Arapaho Classical Magnet

Hello ACM Families,

May is here and I hear both a big sigh of relief and a big sigh of exhaustion. We are looking forward to this final 3 weeks of school and all the fun end of year activities that are planned.

It's Staff Appreciation Week! All week we are honoring and celebrating our amazing teachers and staff. Teachers inspire curiosity and a lifelong love of learning. They are experts at boosting confidence through the right mix of motivation and instruction. They serve alternately as mediators, supportive listeners, and all-around problem solvers. This week, I encourage you to thank our teachers and staff for all they do to ensure that our students succeed in school and life.

We would also like to give a special thanks to our PTA Board and all of our many volunteers for a wonderful and super successful year. We are grateful for your continued support and could not do what we do everyday without YOU!

We're eagerly awaiting the arrival of Field Day on May 15th. This event is a highlight for our staff and students as it provides teamwork and cherished memories that will extend long after the day. Please consider volunteering and join in on the fun! You can sign up here!

Have a great week!

Thanks,

Kristin Strickland
Proud Principal

Upcoming dates to know:

May 4-8: Staff Appreciation Week

May 8: all student library books due, Hat/Accessories Day (see flyer below)

May 13: PTA meeting with Choir performance, 6pm

May 15: Field Day
May 21: ACM Choir performance at Roughriders game

May 22: Last day- early release 1:10pm, 6th grade Celebration 9am, uniform free day!

Dear Parents/Guardians,

Magnet schools in Richardson ISD commit to providing specialized programs, themes, and courses designed to engage students with unique, interest-based pathways. We would like to have your valuable inputs on how we are doing and what we need to improve. Any feedback from you is precious and will help us make decisions that will best serve our students.

This brief survey is totally anonymous unless you choose to voluntarily provide your information for further contact. Please feel comfortable responding honestly.

Here is the survey link: https://s.risd.org/MagnetParent

Thank you!

Joe Miniscalco
Senior Executive Director of Access and Specialized Programing
Richardson ISD

The field day volunteer link is live! Sign up today and make sure your background check is submitted.

Field Day volunteer link: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0E45AEA62AABFDC07-49738503-acmfield#/

Background Check: https://command.verkada.com/checkin.html?org_id=a2ef390b-3ffc-479f-a22f-dc1f4322a9f7&token=43408437-ce4b-4095-a044-76e98c8a4612&shard=prod1

ACM students only – please plan childcare for siblings.

We have several items in our lost and found that have do not have names on them so they cannot be returned. Over the next two weekends, we will putting the items in the lost and found on the front porch to provide after school hour opportunities for pick up. Items left after May 18th will be thrown away or donated.

Texas legislation requires all parents and guardians to provide clear opt-in and opt-out preferences for their student regarding various activities and services such as:

• Available access to health services (all grade levels)

• After-school clubs (all grade levels)

• Counseling opportunities (K-5 & 7-12)

• Library Services (all grade levels)
  
  

All RISD parents/legal guardians received an email from the district on Friday, August 22 with information to select your preferences for your student(s) in FOCUS. Please make sure that you check your email, you should have a message from Richardson ISD, with the subject line: Important Parent Message in Regards to Recent Texas Legislation.

Please visit the FOCUS portal and use the newly created page to submit your preferences for each of your children.

If you have additional questions, please submit a Let’s Talk here.

Thank you for helping us ensure a safe and supportive learning environment for all students. We look forward to a great new school year.

ACM families are encouraged to apply for free and reduced meals. New forms must be completed each school year. The online application is available now and paper applications are available in our office if needed.

Students’ prior eligibility for free or reduced-price meals will expire on September 23. To continue receiving benefits for the 2025–2026 school year, a new application must be submitted.

It is extremely important that families who may qualify for free or reduced meals fill out this form so that your child's meal benefits do not expire.

Parents, thank you for your support in ensuring your child wears his/her badge throughout the school day every day. We are also proud of our bus riders for complying with the requirement to scan their badge each time they board and exit the bus to and from school.

If your child needs help or a reminder about this new district requirement, please watch this video, visit our Transportation web page or contact our office.

We’re excited to announce the launch of our new Volunteer Management System (VMS) — Verkada, a user-friendly platform designed to make it easier than ever for families, community members, and partners to get involved in our schools. Verkada is a system the district has already been using for visitor management and will replace VOLY for all campus and district volunteer management.

Whether you’re a longtime RISD volunteer or new to the district, our new system simplifies the entire process — from pre-screening to completing a background check to checking in at any one of the RISD campuses.

