Garner School News September 17,2009

The Ryan Gym was “rocking” last Monday morning as the Garner PK-5th grade students performed a program of singing and dancing featuring hits of the 1950’s.  In the audience were over 100 grandparents who enthusiastically enjoyed the beginning of Grandparents Day at Garner School. After being transported back to a 1950’s soda shop complete with a jukebox during the program, the day’s honorees were feted with a breakfast prepared by the students in the cafeteria. It was truly inspiring to see so many happy faces; students excited about being able to showcase the results of the hard work, and grandparents beaming with pride in their grand children’s accomplishments.

 

School is not only about ensuring that students master reading, writing, and arithmetic. They need to be taught to increase their ability to think for themselves, take initiative, get along with others, and solve problems. Last year at Garner School one goal was to emphasize the importance of the arts in this process. This year we are continuing this emphasis; however, this year teachers will be also teaching practical, principle-based leadership skills. Constitution Day activities last week provided a great opportunity to incorporate these skills into lessons. Garner School has also adopted the “Character Counts!” curriculum as our approach to character education.

 

Last week I announced that the Garner Community 4H Club was to hold its first meeting. The meeting was a great success. 25 students were in attendance! The volleyball team also continues to shine. This Monday night the girls will have the opportunity to avenge their only loss of the season when they take on Bynum at the Ryan Gym. Come out and support the “Longhorns”. Until next week…..

 

 

 

 

 

Garner School News September 10, 2009

Two weeks into the school year and as always opportunities for parents and students to get involved in an abundance of activities to promote and celebrate learning are filling the calendar. The Parent Teacher Organization had their organizational meeting Tuesday and elected the following officers: President, Lacey Nelms; Vice-President, Kristen Radde; Secretary, Elisa Parsons; Treasurer, Karen Glover; and Historian, Mary Michels. This very active organization earns thousands of dollars to support student programs at Garner Elementary. The PTO meets monthly, (an Alert-Now phone call goes out to all parents announcing meeting times). All parents are invited to get involved.

The Garner Community 4H will have their first meeting Monday at 6:30 p.m. in the Garner School Cafeteria. All attendees will be treated to a hot dog meal with all the trimmings and at 7:00 p.m. there will be a program on horse nutrition. Parents, if you have not already signed your child up for 4H this will be a great opportunity to come and see what this organization has to offer.

Grandparents, you play an important role in the lives of your grandchildren. Garner students will be honoring you at a presentation at in the Ryan Gymnasium at 8 a.m., Monday, September 14^th. The presentation will include singing by students under the direction of Ms. Shaw. It’s going to be quite a show. Afterwards there will be a breakfast in your honor in the cafeteria. Each class is bringing a separate dish, so come hungry.

As part of the school’s community outreach, the All Smiles Dental & Orthodontics has partnered with the district to bring a mobile dental unit to the school on Friday, September 25, 2009. The mobile unit will be providing dental exams, X-Rays, cleaning and sealants. Treatments if needed will be completed the following week. This opportunity is available to all children in the community whether or not they attend  Garner School. Should you want your child to take advantage of this opportunity you will need to fill out paperwork in advance of the event. Come by the principal’s office to receive the required forms.

Finally, I want to give a quick update on the Garner volleyball team. Coach Radde and the 17 girls that make up the team are off to a quick start. On Thursday, the 3^rd  of September, they opened their season with wins over Poolville, and Graford.  Way to go team! Until next week…..

Garner School News August 27, 2009

Garner School is off to a great start! Enrollment is at 200, which equals our high of last year and is significantly higher than the 178 that we began with last year. Full day PK is off to a terrific start and the emphasis of providing fine art opportunities for all students that marked last year continues. I would like to share what Lindsay Taylor wrote about her success in art last year as a 5^th grade student

  

“The experience of having my art sent to Austin was awesome! I was amazed when the art teacher called me and two other students into her room. She told us that our art is going down to the capital to be judged out of thousands of works of art created by students across the state. We waited about a month or two. Then, a letter was received saying that my art had been chosen to be one of 100 to be hung in the capital for a week. Later, Governor Rick Perry and Mrs.Perry chose ten out of one hundred. Mine was one of the ten. The piece was professionally framed and matted and will hang in the capital for a year. My art is now hanging in the governor’s business office. I was so excited!!!! I got invited to go back to Austin to meet Hope Andraes. She was a very nice lady and seemed to really care about the art and the kids. My art is hanging in the business office in the capital! This was truly an experience of a lifetime!! I would like to thank Mrs. Buell for being the best art teacher ever!”

 

I’m sure that this experience has made a difference for Lindsay, and the appreciation that she feels for her teacher is something that I hope we can duplicate in some way for all of our students. Way to go “Longhorns”.

