
Cannon Connection
A newsletter for Cannon Elementary families - 2017-2018
Week of January 29, 2018
Hi Cannon Parents!
It was a BIG week for construction at Cannon last week!! The image below was taken at the end of the day on Friday and captures the VERTICAL construction that is finally visible on our new school!! We can expect to see rapid changes moving forward as this steel work continues over the next several weeks.
This past weekend, Lee Lewis Construction poured the second portion of the first floor slab of concrete. The next pour will be on Saturday, February 3 and will be the largest concrete pour of the project. In an effort to expedite the process on February 3, there will be two trucks onsite and crews will monitor their noise level and hours of operation, in order to be as accommodating as possible for our neighbors.
If you haven't stopped to take a peek at the construction progress lately, take a moment to do so! This is such an exciting time for our school community and we LOVE that our Cubs are getting this opportunity to watch and learn about this process!
Please let me know if you have any questions about construction! Also, if you have not taken a look at any of the renderings of our new school, please click here to see a few on our architect's website portfolio!
Proud to be your principal,
Mrs. Blizzard
SEEN @ CANNON LAST WEEK!
2nd grade Cubs learned all about Piet Mondrian in art class and then they created their own abstract collages inspired by this artist!
Young inventors in 1st grade presented the subject of their research to highlight how these inventors impacted our world!
Grade level catapult challenges for the January Book of the Month challenge were amazing! Top catapult winners will launch their devices at our next Friday Assembly!
Mark Your Calendars.....
2/01 Gifted & Talented Parent Information meeting - 6:00 pm PDEC - see info. below
2/05 100th Day of School!
2/08 Personalized Programs EXPO @ CTMS 5:00-7:00 pm for incoming STEM students
2/09 Cannon Art Show 5:00-6:15 pm
2/09 Cannon Talent Show 6:00-8:00 pm
2/19 Student Holiday - Professional Learning Day for staff
2/20-2/24 National Engineering Week -we have BIG plans for this week @ school!
GIFTED & TALENTED ASSESSMENT INFORMATION GRADES 1st-4th
GT LEAD and Aspire Academy GT Testing for Grades 1-4
The parent information meeting will be Thursday, February 1 from 6:00-7:00 pm at the Professional Development Education Center in Colleyville. Please make plans to attend this meeting 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 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.
CONGRATS MRS. GABLE!
SAGE, Supporting & Advocating For Gifted Education, is a parent & educator group in GCISD. Each month their members nominate an educator who's going above and beyond for gifted students. The SAGE GT Educator of the Month for January is our very own Melanie Gable! The parent who nominated Melanie wrote:
"My child comes home excited about what’s she’s done in GT that day. She looks forward to the days she gets to GO to GT! Ms. Gable is a warm and caring teacher who creates an environment for the scholars to expand their minds and come up with answers on their own while thinking outside the box."
Congratulations Mrs. Gable! We are so fortunate to have her on our Cannon team!
NUTRITION SUVEY FOR PARENTS
Our GCISD Nutrition Department wants your feedback! Please take a moment and take this brief survey about food services offered for your child in GCISD. Your input is important! Thanks!
Donations Needed
- 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!
CANNON ART SHOW - Come see YOUR child's art on display!
PTA REFLECTIONS ENTRIES FROM CANNON
Artist: Maeve Mengerink - 2nd grade - Honorable Mention
Art medium: Colored pencil
Artist statement: A dance teaching children to dance. They are all dancing with flowers.
PTA REFLECTIONS ENTRIES 2017-2018
BIG thanks to Heather Nichter for her work to coordinate this event for our school!!
Artist: Grace Nichter - 5th grade - Award of Excellence
Artist statement: Take small, meaningful, gradual steps and your accomplishments are “within reach”.
Artist: Addison Worthan- 5th Grade- Award of Excellence
Art Medium - Watercolors
Artist statement: Horses are a big influence in my life. They make me feel more confident and inspire me to reach my goals. My mom and I both share our love of horses. My painting portrays the love between a mother and her baby. I hope it reminds others that love is always “within reach."
Artist: Avery Moreland - 5th grade - Honorable Mention
Art Medium: This art was created on a canvas with paint pens.
Artist Statement: Hot air balloons rise, so the girl is grabbing the the rope usually found underneath hot air balloons. The rope is “within reach” while the air balloon is rising, therefore “within reach."
Tenli Rogers - 3rd Grade - Honorable Mention
Art medium - Oils on canvas
Artist Statement: I drew this picture because “within reach” for me means that I can be a vet when I grow up. When I grow up, I want to save endangered animals like the platypus. Sometimes people flood the river just to get platypus eggs.
Rachel's Challenge T-Shirts For Sale!
GCISD Kindness Day is February 15
Kindness Day is the day we promote kindness and compassion across the district. We are encouraging everyone: students, staff, parents, board members and community members to wear a Rachel's Challenge Shirt (or a green shirt) on this day. Counseling Services has a new shirt (designed by Dove Elementary students) and are taking orders. Please view the order form here. A copy of this form was sent home with all students last week. If you are interested in purchasing a shirt, all orders are due by January 30th. Please send completed form and your money to our counselor, Mandy Coburn.
Parent Technology Academy Sessions!
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.
Thank you to all of the parents that attended the session last week on Internet Safety. Stay tuned for more information coming soon about the following topics!
FUTURE SESSION TOPICS:
February 20 - Top Apps that parents need to know about
Bear Creek Elementary cafeteria - 6 p.m.
March 20- Mobile App and Social Media awareness and branding
Grapevine High School library - 6 p.m.
April 19- Tops Apps that parents need to know about
Colleyville Middle School cafeteria - 6 p.m.
May 22- Internet Safety ( Digital Citizenship) – tools for at home Internet filtering
Colleyville Heritage High School library - 6 p.m.
FARM FRESH FRIDAYS!
PTA QUICK PICKS!
This week's "quick picks" of reminders & information from PTA:
- We need volunteers to help in Cannon Library. Can you help? Sign up here - https://goo.gl/bgauhV
- Mrs. Mattox needs volunteers to help during the Cannon Art Show on February 9. Sign up here - https://goo.gl/Uz8ihP Additional art show details coming home soon!
Stay connected by following Cannon PTA on social media. Click here to "like" the PTA Facebook page. Follow them on Twitter @CannonPTA.
Cannon Elementary - A Recognized Common Sense Media School!
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.
Amazon Smile
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
School Calendar for 2018-2019
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!
STEM IN GCISD BLOG
This blog will have the most updated information about upcoming events specific to Cannon, GMS STEM, and the future STEM program at GHS.
Cannon Elementary: A GCISD STEM School
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