All visitors will be required to check in at the front office with a state issued drivers license or ID.

Getting Started Is Easy

1. Complete the application Click here to complete your 2025-2026 Richardson ISD Volunteer Application
2. Upload Required Documents and Watch Required Training The pre-screening application will require you to upload a valid state-issued Drivers License/ID or a passport and watch the RISD volunteer orientation presentation.
3. Seek Opportunities You can now inquire about volunteer opportunities directly at your school of choice.
4. Track Hours We will be able to track your hours and see your impact.

Safety is always our top priority. Verkada includes built-in background checks to ensure all volunteers meet our district’s safety standards.

Your information is always protected by industry-standard security protocols.

Before entering the building, you will need to push the red buzzer. Our office staff will ask how they can help you before letting you in. This is a requirement for everyone even if our office staff knows who you are. We appreciate your support and patience with this process.

PLEASE keep the email QR code that you receive upon clearing your Verkada background check to show to the office when volunteering.

If you need to drop off your child’s lunch or another item for the school day, please:

1. Clearly label the item with your child’s name, grade level, and teacher’s name.

2. Place the item on the black cart in the main office.

3. Send your child’s teacher a quick message through Talking Points to let them know it has been dropped off.

Thank you for helping us ensure items are delivered smoothly!

Beginning this week, visitors are welcome to join their student for lunch. Here are a few reminders when planning to visit for lunch.

Here are a few reminders when planning to visit for lunch.

• Due to space in our cafeteria we are asking that parents who wish to have lunch with their child do so on the designated days.
  
  

• Fridays will be reserved for students to have lunch with their Houses, so we will not have cafeteria visitors on Fridays.

• Exceptions to the visitor schedule (M-Th) can be made for special circumstances (like a student birthday)
• Arrive before your child's scheduled lunch time.
• Bring your ID to be screened at check-in. You will be given a visitor badge to wear at all times while on campus.
• Visitors should sit at the designated visitor table with their child and are not permitted to sit at the class cafeteria tables.
• Lunch visitors may eat lunch with only their child. Friends will not be permitted to join another parent on for lunch.
• We request that visitors follow a no-cell phone policy to ensure student privacy and quality time with their child. Taking pictures or videos in the cafeteria that include any other students or staff is not permitted.
• When your child’s lunch period is over, visitors should exit the building from the front or office doors. Lunch visitors should NOT walk their child back to class.
• If a visitor who is not a parent or guardian comes to eat lunch with a student, we must have permission ahead of time from the parent or guardian or they will not be permitted to eat with the student.

These guidelines may need to be adjusted from time to time. Updates will be communicated as needed.

Please review the 25-26 ACM Parent/Student Handbook.

Parent drop off will take place in the front and back circle drives of ACM from 7:30-7:50am. This is the area where staff and safety patrol students are on duty to assist students out of their car and safely into the building. Students who are dropped off on the south side of Cypress (across from ACM) must follow the directions of the crossing guard posted at the intersection. Students and parents should always use the crosswalk when crossing the front drive and when crossing Mimosa to Cypress. Student safety is our top priority.

In an effort to allow all students timely access to the building, please pull as far into the driveway as traffic flow will allow before your child exits your car. This may require some students to backtrack to their entry door, but this will allow our traffic to flow as smoothly as possible and minimize backup on Mimosa and Arapaho. We will have ample staff on hand out front and in the hallways to support students in making it to their classrooms.

Walkers, bike riders, and bus riders will all enter the front/main doors of ACM and should never walk around the building to enter the b hall/gym doors.

The doors will open each morning at 7:30am. Students will go directly to the cafeteria for breakfast or the gym upon arrival. The morning tardy bell will ring at 7:50am. Please try to arrive by 7:40am if you are planning to drive your children to school.

There is no supervision provided prior to 7:30am. Please do not drop students off before 7:30am.

LATE ARRIVALS- Students who arrive after 7:50 MUST be dropped off in the front circle drive and enter through the main doors.

All students who ride bicycles are encouraged to follow the safety rules:

• Walk bikes on school property

• Walk bikes across crosswalks

• Securely lock bike on bike rack

AFTERNOON DISMISSAL PROCEDURES

Afternoon Pick Up
We will dismiss all carpool children at 3:05pm. Parent pick up will take place in the front of the building for all students. Please always pull all the way up to the car in front of you in line. This will help us get more cars through the line faster. Place the carpool tag so that it is visible in your windshield/window for a staff member to see. As you drive through the pickup line, staff will read your child’s number, call your child from their designated waiting area inside or outside the building, and escort them to your car.

