Upcoming Events!

MARK YOUR CALENDARS

2/17	Early Release - 11:45 - Student/Parent Conferences
2/18	Early Release - 11:45 - Student/Parent Conferences
2/19	5th Graders Visit Grapevine Middle School
2/19	Cannon Talent Show - 6:00 p.m.
2/23	5th Grade Parent Middle School Information Night 6:30-7:30GMS
2/24	World Read Aloud Day @ Cannon!
3/4	5th Grade Middle School Course Selection Sheets Due
3/10	Choir Concerts - 5:30 - 6:00
3/10	Open House - 6:00-7:00
3/14- 3/18	Spring Break
3/21	Students return from Spring Break

ATTENTION 5th GRADE PARENTS! It's that time of year, when all of our 5th graders will begin receiving information about their transition to middle school!  They will be going to GMS to do a tour of the school and see their "Electives Showcase" on Friday of this week.  Be sure to ask your 5th grader all about this experience and what they enjoyed most!!  Also, please mark your calendars for a meeting at GMS for 5th Grade Parent Information Night, beginning at 6:30.  This will be a very informative meeting that will help answer lots of questions many of our 5th grade parents have about what to expect in middle school!  Please click here for a form that has ALL of our 5th grade transition information in one place!  To read this document in Spanish, click here. Please let your 5th grade teachers or our counselor, Mrs. Coburn, know if you have any questions about this process.  We are here to help!! 

EARLY RELEASE DAYS -STUDENT-LED CONFERENCES  February 17th & 18th are both designated as Early Release days by GCISD.  Students will be released at 11:45 on these dates.  You will be receiving information from your child's teacher(s) to arrange a conference time on one of these dates, so that important information can be shared about your child's progress.  During these dates, many of the conferences our Cannon teachers have planned will be student-led.  This means that your child will not only be included in the conference, they will be taking some responsibility for leading the conference, in order to share their own academic progress with you, as well as share their progress towards their individualized learning goals.  In GCISD, we have developed a Portrait of a Graduate, in which specific outcomes have been determined about characteristics we want to achieve with all of our students.  One of these outcomes is for our students to become Self-Regulated Learners.  Student-led conferences is just one of the ways in which we are working to develop our Cannon Cubs towards this goal!  If you have not yet scheduled your conference for one of these dates, please contact your child's teacher and let them know when you are available to meet.  Click here to see a diagram of GCISD's Portrait of a Graduate. 

CANNON'S TALENT SHOW IS FRIDAY!  The Talent Show is this week on Friday, February 19th @ 6:00 pm, so please make plans to attend!  We have some VERY talented Cannon Cubs, with a variety of talents to showcase at this family-friendly event!    PTA still could use some parent volunteers to help on the night of the talent show.  Sign up today to volunteer for this fun and creative experience!    Hope to see everyone at the show! 

SAGE PARENT GROUP IS HOSTING A COFFEE CHAT WITH THE DIRECTOR OF COUNSELING  GCISD's SAGE group (Supporting & Advocating for Gifted Education) will be hosting a coffee chat with the GCISD Counseling Director, Emberly Hill,  on Wednesday, February 17from 8:30 - 10:00 a.m.  For more information about the location of this event, please contact  Becky Roberson at beckyroberson@rocketmail.com. 

HOW IS YOUR CHILD DOING ON THEIR BOOK CHALLENGE?? Do you know how your child is doing in their book challenge for this year?  All of our 3rd-5th grade students are participating in the GCISD 25 Book Challenge.  The focus of the 25 Book Challenge is to create a passion and love for reading.  In this challenge, students are encouraged to read ANY book they like. As part of this challenge, there are no nightly reading minutes, no reports to write, no tests to take to prove they’ve read a book. Instead, students will find things THEY love to read about, share these titles with their peers in class, record titles on their logs, and continue to expand their reading horizons. Teachers, paired with Mrs. Berumen, our librarian, work together to provide a wide variety of print and electronic texts from which students may choose. Teachers may provide some time in class for students to do their reading, but much of the reading will be completed outside of the school day. Our K-2 students are also encouraged to participate in the 2x2 Reading challenge, which is a project of the Texas Library Association created to highlight great books for early readers. A committee of Texas librarians develop a collection of 20 new books recommended for children from age two to grade two to be featured on the reading list each year.  Click here to see these titles on Mrs. Berumen's blog.  It's easy to join in the fun - just read or listen to all 20 books reading list at home, at school, or in the library and keep track of your reading by completing a 2x2 Coloring Sheet. When you finish, return your completed sheet to the library and have your photo added to the wall of fame (and earn extra checkout privileges for the year and a special prize!) Look for the parent-child activity labels inside each book for reading activity ideas too. Multiple copies of 2x2s are available for checkout at the Cannon Library and Grapevine Public Library.   Thank you for your help in supporting these reading challenges at home!  Your encouragement will be a great part of your child’s success in reaching their goals. In fact, you’re invited to join these challenges as well! Reading alongside your child is a great way to build your own reading “muscles” and create some lasting memories in your family.

DISTRICT COMMITTEE FINALIZES WORK ON POTENTIAL BOND PROPOSAL Since last July, a committee of community members & GCISD employees have worked together on a FIRST (Facility Innovation & Readiness Stakeholder Team) committee to study and prioritize ways to create the best possible learning environment for GCISD students and research the possibility of calling for a bond election in May, 2016. GCISD has not called a bond election, but with the work of this team, a proposal has been developed and will be presented to the GCISD School Board in February.  If the bond proposal is approved and the School Board calls a bond election for May, 2016, there are a number of projects on the proposal list that will not only benefit all students and schools in GCISD, but specifically Cannon Elementary, in that one of the proposed projects calls for a building a new campus for Cannon Elementary!  I will be including information in all future newsletter about the progress of the FIRST committee and the status of a possible bond election.  Additionally, I will be hosting Principal's Coffees during the months of February - April to provide more information about this process, the impact on our school community, and answer any questions you may have about this process.  The work of this committee has been very transparent and is available to view on a special website,dedicated to the work of this group.  Transcripts from each committee meeting are available on this website, as well as video from each meeting.   I urge you to check out this website and stay informed about the status of a possible bond election.  Click here to access the FIRST website! 

STAY CONNECTED!   HAVE YOU "LIKED" OUR CANNON FACEBOOK PAGE YET? If you haven't already "liked" our Cannon Facebook page, please do so today!  We work hard to provide updates, information, and celebrations on our Cannon page. Click here to see our Cannon Facebook  Also, please follow us on Twitter @canSTEM