Pleasanton Primary School

The Primary family is devoted to educating and inspiring all students academically, socially, and emotionally by giving our love and instilling integrity. We will model the importance of family, faith, and wisdom with our leaders of tomorrow.

The vision at Pleasanton Primary School is to equip and empower a community of life-long learners with the foundation to lead and succeed in our rapidly changing world.

Dear Pleasanton Primary families,

I am honored to serve as the principal of the Primary campus and thrilled to begin this 2024-2025 school year with you!

This will be my 21st year in education, and my 20th year with PISD. I am originally from San Diego, CA, but Pleasanton has been my family’s home since 2004. My husband and I have four boys who I am proud to say are all Pleasanton graduates. It has truly been a privilege to live and work in this community where parents, students, and Pleasanton ISD staff care for each other and strive to build positive relationships that support both academic learning and social/emotional growth. I am passionate about education and the children of this community. Pleasanton Primary gets to set the stage for students to develop a love of learning that will carry them through their years in PISD and far beyond! What a blessing it is to be able to impact the youngest hearts and minds in a way that will set them on their educational journey.

This year, the motto across Pleasanton ISD is Believe, Execute, Achieve - All Means All. Pleasanton Primary teachers and staff believe deeply that ALL students can and will be successful. They are committed to the execution of high quality instruction that will ensure our students have access to the very best education. And as a campus, we promise to hold ourselves and our students to high standards and will work everyday to achieve our goals.

As a professional leaning community, we recognize the value of collaboration. Through our partnerships with parents, community members, and our PISD family of educators, we can ensure students achieve high levels of success in all aspects of their lives.

Please know that my door is always open, and I welcome any and all conversations that may benefit our students. I have high expectations for this school year and look forward to collaborating with you as we work to provide our community’s children with the very best education.

Sincerely,

Donna Minniear

Empower your family by finding a healthy balance with technology usage. The American Psychological Association emphasizes the benefits of setting limits when children engage with technology. This could mean setting a timer for the duration of tablet, gaming system, phone, or television use, giving you control over your child's screen time.

Parents should not only set limits to the amount of time the child spends using technology but also monitor the content that the child is being exposed to. In school, students sometimes talk about the movies and games they have watched or played, such as Deadpool or Call of Duty. Viewing things like this can cause students to start using finger guns or using inappropriate language. Research has shown correlations between the use of technology and various developmental and behavioral problems. Some examples of possible adverse effects can include lack of attention, aggressive behaviors, sleep problems, a sedentary lifestyle, and exposure to language and content that is inappropriate for this age group.

The World Health Organization recommends that "children under five should not spend more than 60 minutes a day in front of a smartphone, computer, or TV screen. Children under 12 months should not spend even a minute in front of electronic devices."

Technology has its place in our world, but it's important to find a balance. It can be a great tool for children to communicate with a parent who might be working out of town, for example, through video chat. However, it's equally important to be aware of the content your child is viewing and to find a balance between technology use and family activities that promote social interaction and gross motor development. By finding this balance, you can ensure that technology remains a positive part of your child's life.

Your Friendly Assistant Principals,

Ms. Parker and Mrs. Westfall

SPECIAL EDUCATION-Students will be able to follow a visual schedule, classroom procedures, and learn characteristics of the Fall season.
ECSE-Students will be able to recognize that letters make sounds, words, and names. Students will begin working on expressing emotions, and identifying attributes such as color, texture, taste, smell, and sounds.
Pre-K4-Students will work on letter sound recognition.
Life Skills-Students will work on letter/sound recognition and blend sounds orally to make words.

Language Arts-Students will learn to recognize their name, name the 1st letter in their name, and identify other letters in their first name. Identify 2-5 uppercase and 2-5 lowercase letters and produce 2-5 letter sounds.

Math-Students will be able to identify 2-3 numbers, count a set of 2-3 items, and count to 5 by rote.

Language Arts-Students will be able to demonstrate understanding of key vocabulary, identify rhyming words and identify literary elements in nursery rhymes and fables such as character, main events, and moral lessons.

Math-Students will be able to count forward and backward to 20 with and without objects. Read, write, and represent whole numbers from 0 to 20 with and without objects or pictures and count a set of objects to 20 (I know the last number I say tells the total number of objects in that set).

Language Arts-Students will read/spell short vowel words and read/spell short vowel words with blends.

Math-Students will sort objects, create a tally chart with tally marks, and create bar/picture graph

Language Arts-Students will be introduced to classic fairy tales and tall tales and the well-known lessons they teach. Students will be able to relate to the problems faced by characters in each of these memorable tales, as well as learn from the lessons in each story. Students will be introduced to the tall tales “Paul Bunyan,” “Pecos Bill,” “John Henry,” and “Casey Jones.” Learning about tall tales will introduce students to the setting of the American frontier and some of the occupations settlers had there. The tall tales in this domain will also introduce students to the literary concept of exaggeration.

Math-Students will explore representing numbers up to 1,200. Students will learn the following concepts: Understanding that the place value system is based on the number 10 by using models and place value mats, using models to compose and decompose numbers up to 1,200, representing numbers up to 1,200 in standard, word, and expanded form, and determining whether a number is odd or even by pairing numbers to find if there is an unmatched pair.

The Everything Is Possible Mindset teaches that we can all live extraordinary lives. Students learn that everything that exists today was once just an idea until someone believed it was possible and took action to make it a reality. This is true with our lives as well—they become, in many ways, whatever we expect them to be.

Please read the attached parent newsletter to learn more about our mindset of the month, which also features dos and don’ts at home as well as activities you can do with your child.

Every day that your child attends school is another opportunity to learn something new! Our Primary attendance goal is to have 98 percent of our students attend school every day. Thank you for all that you do to support your child’s learning here at the Pleasanton Primary!

The First Eagle Prize cart was on Monday, August 26th and the kiddos loved it! The prize cart rolls around every three weeks, so please make sure your child is present so he/she doesn't miss it. Students earn Eagle Bucks by displaying good behaviors throughout the campus and then have the opportunity to spend their bucks on prizes. When they S.O.A.R., it means they are safe, obedient, accountable, and respectful.

In addition, teachers will select one student to receive a Soaring Eagle Award on a bi-monthly basis. Students will be recognized for exhibiting excellent behavior in all school settings. Please ensure that nominated students display excellent behavior in all settings across campus, such as specials, PE, and the cafeteria. A photo of these students will be posted on social media, they will receive a certificate and a golden token from the PBIS book machine.

September 2-NO SCHOOL

September 3-NO SCHOOL

September 10-Grandparents lunch PK and ECSE

September 11-Grandparents Lunch K

September 12-Grandparents Lunch 1st

September 13-Grandparents Lunch 2nd

September 13-PISD Tailgate Party 5-7 P.M.

September 16-Eagle Cart

September 16-Fundraiser ends

September 20-Progress Reports go Home

September 25-Bilingual Family Night

Mark your calendars for our first ever PISD Tailgate Party! We will kick off the much-anticipated Jourdanton vs. Pleasanton football game with some games, snacks, food trucks and door prizes. Join us from 5:00-7:00 pm on Jolly Street between the Jr. High and football field for some pre-game family fun. This Title 1 event is free and open to the public.

Email: jlsartor@pisd.us
Website: pisd.us/o/primary/
Location: 1209 Downey Drive, Pleasanton, TX, USA
Phone: 830-569-1325