The Boone Barker

August 24, 2020 | Michael M. Boone Elementary School

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Message from Principal Reyes

Dear Parents,

We are so grateful for a wonderful start to our inaugural year at Boone Elementary. Meeting and greeting students and parents this past week brought joy to my heart, and I know our teachers felt the same way.

I wanted to address some concerns and questions we are receiving regarding attendance and engagement in the instruction our teachers are providing. Each teacher, whether they will be teaching virtually or in person, has been working hard to create engaging and exciting lessons for their students. They will begin live interaction and instruction each morning at 8:00 am, and they will combine synchronous and asynchronous instruction throughout the day until 3:15 pm. This is very different from how instruction was delivered in the spring and, as the district has shared over the past couple of months, virtual learning during Emergency Closures and for students who have opted for virtual learning during a nine week period will be a much more robust level of instruction. Our goal is to provide structure for students similar to a normal school day. Teachers have shared their instructional schedules with their homeroom families. There will be breaks provided, such as recess and lunch, as well as time for students to engage in Specials, and time offline for independent work.

While instructing virtually, teachers will provide a combination of synchronous and asynchronous instruction. Synchronous instruction will consist of mini-lessons for each subject while teachers interact with students to check for understanding and provide clarity and feedback just as they would in their classrooms. After live instruction, teachers will assign practice for students to complete asynchronously. Teachers will then be able to assess student understanding and learning when the assignments are turned in/shared with the teacher using the grade specific platform, either Seesaw (K-1) or Google Classroom (2-4).

At Boone Elementary, attendance will be taken each day at 9:00 am. Students will be marked either RA (remote asynchronous present) or A (absent). In order to be marked RA, a student must be present live with the teacher and/or must have turned in any assignment that may have been assigned before 9:00 am. If your child does not interact with the teacher during a Google Meet and has not turned in a posted assignment before 9:00am, your child will be marked absent for that day. However, students have until 11:59pm to turn in missing assignments for the day and, the following morning, teachers will check for assignments turned in and correct the previous day's attendance accordingly. If your child is absent due to illness, please call the school to notify us as usual.

Our hope is that all students will access the live learning or the recorded lessons and complete ALL assignments by 4pm each day. As a staff, we are diligent about creating lessons that align with the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills required by the Texas Education Agency, and we strive to ensure that our lessons are rigorous and engaging. We also believe that the new schedule will provide the right balance between synchronous learning, asynchronous learning, and down time during the day.

Parents should be aware that if assignments are missing, this will be reflected on the student's report card at the end of the nine weeks. If only one assignment is turned in to meet the attendance requirement, teachers may not have enough work to assess a student's progress, and the report card may reflect a lack of progress. We have also received questions regarding whether student work assigned by an outside tutor or private teacher can be accepted and assessed by a Boone teacher. The answer to this question is no. We are not able to accommodate this request. We are only able to accept and assess work that we have taught and assigned.

In the next week, I will be sharing the Boone Student Handbook with all the procedural information you will need to navigate this school year. Included will be day to day procedures and expectations as well as information related to COVID procedures and how we will operate once students are physically in the building.

Thank you for your continued partnership during this unprecedented year.

Sincerely,

Amanda Reyes

Principal

Calendar Updates

We've made some updates to our calendar for the beginning of the school year. Please note the following new dates below:

Bike & Walk to School Day - now October 16th
Curriculum Night - now September 17 at 5:30pm
PTO Meeting - now September 22nd
October 12th - now a regular school day
November 3rd (Election Day) - now a student holiday
Auction - now February 27th

Be sure to check our calendar at boonepto.org/events for the latest dates.

Send us your Back to School photos for the yearbook!

We would love to have pictures of your first day of school, teacher meet & greets, virtual learning, etc. to include in our yearbook. Please send to yearbook@boonepto.org and include the name of your student and what class they are in.

Still need a device for virtual learning?

If you still need a district device in order to participate in virtual learning, please complete the steps below by TOMORROW for pick-up on Thursday.

Click here to complete the Boone Elementary Device Request form.
Click here to select a pick-up time.
Device pick up will be at Boone's front entrance during the selected time. Please post the student car tag in the passenger-side window, and Boone staff will bring the device out.

