THE ARROW

"If you are planning for a year, sow rice; if you are planning for a decade, plant trees; if you are planning for a lifetime, educate people."

Guan Zhong said that in feudal China a couple thousand years ago, and his advice still stands today. We hope you'll join us in planning for and responding to the growth we expect over the next decade - our current demographics projections forecast our enrollment to more than double by 2030! The trust being placed in the school district is humbling, and Community ISD will always do its best to plan for a lifetime. We hope you'll continue to plan with us!

Throughout the month of February, Community ISD will be honoring Black History Month with school posters, specialized lesson plans, and announcements about prominent African-Americans in local, regional, and national history.

CISD Elementary students are invited to run the bases at both the softball and baseball opening day events!

Participating students are REQUIRED to fill out a digital sign-up sheet and MUST wear masks while on the field - even students that are nine and under. If a student has not signed up to run the bases by Feb. 19th for baseball, they will not be allowed to participate. Only 50 slots are available.

After running the bases, there will be a small picture area set up in foul territory for parents to take pictures of their students on the field.

Signing up for a slot to run the bases also includes a free ticket for that student to be admitted to the game. Just show your confirmation email to admissions upon arrival to the game.

Running of the bases will take place between the junior varsity and varsity games. Base running will begin at approximately 6:00 pm, with the varisty game scheduled to begin at 7:00 pm.

Softball sign-up sheet: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0D44ACAA23AAFAC07-runthe

Baseball sign-up sheet: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0d44acaa23aafac07-runthe1

Completed on January 9, 2021, as part of the 2017 bond, the Community ISD baseball and softball complex officially opened for practice on January 22.

Softball opens its season on February 16, and Opening Day for baseball is February 22.

After getting board approval in the January 2021 meeting, we've revised our 2020-21 academic calendar. Please click here to read about the changes and download the new calendar!

#ThriveThrough

The upcoming additional elementary school, designed by WRA Architects and located at the intersection of Cotton Gin Road and Double R Pass, is set to open in the fall of 2022.

Dr. Nivens hosted several dozen contractors on Thursday, January 14, inviting them to bid on the construction of the new elementary school and the addition of eight classrooms to CHS.

Bids were submitted to CISD on Thursday, January 28, exactly two weeks later.

The vision for the third elementary school is rendered by WRA Architects in the YouTube video below.

Dr. Roosevelt Nivens opened the first meeting held at the state-of-the-art Professional Development Center on Tuesday, January 12. The center provides office space for the district's Curriculum & Instruction team and three conference rooms.

Years of hard work and a great vision from our award-winning school board culminated in this moment - and even greater things are in store for the #BraveNation

Did you know that our board of trustees is a highly-decorated group of unpaid volunteers? These dedicated public servants have received tons of honors including 2020 H-E-B Excellence in Education Top 5 Outstanding School Board, 2018 Texas Association of School Administrators Top 5 Honor Board, 2018 Region 10 Education Service Center Honor Board, and 2018 Texas Rural Education Association School Board of the Year just to name a few!

Six of our seven school board members sat down with us to share why they chose to serve and their favorite memories so far of being a part of Navigating us to Success!

Our McClendon Elementary Principal, Mr. Gilberto Salinas, has been a part of the Texas Air National Guard for over 8 years.

On Friday, January 8, he received his most recent orders, deploying as part of a COVID-19 relief mission in the Austin, Texas, area.

Mr. Salinas wants everyone in the #BraveNation to know he is very excited to serve Texans in need, and that Mrs. Melanie Cottongame will be the acting principal on campus for an undetermined amount of time.

Please join us in thanking Mr. Salinas for his service, and reach out to Mrs. Cottongame if you need to reach someone on campus!

All of our Spanish-speaking families are invited to join us on Monday, March 1, for the Latino Family Night at the Community High School auditorium.

The event will feature Dr. Roosevelt Nivens speaking via translator to the Spanish-speaking families of the district, informing them of the state of the district and then answering questions.

If you would like to submit a question for Dr. Nivens, please fill out the form here: https://forms.gle/R23o1irJRRhsr2FV9

Space in the CHS Auditorium is limited because of COVID-19 restrictions to 250 people. If you would like to attend, please sign up by February 26. Sign-up here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0D44ACAA23AAFAC07-latino

Please read the letter from Superintendent Dr. Roosevelt Nivens regarding TEA's decision to pause A-F accountability for the STAAR test in the 2020-21 school year.

Click here or on the picture above to recap the 2020 fall semester.

We presented December's Brag on a Brave certificates today! If you'd like to see a photo gallery of the honorees, please click here or on the picture above.

If you don't know, Brag on a Brave is a way for you to compliment a Community ISD employee, student or volunteer that you observe demonstrating the Traits of a Brave: being generous, humble, passionate and wise. The nomination form is available at https://bit.ly/2TU0Cd1. The deadline for January's Brag on a Brave is January 29!

The USDA has extended the nationwide free school meals program through the rest of the 2020-21 school year! That means that EVERY single student in Community ISD can receive a free meal from the CISD Child Nutrition program.

However, that does not mean that parents that qualify for free and reduced school lunches don't need to register for the program through CISD Child Nutrition. That program is used for so much more than school lunches - it also funds many other programs at the state level including technology

Utilizing dual credit opportunities, 12 Community High School seniors are on track to graduate with an associate's degree from Collin College in the spring. They'll make up the first group from CHS to accomplish this! Learn more by clicking here or on the picture above!

Just as a quick reminder, here are some of the guidelines that the CDC, TEA, and UIL have asked us to follow in order to prevent COVID-19 from spreading on campus.

1. Close contact is defined by the school district as being within six feet of infected person for 15 minutes or longer with one or both parties not wearing their masks. Anyone determined to have been in close contact with someone will be contacted by the school district and asked to quarantine.
2. If both people wear their masks, that is not close contact.
3. If the interaction is less than 15 minutes, that is not close contact.
4. If the distance was more than six feet, that is not close contact.
5. If you are in secondary contact (contact with a person who was in contact with a COVID-19 case), you do not have to quarantine.
6. Social distance whenever possible by remaining at least six feet from anyone not in your household
7. When it is not possible to be socially distant, wear a mask properly - i.e. completely covering your nose and mouth
8. Wash your hands for at least 20 seconds with soap and warm water as often as possible
9. Flu season and strep throat season are right around the corner. Getting a flu shot, washing your hands, and socially distancing are a great way to keep the flu from spreading

For athletic schedules, please check our Rank One website.

All February

Black History Month

American Heart Month

National Teen Dating Violence Awareness and Prevention

Groundhog Day

February 2

Current 11th Graders Course Selection at CHS

February 2-4

School Counseling Week

February 1-5

National Wear Red Day

February 5

Love the Bus Week

February 10-14

Parent Conference - Elementary

February 11

Planning Day/Student Holiday

February 12

Valentine's Day

February 14

Data Day/Student Holiday/Presidents' Day

February 15

National Random Acts of Kindness Day

February 17

Parent Conference - Secondary

February 18

National FFA Week

February 20-27

Visit your campus and district web calendars, or check the CISD mobile app for a complete list of upcoming events.

Email: info@communityisd.org
Website: communityisd.org
Location: 611 FM 1138 North, Nevada, TX 75173
Phone: 972-843-6000
Facebook: facebook.com/communityisd
Twitter: @communityisd