ROARing News!

Dear Baldwin Community, 

As our fall semester comes to an end, I wanted to express my gratitude to all of our students, parents and staff members for the amazing work that was accomplished during this time. We began our year with the implementation of our Social Emotional Learning initiative and the students and teachers have been using these skills regularly. There was clear evidence throughout this first semester of these new learned skills. Our established positive school climate was enhanced by this work.  

We had many events and activities that took place during the fall semester that provided our students with extended learning opportunities. I would like to highlight a few of these events that I know I enjoyed tremendously and that I heard students and parents talking about for weeks. 

Our annual Vocabulary Parade took place at the end of October, and once again this year, our students were creative with their words and costumes. The Gorzycki Drum Line led the parade for us down Meridian Park Blvd, around to Espina and through the back of the school. Many of you came to the parade and witnessed the amazing words and costumes our children chose to represent this year. We took all of the vocabulary words and hung them on the walls in the foyer and every day students would stop by to read the words. Thank you for encouraging your children to participate in this fun learning opportunity. I hope you and your children are already thinking about next year's vocabulary parade word, I know I am!!

 

In November,  we  held our first Multi-Cultural Fest. We sent a survey home to all of our families inquiring about their family cultures and traditions. Based on the information we received, we tried to represent as many countries and cultures by grade levels. Each grade level traveled through one continent and explored and learned about different countries that represented our Baldwin families. We had many parent volunteers throughout the grade levels that came on that day to present to our students. We learned so much from all of our presenters and from the parents that helped us prepare for the presentations. I want to thank all of our volunteers because you are what made this day very special for all of us! We look forward to next year's Multi-Cultural Fest! 

In December, our technology specialist, Ms. Ashley, taught our students about coding. The students visited the computer lab and Ms. Ashley took them through a variety of lessons to learn more about coding. We had Kindergarten students learning with the robots, while the other grade levels learned through many fun lessons. You can still learn more about coding and doing some of this at home with your children by visiting the Baldwin website and following the links. Thank you Ms. Ashley for sharing this knowledge with our Bobcats!

Lastly, I want to thank all of the students and parents for the beautiful Holiday gifts and treats you gave to us! You are very kind and generous with all of us and on behalf of the Baldwin Staff, I thank you for sharing so much with us. Remember, we are now officially on Winter Break and that classes resume Monday, January 5, 2015. I look forward to a successful spring semester. I wish you and your family a Joyful and fun Holiday Season! 

Roaring with Pride, 

Dr. Peña  

Confidentiality Notice: This email message, including all attachments, is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential student and/or employee information. Unauthorized use of disclosure is prohibited under the federal Family Educational Rights & Privacy Act (20 U.S.C. §1232g, 34 CFR Part 99, 19 TAC 247.2, Gov’t Code 552.023, Educ. Code 21.355, 29 CFR 1630.14(b)(c)). If you are not the intended recipient, you may not use, disclose, copy or disseminate this information. Please call the sender immediately or reply by email and destroy all copies of the original message, including attachments.

ROARing News

Dear Baldwin Community,

 

For the past seven weeks at Baldwin, all of our students and teachers have been working extremely hard to meet the many expectations that have been set for us for the start of this new school year. I am very proud of the learning and work that I am seeing in all classrooms!

 

In the second grade classes, I had the pleasure of observing students present their "Past, Present, and Future" projects. The students were very poised, articulate and they knew the topics they had chosen very well. I was also in one of the music classes when third graders were "composers." The students were able to identify pitch and rhythm through hand signals and movements. They used this knowledge to make connections to literature and to their own lives. These third graders and Mrs. Stevens were amazing! These are just two examples of the many wonderful lessons that have occurred at Baldwin. Be sure to check out the bulletin boards in the hallways and our teachers' websites to see some of this great work.

 

I have also seen many of you, our children's parents, at our school volunteering in many different capacities. Our Great Leaps program is well on its' way because of the dedicated volunteers that come every day to read with our first graders. Thank you to Mrs. Fellinger for setting up a great program for us again this year! I have also seen many volunteers in classrooms, in the copy room, cutting out laminated posters and instructional materials, and in the office. I want to thank all of you for giving your time and talents. You are greatly appreciated!

