Thursday, August 31, 2017

Week of August 28, 2017

Thursday Folders:
Swirls Night for Iron Horse
A Taste of DCSD
Iron Horse Chess
Iron Horse Elementary Honor Choir

Legend Homecoming Week and Football:
Legend will be giving out Rally Towels with the Legend feeder logo on them at their first home football game THIS Friday vs. Ponderosa, encouraging Legend pride and focusing on the 4 awesome elementary schools in our feeder area, FUTURE TITANS!! The game is at EchoPark Stadium off of Hess Road and starts at 7:00pm.
We will also be joining Legend to celebrate our feeder's homecoming! Iron Horse will be participating in the Legend Parade on Wednesday, Sept. 6 from 4:30-5:00pm. If your child would like to join us, please meet Mrs. Carlson and Mrs. Bloomfield in the lower Legend parking lot at 4:15. Students should make a conductor hat at home to wear during the parade. Instructions can be found here: http://www.myactivitymaker.com/?q=PolarExpress. Please also have your student wear IHE spirit wear or black/yellow. Parents must remain at the parade and meet us at the entrance (front doors) of Cimarron Middle School immediately following the conclusion of our walk down the parade. We ask all parents to provide us with cell phone numbers for safety reasons.
Students will be either sitting on a trailer or walking behind and passing candy.

Spirit Days Next Week:
  • Tuesday - Statue of Liberty Day (dress in green, crowns, etc)
  • Wednesday - People of New York Day (dress like a broadway star, baseball player, etc)
  • Thursday - New York Fashion Gone Wrong (crazy hair, clothes, etc)
  • Friday - Legend Titan Day (dress in blue, white, and orange)
The Junction:
We are so excited to open our doors for student book check-out next week! Some of the major renovations for our space have been completed and books are on the shelves ready to go! Over the next few weeks, students will learn how to self-checkout books. This means that they do not have to wait for a weekly time to check out. Ms. Cunningham will be available Tuesday through Friday to allow students to check out books as needed. Over the next several weeks, we will have new furniture for students to use, as well as educational materials available. This will be an amazing space where students and staff can engage in integrated learning experiences with Ms. Cunningham. Be on the lookout for a grand opening celebration after fall break! 

Our Fall Book Fair is coming! All proceeds from the book fair will benefit The Junction, allowing Ms. Cunningham to buy books for students to check out. Dates for the book fair are October 2-6. Please use this link to sign up to help: Sign Up for Volunteering

Principal's Coffee/Tea:
Please join me for the first principal's coffee/tea of the year on September 21st from 10:30-11:00. This is an opportunity for you to ask questions, have conversations, and for us to get to know one another. If you have specific concerns, we can set up an individual time to discuss. Please RSVP here so that we can purchase the appropriate supplies. 


Joining Together To Support Texas:
As a school, we will be supporting relief efforts for Coastal Village Elementary School in Galveston. This school is located on Galveston Island and has been hit very hard by the current storm. Coastal Village serves students in grades PreK-4. I have contacted the principal, Mrs. Cherie Spencer (pictured to the left in the glasses), to determine their needs. At this time, she is unable to go into the school to determine what needs they have, but will be contacting me shortly after she is cleared to return. We will be sending more information home after we determine how our learning community can best support their learning community. Thank you in advance for your help!

Assessment Day: 
On September 21st, we will be assessing our students in the area of reading. This is also our district student count day, for which we receive funding. Teachers will be taking attendance for our records so please make sure to have your child attend. A parent or guardian must accompany each student. Students who attend BASE will be taken to their appointment by the BASE staff. OnLine Scheduler will be open from September 7-17th. In order to schedule a time, please use the directions below. 

To sign up, please go to the Iron Horse Website
Once you are at the website, click on the Parent Resources.

Once there, you will click on "On Line Scheduler"
This will direct you the the Online Scheduler page. From there, please select "IRON HORSE ELEMENTARY ASSESSMENT DAY" and click "Go". Then you will need to enter your student's ID number (same as their lunch number) and the password "engineer". From there, you will be able to select a date and time for your student's assessment. 



Sleep Information From Sky Ridge:
Join us at Sky Ridge Medical Center for Sleep Hygiene!
One in four children are misdiagnosed with ADD/ADHD when they are experiencing sleep deprivation. Depression, Dementia and other ailments have been misdiagnosed for the same reason. Learn more about how you can help improve the quality of your students' in order to function at their best!

Wednesday, September 13, 6pm
Sky Ridge Medical Center
Sign up here!

Upcoming Events:
September 4: No School - Labor Day
September 5: Hearing and Vision Screenings
September 6: Hearing and Vision Screenings
September 15: All Pro Dads/Donuts for Dads - 7:50-8:20am
September 21: Assessment Day - No School: Students come with parent/guardian at assigned time to participate in classroom assessments 
September 21: Principal's Coffee/Tea: 10:30-11:00am in the Junction
September 22: No School - Teacher Professional Learning Day
October 4 and 5: Parent-Teacher Conferences

Thursday, August 24, 2017

Week of August 21, 2017

Thursday Folder Fliers

Parking Lot:
As you are dropping off or picking up students, please pull all the way forward. Students who are waiting for you will walk to your car. This helps to facilitate our line and get everyone on their way in a timely manner. Please DO NOT ask your student to cross within the parking lot and come to your car! They will be stopped, as we do not allow students in the parking lots without a parent/guardian/sibling over 18. Please also note that students can arrive anytime between 8:20 and 8:37. Students are not late until the 8:37 bell rings. 

