Elarms ENews

Hello all ~

I just wanted to take a moment to thank you all for a great first full week of school. We appreciate your attention to the communication regarding traffic patterns. Our arrival and dismissal times have greatly improved since Day 1. This week we had our first evacuation (fire) drill. All students were out of the building and accounted for in 7 minutes. While we prefer this number to be under 5 minutes, this was pretty good for the first one of the year. You also may have seen Mr. Molina and I walking the campus with an unfamiliar gentleman on Friday around dismissal time. He was from an outside company hired to do a security audit. He was very complimentary of our campus while making some additional recommendations. Please know that we take security very seriously, which is a great reminder that the first time you come to campus, please have your ID with you to sign in to the Raptor System.

We also had our first Executive Board (EB) meeting with our PTA. It was the first time a meeting has been held in person in several years and it was so great to see everyone. Our campus is blessed with an amazing PTA who truly supports our STAFF and STUDENTS! We would love for you all to be members (joinpta.org - $10.00) and/or get involved. There are many volunteer opportunities to available. Please reach out to sommerptapresident@gmail.com to get connected. Our PTA also manages our lost and found. It would be very helpful if you could label your children's jackets, hoodies, lunch boxes, water bottles, etc. If items are labeled, they will do their best to return them to the owner. Items not labeled and not claimed at the end of the year get donated.

Spirt-Wear Store:

Back-to-school Spirit wear sale is going on now. (See link below) The items are currently 30% off until Sept 21st. You can put any of the designs/logos on any of the styles(T-Shirts, Hoodies, Baseball caps, etc,.)

https://1stplacespiritwear.com/schools/TX/Austin/Sommer+Elementary+School/collection_detail.html

Just a few reminders:

Arrival:

• You can use BOTH lanes to drop children off in the morning. If using the left hand lane, have children exit from the drivers side doors and use the cross walk.
• When exiting the car rider line it is a left turn only - until buses have left. Once all buses have dropped off and left, you may exit to the right or left.

Dismissal:

• Back gate will be unlocked at 2:45. (Afternoon PE has not been out there every day while setting routines/procedures and due to the heat at that time of day. However, they will be out there soon, which is why we do not unlock the door until the classes are heading inside.
• Grade levels are dismissed at the following times:
• PreK / K / 1 - 2:40
  
• 2 / 3 - 2:47
• 4 / 5 - 2:55
• Please wait to come until the dismissal time of your oldest child. If you are there and your child's grade level is not out, you may be asked to loop back around get back in line.

SMART Tag / Bus Riders:

• We received many SMART TAGS this past week and we will continue to pass them out once we have them.

Parents can register to receive “SMART Alert” text messages notifying them that their child is 10-15 minutes from their bus stop. The portal may be accessed through the Round Rock ISD mobile App or from any device with a web browser.

Should you have any questions or concerns about the SMART Tag system not addressed on our website, please contact the Round Rock ISD Transportation Department at 512-428-2450 or 512-428-2480.

Thursday folders will begin coming home soon (this coming week I believe). This will have paper copies of flyers and information coming home. Also, please make sure that you have signed up for PeachJar. This is where you can sign up students for afterschool activities. This is located at the Sommer Homepage.

Click on the link (School Flyers) and it will take you to all the flyers that have been posted. There is also a button at the top right that says “SIGN UP”. Please click here if you have not already done so to ensure you are getting information about extracurricular activities. It comes through your email from “Sommer Elementary” with a subject of “School Announcement”.

Once again, THANK YOU for making me feel so welcome in my first year. Sommer is a great place to be! Have a great week!

Brooke Elarms

Principal