November 1, 2019
A Note from the Principal...
Dear Parents,

What an exciting week we’ve had here at school! Monday we kicked off Spirit Week with College Day. The Crossroads campus was teeming with different college colors, logos and pride. Tuesday was Career Day. An architect, a chef, a geologist, and a police officer all come to share information about their careers. It was a fantastic learning experience for our students. I want to thank Ms. Sundus, Mr. Steven, Mr. Jeremy, and Mr. Nasar for generously donation their time and knowledge with our staff and students.
Tuesday was also our first day of Peer Mediation with Barbara Radnofsky. Barbara is a professional mediator who came to Crossroads and worked with our students last year.  We are thrilled that she was able to return this year and continue teaching our students how to mediate and overcome conflicts. These are very important life skills. She will be working with the students for a total of four session in the coming weeks . There will be a culminating presentation for all of the parents on November 8th, at 11:00 am.

Wednesday, the school was abuzz with everyone’s favorite sports teams. The Astros dominated as a fan favorite, but there were a few other teams represented. Thursday was dress like your favorite book character day. Ms. Azmae's ELA class has been reading the Wizard of Oz and it came to life on campus. The variety of costumes from the students, (and staff...see below) was truly magical and brought a smile to my face.

The afternoon was spent on our Teal Pumpkin project where the science classes got together to do some pumpkin themed science experiments. They were able to hypothesize and test different types of friction on various inclined planes that they had identified around campus and then determine how different levels of force affected speed. On Friday, many of us took advantage of our final day of Spirit Week enjoying the comfort of staying in our pajamas all day long. It was indeed a long week of excitement and fun!

Finally, a very important news item from this week is that report cards have been distributed through Alma today; you should've received your student's report card via email by now. I want to take a moment to explain how the report cards work this year as they are a bit different than past years.  The report cards are more detailed with regard to what the students are doing in class based on the TEKS (Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills) for the individual core subjects . The addition of more information about what each student is working on in each class has increased the length of the report cards. Having said that, there will be many categories marked N/A on the reports which means that the category has not been covered yet with your child. The students will still have grades for each subject, as in the past, and these grades are represented by their achievement on assignments based on their individual levels. These grades are based on your individual child’s improvement and/or mastery of their subjects, not always by grade level expectations. With the distribution of the report cards, we have officially completed our first quarter of school. Please don’t hesitate to call or email me with any questions about the comments or grades received on your child’s report card.

Thank you, again, for trusting Crossroads with the education and care of your child and we are looking forward to a successful second quarter of classes, already under way!


Justin Adams
Principal
713-977-1221 x120
As Seen On Campus - Career Day

During Career Day of Spirit Week, students dressed up as artists, flight attendants, bankers, fashion designers, teachers.....and more!

A big thanks to our visitors who spoke to our students about their own personal careers:
- Sundus Shiekh : Architect
- Deputy Sheriff Sergeant Abbasi : HPD
- Jeremy Krimmel : Geologist
- Steven Victory : Chef with the Post Oak Hotel
Macy dressed up as Ms Azmae!
The Positivity Project - Perspective


This week's social skill was perspective. You appreciate that people see things in different ways. You have the ability to understand view. The middle school class looked at different pictures and told what they saw and all of the pictures had more than one meaning. The elementary school students had a debate about which would be better: one recess or two periods of recess. They saw things from different perspectives. 
As Seen on Campus - Larvae Habitats

This past week, our students created their own habitats for larvae. Students will observe their larvae grow into chrysalises and then transform into butterflies over the next two weeks. Butterflies will then be released during Outdoor Classroom Day, which is November 7th.

Stay tuned for the butterfly release!
Teal Pumpkin Project

On Halloween, students painted their pumpkins teal for the Teal Pumpkin Project to support an inclusive Halloween experience for all children. After the paint dried on the pumpkins, students began conducting various Science experiments. The first pumpkin experiment involved rolling the pumpkins which was to show how force and mass directly affect an object displacement; a greater force is needed for a greater mass. Students also saw how friction eventually slows every object (for example, a pumpkin) down, regardless of how much force is applied. Students rolled the pumpkins down our school's two greatest inclined planes, which were the slide and rock wall. The students observed how the slide had less friction than the rock wall and pumpkins would go down it faster because of that. Our last activity using the pumpkins was to throw them. Students used their our own personal force to build potential energy and turned it into kinetic energy when we threw our pumpkins, noting that gravity was what brought our pumpkins back down to the ground. 
Community Events  Crossroads School believes in sharing information and community resources with parents. Crossroads School does not specifically endorse or recommend any outside services or programs unless otherwise stated.   

Houston’s First Baptist Church is excited to be a part of  Night to Shine. Night to Shine is an unforgettable prom night experience for people with special needs ages 14 and older. On Fri, Feb 7, 2020, churches from all around the world will come together to host Night to Shine. "This is a night not only for guests to shine, but for churches, volunteers and — most importantly — for Christ to shine."

Events & Reminders

  • November 8, 2019: 11:00 PM Peer Mediation Parent Presentation
  • November 8, 2019: 12PM Early Dismissal for Teacher In-Service
  • November 22, 2019: 11AM Fall Family Feast
  • November 25 - 29, 2019: Thanksgiving Break (School Closed)
CROSSROADS SCHOOL, Inc.
5822 Dolores St.
Houston, TX 77057
(713) 977-1221