What's Happening at Griffis

It has been a GREAT start to the new school year. Our staff and students have been excited to be back! Our teachers have enjoyed seeing all of our face to face and virtual learners. Our goal at Griffis is to educate your children and provide the supports needed for an amazing school year. The health and safety of our students and staff is a top priority. We appreciate each of our parents and the support and patience you have given us as we navigate this school year together. Your partnership is important to us and vital for the success of this school year.

Each month you will receive a link to our monthly newsletter. This newsletter will give important updates, information, and upcoming events for Griffis Elementary. This monthly electronic newsletter will replace the campus newsletter that was in our weekly Thursday folders in years past. Each grade level will be sending out weekly grade-level specific newsletters.

If you ever have any questions, please contact us.

Sincerely,

Michelle Colwell

September

7th- No school

15th- School Pictures

24th- College T-shirt Day

25th- Homecoming

October

5th-Student Holiday

6th-Student Holiday

29th-College T-shirt Day

Support your Foxes Football team and Lady Foxes Volleyball team. Show your Fox Pride with the following Spirit Days!

• School starts at 8:00 A.M. and ends at 3:30 P.M.
• Tardy bell rings @ 8:00 A.M.

Students not in the building by the 8:00 A.M. bell are considered tardy. Please refer to our campus handbook regarding our tardy policy. If your child is tardy, please do not drop your child off. For their safety, your child should be signed in. Please park in the front and call the office and someone will meet you at the door.

Check with your student that they have their lunch, backpack, water bottle, and any materials for the day. Due to COVID restrictions, we are limiting outside visitors to our campus. Outside lunch deliveries are not allowed.

Nurse Brittney is going to serve as your point of contact for COVID- related symptoms and issues. This includes reporting illnesses and possible exposures. Teachers will notify Nurse Brittney when students are ill at school and need a visit to the clinic. When a student has potential COVID-symptoms, they will be kept isolated as they wait to be picked up. If your student is experiencing symptoms at home, you will be contacted by Nurse Brittney or administration for information regarding return date and online learning.

• Students who are absent with COVID-19 symptoms need to email notes to Nurse Brittney BEFORE returning to school. bpryor@caddomillsisd.org

This service will be used for late arrival student drop off, student early pick up, and packet pick up.

• Visitors are not allowed on campus without pre-approval from the campus principal.
• To use curbside student services, pull into the designated parking space. Call the office at 903-527-3162 and indicate your student service need.
• Student sign-out will be touchless and curbside when possible.
• Students who leave campus with COVID-19 symptoms, will be required to sign-out their student using the Sign Out/Return Letter provided by the nurse.

Thank you for helping us transition with these new safety measures.

We have ROCKED the arrival and dismissal procedures! Thank you for helping the transition to our new procedures run smoothly. A few reminders to help with our procedures:

• Stay in your car.
• Please place your car rider sign in the front window shield visible for staff members to see. (Let your child's homeroom teacher know if you need a car sign)
• Stay in the traffic line. Do not drive around other cars.
• Cell phone usage is prohibited in a school zone. This includes the car line.

Due to safety guidelines, meetings including 504, ARD, and parent conferences will be held virtually. Meetings will be communicated to you and a link will be provided for you to attend virtually.

We have enjoyed seeing our Virtual Learners on our Live Meets. Here are a few key reminders that will ensure your success.

Attendance:

• Attendance will be taken daily.
• Students should engage with their grade level teacher daily to earn attendance in live instruction classes or showing progress on coursework as directed by the classroom teacher.
• Students should make every effort to be present during scheduled live instruction time and teacher's meetings to allow for direct question and answer.
• As in our District Attendance policy, students absent from instruction should submit a parent note or doctor excuse in order to receive an excused absence. Additional information on excused and unexcused absences can be found in the District Student Handbook.

Remote Etiquette:

• Attend class on time and daily.

• Follow CMISD dress code and Student Code of Conduct.

• Remember that all behavior expectations for in classroom apply to remote learning.

• Be engaged and ready to learn, collaborate with live teachers, and continually show face during live instruction (Video On or Camera On).

Procedures:

• Complete activities and assignments by given due dates.

• Grading criteria will be consistent with those seen in our District Policy and the same as grading criteria for On Campus Learning.

• Daily work should be submitted the same day as assigned.

Technology troubleshooting and support is available through CMISD at the email techsupport@cmisd.org.

We would love to see our Remote Learners learning space. Send us a picture of where you're working from home! Send pictures to egray@caddomillsisd.org

Each month, we will focus on a particular character trait. Mrs. Wygal will give daily announcements regarding that trait to help the students put it into action. At the end of the month, each teacher will pick a student from their class that they feel has best demonstrated that trait. Those students will be recognized as the Character Students of the Month. The trait for the month of September is Friendship. Also, please see the monthly parent newsletter below.

Caddo Mills ISD Prepayment/Charge Policy
Pre-payment for meals are accepted in the breakfast or lunch periods by the cashier, can be given in the school office to be picked up by the manager each day, or you may set up your child/childrens account on www.myschoolaccount.com. You may pay online by using your checking/savings account OR debit/credit cards. Please note when paying online the system doesn't update until after midnight each day so the cashier will not see the payment until the following day.

The charge policy for Caddo Mills ISD is as follows:

Elementary students may charge up to $8.00 for either breakfast or lunch meals before receiving an alternative meal. Once the student reaches the negative amount, example (1.00 ), the student will be given a notice to take home that their account is in the negative. Cashiers will also notify them daily when their account is getting low and that they need to bring lunch money. Parents may also check their accounts online.

Caddo Mills ISD will provide curbside meals to enrolled students participating in virtual at-home learning. Meal service will begin the first day of school on August 20th. Meals will be available from 10:30am to 11:00am at the Middle School Cafeteria for all CMISD PreK-12th grade students. Curbside meals will include both breakfast and lunch. Meal prices will be based on student eligibility. Parents or Guardians may pickup up meals for their students who are not present in the vehicle. We request that you stay in your vehicle while picking up meals. Cafeteria staff will verify student enrollment as required by the Texas Department of Agriculture. Please provide one of the following: Student ID #, Student ID card, or documentation of current enrollment from the campus. Please be aware the process to verify enrollment initially may take a little extra time while picking up meals.

Griffis will have their own Yearbook for the 2020-2021 school year. Yearbooks are on sale for $25.00 until September 18th. Price will increase after this date. We are excited for our very first Griffis only yearbook! Click the link below to order a yearbook.

Yearbook Cover Design Contest:

Let's see how creative our Griffis students are. We will be having a Yearbook Cover Design Contest. See the flyer below for more information. We can't wait to see your designs. Submissions must be received by September 21st.

Website: https://www.caddomillsisd.org/
Location: 3639 Farm to Market Road 1565, Caddo Mills, TX, USA
Phone: 903-527-3525
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Kathryn-Griffis-Elementary-Official-291701637518892