I hope I find everyone rested and ready to embrace these last 3 weeks before the winter break. This has been a wonderful first semester. I am sure you saw that we were in the newspaper for our Veteran’s Day program. It was such a delight to honor veterans of the Brazos Valley. Thank you to Mrs. Tarver, Music Teacher, for putting on such a great show and highlighting our 3rd graders talents.
We collected 2,000 nonperishable food items for the Food for Families Food Drive. Students are also making ornaments and cards for local nursing home residents and will deliver them before school is out. It makes me so proud that our students are invested in serving our community through displaying our E8 trait of Philanthropy.
Mikayla Lavador, 4th grade and Elizabeth Curtis, 3rd grade won their division in the Fire Department Poster Contest! Thank you to Mr. Welch for giving students this opportunity to shine!
We had Education Foundation Grant winners at Ross. Ms. Jones, PK Teacher, and Mr. Welch, Art Teacher, each won a grant totally around $5,000. Mrs. Hall, Reading Interventionist, won a $900 grant from the Bryan Rotary Club. Congratulations to each of you! Thank you to our parents and community members for supporting these worthy organizations that support local teachers.
Safety
TEA is conducting safety audits throughout the state of Texas. Ross Elementary was a part of the audits held in October. I am proud to say that we passed with flying colors. Thank you to our district for making safety a priority and to the staff and students at Ross for adhering to all of the safety measures we have in place.
Gifted and Talented
Through the months of December and January, all Kinder students are screened for Gifted & Talented identification. If other students were not previously screened or referred for GT screening in the fall, you can get in touch with Ms. Davis, Counselor, to submit a referral. All referrals are due by January 10.
Attendance
We are working hard on attendance and doing a little better than last year. As you know, students who consistently miss school are more likely to be behind academically and socially and may not complete high school. School not only provides for academic growth but also gives students the opportunities to learn how to engage in social situations appropriately and teaches the responsibility of attending consistently, turning in assignments and putting forth effort. All of these skills are critical in life. Please do everything you can to have students in school. It really matters.
Get Involved
If you haven’t gotten involved with our PTO, it is not too late. They meet the first Tuesday of each month in the Ross library. It takes all of us to make Ross great and that includes our wonderful parents.
The PTO sponsored a game night in October that was a huge success. Families and staff had so much fun and we hope to make this an annual event. Every student received a free school shirt, thanks to our PTO. They provide monthly Sonic drinks to staff, covered the playground equipment, stock the teacher’s lounge, provided goodies for Thanksgiving and much much more. We are blessed to have the active and engaged PTO that we have at Ross.
Finish Strong
As we end the fall semester I would like to encourage each of you to help our students end strong by being in school each day and on time, having a great attitude, working hard, and partnering with teachers so that students experience success.
