Dragon Lair Chronicles

Week 7: September 11-15, 2023

Message from the Principal

Dear Dragon Families,

I want to take this time to introduce myself to you all.

My name is Frenda Serda-Gerardo. I am your new proud principal at the lair. I have been in education for the past 24 years. I received my Bachelor's from St. Mary's University in San Antonio, TX. I received my Master's from UTEP in 2005. I have worked at various campuses around SISD of which Drugan was one. I am coming back after 11 years or so. I began my career teaching Biology, Chemistry, and Physics in 2000. I have served our SISD students in a variety of positions to include instructional technologist, SCIE coach, assistant principal and director of an Early College High School.

I have been married close to 17 years to a wonderful man that completes me, Norberto. I have 2 beautiful boys, Zabastian and Alessandro, that bless me with the honor of calling me 'mom' everyday. I have a beautiful black pug named, 'Inky'.

And, now, I have 976 beautiful dragons that I will protect and educate under my wings. I will be hosting Coffee with Principal in the AM and Pizza with the Principal in the PM next week. We will send out more information on the newsletter for next week.

If you have any questions, feel free to call me at 937-6802 or email me at fserda@sisd.net.

This month, we ask for your support to help our scholars with the following:

read daily for 20 minutes (anything of interest to child);
practice addition & subtraction facts (these bring confidence);
practice multiplication & division facts (upper grades need for problem solving);
go to bed early enough to be ready to learn the next day; &
continue to communicate with classroom teachers

Arrival & Dismissal

Arrival and Dismissal will be our greatest challenges. Please be patient and kind. We will have all staff on duty to assist and create a system that is safe and efficient.

NEW - If you your child will have to cross to the passenger seat, an adult will escort him/her to the other side of the vehicle. You will receive a neon sign with this instructions as it is a new procedure to keep all our Dragons safe at all time.

For Dismissal, we do ask families to ensure their SIGN with child's name in posted in the front windshield so that we can read & call out the name.

Attendance

If your child is absent, we must have a doctor's note or a personal note explaining why they were absent upon their arrival. NEW: This year, district policy indicates parents/guardians have 72 hours to submit excuse notes justifying child's absence.

Attendance in vital to our scholars success. Every absence, scholars lose 7 hours of skills, strategies and support for learning.

We track attendance daily and will communicate with families when children have 5 absences & tardies to establish a Loss of Credit Contract. Our goal is for your child to be healthy and at school without losing credit.

COVID & Absences

If a student tests positive with COVID, child must see a doctor to get a test and be diagnosed with COVID. If parents submit a home COVID test, it will NOT qualify for the Q code of Quarantined. Therefore, these absences will count towards Loss of Credit. Ensure your child is seen by a doctor and diagnosis is sent as an excuse for absences to qualify for Q code.

Reporting Absences

If you need to report an absence, our PEIMS Clerk will be able to assist you. Our team will be receiving the email to help assist you. I will forward all of your messages to the classroom teachers so they are aware of the absence.

Email: attendancejohndrugan@sisd.net

Please include as much detail as possible:

Child's name
Grade
Teacher
Student ID
Reason for the absence

All notes will be collected via the attendance email as well. Be sure to include details in the note as the child returns to class.

Breakfast in the Classroom

Our district will continue to provide breakfast in the classroom for ALL scholars. Breakfast in the Classroom, BIC, will be served daily from 7:30 AM to 7:45 AM. Please be on time to take advantage of the most important meal of the day.

Water Bottles

Please continue to send your children with water bottles. This will help them stay safe & hydrated. They can refill them in from the water fountains.

Safety

The building will be cleaned throughout the day in high traffic areas to ensure safety. We will have hand sanitizing stations at all classrooms, restrooms, cafeteria and playground. If you wish for your child to wear a mask, please send them with a mask that fits them comfortably.

Thank you for your continued support! We are blessed with an amazing learning community!

Together, we are better!

Respectfully,

Frenda Serda-Gerardo

Proud Principal of John Drugan School

Office Number: 915-937-6802

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Campus Mission Statement:

John Drugan will go beyond...excellence by providing a nurturing environment that provides a solid foundation and instills a desire to be lifelong learners.

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Campus Vision Statement:

Tomorrow's LEADERS Learning TODAY

iStations Celebrations

Congratulations to the students that were our Top Reader for their grade level in iStation!

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Attendance, Week 5

Our goal as a school is to reach 98.5% attendance each week. We know that staying healthy is as important as learning each day.

This week's attendance percentages as as follows:

Week 5: 96.8%; YTD: 96.78%, Good start to the year!

Stay healthy and make it count! Be at school daily! We will have a great year Dragons!

Technology Updates...

Classes come to the Library every other week, and books are checked out for those 2 weeks. Students need to keep books safe and clean in a Ziploc bag. Fees are charged for lost/damaged books based on the cost of the book. Fees will be paid on My School Bucks through the Web Store on our school web page.

Parents may come in to sign up for a library account with a valid Driver's License and email address. Parents may check out 5 books at a time. The library hours for parents are:

7:45am-8:15am and 2:00pm-3:15pm

Student devices have been distributed to PK-5th grade students to use in class. There are still a few of our new scholars needing devices. They have been requested and will be distributed as soon as they arrive.