 

On the athletic front, 16 girls plan on making their mark in volleyball. Their first game is at Poolville on Thursday. Their first home game is Monday the 21^st of September. Until next week…

Garner School News August 20, 2009

School begins on Monday the 24^th of August. I’m sure the feelings of students, parents, and school staff run the gamut from excitement to extreme anxiety, but come the first bell at 8 a.m. the goal of the school is too make the year the best ever in preparing students to continue progressing on their journey to become lifelong learners.

 

The most important thing for parents is to understand what is expected of your child and to know what specific new challenges they will be facing. As always teachers and staff are excited about telling parents about the specifics at parent meetings, but this year Garner teachers have been busy working on their class pages on the school website as a means to facilitate this communication. Parents, visit the school website, click on the grade your child will be attending, and find the powerpoint presentation. Teachers have done a great job laying out the year as to goals and major events.

 

Garner school continues to gain students. We expect to start the year with about 15 more students than we began with last year. The administration is monitoring class sizes to ensure students continue to get the attention they need to be successful. Generally, this year’s schedule is similar to last year with the exception that the first hour of the day is reserved for reading for excellence. Students will also be writing across the curriculum on a more consistent basis.

 

Parents and community members also need to be reminded of new laws that become effective this year. While driving in school zones, the use of hand held devices such as cell phones by the driver of a vehicle is illegal. Signs notifying drivers of this requirement have not yet been posted; however, each of us should get into the habit now. Also, new immunization requirements for 7^th grade students and PK/Kindergarten will be strictly enforced. Students not meeting the requirements posted on the district website will be sent home until they meet the standards.

 

Community support of our students continues to be outstanding. Recently the children that attended the Garner First Baptist Church vacation bible school donated $200 to assist in the buying of school supplies for students in need. Thank you. Until next week…..

Garner School News August 13, 2009

Garner school and Garner ISD continue to receive good news about the academic performance of our students. Garner ISD earned a Texas Education Agency “Recognized” rating recently. This was the fourth straight year that Garner had achieved this rating. The better news was that with the exception of science, our students performed at the “Exemplary” level in the other tested areas of Reading, Writing, Math, and Social Studies. So close to being an “Exemplary” district, teachers are excited about the prospects for the upcoming year.

Last week the district received information that it had met Adequate Yearly Performance (AYP) requirements for the last year. This rating is determined by measures established by the Department of Education at the national level. AYP reports three indicators for each district and campus in the state: Reading/English Language Arts, Mathematics, and one other measure. The Reading/English Language Arts and Mathematics indicators consist of the performance and participation components for all students in grades 3-8, and 10. At Garner ISD the other measure is student attendance. While TEA ratings and national ratings somewhat mirror each other, it is not unusual for a district to receive ratings that would appear to conflict. Should a district or school not meet AYP, it is required to expend resources and submit plans under a School Improvement model. Additionally, the district is required to notify parents and provide options for choice of school attendance.

In another area of interest, Garner ISD will continue to expand student opportunities in the area of fine arts this upcoming year. Ms. Shaw, our music and drama teacher already has laid out her yearly plan. Major scheduled events include: a presentation of “The Patchwork Quilt” at UIL one act play in the fall; a presentation of the musical “Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” in the spring; and a performance in Atlanta, Georgia in January of “Annie Jr” at the Junior Theatre Festival. I’m very excited about these opportunities for our students.

Great News! The Garner community now has its own community based 4H program. The charter was recently approved after several months of extensive planning by a group of dedicated parents and community members. Studies show that students that participate in 4H do better in school, are more motivated to help others, feel safe to try new things, achieve a sense of self esteem and develop lasting friendships. Parents wishing to avail their children of this opportunity can to enroll them at “Sundae on a Thursday” which is scheduled 6 p.m. until 7:30 p.m. August 20th at Garner School. The Garner 4H Club welcomes all families to participate whether or not they attend Garner schools. Until next week….  

Garner School News July 23,2009

It’s now only a few weeks away from the start of the new school year. Administrators, teachers, parents and students all share feelings of excitement and apprehension with the approach of the first class bell on August 24^th. So little time to sleep a little later, take a trip, make appointments, or prepare a new classroom unit! I’d like to share a few things that will be new at Garner ISD for the upcoming year and review a couple of upcoming dates that will make the transition back to school easier.

The state of Texas is once again providing a tax free weekend August 21^st through the 23^rd. As in previous years, the law exempts most clothing, footwear, and student backpacks priced under $100 from sales and use taxes, which could save families about $8 on every $100 they spend. The 81st Texas Legislature recently passed a bill expanding the list of items to be exempt to include most school supplies priced at less than $100 purchased. Before you purchase school supplies, be sure and check out the school supplies lists published on the Garner ISD website.

