Trailblazer Talk
October 2025
Academic Parent Teacher Teams (APTT) Night on October 7th 5-6:10pm
Please join your student's teachers this evening to learn about your student's progress at school. You'll get individualized information about YOUR child AND you'll be taught a strategy to help your student at home. This night is very important in our partnership with our families to help our students grow academically. We have this meeting once each semester.
We provide child care for this evening as well. Please complete the link in the form below if you'll need child care for this event. We are not able to provide snacks or a meal this year.
Kids Have to Be Present at School to Learn
DID YOU KNOW?
In Texas, all students enrolled in public education are required to attend school regularly; this includes Prekindergarten students. Schools are required to file on parents that do not have students at school regularly.
• Starting in preschool and kindergarten, too many absences can cause children to fall behind in school.
• Missing 10%, or about 2 days each month over the course of a school year, can make it harder to learn to read. Kids who miss too much school in PreK & K are less likely to be reading by 3rd grade.
• Students can still fall behind if they miss just one or two days every few weeks.
• Being late to school may lead to poor attendance.
• Absences and tardiness can affect the whole classroom if the teacher has to slow down learning to help children catch up.
Attending school regularly helps children feel better about school—and themselves. Start building this habit in preschool so they learn right away that going to school on time, every day is important. Eventually good attendance will be a skill that will help them succeed in high school and college!
Attendance Matters ⏰
Texas law requires students to be in attendance at least 90% of the time in order to receive credit for the semester.
Attendance can be a better predictor of whether students will graduate from high school than test scores.
Students in kindergarten and 1st grade who are chronically absent will not likely read at grade level by the 3rd grade.
Texas is one of the few states in the country that funds its schools using average daily attendance.
Texas law requires students ages 6-19 to attend school each day that instruction is provided. This also applies to students who are younger than six and have previously been enrolled in 1st grade and to students younger than six who are voluntarily enrolled in pre-kindergarten or kindergarten.
Attendance also effects school distinction designations.
Senate Bill 10
We want to keep you updated on a new state requirement. Beginning September 1, 2025, Texas law (Senate Bill 10) says every public school classroom must display the Ten Commandments. Montgomery ISD has received donations of these posters from several community groups, and under the law, we are required to put them up.
Some parents have asked questions, so we want to clear things up. While a federal court recently paused the law for a small number of districts that were named as defendants in a lawsuit, Montgomery ISD isn’t part of that case and is required to display the posters. To make this as easy as possible for teachers, our maintenance staff is handling the installation—just like they do with fire escape maps or AED signs. These posters aren’t part of classroom lessons or instruction, and teachers won’t be using them in activities or discussing them with students.
If a student asks about a poster, teachers will respond in a neutral way and direct the student to their family for discussion. We believe families are the most appropriate place to talk about the Ten Commandments, and this approach ensures conversations happen in the context of home and family values.
We’ll complete installation of the posters with as little disruption as possible so our teachers can stay focused on educating your children. Thank you for your understanding and for partnering with us as we follow the state’s requirements.
Counselor's Corner
In October we teach and focus on Responsibility. Please watch the video linked here for more information about our character education program. The family newsletter is a great resource as well to reinforce the skills we discuss at school.
Clothing Donations
PTO Info
Reminders
- Students are not allowed to have electronic devices including electronic watches
- Student checkout ends at 3pm
- Students should only have water in their water bottles
- Label all items sent to school including jackets
- Please drive slowly at SCE at all times
- It is against the law to be on a cell phone in a school zone while behind the wheel
- SCE is not a walker campus; no walkers from other campuses either
Dress Code
Parents,
We need your support in helping us enforce the school dress code. I’ve attached the specific section where we’ve noticed some recent concerns. Please remember that slits in skirts must also follow the appropriate length guidelines.
As a rule of thumb, students should be able to move naturally—walking, running, raising their arms—without needing to adjust their clothing. If a student has to pull their shorts or skirt down while standing still, the item does not meet dress code requirements.
Thank you for your support in keeping our school environment respectful and distraction-free.
Month At A Glance
10/7: Academic Parent Teacher Teams Night 5pm -6:15pm
10/10-14: Student Fall Break
10/27-31: Red Ribbon Week (see flyer)
11/7: SCE Trailblazer Trot Fundraiser