Traffic Lights Around Iron Horse:
There has been an increase in traffic violations and cars blocking intersections at Hilltop and Tallman, as well as Tallman and Club. Please respect the traffic laws and DO NOT block the intersections or crosswalks. This causes safety issues with students and staff who are crossing the road, as well as causing traffic back ups. Please wait to turn until cars have cleared these areas. Parker Police have been informed of the situation and will be monitoring the area. 

Lending Library:
Please feel free to utilize our lending library located outside of our front doors. This is based on an honor system: take a book, leave a book. We want to encourage everyone to join us in celebrating reading and literacy! 

Iron Horse Spirit Day:
Every Friday is Iron Horse Spirit Day! Please have your child wear their Iron Horse gear. If your child does not have a shirt to wear, PTO will have order forms available at the Open House tonight and during our Assessment Day. 

The historic solar eclipse occurred on Monday. Students had a great time viewing the eclipse with their special glasses.
Vision and Hearing Screenings:
Please read this letter from our district nurse: Letter to ParentsVision and Hearing Screenings will take place on September 5th and 6th.

Swirls Day:
We will have an Iron Horse Swirls Day on September 21 from 11am until 10pm. Please enjoy a frozen treat and mention Iron Horse. Iron Horse will receive a portion of the funds from this day.  

National Box Tops Week 9/24-9/30
Please send in your boxtops to the office. We will be creating a drop off box outside of the office very shortly. Please include your student's name and their teacher with the box tops. 

Upcoming Events:
August 25: Fun Run - Grades PreK-2 8:50-9:50am, Grades 3-5 10:00-11:00am
September 4: No School - Labor Day
September 5: Hearing and Vision Screenings
September 6: Hearing and Vision Screenings
September 15: All Pro Dads/Donuts for Dads - 7:50-8:20am
September 21: Assessment Day - No School: Students come with parent/guardian at assigned time to participate in classroom assessments (see above)
September 22: No School - Teacher Professional Learning Day
October 4 and 5: Parent-Teacher Conferences

Thursday, August 17, 2017

Week of August 14, 2017

Thursday Folder Links:

Open House Next Week:
We will be having an open house next Thursday evening from 6:00-7:30pm. This is a chance for you to visit with your child's teachers and learn more about curriculum and content. We encourage you to visit each of the grade level teachers for your child's grade as they frequently work together to support all students for learning as well as at recess. Administration will be on hand to answer any questions you may have. Students are welcome to join you during this evening. We are excited to have you join us! 

Boosterthon:
Our Boosterthon kickoff was on Wednesday. This is our biggest fundraiser of the year and will support the additional funding needed for a shade structure, as well as flexible seating in every classroom. Students will be going on a "castle quest" as the week progresses during their huddle time learning about different character traits.  Please sign up to support during the fun run: http://www.signupgenius.com/go/5080f4ba4ac22a57-funrun2

Rolling Entry:Our rolling entry has started and has been great! Please remember to have students arrive or leave your vehicle after the 8:20am bell rings for safety reasons. Students may then make their way to the front door or the turf side door and onward to their classrooms. Please make sure that you pull all the way forward in order to allow as many cars to drop off as possible. Please do not drop students off in the inner parking lots as it is not safe. Thank you! 
SAC Elections:
We will be holding elections for the 2017-18 School Accountability Committee Board next week. If you are interested in serving on the SAC board, please submit a short paragraph telling about yourself and why you'd like to serve on the SAC by Tuesday to kirsten.bloomfield@dcsdk12.org. Elections will be held on Wednesday after school during our meeting from 5:00-6:00pm. We hope to see you there! 

Parking Lot Pick Up:
As a reminder, please do not pick up your student(s) along the sidewalk next to the gravel lot. This causes traffic back ups and slows down everyone. Please pull all the way forward and pick up your student(s) near the flag pole area - please remind students that this is where they should wait to meet you. Also, students may not cross and enter the parking lot without adult supervision as it is not safe. Thank you for your help! 
Upcoming Events:
August 23: PTO Meeting 3:45-4:45pm in the Junction
August 23: SAC Meeting 5:00-6:00pm in the Junction
August 24: Back to School Open House 6:00-7:30pm
August 25: Fun Run - Grades PreK-2 8:50-9:50am, Grades 3-5 10:00-11:00am
September 4: No School - Labor Day
September 5: Hearing and Vision Screenings
September 6: Hearing and Vision Screenings
September 15: All Pro Dads - 7:50-8:20am
September 21: Assessment Day - No School: Students come with parent/guardian at assigned time to participate in classroom assessments
September 22: No School - Teacher Professional Learning Day