Get to know the Boone staff!

The Boone staff has put together a flip grid to help you get to know

them! Watch these fun videos to get to know your classroom

teacher, our specials teachers, counselor, nurse, and more!

Last week for Family Giving! Help us get from 68% to 100% participation!

There is no amount too small! All who participate will receive a 2020-21 Boone car decal, and all who give $300 or more will receive the Boone 2020-21 yard sign, so be sure to get yours! Give now at boonepto.org/family-giving.

Family giving is also open to grandparents and community members who would like to support our school, so please pass the link above on to anyone who would like to contribute.

Contributions must be made by August 31st in order to receive printed recognition.

Give Now!

Last call for Room Parents! Interest Form deadline is TODAY.

If you are interested in being a Room Parent this year and did NOT already indicate your interest in BSSU, please fill out this form by TODAY.

Support Boone with your regular shopping

Amazon Smile is now available on the app too! Choose one or both of the methods below to set Boone as your preferred charity.

For the website, click here and choose “Michael M Boone PTO” as your preferred charity. Remember to shop at smile.amazon.com in the future.
For the app, click on Settings, then AmazonSmile. Click to turn ON Amazon Smile and search for “Michael M Boone.” You’ll need to enable and maintain Amazon notifications on your phone for Amazon Smile to remain active in the app.

Link your Tom Thumb Rewards Card to Boone. It's an easy and FREE way to generate funds for Boone, and you can support up to 3 charities at the same time. Complete these 2 easy steps to sign up:

Print and complete this form with Boone's #: 14147.
Return it to the Service Desk at your Tom Thumb store or email to good.neighbor@randalls.com

Last week for Late BSSU! Deadline - August 31

If you did not complete BSSU for your student(s), you have until August 31st to complete the required forms.

Please contact Jenny DuBose at the Boone front office by email at dubosej@hpisd.org or call 214-780-4100.

Find out what's going on within the Boone Community on our Community Board webpage.

Attention Former Hyer Huskies - Yearbook pick-up tomorrow!

Hyer yearbooks will be available for pick-up at Smith Park on Tuesday, August 25th from 5:30 pm - 7:30 pm. If you are not able to pick up your yearbook at this time, you can contact Yearbook Chair Jill Morrison to set up another distribution option.

Bravo from the Boone Bulldogs!

Thank you to everyone who worked to make our opening week a success!

Thank you to Boone Parent Annie Stock with Float Balloon Bar, for generously donating the “Back to School balloons” that many of you purchased during the spring auction. They were such a fun way to celebrate the first day of school at home!

Thanks to our Teacher Appreciation Chairs, Brittany Dyer, Audrey Robertson, and Amy Tremper, and our Outreach & Faculty Support Officer Claire Swope for showing our gratitude for our teachers by delivering lunch and stocking the break room with snacks and drinks!

Thanks to BSSU Chair, Paul Caraballo, for getting to work on our many BSSU reports!

Thanks to Publicity Chair, Karin Shoffner, for getting Boone represented in the very first HPISD News of the School year

Thanks to Newcomers Chairs, Nicole Cardwell and Anna Gilmore, and Outreach Officer, Claire Swope, for pairing up our Newcomers and delivering some special goodies to make them feel welcome!

Thanks to Ways & Means Officer, Emily Boles, for coordinating our Kid Biz Shopping Event and Mimi’s Restaurant Days. What a fun way to kick off the school year!

Thanks to Adam Koch and Andrea & Troy King for creating the cute decorations for our first day of school. We are impressed by your handiwork and dedication!

Thanks to Signage & Displays Chair, Lauren Henderson, for making the display cases in the foyer of the school look so beautiful! We can’t wait for you all to see them.

Thanks to Boone Dads Club President, Andy Edmondson, for helping with anything needed, from assembling school furniture to fixing up the windscreen, and to his team of helpers Ty Vaughn, Zach Carnahan, and David Rambie.

Thanks to Newsletter Chair Joanna Lewis for taking over the Boone Barker this week! Be sure to email enews@boonepto.org if you have a school announcement to include in the Boone Barker.

Thanks to our TEACHERS for getting our To Go bags ready, decorating bulletin boards, calling students, and doing so many things to make the start of school successful and special for all of our Bulldogs!