 

A few weeks ago, many of you also shared your treasures with the Baldwin staff as part of Staff Appreciation Week. I want to personally thank Mrs. Beeler's students and families for the wonderful treats you showered me with every day during that week. The box of cookies, the flowers, the lunch and the beautiful cards were very much appreciated! You made me feel very special! This is true for all of the other support staff that was appreciate during that same week. The amazing posters that were made for the different individuals are still hanging by their doors and in the office and the luncheon you provided for all of us was delicious. Thank you for being so generous with all of us!

 

Just a friendly reminder that this Monday is a student holiday, therefore, we are not scheduled for classes on this day. However, it is parent-teacher conference day for us at the elementary level. Some of you have already met with your child's teacher but many of you are scheduled for Monday and for the days that follow. If you have not already scheduled a time to meet with your child's teacher, please do so as soon as possible. This is a perfect time of the year to learn more about how your child is progressing and how you can partner with our teachers to help your child succeed! In the next edition of the Weekly ROAR, you will find some tips to help you prepare for the conference. Be sure to read the ROAR on Sunday!

 

The Weekly ROAR is our weekly communication with the Baldwin Community, so if you are not receiving this electronic communication, be sure to visit the Baldwin website to subscribe to this important service. I want to thank Paige Newman for continuing to support us with the Weekly ROAR. She does an amazing job every week of taking all of our information and sending it out to you in a format that is informative and easy to read. Thank you Mrs. Newman for your help each week!!

 

Also, don't forget that our Baldwin Carnival is coming up this next Friday, October 17th. The PTA has been working very hard since last spring to get this organized and to make it fun for the whole family. Please make plans to attend. The details for this fun event can be found in the Weekly ROAR and on our website.

 

I look forward to seeing you on Monday at our parent-teacher conferences and at the Baldwin Carnival on Friday! 

 

ROARing with Pride,

Dr.  Peña

         

Confidentiality Notice: This email message, including all attachments, is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential student and/or employee information. Unauthorized use of disclosure is prohibited under the federal Family Educational Rights & Privacy Act (20 U.S.C. §1232g, 34 CFR Part 99, 19 TAC 247.2, Gov’t Code 552.023, Educ. Code 21.355, 29 CFR 1630.14(b)(c)). If you are not the intended recipient, you may not use, disclose, copy or disseminate this information. Please call the sender immediately or reply by email and destroy all copies of the original message, including attachments.

ROARING News!

​Hello Baldwin Community, 

We had a fabulous second week of classe​s! All of our students are learning their routines and procedures and seem to be having a wonderful time learning. 

Our safety patrol started helping us this past week with arrival and dismissal. This group of 5th graders are great leaders and helpers. They were very kind and respectful with everyone and were excellent examples of Baldwin students. I am very grateful to these students for their help and I appreciate their parents allowing them to get to school a little earlier than usual and allowing them to stay a little later to help us with these procedures. 

This past summer,  Luke Severson, who is an older sibling of one of our Bobcats, presented a proposal to me as part of his Eagle Scout service project that would benefit the "Take Flight" reading program at Baldwin.  Luke is very passionate about helping struggling readers grow their love for reading and he felt that his Eagle Scout project would be a great way to help us at Baldwin. He organized a summer reading camp at his home in which he recruited some of his friends to be camp counselors. The camp counselors along with Luke read and dramatized a novel. With the outstanding attendance and participation in the camp, Luke was able to raise $835.00 for the "Take Flight" reading program at Baldwin. Luke worked with our two "Take Flight" reading teachers and they were able to order many materials and supplies needed for our program. I want to personally thank Luke for his commitment and passion in helping children learn to read and for all that he has given to Baldwin through his Eagle Scout service project. Hooray for Luke and his hard work!! He is a great example to all of us!

I want to thank all of our parents for helping us with our morning drop-off and afternoon pick-up procedures. These procedures are moving quickly and smoothly because of you! I ask that as you drop-off your child in the circle drive that you wait to have him/her get off the car until you have reached the area between the two crosswalks in front of our school. It is important that you pull all the way forward and allow one of our safety patrol members or one of the teachers to help your child off the car. Thank you for having your car placards on your car windows for us to see without any trouble. This has been very helpful to us in the afternoons. Together, we will keep all of our children safe!