*If you need a carpool number or tag, we will get those to you on the first day or send them home with your child.

Reserved Carpool Spot Reminder
The first spot in the carpool lane will be reserved daily for our ACM Auction Winner. Please help us honor this special privilege by keeping that space open each day. Thank you for your cooperation and support of our school!

Walkers will be dismissed at 3:10pm and should immediately leave the campus. All walkers will be expected to cross the street at the corner of Mimosa and Cypress. A crossing guard is on duty for the safety of our students. Please explain this safety precaution to your child and support our efforts to keep all children safe.

Students that are being picked up by a bus will exit the back of the building to board their bus.

Students who attend the xPlore Program will be taken directly to the cafeteria, or grade level assigned location when the dismissal bell rings.

Often in the first few days, our younger students are confused about whether they are being picked up by their parents or if they are to ride the bus. Please do your best to help them be sure of how they are getting home. Students are to provide their classroom teacher with a NOTE from their parent/guardian if there is a change in their dismissal procedure.

Please do not enter the office between 2:30 and 3:00 to pick up your student. If a situation arises in which you need to pick up your student between 2:30 and 3:00, please give the front office as much notice as possible.

Parents are asked to remain in their cars during drop of and dismissal. We recognize that parents enjoy visiting with one another and their child’s teachers during these times, but in an effort to keep the carpool line and traffic moving and keep all students safe, we are requesting that parents remain in their cars and allow our staff to support your children in entering and exiting the building. If you are a “walker” and drop off/pick up your child by foot, we ask that you do so efficiently. We kindly ask that parents not congregate on the front porch or in the front of the school.

ARRIVAL & DISMISSAL SAFETY REMINDERS!

Parents, we need your help keeping our students safe!

Please reacquaint yourself with the following:

¬ There is a NO LEFT TURN SIGN in the front circle drive.
¬ There is NO U-turning anywhere on Cypress Dr.
¬ No drop off or pick up in front of the large cones.
¬ Students are ONLY allowed to cross Cypress at the crosswalk. It is extremely dangerous to allow your child to run across Cypress.

¬ Please be patient and courteous to others. We have to work together to keep our students safe.

Parents received an email on Tuesday, August 12 with information on how to access Schoology, RISD’s online learning platform for grades 3-12. Please check your email to learn more about how teachers and students use the platform, and how parents can stay informed and engaged in their child’s learning throughout the school year.

All students at ACM are required to wear a uniform. Please familiarize yourself with the uniform policy. We are still seeing many students in non uniform apparel. Please note that a white shirts with navy bottoms are not part of our uniform. Thanks for your cooperation.

• Create a Focus account – RISD provides electronic access to a student’s attendance, grades, and other information via the Focus school software system. . https://web.risd.org/focus/

• Download the RISD calendars.
  

• Download SchoolCafe app – RISD’s school cafeteria payment system is called SchoolCafe. https://www.schoolcafe.com/ and breakfast/lunch menus can be found here.

• All of RISD will be utilizing Talking Points for classroom communication. Please download the free app to get started communicating with your child's teacher!

• • You can find more information online at this link

• Download RISD Mobile Parent app – Access student information, view the latest news, receive important alerts, review archive of parent messages sent by RISD, view school menus and lunch account balances, find your bus stop, access student schedules, assignment grades, attendance and more via the RISD Mobile Parent app.

• Support our amazing school by joining the ACM PTA!

May 4-8: Staff Appreciation Week, EOY MAP testing begins

May 8: all student library books due, Hat/Accessories Day (see flyer below)

May 13: PTA meeting with Choir performance, 6pm

May 15: Field Day
May 21: ACM Choir performance at Roughriders game

May 22: Last day- early release 1:10pm, 6th grade Celebration 9am, uniform free day!

Challenge Island is coming to ACM on May 6 and 7. They'll set up shop in the gym and help students design, create and compete in a DIY Roller Coaster Challenge. We need parent volunteers in a major way so sign up below and get in on the zips, twists and fun. bit.ly/41GSijx

Free Family-Friendly Event. Bike Rodeo on May 9, 2026! 10-11:30am, at Heights Park. Parking lot next to the baseball field. This fun and interactive event is designed for students and families to learn more about bike safety and enjoy hands-on activities. Children are required to bring a parent, a bike, and a helmet to participate in activities.

Activities include:

• Bicycle Safety Course

• Helmet fit check

• Bicycle repair

• Bike skills and games