Cannon Connection

Hi Cannon Parents!

Last week was a BUSY week at Cannon and ended with two super events, the Cannon Art Show and the annual Talent Show! The Talent Show was TONS of fun and showcased a wide variety of talent by our Cubs. We have received LOTS of great feedback about the Art Show, Cannon's first school fundraiser in several years! Thank you to ALL parents who came out and purchased their child's beautiful artwork AND supported our great school at the same time! If you were unable to attend, but would still like to purchase your child's framed artwork, please email Deborah Mattox @ deborah.mattox@gcisd.net as soon as possible, so that she can hold the art for you.

Finally, Kindergarten - 4th grade parents - we need YOUR HELP! We are in the process of determining the number of available seats we will have in the lottery for each grade level and it is critical for us to confirm your plans for next year. PLEASE SEE THE ARTICLE BELOW AND CLICK ON THE LINK TO LET US KNOW ASAP IF YOUR CHILD WILL BE RETURNING TO CANNON NEXT YEAR! Please do not submit another form if you have already completed one. Thank you for your help!

Proud to be your principal,

Mrs. Blizzard

Believe it or not, it is time for us to begin making plans for next year and our first effort is to start planning for student enrollment in 2018-2019!

ALL PARENTS OF CURRENT KINDERGARTEN-4th GRADE STUDENTS MUST COMPLETE THIS ENROLLMENT FORM BY FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 16th to let us know if your child will be returning to Cannon next year. If you have an incoming Kindergarten student, there is a place on this form for you to share that information with us!

CLICK HERE TO COMPLETE THE STUDENT ENROLLMENT FORM

Haga clic aquí para completar el formulario de inscripción de estudiantes en español

Please note the following:

• If your child currently attends Cannon through the STEM lottery or an approved transfer, you do NOT have to reapply to the lottery system this year.

• If you have an incoming Kindergarten student and DO NOT LIVE IN THE CANNON attendance zone, you must complete a lottery application by March 9th in order for your child to be automatically placed at Cannon. All other available spaces in Kindergarten will be determined via the GCISD lottery. (Only Kindergarten siblings of current Kinder-4th grade STEM/transfer students are eligible for guaranteed placement @ Cannon. Incoming Kindergarten students of 5th grader Cannon STEM/transfer students must participate in the lottery for placement in Kindergarten 2018-2019.) Click here to complete this lottery application NOW

2/11-2/17 Random Acts of Kindness Week!

2/14 Class Valentine's Day parties

2/15 GCISD Kindness Day - wear your Rachel's Challenge Shirt!

2/19 Student Holiday - Professional Learning Day for staff

2/20-2/24 National Engineering Week -see our plans for this week in this newsletter!

2/27 Class Picture Day - wear you BEST smile!

2/27 Cannon Spirit Night @ Cici's Pizza!

The Olympic season is such a wonderful time for families to share special time together watching their favorite events and cheering on their favorite athletes! In honor of the Olympics 2018, we want to find out from YOU, what makes YOUR child a GOLD-MEDAL WINNER!

This week, you will be receiving a gold medal template that we would like for you to write on to tell us something special about your child. We would like for these to be returned to school by February 21st. Mrs. Coburn, our counselor, will be creating a HUGE school display with all of the comments about our GOLD MEDAL CUBS!

Click here to see a copy of this Gold Medal Template in English

Haga clic aquí para ver una plantilla de la Medalla de Oro en español

The STEM Lottery is open from February 9th-March 9th. We will be providing STEM Information meetings and tours for families that are interested in learning more about STEM at Cannon.

If you know anyone in the GCISD community that is interested in Cannon's STEM program, please share the information below about our meeting & tour dates.

This link can be used to sign up to attend one of these meeting/tour dates.

In the 2018-2019 school year, GCISD will offer a tuition-based pre-k program at Bransford Elementary, Colleyville Elementary, O.C. Taylor Elementary, Grapevine Elementary, Heritage Elementary and Bear Creek Elementary. There will be limited availability at Timberline and Silver Lake Elementary for a blended program that includes English and Spanish (an option if you are considering Dual Language in Kindergarten).

To learn more about GCISD's tuition-based pre-k program, click here.

The spring semester is a BIG one for 5th graders, as they begin to receive information about enrollment in middle school next year! We realize that this can be a time of excitement, but also one of confusion & stress for students or parents as they decide what programs they want to consider for 6th grade.

Please take a moment to review all of the following dates/deadlines. Please note that on 2/22, Cannon will be hosting some parent meetings with our counselor to discuss all of the possible options and provide additional information about middle school!

February 9-March 9 - Personalized Programs Lottery Window

Cannon 5th grade students wanting to continue in STEM at GMS MUST complete a lottery application, BUT are guaranteed a space as long as application is submitted by March 9th. On March 29th, all remaining spaces will be determined via a lottery.

February 20th - Middle School Showcase - all middle schools @ 6:00 pm

Learn about your middle school and see Fine Arts performances.