 

Don't forget that our Back to School Nights are scheduled for this week from 6:30p.m.-7:30 p.m.  Monday is for Grades PreK-2 and Thursday for Grades 3-5. We will also be hosting GT informational meetings prior to each of these nights from 6:00p.m.-6:25 p.m. in the library. Our Back to School Nights are focused around curriculum information for you the parents and are not evening events for the children. I look forward to seeing all of you at our Back to School Nights and to working with each of you to help all of our children succeed at high levels!

Roaring with Pride, 

Dr. Peña

         

Confidentiality Notice: This email message, including all attachments, is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential student and/or employee information. Unauthorized use of disclosure is prohibited under the federal Family Educational Rights & Privacy Act (20 U.S.C. §1232g, 34 CFR Part 99, 19 TAC 247.2, Gov’t Code 552.023, Educ. Code 21.355, 29 CFR 1630.14(b)(c)). If you are not the intended recipient, you may not use, disclose, copy or disseminate this information. Please call the sender immediately or reply by email and destroy all copies of the original message, including attachments.

Welcome to the 2014-2015 School Year!

Dear Baldwin Community,

 

We had a fantastic first week of classes! It was great to see so many smiling faces on the first day and during the entire first week! All of our students looked excited to be starting a new year and our teachers were well-prepared to receive each one of them. It's unbelievable that we are starting our fifth year together at Baldwin. We ended the last school year with many accomplishments and everyone should be very proud of our students' successes. We have about 750 students and are waiting to see if more will join us this week. We still have space in our Pre-K program for more students, so if you know of anyone that has a 4 year old send them our way.

 

This school year, we will focus on each individual student's academic and social progress. We will continue to implement the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills in all content areas so that all of our children are meeting and/or exceeding the standards at each grade level. We will also implement the district's Social Emotional Learning (SEL) curriculum in each of our classrooms. Research indicates that emotional well-being and social competence provide a strong foundation for brain development and emerging cognitive abilities. Students will learn critical life skills such as recognizing and managing emotions, solving problems effectively and establishing positive relationships. During our first week, we focused on being "respectful," which is also the first skill that is emphasized in our R-O-A-R expectations: the first "R" represents respect. I am sure you have seen our ROAR expectations throughout our building and on your child's agenda. Baldwin's ROAR expectations are how we expect every Bobcat to represent themselves: R-respectful, O-outstanding, A-accepting, and R-responsible.  You will hear more about our SEL lessons and learning throughout the year. I encourage you to ask your children to share what they are learning in all areas. I bet there will be some skills that you will be able to implement at home too.

 

We have begun to plan many activities and events for our families. The first two events will be our Back to School Nights, which are scheduled for Sept. 8 and Sept. 11. We want to see all of you on these nights so that you can learn more about our learning goals and expectations for this school year. It is also important for you to attend so that we can hear from you regarding how we can work together to build stronger partnerships to help all of our children learn at high levels. I look forward to seeing all of you at our Back to School Nights.

 

I want to take this opportunity to remind everyone to review the drop-off and pick-up procedures that have been sent in our weekly ROAR news and are posted on our website. It is important that we all follow the set procedures so that we can keep all of our children safe at all times. If you have a change in pick-up procedures, be sure to inform your child's teacher with enough time so that he/she can have your child in the correct pick up line. We appreciate everyone's efforts in following our procedures and keeping all safe.

 

 Don't forget that this Wednesday is Spirit Night at Craig-O's Pizza and Pastaria. If you go to Craig-O's between 4-10 pm Wednesday, 10% of all proceeds will benefit Baldwin. Also, don't forget to wear purple and gold on Fridays to show your school spirit!

 

I look forward to another exciting, fun and successful school year! Thank you for being a part of our learning community and for sending us your children every day!

 

Roaring with Pride, 

Dr. Peña

         

Confidentiality Notice: This email message, including all attachments, is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential student and/or employee information. Unauthorized use of disclosure is prohibited under the federal Family Educational Rights & Privacy Act (20 U.S.C. §1232g, 34 CFR Part 99, 19 TAC 247.2, Gov’t Code 552.023, Educ. Code 21.355, 29 CFR 1630.14(b)(c)). If you are not the intended recipient, you may not use, disclose, copy or disseminate this information. Please call the sender immediately or reply by email and destroy all copies of the original message, including attachments.

Roaring News!

Happy New Year Baldwin Community!


