Classes started Aug. 22 and Port O’Connor has 100 students enrolled in Pre-K through fifth grade. The majority of students, when asked, stated they were anxious to return to school. The halls were filled with lots of positive energy and excited kids all happy to be reunited with their friends and classmates.
Students Learn New Analytical Techniques – This year teachers at POC are working together with teachers from Seadrift to introduce new techniques to improve students’ analytical skills. The process involves Thinking Maps which help organize students’ thoughts. There are eight maps and each map teaches a specific cognitive skill eight methods aimed at improving eight different cognitive thinking skills. The students have learned how to develop Circle Maps to define, describe and make connections between pieces of information within a frame of reference. Students also work with Bubble Maps which visually helps students represent the thought process of describing. The picture below shows first grade students in front of the Circle Map they made to define library rules.
Front Row: Sergio Sanchez, Ethan Redding, Ashton Albrecht, Damian Guzman,
Chase Harding, Keaton Cady and Dylan Ramirez. Back Row: Jenna McManus,
Leah Lucey, Kalynn Harding, Makayla Reed,
Adalia Gossett, Harley Peeler, and Elizabeth Carriles.
Check Out Our Class Blogs – Parents be sure to check out the school website to see what’s happening in your child’s class. Each grade is keeping a blog about what they’re doing and adding pictures of students. To access the blogs go to www.calcoisd.net. On the top select the Our Schools tab. From there select Port O’Connor Elementary. On the left side of the screen you’ll see Classroom Information. Click on Classroom Information and select Staff Blogs. You can select the appropriate teacher from the drop down list.
Teachers Thank Service Club – The teachers at POC Elementary are so very grateful for the generous $25 gift they each received from the Service Club. The money was used to purchase craft items, hands on manipulative tools, snacks and other items for the classrooms. The teachers thank the Service Club ladies for helping to defray the large out of pocket expenses each teacher incurs. Your gift is sincerely appreciated and was well spent!
PTO News – The PTO is now selling snacks every Friday afternoon in the cafeteria. All items are 50cents each so parents don’t forget to send extra money with your kids on Fridays. PTO is now on Facebook. You can access the site by going to www.facebook.com/pocpto .
Don’t Forget – As everyone is trying to get back in the school morning routine, remember to make sure your kids bring their AR library books and homework back to school each day. If your child will be tardy or absent, please call the office at 983-2341 to let us know.
Miss Sandra in the cafeteria would like to remind parents to make sure kids have enough money in their accounts to pay for their meals. Parents may check their child’s balance by accessing Meal Pay on the calcoisd.net website or come by the cafeteria. When accessing Meal Pay, parents will need to create a new account this year even if they accessed MealPay last year.
Dates to Remember:
September 13 Open House and PTO Meeting
September 16 Constitution Day
September 23 Picture Day
September 30 Student Holiday
October 6 Awards 8:00 in the cafeteria