February 21st - GMS Counselors visit Cannon 5th graders

GMS counselors will share middle school information with 5th graders during the school day and students will receive course selection sheets to take home on this date.

February 22nd - Middle School Parent Meeting @ Cannon - 12:00 pm OR 6:00 pm

Cannon counselor, Mandy Coburn, will meet with Cannon 5th grade parents to share an overview of middle school programs & offerings.

February 26th- Course Selection Sheets due from 5th graders

All 6th grade course selection sheets must be returned to Cannon by this date! Course selection sheets must be reviewed for accuracy prior to online course selection process on 3/6.

March 6th -Students will complete online course selections at school

Mrs. Coburn will work with all 5th graders on this date to complete the online course selection

process for 6th grade.

ADDITIONAL DATES FOR AVID

March 6th - AVID Parent Information Meeting - 6:30 pm

Professional Development & Education Center - 5800 Colleyville Blvd.

March 23rd - AVID applications due

April 12th-25th - Student Interviews & Selections for AVID

If you have any questions about any of these important date/deadlines, please contact Mandy Coburn @ 817-251-5684 OR email her @ amanda.coburn@gcisd.net

GCISD's Technology Department has planned some wonderful parent information sessions for the spring semester! Parent Technology Academy is a free monthly series by GCISD Technology developed to help educate our community about our ever-changing digital world. Check out the dates & topics below! Each session is approximately 45 minutes with 15 minutes Q&A.

Here's what parents are saying about previous sessions they have attended: that

"Eye-opening event" Danielle D parent of sixth-grade student

"The evening was filled with actionable information for parents raising kids in a digital technology-driven era." Lisa D parent of ninth-grade student

Join us on February 20 at Bear Creek Elementary starting at 6 p.m for:

MUST KNOW APPS all parents should be aware of!

Learn about the must know apps that parents need to be aware of on student phones and more! Learn best practices to balance usage at home as well as ways to help monitor usage. If you have ever wanted to know what that app is your child is using or If its safe to use a particular app, then this is the session for you.

Join the over 200 parents already pre-registered to attend by signing up now!

Check out future technology session planned for this year by clicking the link below:

Parent Technology Academy

GT LEAD and Aspire Academy GT Testing for Grades 1-4

In case you were unable to attend the parent information meeting last week to learn more about testing and qualifying for Cannon's GT LEAD program and the Aspire Academy at Glenhope Elementary for the upcoming school year, the presentations from these meetings can be found here.

The parent nomination window for GT LEAD and the Aspire Academy opens February 2-16, and parents need to complete a Parent Inventory/Permission-to-test form found on the district website under Advanced Academics. Testing will begin February 26.

If you have any questions, please email our campus GT specialist at Melanie.Gable@gcisd.net.

Registration for the April 21 Math Telescoping Exams will open on February 22 and close on March 8. Please click here for more information. Our second testing date will be June 20th with registration from May 3-23, 2018.

See more details in image below!

Haga clic aquí para ver esta información en español

We are SO excited about this month's book and challenge!! This month's book, Awesome Dawson, will be shared with all of our Kindergarten-5th grade students at school! The design challenge for this month's book is an opportunity for your child to participate in the Inventor's Challenge, an international challenge sponsored by AT&T!

Please check out the Book of the Month video below with your child and encourage your child to participate in this month's Inventor's Challenge. This is an awesome opportunity for our Cannon Cubs!

All of the details can be found in the February BoM Smore linked below.

February BOM video

February BOM Smore

Haga clic aquí para leer esta información en español

Engineers Week 2018 is going to be such an exciting week at Cannon!!

Check out some of the activities planned in each grade level below!

KINDERGARTEN: Kindergarten scholars will explore the various strands of engineering throughout the week. Students will be divided into groups and they will rotate through each classroom. We will be studying aerospace engineering, chemical engineering, civil engineering, electrical engineering, and robotics. There will be a specific design challenge aligned to each strand in every rotation.

1st GRADE: First grade will be designing paper airplanes under the direction of a Lockheed Martin engineer. They will also be learning how the Engineering Design Process is applied to the creation of stained glass mosaics from a local glass studio owner. Students will follow the EDP to create their own stained glass piece. Additionally, the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History will be sending out their Mobile Magnet Discovery Lab to introduce the 'magic' of magnets.

2nd GRADE: During Engineering Week, second graders will be going to the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History to enjoy the STEM exhibits as well as the regular exhibits. Presenters from Lockheed will come Thursday to give a brief presentation about aviation engineering. Students will be building and testing paper airplanes.

3rd GRADE: Third grade scholars will have several exciting experiences to celebrate National Engineers Week! Scholars will be receiving a visit from an industrial engineer, Isaac Hicks, Klein Tools, as well as exploring how airplanes flight with professionals from Lockheed Martin. Scholars will also get to participate in a geometry design challenge in which they will create a piece of playground equipment using only quadrilaterals!

