December 14, 2016

Thanks for a great first semester! From the staff of Odessa Kilpatrick Elementary, we wish you a glorious holiday season filled with wonderful moments with family and friends. Enjoy this special time with your children! Many blessings to you and yours! See you back in the Outback in 2017!

 School will be closed Monday, December 19, 2016- Tuesday, January 3, 2017.

Classes resume Wednesday, January 4, 2017.

Due to early dismissal on December 16th, we will not have parent readers, library volunteers, or Watch D.O.G.S. .

Please remember that you must register by Friday, December 16^th to participate in this Digital Citizenship photo/video contest!

December 7, 2016

Biblionasium has gone live!

Great news--Biblionasium is finally up and running!  All 1st-5th graders were introduced to Biblionasium on 11/30/16 during PLC Day. 

Biblionasium is safe, COPPA compliant online community for young readers that promotes a love of reading by allowing students to connect with their classmates to share their favorite books and record their reading progress. Students can add books to their digital bookshelf, recommend books to friends, log their reading, rate and review books, earn virtual awards, and more. Biblionasium allows for easy collaboration between our school librarian, the classroom teacher, and the student’s parents to motivate, measure, and manage each child’s reading. Soon parents will be able to be linked to their child’s Biblionasium account.  I will post directions on how to link to your child's account as soon as this feature is updated by the creators of Biblionasium. This will allow the parent to track their child’s reading progress, view their child’s reading list and wish list, monitor their child’s independent reading, recommend books to their child, and set up family reading challenges.  This will also allow the parent to see the teacher’s reading list.

Each Kilpatrick student has a Biblionasium account that is linked to Destiny, our library’s online catalog.  Students can access their Biblionasium account either by logging into Destiny Discover (Destiny can be accessed in the student’s MyKaty cloud https://mykaty.katyisd.org/) or by going directly to the Biblionasium website(www.biblionasium.com) and selecting the “Login with Destiny” option.  In both platforms, the student will need his/her Katy ISD username and password to access this account (available from your child’s teacher). This linked account will provide the student with real-time information and access of our library’s resources. Coach Chip Manzee will guide the students through the website, offer helpful tips, and reward reading achievements with digital awards and trophies.

The school librarian, your child's classroom teacher, and (coming soon!) parents can set up Reading Challenges for a student.  The student may also set up a personal Reading Challenge for him/herself.  Our school librarian will set up Reading Challenges for all participating OKE students throughout the school year.  Library-sponsored Reading Challenges will be rewarded with reading tags and various prizes. Your student can view Reading Challenges by logging into their Biblionasium account and selecting the “Challenges” tab.

I will continue to share information about Biblionasium as the program is updated.  In the meanwhile, your child is invited to begin getting his/her account set up.

 As always, 

Happy Reading!

Parents,

Please remember to have your child's car rider tag visible on the outside of their backpack. If you have misplaced your tag you can request a replacement for $5.00 at the front office. 

GT Screening for Grades 1-4. If you are interested in having your child screened for the GT program, please fill out an Elementary Parent GT checklist and return it to OKE by 4:00 pm on Friday, December 9, 2016. No late checklists will be accepted. Paper copies are available upon request from the front office. Electronic copies are available by emailing Anela Wenger, Challenge Teacher. 

November 30, 2016

Thanks to our OKE staff, students, parents, and community for making Kilpatrick Elementary the best place to be!

Houston Chronicle best-elementary-schools-in-Houston

Niche 2017 Best Public Elementary Schools in Houston Metro

Unfortunately, due to low registration we are cancelling our Parent Night Out at Yes! Youth Fitness scheduled for Friday, December 2nd. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you. Hopefully we will be able to host another Parent Night Out sometime in the future. 

Odessa Kilpatrick Elementary is very excited about hosting our own Elementary TMSCA Math/Science Tournament on February 11, 2017. The contest is open to all 3 rd – 5 th grade students. We use the TMSCA format for this competition. Attached is the online form with the information to register your school and students. OKE Math TMSCA Tournament - http://bit.ly/2g8fjDQ

Please feel free to forward this invitation to any other elementary schools that might be interested in
participating in the contest.

Thank you, and we look forward to seeing you at the competition!

Nesi Cotton & Ashley Mayzer
Math Club Sponsors

annjcotton@katyisd.org

Odessa Kilpatrick Elementary School
26100 Cinco Ranch Boulevard
Katy, TX 77494
281-237-7673

Parenting with Love & Logic

      Parenting Classes offered this spring for anyone interested.

        Six sessions on Tuesday evenings from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

     Child Care will be provided to those 2 years and older.

  Dates for the sessions are January 24, 31

   and February 7, 14, 21, 28

    OKE Open Learning Area

         Reservations can be made no later than FRIDAY January 20, 2017.

    The registration form can be found under helpful tips on this blog.

November 16, 2016

We are so grateful for our wonderful OKE family. We wish you a very blessed and relaxing Thanksgiving break. Enjoy this time with your families and we will see you back in the Outback on Monday, November 28, 2016.

