February 8, 2019
A Note from the Principal...
TAAPS Spring Conference

Recently, Ms. Debi and I traveled to Dallas for the 2019 annual TAAPS conference. TAAPS, the Texas Alliance of Accredited Private Schools is the agency that ensures we meet established standards and continue to maintain the quality of education expected.

While there, we learned about some new classroom strategies, connected with other professionals around the state and found resources to bring back and share with Crossroads faculty.

The keynote speaker was Erica Olson, who shared with us a great deal of knowledge about Social Emotional Learning and what she referred to as the 4th “R” of education- Relating. (Traditionally we hear about the 3 “R”s- reading, writing and arithmetic.) Her ideas spoke to our goals at Crossroads, which are not only to help our students academically but also socially.  Because of the importance of this topic and how it relates to our students, two of our faculty will be attending two full-day workshops on Social Emotional Learning in Austin next week. You will hear more about that in the coming newsletters.

Ms. Debi and I each chose different sessions to attend in order to maximize the information we could bring back to school.  Ms. Debi attended sessions on fundraising, admissions, and inclusion while I choose topics that directly relate to student interactions.

I learned from Kay Wyma, who is an author of books on dealing with teenagers. I really enjoyed her presentation and felt that she had some good reminders about students feeling more pressure these days with social media and higher expectations. She had some key phrases, such as finding everyone’s gift and preventing kids from thinking that “they will be okay if…” She has a couple of resources that I will have available for anyone interested or you can visit her website at www.kaywyma.com

My afternoon session was lead by Michele Joseph, who is the Head of Gateway Academy in Houston. Her presentation was about the power of being “done” and how to help students with executive functioning. Her speech laid out steps for helping students get from imagining a finished product all the way to completing it. She also shared some excellent resources that I passed on to the teachers to help them in the classroom.

Sincerely,
Justin Adams
Crossroads Principal
(713) 977-1221 x120
Grant Received

Crossroads School is very proud to announce that we received an anonymous $50,000 grant for our current operations budget. These are much needed funds as tuition is only a portion of the real cost to operate our school.

Typically these fundraising dollars are reached through generous donations, grants and annual fundraisers. While Crossroads will not hold a major Gala this year, an alternative fundraising activity is being planned. Any parents who are interested in helping are encouraged to contact Ms. Debi or Ms. Ginger to assist.
Crocodile Encounter Field Trip on February 13
Crossroads students will attend an all-day field trip on February 13. They will visit the Crocodile Encounter which currently maintains 14 species of crocodilians. Their primary species is the Nile crocodile from Africa of which they have the largest group in the nation. There will surely be a load of great pictures from this event so keep watching your newsletter!

The bus will leave promptly at 9:00 AM and will return to campus no later than 2:45 PM.
Students MUST wear their Crossroads Shirts and Bring a Sack Lunch.
As Seen On Campus...
This week in Physical Science, atoms, elements, and the periodic table were introduced. Students made model atoms using marshmallows and toothpicks. Students made models of atoms out of marshmallows. This activity used kinesthetic learning to enhance students’ understanding of atoms.

Preston makes a video game proposal to the class. All classrooms at Crossroads have a Promethean Board. These are interactive whiteboards that allow students and teachers to project images from their laptops and interact with those images through touch or specialized pens.
The Cooking Class has been wanting to make dumplings, so we finally did – just in time for Chinese New Year 2019 – Year of the Pig!  The boys started off the class learning about their Chinese zodiac signs, opening fortune cookies, and trying to pronounce different variations of the word “dumplings” in Chinese. After taking turns making the dumpling filling of ground turkey, cabbage, carrot, scallion, mushrooms, water chestnuts, ginger, garlic, soy sauce, rice vinegar, and sesame oil, they fastidiously folded as many wonton bundles as they could. To keep the Chinese New Year’s celebration going, we froze the dumplings, and will boil and enjoy as a snack during next week’s cooking class. The boys can’t wait to eat them!
Community Events of Interest
The ReelAbilities HOUSTON FILM & ARTS FESTIVAL is a FREE citywide event that promotes inclusion and celebrates the lives, stories and talents of people with disabilities, making an impact that lasts far beyond the Festival.
The host organizer is JFS Alexander Institute for Inclusion. There are many events included in this festival including speakers, films, art and music. (All films are shown at the Edwards Greenway Theatre. For more information go to: www.ReelAbilitiesHouston.org
F or a full brochure of all events click here: Full Brochure
Crossroads staff members will view the three movie short films on Monday afternoon, February 18 in place of our weekly staff meeting. This is a great opportunity for the staff to learn and enjoy time together. (Ms. Gemma will teach Homework Skills as usual for students who stay on Mondays.)
Several of our staff members will be attending this local Spring Conference.
KEYNOTE SPEAKER
Dr. Guinevere Eden
“ Decoding the Brain:
Imaging Studies of Dyslexia”

SPRING CONFERENCE
February 23, 2019

The Houston Branch of The International Dyslexia Association (HBIDA) is a non-profit organization dedicated to helping individuals with dyslexia and related learning disorders, their families and the communities that support them. HBIDA is your local connection to an international network of professionals, families, and individuals diagnosed with dyslexia known as The International Dyslexia Association (IDA).
Click the graphic above to go directly to the HBIDA website - Conference Information and Registration.
Here is a link to an interesting article from the Houston branch of the IDA-International Dyslexia Association.

Contributions can be mailed to the school address or donate online at: www.paypal.me/CrossroadsHouston
Crossroads School Events & Reminders

Early Dismissal: 12:30 PM on Wednesday, February 20
Spring Break: March 11-15
CROSSROADS SCHOOL, Inc.
5822 Dolores St.
Houston, TX 77057
(713) 977-1221