02-27 - Weekly Newsletter

-- February 23rd to February 27th, 2026 --

Hello T-Bird Families!

This has been an exhausting week of testing, but I’m so proud of our amazing teachers, leaders, students, and operations team. Everyone has truly overcome several challenges in order to ensure we had as close to 100% of students test as possible. For our high school students, testing this week was for their STAAR preparation. As a reminder, our high school students cannot graduate unless they pass:

• Algebra I STAAR (8th/9th grade)
• English I STAAR (9th grade)
• English II STAAR (10th grade)
• Biology STAAR (11th grade)
• US History STAAR (11th grade)

Next week, testing continues for our high school students in preparing them for their COLLEGE LEVEL AP EXAMS. These tests are very different than the STAAR. These tests are preparing them for an AP exam in May, that if they pass, they can earn college credit. We have students taking AP exams in English Literature, Spanish Language, World History, Human Geography, US History, Computer Science, and Pre-Calculus. Think of ALL the college credit our kids can earn!

You might ask “why do we test so much?” and it’s because we collect useful data on how our students are performing in every test. Then our teachers analyze the data and plan ways to help students grow and improve in order to pass the official exams in April and May. Praise your child for their hard work this week, and continue to support your high schoolers into next week.

Our gradebook closes on Friday, March 6th, which is NEXT WEEK. Please review your child’s skyward and check their grades. Talk with your child about their academic performance, and reach out to teachers if you have any questions. We will have school ALL week (3/2-3/6). The week after next (March 9th), we have no school on Friday, March 13th. Students are still required to attend on Thursday, March 12th. If you have any questions, reach out to our front office. Have a great weekend!

Best,
MG

Hi KPR Families,

I can't believe that we have finished February and are now entering March. Even though there is much to get done this semester, time is flying by! On March 12th, our school will be hosting our annual soccer tailgate.

In addition to seeing our soccer team play and connecting with friends and KPR families, we have three community partners who will be on campus to talk to families. Representatives from CommunityCare will be in the cafeteria, helping families schedule dental and medical appointments for their students. CommunityCare will also have information about insurance eligibility and how to apply for insurance. The Central Food Bank will be providing food for our families. Food can be picked up in the cafeteria at dismissal, or during the tailgate event. Representatives from Richman Property Management will also be at the event to share information about their affordable (income-restricted) housing within 1-5 miles of our school campus.

This will be a great event with a variety of resources for students and families. I hope to see you there!

Best,

Ms. Coy

If you have already RSVP'd for one of the Virtual Panel Discussions through the link in our KIPP Family Monthly Newsletter, please kindly resubmit your RSVP using this link. We discovered a glitch in the previous form sent out, so we did not receive your RSVP. We apologize for the duplicate effort and look forward to supporting you and your family through this virtual event.

Talking about super parents, one of our very own makes all kinds of shirts and goodies for our school and we partnered up to design a black history month shirt our students can wear every Wednesday as Paseo Pride! Please reach out to Ms.Aviles with your shirt size if you'd like to place an order or directly to her through instagram @ blue_flamingo_designs

Shout out to Ross for framing tomorrow’s IA! She compared the STAAR to a marathon and how important it is to train for it. She named it’s a grade and an indicator of all the work students have put in and their growth this year. Great job!!

Join us for Kickin' It with the Thunderbirds and sign up for a booth at the soccer tailgate on March 12th.

This is our attendance standing for the school year. Attendance is one of if not the MOST crucial part of a students academic success.
As a reminder your student must have 90% attendance in school to be able to receive the academic credit for the year, notes only excuse from being truant not from minutes missed in class.

Congratulations to Ms. Perez’s Advisory for winning our Attendance Cart this week! This was our FINAL week in February to earn the attendance cart, and we are so proud of their commitment to showing up every day ready to learn.

We are excited to announce our next attendance incentive: March Movie Madness! 🎬🍿

During this competition, the advisory with the BEST daily attendance averages each day will earn points. The advisory with the most points at the end of the competition will win a movie celebration with popcorn!

With STAAR quickly approaching, it is extremely important that students are at school every day. Every day of attendance matters as we prepare and build confidence for testing season. Thank you for your continued partnership in making sure your child is present and ready to learn!

Let’s make March a month of strong attendance!

We are excited to share that we have partnered with H-E-B to collect plastic bags and raise funds for our school! We are accepting ANY retail plastic shopping bags, produce bags, and bread bags.

