Principal's Newsletter

September

September 27, 2007

Dear Parents,

September has flown by. Our first six weeks will be completed on October 5 th with report cards coming home on October 12 th. Our teachers will be conducting conferences throughout the month of October. However, please feel free to call your child’s teacher anytime during the year to schedule a conference either by phone or in person.

Our traffic congestion continues to improve as more students ride one of our nine school busses.

With over half of our population riding the busses and leaving at 3:00 the pick-up lines in front and in back are running very smoothly. Many thanks to those of you who allow your children to ride the bus, walk, or ride a bike to school. Thanks to your efforts drop-off and pickup times are running quite smoothly.

October is a busy month with School Pictures, LISDOLA, Elm Fork, Student Council Elections,

Cookie Dough Sales, Family Fitness Day, and Red Ribbon Week. Please refer to the attached October Calendar and/or refer to our calendar posted on our website.

Family Fitness Day – October 19th – Last year we combined our Field Day and Jog-A-Thon for a fun filled day for our students and their families. By combing the two we help preserve another valuable instructional day, the kids love having a whole day of fun. Last year we were able to raise over $8,000 for technology upgrades (Digital cameras for each grade level, printers, surveillance cameras, instructional materials, etc.) The year before we purchased soccer goals and the Super Slide. We have 48 trophies for the 1 st place winner in every grade level. Each child will receive a participant ribbon and a prize from PepsiCo. Hope you can join us for the fun.

Tardies - A key element you can oversee is making sure that each morning at home begins early enough so that there is enough time to get assignments, textbooks, and lunches collected and stowed in the back pack, breakfast eaten, and students ready to leave for school or to catch the bus to arrive on time. The learning activities of the day start promptly at 8:00 am . Your son or daughter will be tomorrow’s leaders and professionals. As adults they must possess the punctuality, organization, and responsibility demanded of those roles. It is during these early formative years that the foundation for these skills is acquired.

Safety - At Heritage, we take pride in our commitment to educational excellence, and that goal combined with security concerns forces us to place restrictions upon access to our building, our classrooms, and our students. The Safe Door is working very well; I apologize up front if any staff member or I have offended you asking to see your volunteer or visitor sticker. All parents entering the building must sign in at the office. Our primary focus has to be the safety of our students.

All volunteers who will be working one-on-one with a child must have cleared the criminal background check. If you completed this process last year you do not need to reapply. (Apply online through the LISD website under Human Resources Webpage - volunteers) Unless you have a true emergency, do not call the office about changes in after school plans. Please be sensitive to the difficult position you place us in when you phone the school with a change in your child’s after school arrangements/transportation. Late in the day we can’t insure that the message will be able to be delivered to your child because at any given moment the class may be in a variety of locations. With 760 students we can’t recognize every parent’s voice. How easy it would be for someone to pose as a parent over the phone. We appreciate all your efforts on behalf of the school, but this policy applies equally to everyone.

This leads me to another important safety matter: Registered Sex Offenders: LISD will publish the names of registered sex offenders on the LISD web page under links. I encourage you to check this link as well as the Texas Department of Public Safety Crime Records Service. I am sorry that in today’s society we have to be so cautious, but it is my duty to communicate this sensitive information to our parents.

As always, we are working together to achieve educational excellence for your children in addition to a safe environment. Periodically, I will send home bits and pieces called “Pearls of Love and Logic,” we have numerous resources about parenting and are always willing to share them with any interested parent. Dr. Foster Cline and Jim Fay have published many Love and Logic books as well as videos. If you are interested in borrowing some of their materials, please contact our counselor, Michele New. She will be happy to help you. Thanks again for allowing us to be a part of your child’s educational growth. The pleasure is all ours.

Sincerely,

BeLinda Nikkel

Principal