I hope everyone enjoyed the winter break and that you were able to get some well deserved rest and relaxation. As we begin 2014 and the Spring Semester for this school year, I wanted to share some highlights from our 2013-2014 fall semester. All of our children from PreK through 5th grade worked extremely hard during the school day to meet their daily goals and so many of our children continued this learning in our after school clubs and programs that also showed great success in the first semester.


Every day that I walked through classrooms, I would observe students, teachers and volunteers working collaboratively and learning together. The enthusiasm for teaching and learning was seen in all of the faces that I saw in classrooms and in the hallways. No matter how difficult the new concept, the new skill, the topic and/or the subject area, the students were always finding ways to make connections and master the new learning.


Each month our hallways, classrooms and portable buildings were decorated with top notch student class work and art work. Each of these pieces of student work demonstrated the learning that was happening in our classrooms every day. I was amazed and so proud of the work that our children produced every day during the first semester at Baldwin. All of the hard work that our teachers put into planning their daily lessons was seen in the children's work products.


Throughout the first semester, we had many school events that brought our community together to share their time, talents and treasure. I would like to share a few of these events that you, the Baldwin Community, made so special for all of us.


The week before classes started this year, we had a team of volunteers that came together to help distribute the pre-ordered school supplies. This huge task could not have been accomplished without the help of Kelsey F. and Rami H. and the others that came out to organize and distribute these items. Getting the students' school supplies to their classrooms prior to our "meet the teacher" event is very important to our children and these volunteers made this happen. Thank you for your help!


Immediately with the start of the school year, our office and classroom volunteers began working with us to help us get the day to day work completed. I want to thank all of the office and classroom volunteers that helped throughout the first semester. Your daily support helped us immensely. At the end of September into the first week of October, our PTA sponsored "Staff Appreciation" week and with the help of many of our parents, the Baldwin Administrators and Classified Employees received some very generous gifts from the Baldwin Families. On behalf of all of these staff members, I thank you for your generosity and kindness during this designated week of appreciation.


On October 18, the PTA held the Baldwin Annual Fall Carnival and once again, it was a HUGE success. Erica M. was the lead coordinator for this event and she did an excellent job of organizing so many opportunities for all of our Bobcats, young and not so young, to have a great time. I was challenged again this year by one of our students, Robert W. to ride the mechanical bull. I am proud to say that this year, I stayed on the bull for 32 seconds; not bad considering the year before I only lasted 6 seconds. Ms. Butschek, one of our third grade teachers also rode the bull and was a great sport through it all! Despite the weather and the rainy days that led up to the night of the carnival, our Fall Carnival was a lot of fun for all of us especially the children. Thank you Erica M. and the PTA for putting on such a great family event!


Also in October, our fifth graders went to Camp Champions and stayed overnight. The students and teachers had a wonderful time learning more about nature, astronomy, team work, collaboration, self-determination and perseverance. I want to thank our PTA for sponsoring some of our students so that all of our fifth graders could attend this overnight camping trip. The students came back with many stories and some experiences that they will never forget. Thanks for your support with this field trip!

During this same week, our PTA also sponsored the "science museum" and all of our students Prek-5th grade were able to visit this traveling museum in our very own gymnasium. The students, teachers and volunteers all had great things to say about this traveling museum. Again, thank you PTA for providing this opportunity for our students and teachers.

We then ended October with our 2nd Annual Vocabulary Parade and what an awesome way to show how much we love learning at Baldwin! Despite the rain, the parade was a huge success! The majority of our students and staff members participated in the vocabulary parade in costumes that represented their chosen word. I was an apiculturist (a beekeeper). One of the highlights of our parade was the Bowie Drumline! These group of students were amazing and gave our parade the special touch it needed to make it even more exciting than what we already had planned with all of our costumes. Thank you to all of our parents that helped their children with their costumes so that they could participate and thank you to all that came out to cheer us on! I already have my word picked out for next year and I can't wait for next October!


Our Accelerated Reader program has continued and we have celebrated top readers several times already this year! I am very proud of all of our students that continuously participate in this program and all of the reading they are doing to earn points and prizes. Keep up the great reading!!!


The "Great Leaps" Reading program was started again this year with reading volunteers for every first grade classroom. Our Great Leaps Coordinator Dawn B. secured reading volunteers for every classroom for every day of the week. We are very grateful to Mrs. Bowes and all of the volunteers that come out every day to help our first graders become stronger readers and to be college ready readers!