The collection will run from March 2 – April 3.

The grade level that collects the MOST bags will win an ICE CREAM PARTY! 🍨

As we move into March, we are officially less than one month away from the State ACT Test occurring on campus. This is one of the most important college-readiness milestones of the year for our Thunderbirds, and we want to ensure every student is fully prepared.

✏️ State ACT Test — March 24

Please mark your calendars:

📅 Tuesday, March 24
🕗 Students must be on time and present

Because this is a state assessment, it is critical that students arrive on time, well-rested, and ready to test. We ask families to avoid scheduling appointments on this day so students do not miss this graduation-impacting opportunity.

*Spring Break is the week before the ACT, so please encourage your student to spend time reviewing at home, even if only 15 minutes a day. Every bit of practice helps build confidence.

🧾 Reminder: Free Tax Support Event

Filing taxes is not only important for families, but it is also the first step in completing financial aid applications, which is a graduation requirement in Texas.

To support our community, KPR will be hosting Foundation Communities Free Tax Support Day on March 31, 2026, at 6:00 PM.

Families will be able to:

• Attend a tax information session

• Ask questions

• Schedule a FREE tax filing appointment

Please RSVP so we can plan appropriately for space and staffing: tinyurl.com/FCxKPR26

We strongly encourage all families, especially 11th-grade families, to attend.

🎓 College Visits in March

March 12: All 9th–11th graders will visit St. Edward's University

📌 Permission slips will be sent home on Monday, March 2. Please return them as soon as possible.

April 14: All 11th graders will visit the University of Texas at San Antonio. More information will follow as we get closer.

⭐ Reminders of Upcoming Opportunities & Deadlines

These opportunities remain open to students. Please take advantage of them before spots fill or deadlines close:

• Aggieland Saturday — Texas A&M 📅 2/28/2026

• United States Naval Academy STEM Program & Summer Seminar 📅 Forum + summer program info on 3/1/2026

• Washington University in St. Louis – High School Summer Scholars Program 📅 Due Monday, 3/2

• QuestBridge College Prep Scholars Program 📅 Due Tuesday, 3/24

• Matriculate – High School Fellows Program 📅 Rolling deadline through 5/31 (or until spots fill)

We strongly encourage students, especially juniors, to apply early and often. Many of these opportunities are free and can significantly strengthen a student’s college application.

🤝 We Are Here to Support You

If you need help navigating the ACT, summer programs, college visits, financial aid preparation, or any postsecondary planning questions, please reach out. We are grateful for your continued partnership as we help our Thunderbirds prepare for the future that awaits them.

✈️ Planning today opens doors tomorrow. Let's keep our students soaring.

📌 Save the Date: March 31 |📍 KPR Cafeteria

Families will have the opportunity to:

• Attend a free tax information session

• Schedule an appointment to file taxes at no cost

We strongly encourage families — especially current 11th grade families — to take advantage of this opportunity to prepare early for next year’s financial aid process.

Remember this rating is as a whole school, not just focused on one section or person! Tell us your overall experience with us HERE!

Your Parent Portal is SO important and crucial to know what's happening in your students day to day school life, on knowing who's teaching your students and so much more!

In addition to reviewing Attendance, Grades, Schedule etc, parents will also be able to update their Address, Contact Information and approved student pickup order.

Login Instructions

In order to sign the consent or check the reports you'll need to login to skyward! I know not everybody knows how to yet so here is a one pager on instructions of how to sign in, and how to reset your password if necessary.

English How-to, EN - Reset Password

Spanish How-to, SP - Reset Password

Students involved in incidents where they intentionally OR accidentally damage another student’s computer will be held responsible for the cost of the repairs.

Please talk to your child about

1) protecting their technology (your student is responsible for their computer)

2) not horseplaying or rough housing or touching another student’s computer (they will be held responsible for damaging the other student's computer)

3) reporting problems with their own devices (we understand there is normal wear and tear to computers that get used daily, but we are able to clearly differentiate between destruction and gentle usage)

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As a reminder each student is responsible for their chromebook, this included on days they are absent which is why attendance is also so critical! Accidents happen but any damages must be paid to be fixed and any missing ones must be paid to be replaced.

If a student is out of dress code, parents will be called. Parents can either bring a change of clothes or student will have to be picked up, the absence will not be excused.
Dress code is not optional. If we ever have spirit days there will be communication sent out to parents as well as posted for students.
Thank you for your support in holding our students accountable as part of commitment to excellence.