4th GRADE: During Engineer's Week, 4th grade will have multiple opportunities to discover different aspects of engineering. Early in the week, scholars will be making stomp rockets with Aerospace engineers from Lockheed Martin. Next we will be traveling to the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History where they will experience hands on and mind challenging activities throughout the Museum while they collaborate with engineers and experience the world of engineering. Finally, in honor of Engineering Week, BEP Quality Engineer Mr. Ron Tobb will present some pretty cool facts and video on the different machines and tools engineers use to help design the currency production process during a Nepris Industry Video Call.

5th GRADE: 5th grade will be hosting our very first Cannon STEM University for this year's Engineering Week. We will be hosting 5 to 8 engineering professionals who will speak at staggering times about their profession and what it is like to be an engineer in their field. Students will create their own schedule for the event based off of availability and their engineering interest. On February 20th, students will travel around our “University” and get hands on experience from the professionals themselves! Additionally, scholars will learn from engineers with Lockheed Martin on February 20th, and will even create stomp rockets to explore the types of work done at this great company.

• 2-liter soda bottles needed - please rinse any bottles you have to donate and deliver these to the office.

• Cleaning out Closets? Nurse Kendra is in desperate need for girl's pants. She will take any sizes and what works best is pants with elastic waistbands!

• Time to get rid of old electronics? One man's trash is a curious STEM cub's treasure! Do you have any old, broken electronics gathering dust? Our Cannon Cubs would LOVE to take them off your hands! Our Makerspace features a reverse engineering station where STEM scholars take electronics apart and discover the systems that make our everyday objects function the way they do. From keyboards to dancing Elmo, our kids want to learn from it!
  

GCISD Nutrition Services supports regional agriculture through our Farm Fresh Friday initiative. One Friday each month, we feature a regionally grown item from Texas or it's surrounding states. This February, we will feature Farm Fresh Broccoli on 2/23/2018 at all of our Elementary and Middle Schools. Through Farm Fresh Friday we provide students with Nutrition Education and exposure to new and healthy food items. Keep an eye out for our Farm Fresh Friday promotions this spring!

This week's "quick picks" of reminders & information from PTA:

• Talent Show - Thank you to all of our wonderful volunteers that made the talent show such a success!

• Book Fair Volunteers Needed Can you help Mrs. Wagner during the Spring Book Fair? Please click here to sign up for a shift!

• Teacher Appreciation Week - Karen Huff needs help planning and organizing for teacher appreciation week. Can you help? Email her at hospitality@cannonpta.com.

Stay connected by following Cannon PTA on social media. Click here to "like" the PTA Facebook page. Follow them on Twitter @CannonPTA.

Common Sense, the national nonprofit organization dedicated to helping kids and families thrive in a world of digital media and technology, has recognized Cannon Elementary: A GCISD STEM School as a Common Sense School.

Cannon Elementary has been using Common Sense Education's innovative and research-based digital citizenship resources to create a culture of digital learning and citizenship. This recognition acknowledges our school's commitment to taking a whole-community approach to preparing our students to use the immense power of digital media to explore, create, connect, and learn, while limiting the perils that exist in the online realm, such as plagiarism, loss of privacy, and cyberbullying.

We are honored to receive this recognition! By preparing our students to use technology safely and responsibly, we are providing them with unlimited opportunities to maximize and personalize their learning.

Shopping on Amazon? Purchase on Amazon Smile and they'll give 0.5% to Cannon PTA. Bookmark this link and support us every time you shop! http://smile.amazon.com/ch/75-2454480

On Monday, November 13, GCISD Trustees approved the Student and Staff Instructional Calendars for the 2018-2019 school year.

A few highlights from the 2018-2019 student instructional calendar:

• Students will begin classes on Monday, August 20.
• Students will have a four-day weekend in October for Columbus Day weekend; staff will have a three-day weekend.
• Students and staff will have a four-day weekend in April (dependent on the need to makeup one or both inclement weather days).
• Students are finished on May 30 with graduation following that afternoon and evening.

To view the 2018-2019 student instructional calendar, click here.

To view the 2018-2019 staff instructional calendar, click here.

To view the 2018-2019 iUniversity Prep instructional calendar, click here.

To learn more about how the district develops the instructional calendars, please watch the video below:

I want to make you aware of where you can see information and resources, specifically about the Cannon construction project. Also, check out the awesome exterior renderings of our new school below!!

Please reach out to me to let me know of any questions you may have about this project. This is a VERY exciting time for our Cannon school community and I want to make sure all of our Cannon families stay informed!

Click here to see project updates on all GCISD Bond programs

Click here to sign up for construction updates by email about the Cannon project!

This blog will have the most updated information about upcoming events specific to Cannon, GMS STEM, and the future STEM program at GHS.

Click here to read this STEM blog!

Email: tona.blizzard@gcisd.net
Website: http://www.gcisd-k12.org/Domain/1428
Location: 1300 W College St, Grapevine, TX, United States
Phone: 817-251-5680
Facebook: facebook.com/CannonSTEM
Twitter: @canSTEM