Mrs. Stevens, our music teacher, once again this year formed an amazing Baldwin Choir that serenaded us at different times throughout the first semester. The students learned not just songs but movements to go with the songs and they were great performers. I am looking forward to the spring semester and what they may have planned for us in the next coming months. Mrs. Stevens and the other music teachers also worked with our third graders in the first semester to put on a third grade performance that was absolutely amazing. The third graders were very poised and their singing, dancing and dramatic performances were outstanding. Thank you to all of the parents that helped with the props and getting the students dressed for their performances.


Our second graders held their annual market days in December. These second graders were so excited with the opportunity to create and sell their products. When I visited the market, I observed young, proud entrepreneurs that were thrilled to be selling their products. This was an experience that they will never forget. Thank you to all of our parents for supporting our students and teachers with this endeavor. Our second graders learned so many lessons during these market day experiences.


In December, the Baldwin Community once again showed their appreciation to all of the Baldwin Staff by sending us different cookies and treats during the PTA sponsored Cookie Exchange. Every staff member was able to enjoy some very special treats on that day and for many days afterwards. Thank you for showing your kindness in this way. During the month of December, the PTA also sponsored "Santa Night" with pizza for dinner and the movie, "The Polar Express." This was a very special evening for our children and families and I thank you for participating in this family event. During this same week, we also held our fall book fair in the library. We were able to generate extra funds for new library books and other library items that are important to our children, because you, the Baldwin Community, came out to show your support by purchasing items from the book fair. Thank you so much for your support with this event! Our PTA also sponsored the Care and Share program again this year and it was a HUGE success. I want to personally thank Tara S. for leading this effort and I want to thank all of our caring Baldwin Families that donated presents and gift cards to our families that were in great need this Holiday Season. Thank you for caring and sharing your "gifts"!!


During the fall semester, we had many after school programs and clubs that our Bobcats participated in every day of the week. I would like to thank Michelle G. for coordinating our Math Pentathlon Program and finding coaches and volunteers for every grade level. This program is now under her direction and has teachers and parents as the coaches. The program is going strong and I am looking forward to a great spring semester of fun and learning for all of our pentathletes. Thank you to everyone that helped out with our Math Pentathlon program during the fall semester.

We also had some very strong and innovative Robotics Teams this year. Three of the Baldwin Bots teams competed in two different qualifiers in early December. The "Hurricanes" blew everyone away with a strong project presentation and one of the their best robot runs ever! The "Highlighters" were as bright as ever taking the first place in the research project presentations and earning an invitation to the Central Texas FLL regional tournament in March. The "Cobras" wrapped up the competition and slithered home with the Championship Award for all around excellence and have also advanced to the Regional Tournament. The other two teams, the "Robo Serpents" and the "Robo Warriors" competed later in December and we will have their results after the winter break. I am very proud of the 5 teams and their hard work. They worked long hours after school and on the weekends to get ready for this year's competitions. Congratulations to the Baldwin Bots and their coaches.

I have two more highlights that I would like to share with all of you. During the past couple of years, two of our teachers, Mrs. Reaves (4th grade teacher) and Mrs. Lengle (2nd grade teacher), have been working on completing National Board Certification. This certification requires hours and hours of self- reflection and documentation of teaching practices. The mission of the National Board is to advance student learning and achievement by establishing the definitive standards and systems for certifying accomplished educations, providing programs and advocating policies that support excellence in teaching and learning and engaging National Board Certified Teachers and leaders in that process. The National Board seeks to elevate the status, voice and role of accomplished teachers in shaping a true profession. This includes: 1) raising public awareness with respect to the cognitively complex, collaborative, and expertise-driven nature of teachers' work; 2) setting higher standards for entry and advancement into the profession; and 3) recognizing accomplished teaching through a rigorous professional certification process comparable to those found in other premier professions, such as medicine, engineering and law. In December, both teachers were informed that they had completed all of the requirements and have received the recognition as National Board Certified Teachers! Congratulations to Mrs. Reaves and Mrs. Lengle on this huge accomplishment. I am very proud of both of these teachers!

As you can see with everything that I shared (and these were just a few highlights), we were a busy learning community at Baldwin Elementary during the fall semester and I suspect that our spring semester will be no different. I appreciate all that you give to our children and our school! I look forward to seeing you at Baldwin this new calendar year!

Roaring with Pride,
Dr. Peña