KISD policy allows for two classroom parties per year. Our two parties in the Outback are our Thankful and Valentine’s parties. These parties are planned and organized by the PTA homeroom mothers/fathers who work cooperatively with grade level teachers and administration. Homeroom teachers have complete authority to determine which types of activities are acceptable and which are not acceptable. The PTA has a practice with coordinating party favors and refreshments so that all children are treated fairly on a grade level. Parents need to notify their child’s teacher if he/she has any food allergies (i.e. peanuts, dairy, etc.)

4^th Grade Musical, “Dig It!” 

November 17^th 

9:30 am, 2:00 pm, and 6:00 pm 
(Public Events)

Dear OKE Families, 

CONGRATULATIONS! We all did it!  With your generous donations of our Boosterthon, we have raised over 30,000.00! These funds will go towards instructional technology and playground equipment for our students. 

Your continued support and dedication to our school is so appreciated. Stay tuned to when our students will turn me into a Principal Ice Cream Sundae!

Thursday, November 17th

College Awareness Week

 November 21-27

College Awareness Week events promote the benefits of going to college and help students of all ages to become college-ready. Wear your favorite college shirt next Monday and Tuesday. If you have field day then, wear your field day color.

Field Day is Coming!

 

The OKE PTA is sponsoring a Parent’s Night Out with YES! Fitness on Park Row Drive in Katy on Friday, December 2^nd!   You can drop off your children at 6pm and have a few hours to go out to dinner, shop, or relax!  If you choose to go out to dinner, BJ’s restaurant in Katy has offered a free dessert to any parent who has a child going to the OKE and YES! Parent’s Night Out.

Space is limited to the first 212 children who register, so be sure to get your registration and payment in ASAP!

Pick up is promptly at 9pm.  Details and registration are attached.  Please contact Kim Beidle with any question.

Thank you,

Kim Beidle, OKE PTA President

November 9, 2016

OKE's Open House

We hope you can join us for this fun event!

Thursday, November 10th

Classroom visits 5:00-6:30 pm 

Book Fair  is open 8:00 am - 3:30 pm and 4:30-7:00 pm in library

KISD policy allows for two classroom parties per year. Our two parties in the Outback are our Thankful and Valentine’s parties. These parties are planned and organized by the PTA homeroom mothers/fathers who work coperatively with grade level teachers and administration. Homeroom teachers have complete authority to determine which types of activities are acceptable and which are not acceptable. The PTA has a practice with coordinating party favors and refreshments so that all children are treated fairly on a grade level. Parents need to notify their child’s teacher if he/she has any food allergies (i.e. peanuts, dairy, etc.)

Boosterthon Pledges due tomorrow, November 10th.

Returning Student Update in InfoSnap

If you have not gone into InfoSnap and completed the returning student update information, please do so immediately. Katy ISD requires all students to complete the “Returning Student Registration” update in InfoSnap. This replaced the first day packets. Completion of InfoSnap was due by the first day of school. You received an email yesterday if you have not completed this process. This is vitally important as it confirms your student(s) contact and emergency information. We appreciate your assistance with completing this process.

Calling all students, parents and OKE community members to come out and run/walk with Kilpatrick teachers at the Katy Half Marathon and 5k, 1K on February 4th at nearby Katy Mills Mall.  This is a great opportunity for families looking to do a service project together that benefits Katy ISD teachers and students.  You can set up a web page (totally guided via the Reason2Race link), collect funds from family and friends, and then join your fellow OKE teachers to run or walk the race that is the best fit for you on race day.  Let’s come together to support our teachers and students! 

The mission of the Foundation is to provide resources to enrich teaching, inspire learning, and enhance opportunities for students enrolled in Katy ISD.  All donations go to fund grants for Katy ISD teachers to support and inspire student learning.  Since 2013, the Foundation has awarded $725, 000 in grants to teachers at campuses throughout Katy ISD.

If you want to support your OKE staff members and students who are running, look for collection jugs at Open House this week.  

Thank you and please consider helping us inspire OKE students!

Learn more about The Foundation at http://katyisdeducationfoundation.org/

 and check out racing details at https://my.reason2race.com/cause/KatyISDEducationFoundation

If you have questions please contact Jennifer Montesanto at jennifermontesanto@katyisd.org.

 4^th Grade Musical, “Dig It!” 

November 17^th 

9:30 am, 2:00 pm, and 6:00 pm
(Public Events) 

Field Day is Coming!

Gifted and Talented (GT)
Screening Information

Kinder- GT screening is underway. Final placement notices will be mailed home via US mail the last week in February.

Grades 1-4- GT parent checklists are due by 4:00 pm Friday, December 9th. No late checklists will be accepted. You can find the parent checklist on this blog under the helpful tips tab.

Grade 5- GT screening is underway. Final placement notices will be mailed home via US mail the end of January, prior to Junior High course selection.

Registration Form located on the right side of the blog under the helpful tips tab.

All OKE Library Volunteers are invited to our

Library Volunteer Mingle & Jingle!

Join us for some holiday cheer,

For Winter Break is very near!

OKE Library

Friday, 12/9/16

9:00-10:00 AM