The Weekly Update #4

May 2026 - We Made It!

Busy Month Ahead!

Memorial Families,

As I’ve taken time to reflect on this school year, I am truly in awe of the growth we’ve seen in our students. I could not be more proud of our Mavericks and all they have accomplished. This year is especially bittersweet for me—wrapping up my first year as principal while also preparing to say “see you soon” to our 5th graders. This incredible group of students holds a special place in my heart, as they were the first I had the joy of getting to know when I arrived at Memorial. So, if you happen to see me with a few puffy eyes at upcoming events, we’ll just say it’s allergies!

In all seriousness, it’s hard to believe this is our final Family Game Plan of the school year. Parents, thank you from the bottom of my heart for your support, encouragement, and grace throughout the year. Your partnership has meant so much.

As we head into next week, we are excited to celebrate Teacher Appreciation Week! Our teachers pour their hearts into creating meaningful, engaging learning experiences every single day, ensuring our Mavericks are prepared for what’s next. Let’s come together to show them just how much they are valued. Please see the ideas below for simple ways to share your appreciation throughout the week.

-Please remember to turn in library books next week!

-No lunch charges will be allowed the last two weeks of school

-Please see the calendar of events below and volunteer if you can!

Warm regards,

Principal Miles

End of Year Full Schedule of Events

K-5 End of Year Parties

PreK End of Year Party Water Day

26-27 Academic Calendar

As we begin planning for the upcoming 2026–2027 school year, we are asking all families to complete a quick Intent to Return Form for each child currently enrolled at Memorial.

This information is extremely important as it helps us make decisions about staffing, class placements, and ensuring we are prepared to best support our students.

Please take a moment to complete the form linked below no later than April 30th.

If you have more than one child attending Memorial, please complete a separate form for each student.

We are so grateful for your partnership and for being a part of our Memorial Maverick family. If you have any questions, please feel free to email Ms. Miles at miless@lisd.net

Thank you for your time and support!

Intent to Return Form

PTA

Parents, as many of you know, we have the BEST PTA in LISD! Our partnership with this amazing group has provided so many things like our outdoor learning center, STAAR Snacks for the students, Programs such as the Mobile Planetarium and the upcoming Storm Science program. This is a very VERY small list of things that our PTA does for our students. Each year, we have an election for new board members along with our drive to have new families join this wonderful group. If you are interested in being a part of our PTA Board, please click the link below. If you would like more information regarding the commitment to be a board member, please reach out to our current board President, Judi Kim at judikim.pta@gmail.com We look forward to working with you!

May Breakfast and Lunch Menu

Thank you for such an extraordinary year! We have so appreciated having Ms.Kemp join us for the 2nd half of the year, and she will be missed BIG TIME next year!

May's Character Trait: Leadership—leadership means guiding, inspiring, and helping others to achieve a common goal while being kind and responsible, rather than being the loudest or just 'in charge'. It involves solving problems, making good decisions, and setting a positive example (leading by example). Remember as teachers and parents, we are the ultimate leaders for our children and they are always listening and watching (even when we may not think they are! 😁) Check out this video we made using the Google Notebook LM feature...it combined children's books, worksheets and videos into one cool summary!

Guidance Lessons: We are finalizing the year with lessons on leadership and taking care of ourselves . Teachers have finished Second Step lessons teachers and are reviewing growth mindset, kindness, emotion management, empathy and healthy problem solving.

The Colony Counselor Podcast: Check out our latest edition and discussion of The Anxious Generation as well as all that has been happening in The Colony counselor world! If it requires a password, it is : TpXn648J

5th Graders were setting goals in their digital notebooks

26 classes have earned Golden Maverick parties! A new record!

Kindergarteners having some lunchtime fun to celebrate their hard work!

Click the picture to read a helpful article from the creators of Love & Logic!

Bullying Prevention Unit

Guidance Scope and Sequence

LISD Counseling and Social Work

Overdue Books

Hello families! It's time. All library books are due the first week of May, the 4th-8th. Every student will be coming to the library to turn their books in for the year on their normal library day unless the teacher had to change it due to a schedule conflict. Please help your students locate their books before their library day so their class can earn their makerspace party! I will also be dying my hair and beard some outrageous color if the whole school has 15 or fewer lost books after I finish inventory before school is over. I will also be posting pictures on social media (not that I'd have a choice 😅) so everyone can share in the students' triumph...if they manage to succeed in the challenge.

It is imperative books are returned so families do not have to pay for missing books. In all circumstances I always want are original book returned rather than a fee payment; however, you have thoroughly searched and cannot find a book, please email me at dickersond@lisd.net before you pay for anything. You can see what books your student currently has checked out on the LISD app.

Next Week Library Schedule (as of May 1st)

Reading Challenge Badges...Button Machine Broken 😟

Students who complete the 400 club for April or earned a book badge during April will not be receiving the badge portion of their reward. Unfortunately, my button machine broke and I will be unable to purchase a new one until next school year. It's a huge bummer and I hope it students don't feel too disappointed. I will be printing out certificates instead.

Summer Reading Challenges

Although Memorial's reading challenges are done for the year, don't let that stop a good thing if our reading challenges and book clubs have been motivating your student to read. Each of the public libraries has their own summer reading challenges that offer really cool prizes, including free books!

Click the summer reading challenge sun to go to a Wakelet with a link to each of our local public library's reading challenges,