Furneaux is excited to be launching their own mentoring program this year. The Furneaux Elementary 
staff members are learning from Victoria Mendoza, CFBISD Community Liaison. If you’d like to learn more or to sign up as a mentor to a Furneaux student this year, please visit cfbisd.edu/mentor or contact the school counselor, Jenny Montano at montanoj@cfbisd.edu.
Archive | Newsletter
First Baptist Donated School Supplies to Central
Thank you First Baptist for your generous donation of school supplies to Central!
Central 4th Grade STEM Challenge
Fourth-grade students at Central Elementary build relationships as they collaborate in a STEM challenge. Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math make up STEM. Students in Mrs. Scalsky’s class were given materials to build a cup pyramid without using their hands. Students had to cooperate and communicate with each other to successfully complete the challenge. While challenging the mind in building the structure, students had to articulate ideas to their peers as they used other materials to move objects.
Iris Ramos is Blair’s Teacher of the Nine Weeks
Every 9 weeks, each campus selects a “Teacher of the Nine Weeks” to be recognized at the school board meeting. At the end of the year, from this pool of honorees, one CFB teacher will be chosen as Teacher of the Year. Ms. Iris Ramos was selected by Blair Elementary faculty and staff as the first Teacher of the Nine Weeks for 2018-2019. One student commented about Ms. Ramos, “she makes our learning fun.” Ms. Ramos stated, “I believe that all students can learn with a lot of hard work and effort.”
Making learning fun for students through hard work is the reason Blair Faculty and Staff have chosen Ms. Ramos as Blair’s Teacher of the Nine Weeks. An 18 year veteran of teaching, Ms. Ramos began her career teaching kindergarten in Guam, where she taught for two years. Ramos then moved to Ft. Hood, TX, where she taught Pre-K for a year before coming to Blair. Since coming to Blair ten years ago, she has taught kindergarten, second, and fourth grades. A recognized campus leader especially in technology, colleagues praise her willingness to help and share her knowledge with others.
“She makes me think outside my comfort zone and gives me new ideas that help me be a better teacher,” stated one of Ms. Ramos’s fourth-grade teammates. What does Ms. Ramos have to say about all this? “I’m really fortunate to be working with a lot of hardworking professionals, especially my 4th-grade team.”
Rainwater Elementary Hosts Grandparents Day
On Sep. 7, Rainwater Elementary hosted Grandparents Day. Students’ grandparents were invited to dine with their grandchildren for lunch at the campus cafeteria. Students in Kindergarten to 5th grade were able to enjoy visiting with their grandparents and meeting the grandparents of their friends. Grandparents were able to enjoy visiting with their grandchildren, taking photos, and meeting their grandchildren’s classmates.
Furneaux Students Learn Depth and Complexity
Students at Furneaux Elementary are using specialized language when they come home from school as they learn the elements of depth and complexity. There are icons associated with the different elements of depth and complexity that serve as visual prompts for students. These visual prompts are designed to help students go beyond a surface-level understanding of a concept and enhance their ability to think critically. These critical thinking tools help students dig deeper into a concept (depth) and understand that concept with greater complexity.
For a student to truly understand a topic of study, they must speak the language specific to that topic. Through the different elements of depth and complexity, students study the language of the discipline, details, patterns, rules, big ideas, ethical issues, and trends of a topic. They are able to find unanswered questions, view multiple perspectives, look how things/ideas change over time, and how things/ideas are connected through different disciplines.
In lieu of “learning to read,” these Furneaux students are “reading to learn.”
Furneaux 1st Graders Enhance Reading With Whisper Phones
Furneaux first-grade students are learning to enhance their reading skills by using “whisper phones.” A whisper phone is a small, light-weight auditory feedback device, sometimes homemade by teachers out of PVC pipe. The whisper phones allow a student to speak softly into it while listening to the clarity and rhythm of their words as they read. This instant feedback encourages the student to make any necessary adjustments to their fluency or pronunciation as they speak.
Field Students Are the Faces of Kickstart Kids
In early November of 2017, the students of the Vivian Field karate program were chosen to be the face of Kickstart Kids’ 25th Anniversary campaign. Helping to raise awareness of the program, foundation and it’s effect on the students it reaches.
Today, almost one year later, the photographers returned to the Vivian Field Middle School for another opportunity for our students. The North Texas Giving Day fund raiser for Kickstart Kids is fast approaching and, once again, we were chosen to to be the the face of the day, alongside the students of Perry Middle School and their instructor, Jessica Hellman.
Kickstart so graciously gifted us with a canvas print of our Vivian Field students from the 2017 photo shoot. There are only great things in store for our program and the fabulous kids of our own VivNation Kickstart program!
CFBISD and Educational Foundation Thank Volunteer
The CFBISD Educational Foundation thanked Mark Sutherland for his service to the school district and foundation as a foundation board member from 2010 until 2018. Mark served as the CFB Educational Foundation Board Chairman from 2014 until 2018. Mark provided exceptional leadership and direction assisting the Educational Foundation in providing grants and scholarships to staff and students.
Davis Teachers Utilize Data to Improve Teaching Strategy
Davis Elementary teachers Alyssa LaPuma and Jorge Romero study data to be better teachers. Both LaPuma and Romero teach 3rd grade at Davis and they compared how their students have done on the STAAR test. When they saw from the data that they had strengths where their counterpart did not, they collaborated to share those strengths to better instruct their students. They compared their results to the TEKS (Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills) requirements to make sure they were filling in the gaps where students fell short.