Level UP @ Mitchell Elementary
Category: Information
We are blessed to have a group of Mitchell Elementary parents who work tirelessly to support our students and staff. If you would like to learn more about volunteering at Mitchell Elementary or know a business ready to partner with us, please contact us at: harveymitchellpto@gmail.com.
Here are some other ways your involvement benefits all our students.
Sprit Day @ Taco Casa ~ Friday, April 2
Join us to celebrate Good Friday and National Burrito Day on Friday, April 2! Enjoy a meal at Taco Casa any time that day and support Mitchell Elementary. Let them know you’re celebrating our Spirit Day when you order in-person or drive-thru. The school gets 15% of total sales at the end of the night. Make sure to invite friends and family, share a meal, or drop off dinner for someone social distancing!
School Spirit Shirts
The PTO is committed to sponsoring school spirit shirts for EVERY student EVERY year. Fundraising and business partners help make this possible. Visit one of the sponsors on your student’s school shirt today to say Thank You!
Kroger Community Rewards
Support Mitchell Bulldogs while you shop! Enroll in Kroger Community Rewards using code WF082 when registering your Kroger Plus Card @ http://www.krogercommunityrewards.com.
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by Brian Pinkney
Max makes music that imitates the sounds of the city around him and the rhythms within himself.
by Becky Birtha
African-American Sarah Marie loves going down South every year to visit Grandmama, but in 1956 she learns to read–and discovers the segregation her proud grandmother has always sheltered her from.
by Margaret Curevich
Jada’s family has moved to New Jersey, but she misses Philadelphia; the city, her friends, and, most of all, the dance academy where she learned ballet. Jada is nevertheless impressed with her new studio and teacher, Ms. Marianne. Jada tries her best and makes it on the dance team, then meets fellow teammates Grace, Gabby, and Brie. However, Jada’s negative attitude about her new home distracts from her practice and culminates in an injury that threatens to end her dancing. Jada’s supportive parents encourage her to be positive, and once she takes their advice, everything falls into place.
by Derrick Barnes
Joyful and empowering, this picture book celebrates the first day of kindergarten. A child wakes up on his first day of school with the knowledge that he is going to be the King of Kindergarten.
by Michael S. Bandy
In an emotional story that begins in the South during the height of voter suppression, a boy named Michael joins his grandfather as he prepares to vote for the first time. Yet when the time comes, a deputy rips up his grandfather’s ballot, turning them away. Years later, as an adult Michael casts his own vote, “I knew that-just like my granddaddy-I would never take it for granted.”
by Sally Warner
What’s eating EllRay Jakes? No, it’s not the fact that he’s the smallest kid in his third-grade class; though he’s likable, EllRay’s bummed that he doesn’t have more friends. He sets his sights on becoming a social butterfly, but it’s not long before his best-laid plans go awry.
by Peter H. Reynolds
(Grades 1-3)
Jerome is a collector. While others collect stamps or trading cards, he collects words that he hears, sees, or reads-words that catch his fancy “multisyllable words that sounded like little songs” or “words he did not know the meaning of at first, but . were marvelous to say..”
by Sitting Down by Andrea Davis Pinkney
(Grades 2-4)
This compelling picture book is based on the historic sit-in 50 years ago by four college students who tried to integrate a Woolworth’s lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina. Food-related wordplay adds layers to the free verse, as in the lines about the protesters’ recipe for integration: “Combine black with white / to make sweet justice.”
by Nikki Shannon Smith
(Grades 2-4)
Azaleah thoroughly enjoys her class’s visit to the Smithsonian’s National Zoo. And she’s even more thrilled when she gets a chance to create a diorama of one of the animal habitats she saw while there for extra credit. But things don’t go according to plan when her younger sister’s stuffed frog goes missing, and she has to spend much of the weekend helping to search for it. Can she solve the mystery of the missing frog and finish her diorama, or is she setting herself up for disappointment?
Now more than ever, it is critical that we use assessments to gauge student progress towards mastery of content standards. This information is key to helping teachers identify how to best support each individual student. This spring, we want to make you aware of a shift in how these assessments are administered.
In keeping with the state-wide plan from the Texas Education Agency, Bryan ISD students will now take their STAAR/EOC tests online in most cases. To help prepare students, spring benchmark assessments will also be given online. By shifting to online assessments, we will be able to better prepare all students for this state-wide implementation.
Benefits of students taking their test on a computer include:
- Embedded supports for students, such as highlighting, colored overlay, embedded dictionary
- Improved accommodation support for students who qualify
- Flexible scheduling
- Testing results from the State will be returned more quickly than paper/pencil testing
- Matches the realities of today’s assessments
- Promotes innovation in assessments by allowing for different types of questions
Spring Benchmark Schedule
| Date(s) | Benchmark |
| February 9th | 4th Grade Writing |
| March 23rd | 3rd Grade and 4th Grade Math |
| March 24th | 3rd Grade and 4th Grade Reading |
If your student qualifies as a student under Special Education or 504, a committee member will reach out to you if a change in the testing mode is recommended.
