presented.
Parents are not permitted to walk directly to the classroom to pick up a student. To maximize instructional time and to minimize interruptions, teachers will be notified and students will proceed to the office once the parent/guardian arrives on campus to check out their student.
For safety reasons, we do not allow students to be checked out after 2:30 pm.

Academic Information

Report Cards and Grades

The school year is divided into four grading periods. Report cards will be sent home electronically for grades 3-4 and a printed copy will be sent home in a student's Friday Folder for grades K-2 following the completion of the 9 week grading period. Progress reports for students in grades 3-4 will be sent home at the 4 ½ week period electronically.

For students in grades 3-4 to be promoted from one grade level to the next, the students must attain an overall average of 70% for all subject areas and a grade of 70% or above in three of the following areas: Language Arts, Mathematics, and either Science or Social Studies. Students must be in attendance 90% of the total instructional days enrolled per year.

Kindergarten, 1st, and 2nd grades are scored on a Standards Based Report card.

Hines teachers will have systems in place to help students remember to turn in completed work. If a student has not turned in an assignment by the due date, the teacher will indicate this with a Z in the grade book (grades 3-4). A "Z" is averaged as a score of a zero. If a student consistently turns in late work, it may be noted under conduct.

Students in grades 3 and 4 who score below a 70% on a graded assignment will have an opportunity to redo that assignment. After the second attempt, a 70% will be the highest score recorded in the gradebook for those assignments. If your child scored a 30% the first time they completed an assignment, then was retaught and reassessed, and scored an 80%, the gradebook will show a 70.30% as their grade. This will be an indicator to you as a parent your child failed the assignment their first attempt with a 30%, had an opportunity to redo their work, then passed the assignment, so a 70% is recorded in the gradebook.

STAAR Dates

3rd and 4th grades will take the STAAR math and reading. STAAR Reading and STAAR Math will be administered April, 2026. Exact dates for the assessment will be released during the spring semester.

TELPAS Assessment

All limited English proficient (LEP) students are required to participate in the Texas English Language Proficiency Assessment System (TELPAS). This assessment includes a variety of subjects tested throughout several testing windows during the spring semester. More information will be sent home to students involved in this assessment closer to the time of the assessment.

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Welcome to Hines Elementary!

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