LET US HEAR FROM YOU:

School P= hone: &= nbsp; &nbs= p; (713) 942-1460 = ; &n= bsp;

After Sc= hool Program: (713) 524-8430

Office Hours: = 7:15 am – 4:15 pm

Web Site= : &= nbsp; &nbs= p; http://es.houstonisd.org/riveroakse= s

E-mail:<= span style=3D'mso-tab-count:3'> &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; km= cbride@houstonisd.org

PTO webs= ite: &= nbsp; &nbs= p; http://www.riveroakspt= o.org

CALENDAR ITEMS

Mar 5	NO EARLY DISMISSAL due to TAKS Testing 3^rd& 5^th – TAKS Reading<= /span> 4^th – TAKS Writing=
&nbs= p; 7	Kinder field trip - Main Street Theater
13	4^th grade field trip - Washington on the Brazos 5^th grade field trip - Photofest
14 -24	Spring Break
28	4^th grade field trip - Museum of Natural Science
Mar 31 – Apr 4	Spring Book Fair
May 10<= o:p>	ROE Carnival 11am – 4pm

FROM THE DESK OF … MS. MCBRIDE

Dear Parents,

Last weekend the OM teams did their problem practices in preparation for this weekend. ….= And Ms. Dahlquist tells me they were fantastic! Good luck at Regionals next weekend. Ms. Hanish and I were ensconced in the offices preparing for TAKS…a much less fun Saturday!= J Congratulations too to= our Roots and Shoots group, Mr. Rainn and Mrs. Laurell for bringing the group to ROE. They are doing ama= zing things!

Please join us in expressing condolences to Sus= an Klapesky on the loss of her mother at the end of last week. She had been ill for a short= time following a fractured hip. Beverly Kirkwood is currently on medical leave to care for her mothe= r, who is recovering from a stroke. &nbs= p; It’s been a tough year for families on our staff and our thoug= hts are with them both.

Obviously because of this we are currently short handed and I would appreciate your understanding with the following request. The number of = calls that were received last Friday between 2:30 and 3:15 to pick up children pr= ior to dismissal was exorbitant. = There is simply no way that the staff can handle calls and persons needing help at the window as well as do dismissal between 3 and 3:15 with buses, etc. It appeared to me that most persons simply were trying to get through the line faster. I do understand that it is difficult to pick up students from multiple schools, etc. However, when we are talking about trying to handle 30 to 40 individual calls in the last 15-30 minutes of the day, especially when many of the calls were first graders in specialist cla= sses (outside on the track, in other rooms, etc.), it just cannot be done. There are special situations for appointments,

etc. that necessitate leaving early, but I woul= d ask that you make these prior to dismissal time. It is inappropriate to call so tha= t you can get out before the dismissal line.&nbs= p; When I am on campus I will now be working the office the last 30 min= utes to attempt to assist. I= ask for your assistance as well.

One last reminder that tomorrow is TAKS for 3rd, 4^th, and 5^th grades.= Hopefully the call-out clarified information for you and we will hav= e no requests to pick up children 3^rd, 4^th, or 5^th graders during testing. There= is no early dismissal….all students will be involved in instruction until t= he 3:15 dismissal time. Dismissal procedures will be exactly as they are the other days of the week. Because of the writing test = being over tomorrow, writing tutorials ended this week. However, the other tutorial groups= will be continued.

Most of you probably heard about the crime aler= ts for this area last week. River Oa= ks is about as safe an area as we have in Houston, but that does not mean we can let our guard down. Last week, a parent picking up in = the after school program had their purse stolen from the car – even though they were just running in for a moment. I also want to thank t= he parent who notified us of suspicious activity in the circle drive where two persons were casing the cars. Please be vigilant!

Roots & Shoots

Dear ROE Community, a few weeks ago our hardwor= king IB Coordinator, Liz Goodman, nominated the Roots and Shoots Wednesday elect= ive group for the Youth Volunteer of the Year award …and we won for the Central District Region! Roots and Shoots will be honored April 15^th at a VIPS (Volunteers in Public Schools) breakfast for their contribution to the recycling and eco-friendly programs R&S was founded upon. Mrs. McBride, Mrs. Goodman, all the R&S students who wish to attend, Mrs. Laurell, (our award winner last y= ear from the National R&S program) and I will be in attendance at the ceremony. Thank you and Kudos to our enthusiastic students, and our supportive teachers, parents, and administrators who made it all possible.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> Hurray for ROE! –Paul Rainn, Science Specialist

Science Lab

Dear Readers, there has been an overwhelming re= sponse to the Science Fair! Whoo-Hoo!! We now have a truly wide range of topics and ideas to work with. Here are some important dates:

March 3-7^th (Monday--Frida= y) is the deadline to complete the student packet with the parent consent forms and the Science Fair project write-ups and turn them in to Mr. Rainn.

March 12^th = is the deadline date to have your project write-ups checked and returned to yo= u by the Science Fair Committee.

March 13^th through April 11^th is your time to gather your supplies, conduct your research and experiments, docume= nt your sources, write your reports, and construct your display.

April 12-15^th are Emergency Days! Use however you see fit to get your project ready, correct any errors, etc!

April 16^th = is ROE Science Fair Day, 8am-12pm. Judging Time!

ROE looks forward to seeing your Amazing = and Awesome projects! J = Have Fun! –Paul Rainn, Science Specialist

The ROE Book Fair - A Reading Road Trip is March 31-April 4th!

The Book Fair is coming soon! Book = Fair Gift Certificates are available online!!!!!! Please go to the ROE Store to purc= hase gift certificates for your children and your favorite teachers, specialists= and staff members. Gift certificates are available in increments of $5.&n= bsp; Beat the rush and order NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!

https://www.riveroakspto= .org/theroestore/ The link to the gift certificates can be found on the left hand side of the page. Questions or to volunteer - contact Betsy Furler at bfurler@sbcglobal.net.

Thank you roe library volunteers and birthday b= ook club students!

Thank you to the parents and families who have volunteered time and donated books to the ROE library this year. They have done everything from she= lving and stamping, to covering books. Our library wouldn’t be the same without all their generous support! Thank you to our wee= kly volunteers: Debra Kenna, Diane Cimino, and Janet Horn. Our appreciation also goes to Christy Craig who has helped us with library organization. Thank you also = to all of the ‘volunteers of the day’ who have been so helpful each week. Also, a special thanks = to the fifth graders who help so enthusiastically with stamping books.

Samantha Alhorn in Ms. Reinhold’s has don= ated Diary of a Fly by Doreen Cronin, and Hunter Hensey in Mrs. Ellison’s cl= ass has donated The Boy Who Loved Words by Roni Schotter. These wonderful books honor their birthdays this year, and ROE students will certainly enjoy reading them! Happy birthday and thank you!

Our library can support the extraordinary readi= ng habits of our children here at ROE thanks to your support and generosity.

Sally Foster

A big thank you to Emma Strommen (2nd grade) and Isabella Passamano (1st grade) for sorting all of the Entertainment book pr= izes for over 300 students. If you did not receive your prize please email ja= mespassamano@aol.com. Also do not forget the school can still earn money on sales of Sally Foster wrapping paper and other items. Just go to www.sallyfoster.com and e= nter River Oaks Elementary as the school. Thanks. –James Passamano

March Birthdays

6= = Aminata Ojore

11 &= nbsp; Angela Ellison

20 &= nbsp; Nicole Engstrom

28 &= nbsp; Paige Heinrich