Please contact Ms. Hedstrom at 209-1400 with any questions related to district benchmarks or the state STAAR assessments.
*Per TEA requirement, all STAAR assessments must be completed on campus. Online learners will receive more information closer to the assessment day. A brochure from TEA explaining what parents should know about testing can be accessed here.
Kerry Gray, the Mitchell Elementary Librarian, wrote and received a grant to purchase books to expand our multicultural selections for our students. Today, our books better mirror our student population. This month, we will highlight just of the few books that our students can check out.
Bryan ISD has provided At-Home and On-Campus instruction for the 2019-2020 school year. Some students are successful accessing instruction through the At-Home option. Others are struggling with grades and/or attendance.
As part of Bryan ISD’s goal to ensure an effective learning environment for your child, we are evaluating attendance and/or grade level results of your child’s performance in remote learning. Per the Texas Education Agency a school district can identify students to be discontinued for At-Home instruction if one or both of the following are true in any class:
- Student has a average of less than 70% in any course
- Student has 10 or more unexcused absences in a semester
Letters were mailed this week to those we are recommending cancellation of remote instruction.
Please contact the principal (979-209-1400 or shari.hedstrom@gmail.com) if you have any questions or concerns.
Leave a CommentThis year, Mitchell Elementary will join students all over the state of Texas as we read:
Mitchell will purchase a personal copy for each student and staff member. All we ask of parents is to find some time to reach with your children each night.
Research shows the importance of parents reading with children – even after children can read!
I hope you are as excited as we are to dive into this fun book. Keep your eyes open for more information ~ coming soon!
Leave a CommentA smooth transition from elementary to intermediate is key to Academic and Social-Emotional SUCCESS. Here are a few tips for SUCCESS:
| Students |
| Believe in Yourself Set Positive Realistic Goals Use your Social Skills and practice the Essential Eight Practice Good Decision Making: Get to class on time, surround yourself with positive influences, etc Ask for help when you need it |
| Parents |
| Keep/set boundaries with growth Use what you know about your child… Avoid rescuing but be supportive Encourage decision-making using cause and effect Encourage responsibility (self, actions, organization, homework) Get involved with the Intermediate PTSO, volunteer, sponsor a club, contact teachers |
| Where is my student zoned to go? |
| Jane Long Intermediate School 1106 N Harvey Mitchell Parkway Bryan, TX 77803 209-6500 Sam Rayburn Intermediate School 1048 N Earl Rudder Freeway Bryan, TX 77802 209-6600 |
| What is Next? |
| See Timeline dates and mark your calendar: |
January 11 ~ Bryan ISD Transfer Window Open
January 5 – January 31 ~ Advanced Academics
Applications for INQUIRE and Odyssey Academy available online
January 11 @ 6:00PM ~ Virtual Inquire Information Night,
Inquire Academy is the Gifted and Talented Magnet School
located at Long Intermediate School.
Application required, available online, deadline January 31
January 14 @ 6:00PM ~ Virtual Odyssey Information Night,
Odyssey is the STEM Academy – (Sci, Tech,Engineer, Math)
located at Rayburn Intermediate School
Application required, available online, deadline January 31
January 19 @ 7:45AM ~ Virtual Transition to Intermediate School for Mitchell 4th graders and parents
Repeat session on January 21 at 5:30PM
meet.google.com/dwg-jgtq-nka
January 19 ~ Intermediate Course Guides and Registration Pages will be sent home
January 21 @ 5:30PM ~ Virtual Transition to Intermediate School for Mitchell 4th graders and parents
meet.google.com/kek-ktne-kqq
January 25-29 ~ 4th graders will have a Virtual visit to their Intermediate School they are zoned to attend.
January 25 @ 6:00PM ~ Jane Long and Sam Rayburn Virtual Information Night for incoming 5th graders (more information to come)
January 31~ Deadline for Applications for INQUIRE and Odyssey
Remember, ALL applications are submitted online.
February 5 ~ Deadline for Course Request Forms (Registration forms) to be turned in to Mrs. Skelton, Mitchell’s counselor
February 12 ~ Program Acceptance Letters for Inquire and Odyssey are mailed
February 15 ~ Bryan ISD Transfer Window Closes
QUESTIONS??
Contact Mrs. Becky Skelton at (979) 209 – 1431
or via email at rebecca.skelton@bryanisd.org
Virtual Office Hours and Links:
Mondays @ 1:30pm: meet.google.com/zui-qjqb-vgz
Fridays @ 1:30pm: meet.google.com/zui-qjqb-vgz