The Titan Times: Week 6

• Message from the Principal
• Mark Your Calendars and Links to District and Lunch Calendars
• Growing a Titan Mindset and Connection Every Day!
• Leander ISD Food Policy, Leander ISD Opportunities & Upcoming Election Information: Leander ISD Props A & B
• GT, Quest, and Destination Imagination Information
• Counselor's Connection Info & Nurse's Nook Info
• Website Information to Support Communication
• Ways to Stay Engaged

Titan Families,

We launched our APEX two week-long event on campus last week, and our halls have been filled with cheers and laughter as we celebrate and connect throughout our time with APEX. The purpose of this organization is to mix leadership, fitness, and entertainment in the school day while growing our school funds to support innovative, flexible spaces in our library and expanding our teachers' access to instructional tools and devices. Currently, we are on track to reach out fundraising goal, so let's keep up our efforts to raise funds for our Titan Community! Every little bit helps!

The Fun Run is on Friday, September 23rd. If you signed up to volunteer for the run through PTA or if you plan to attend the fun run to cheer on your Titan(s), please be sure to sign in with our receptionist, Ms. Natasha Lewis. The only preprinted visitor badges will be for our volunteers, and any other families wishing to view the run will need to be prepared to check-in as we typically would through the front offices. Please be aware that some of our grade level lunch and recess time have changed for that day as well. If you have any questions about this process, please call our front office. Many thanks to you for supporting our campus throughout this fundraising opportunity.

Below you will see pictures from our observation of International Dot Day on Thursday, September 15th. On this day our students were provided time to create and appreciate what they courageously bring to our Titan Community as creators and collaborators. Last week, we also had our first Titan Time with all grade levels and our first PTA General Meeting for the year! On Monday, we had our Vandegrift High School Football players or "Viper Readers" on campus reading to our Titans. Check out the pictures!

We look forward to another lively week of striving and thriving in our community, Titans! Please feel free to reach out anytime. We are here to serve.

Thank you,

Dr. Amy Sharp

Proud RPE Principal

September

• 15- October 15th: National Hispanic Heritage Month
• 23rd: APEX fun run! (See more about the schedule below)
• 25th: National Food Service Workers Day
• 26th: Staff Development Day (No School for Students)
• 27th: Leander ISD Hosts a Safety, Security, Health, & Wellness Summit
• 29th: Site-Based Planning Committee (SBPC) or RPE's Campus Impact Team, Meeting #1
• 30th: American Indian Heritage Day

October: Persons with Disabilities History and Awareness Month

• 3rd Custodial Appreciation Week
• 10-14th National School Lunch Week/ Child Nutrition Appreciation Week
• 10th Staff Development Day
• 11th Staff Development Day
• 13th Fall Picture Day
• 17th First Day of the 2nd Nine Weeks/ National School Bus Safety Week
• 19th Unity Day- Wear Orange!
• 21st PTA Hosts River Place Elementary's Fall Festival/ Trunk or Treat Event

Please be aware of the following policies in place regarding parties and deliveries noted in the Leander ISD Student Handbook:

• There will be two (2) official school parties per year for each class to be determined by the individual campus. RPE's two official school parties are the winter party and end of year party held at the grade level's discretion of date and time.(pg. 48)
• A student’s classmates will recognize him/her on his/her birthday and make the student feel special. Because learning is our most important job, we will not take time out from our class time to share balloons or other party favors on birthdays.(pg. 48) At RPE, we will celebrate students at Titan Time monthly and potentially through teacher classroom recognition. If families wish to celebrate a birthday, we encourage Titan Families to bring in a non food item. Some examples of non-food items are but are not limited to: pencils, pencil erasers, donate a book to the classroom with your child's name on it to the classroom library, and other school appropriate trinkets.
• Out of respect and concern for others, invitations to private parties may not be distributed at school unless distributed to the entire class.(pg. 48)
• Parents may provide food for their own child’s consumption, but they may not provide food items for other children. (pg. 48)
• Students are not allowed to have food delivered to school from commercial establishments. (pg. 49)

If you have any questions, please let Dr. Amy Sharp know.

With a continued focus on the safety and security of our students, Leander ISD is hosting a Safety, Security, Health and Wellness Summit, “Empowering Parents.” This event will take place from 6:30-8 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 27, at the South Performing Arts Center located at Cedar Park High School with a live-stream option as well. Read more: rmd.me/YcAhYXU8aa6

Interested in having a voice in the district’s future? Consider applying to join the Citizens’ Facility Advisory Committee (CFAC). The district is seeking 200+ volunteers to serve on the following six subcommittees:

• High Schools
• Middle Schools
• Elementary Schools
• Technology
• Ancillary Services
• Security

Learn more: https://bit.ly/3qe1WYe

The ballot for this November’s elections will include two Leander ISD propositions.

Proposition A is an Attendance Credit Election. Due to an increase in local property values, the state is removing about $31.2 million from our district through a mechanism that is often called Robin Hood. If LISD voters approve Proposition A, the district will make its required recapture payment to the state. If Proposition A fails, the state could remove dollars from our schools by forcing some taxpayers to start paying taxes to a different district instead of LISD.

Proposition B is a Voter-Approval Tax Rate Election. By approving Proposition B, voters would ratify the tax rate set by the LISD Board of Trustees and generate an additional $32 million for academics in LISD, including teacher pay and the continuity of programs.

For much more information about these propositions, please visit LeanderISD.org/elections.

District Gifted and Talented Advisory - All GT parents, GT teachers, GT students, GT Counselors, and GT administrators interested in serving in this important role should complete the LISD GT Advisory Interest Form 22-23 by Friday, September 23, 2022. Please share this call for applications with your community. Questions? Contact Shirley Bachus

Referrals for Gifted and Talented (QUEST) services are accepted year-round.

Elementary students referred for testing by Friday, January 6, 2023 will be screened to determine the need for additional GT Assessment and Identification.

Those that qualify for additional screening will be notified by February 10, 2023 and will be assessed throughout the spring semester.

Notification of results will be sent prior to the end of the Spring semester.

Click the following link to refer your child to Quest:

Fill out the Quest Referral Form if interested in making a referral.

Does your 3rd-5th grade child like to build, design, invent, create, perform, and work with a team to solve challenges? If so, he or she might be interested in participating in Destination Imagination (DI). DI is an extracurricular, school- sponsored program that fosters creativity, team-based problem-solving skills and life skills for students. Leander ISD DI is open to all students in third through twelfth grades. The goal of DI is to cultivate the creative problem-solving process and make it an unconscious part of students’ everyday lives.

If your child is interested in participating in DI, you will need to submit a registration form. There are two ways to submit this form. One way is to print a copy of the 2022-2023 DI Student Registration Form, fill it out, and either scan and email it to your campus rep at jason.tutone@leanderisd.org or return it to your campus. All registration forms are due by Friday, October 7th.

• the Most Up to Date Information
• School Dismissal Manager Info
• Bus Information/ Smart Tag Info
• Car Rider Information (or Click Here for Video)
• Calendar Information
• Grade Level Team and Teacher Websites

Are you looking for ways to stay connected and know what is happening on campus? Great!

Here are our Titan Community Communication Tools-

• River Place Elementary School Website
• Twitter Account
• PTA Facebook Page
• Remind App for River Place Insiders

Email: ContactTeacher@leanderisd.org
Website: https://riverplace.leanderisd.org/
Location: 6500 Sitio Del Rio Blvd, Austin, TX 78730, USA
Phone: 512-570-6911
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RiverPlaceElementaryPTA/
Twitter: @RiverPlaceTitan