Kindergarten and 7^th grade students are also required to receive additional immunizations prior to the first day of school. Parents need to review the requirements posted on the district site to make sure their children are in compliance. The H1N1 flu continues to be a concern at the state and local levels as school resumes. The major change in procedures from last year is that school closures are no longer the preferred method of limiting transmission of the flu. Schools will develop plans that include asking that parents keep children at home for a prescribed time. Garner will also increase the availability of hand soap, hand sanitizers, and tissues.

When students arrive for their first day of classes they will only be met by one new teacher. I’m happy to announce that Krystle Coalson will be the 2^nd grade teacher. Ms. Coalson has many years of teaching experience in area schools. She brings unique skills in integrating technology into the classroom in addition to being a superb teacher of basic skills. Heidi Hogue will be moving from Kindergarten to Prekindergarten where she will head the transition of the program from half day to full day classes. Garner ISD recently received a grant from the state to help implement this transition. Until next week….

Garner School News 16 July 2009

Summertime activities continue around Garner School. The school board has completed the first of the budget workshops for next year, storm damage repairs continue, new school flooring is almost completely installed, and technology updating in the classrooms is completed.  During the budget workshop, the Board was informed that Garner ISD’s Target Expenditure for the upcoming year would be approximately $1,850,000.

The Target Expenditure is the amount of money that the state of Texas will insure that a school district will have to conduct its operations and maintenance. In most districts these funds are obtained from a combination of the collection of local property taxes and the payment of funds from the state. In other districts such as Garner, the collection of property taxes exceed the Target Expenditure and excess collections are sent to the state to help fund school districts where local collections do not rise to the level of their assigned Target Expenditure. School districts such as Garner are known as Chapter 41 districts and the other school districts are known as Chapter 42 districts.

Next year Garner ISD will send in the neighborhood of $500,000 back to the state. Property owners may wonder, “Why doesn’t the school district just lower the tax rate to a level to meet the Target Expenditure?” The way laws are written will not allow this to happen. Every property owner in Texas is taxed at a designated minimum tax rate to support public education. Voters in a district may vote to tax themselves at a higher rate, but not at a lower rate.  Citizens in Garner ISD could vote for an additional 13 cents in taxes for every $100 dollars in property values to improve schools, but the result would be to send the additional collections to the state. None of the increased collections could be used to improve operations and maintenance at Garner. The only way for the taxpayers of Garner ISD to send less money back to the state is to either increase enrollment or invest in new facilities. Until next week…..

Student/Staff Winners

Garner School News, July 9, 2009

The new district and campus websites are up and running!  Check them out at www.garnerisd.net. One feature of interest to everyone in the community is the current and historical weather data provided from the weather station at the school. Parents if you need to review school supply lists for the upcoming year they are also on the site by grade level. In the future we plan on having a historical section tracing both the school and the Garner community from their earliest days. Should you have either photos or stories that you would like to contribute to the project please contact either Lacey Nelms or Jimmy Autry at the district. Portions of the sites will require a user name and a password. These will be provided to parents when school kicks off in the fall.

Last week the Garner cheerleaders and mascots for the 2009-2010 school year traveled with their sponsor Kathy Wakefield to the Great Wolf Lodge in Grapevine to attend cheer camp. The girls had a great time at their three day camp and came back pumped up to cheer for all the Garner athletes. While there, the girls won four ribbons for their skills and earned the trophy for most improved squad. Be sure and check out the photo of the squad taken at the camp.  Until next week……

Garner School News July 2, 2009

Garner ISD is commencing work on the 10 Year Master Plan for the district. At the same time the district is completing a facilities condition assessment that focuses on systemic infrastructure issues of existing buildings. The 10 Year Master Plan is a more holistic evaluation of the school district that considers, among other issues, building and education program needs, re-organization evaluation, future enrollment, etc. The need for both the assessment and the plan were substantiated by recommendation of the school’s site based committee during the development of the 2009-2010 District Improvement Plan. The District Improvement Plan was adopted by the Garner School Board at its June Board Meeting. In the coming months the entire Garner community will be notified of opportunities to give input into the process.

As parents get ready for the next school year, I would like to remind them of the state’s new immunization requirements for Kindergarten and 7^th grade students. Kindergarten students must have two doses of MMR and two doses of Varicella (Chicken Pox vaccine) before enrolling in school. 7^th grade students must have two doses of Varicella or history of the disease, Meningoccal vaccine, and a Tdap (Tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis containing booster) before the beginning of the 09-10 school year.  Of other interest, Garner ISD will be finger printing all employees to include substitutes on 30 July in order to meet state mandates.

Did you miss the Kindergarten Round Up? Don’t worry the Kindergarten registration is ongoing. When you register your child you will need to bring a birth certificate, updated immunization records, proof of residence, social security child and a picture ID for the person enrolling the child. Garner ISD is also beginning a full day PK program this year. If you have questions as to eligibility, please contact the district office. Enjoy the 4^th of July. Until next week…..