View this clip to find out about the beautiful new books to donated the ROE Library!

The State of Texas 2010-11 School Report Card for River Oaks Elementary is now available.  This is a report required by the Texas Legislature and prepared by the Texas Education Agency. It is to be made available to the parent or guardian of every child enrolled in the public schools. The report provides information concerning student performance as well as information concerning expenditures, average class size, and student/teacher ratios.

The information contained in the School Report Card is required by state law and is briefly described in the enclosed “2010-11 School Report Card Definitions.” The report for our school may or may not have all the information described, because the information presented depends on whether the school is an elementary, middle, or high school.

State law requires that the information be provided for the state, the district, the school, and a group of schools similar to our school.  Where possible, the information must be reported by race/ethnicity and socio-economic status of the students and must include at least two years of results.

View or download this document below. The School Report Cards can also be found online at: http://ritter.tea.state.tx.us/perfreport/src/2011/campus.srch.html

A more complete report about River Oaks Elementary, the Academic Excellence Indicator System (AEIS) report, is available by contacting my office or can be accessed online at: http://ritter.tea.state.tx.us/perfreport/aeis/2011/index.html

Please contact me if you have any questions concerning this report card.  Thank you for your continued support of River Oaks Elementary.

–Dr. Keri Fovargue, Head of School

Revised Partnership

There has been a new development in the partnership regarding Book Buddies. Dr. Fovargue and Mrs. Shenker have both agreed to support Alcott Elementary. In a recent news article, Alcott Elementary was published as the number one school in need of literary resources. Therefore, ROE is changing our Book Buddy partner to Alcott Elementary this fall as we share the joy of reading and book adventures!  Dr. Price, Alcott Principal, is delighted to partner with ROE. In order to support his literacy initiatives, let’s make sure every Alcott Elementary student has a book to take home and read over the winter break.

Start gathering those gently used books (pre-k to 5th grade) that your children have enjoyed and bring them in to school the week of December 5th.  Look for a flyer to come home on Tuesday, December 6th with a special bookmark for your child to place inside one of their donated books. For questions please contact: kfovargu@houstonisd.org.

ROE 4th Grader Luke Richardson  was selected as a finalist in the HISD Holiday Art Card contest for his artwork titled ”Peace on Earth”. You can see all the entries and purchase greeting cards of your favorite entry on the HISD website!

2nd Grade’s  annual Water Awareness Day took place on November 16th .  Students and teachers  invited our school community to walk on the track with them to raise awareness about the lack of clean and safe water around the world.  We  are empathetic to those who do not have access to clean and safe water and are experiencing what it is like to “walk in some one else’s shoes.”

Information regarding options for middle schools in Houston ISD is available and downloadable below.

]]> http://riveroakselementaryschool.org/2011/10/13/hisd-middle-school-options/feed/ 0 http://riveroakselementaryschool.org/2011/08/26/incident-information/ http://riveroakselementaryschool.org/2011/08/26/incident-information/#comments Fri, 26 Aug 2011 20:14:08 +0000 DrFovargue http://riveroakselementaryschool.org/?p=1220

Dear ROE Families:

The purpose of this letter is to inform you of an incident which occurred in the River Oaks community at approximately 12:30 PM. ROE was alerted of a burglar suspect on foot two blocks from the school. HPD and the River Oaks Patrol responded to the incident.

As a precaution, we moved all students inside the building, secured the students in the classrooms, and secured the building. Houston ISD Police responded to ROE immediately, investigated the situation, and notified us the suspect had been apprehended at approximately 1:25 PM. We released the campus from lockdown at 1:35 PM.

The ROE teachers and students executed our lockdown drill perfectly. Additionally, students remained on task and engaged in lessons during the procedure.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me at kfovargu@houstonisd.org.

Sincerely,

Dr. Keri Fovargue

]]> http://riveroakselementaryschool.org/2011/08/26/incident-information/feed/ 0 http://riveroakselementaryschool.org/2011/08/11/why-head-of-school/ http://riveroakselementaryschool.org/2011/08/11/why-head-of-school/#comments Thu, 11 Aug 2011 19:31:51 +0000 DrFovargue http://riveroakselementaryschool.org/?p=1118

One of the most common inquiries asked in an International Baccalaureate School concerns the title of the Head of School (HOS). In America, the senior leader or manager is commonly referred to as the Principal. While abroad, Head of School is the title of choice. In an effort to uniform IB schools as well as find a common language, all IB publications and resources use the HOS title. The title does not denote the school is public or private; however, the purpose is to identify the leader of the campus as a teacher leader. Specifically, the Head of School term derived from head teacher.

As part of an IB World School, using the Head of School term demonstrates our willingness to stretch globally and allows easier communication among our international colleagues. When the Head of School term is used to refer to an American school, most people immediately ponder, “Private or IB?” As a result, wonderful discussions occur. I always love telling the IB story, and I am honored to be a part of the marketing brand IB provides in order to stretch our focus on rigor and international mindedness. The minor details indeed make ROE a special place.

]]> http://riveroakselementaryschool.org/2011/08/11/why-head-of-school/feed/ 0 http://riveroakselementaryschool.org/2011/08/04/roe-on-twitter/ http://riveroakselementaryschool.org/2011/08/04/roe-on-twitter/#comments Thu, 04 Aug 2011 21:27:49 +0000 MsEastman http://riveroakselementaryschool.org/?p=1066

For continued updates follow River Oaks Elementary School on Twitter!

A complete ROE Summer Mailer Packet is downloadable. (DOC) (PDF)

Full information is also posted below.



]]> http://riveroakselementaryschool.org/2011/08/04/roe-on-twitter/feed/ 0 http://riveroakselementaryschool.org/2011/08/04/message-from-roe-pto-president/ http://riveroakselementaryschool.org/2011/08/04/message-from-roe-pto-president/#comments Thu, 04 Aug 2011 21:11:33 +0000 MsEastman http://riveroakselementaryschool.org/?p=1059

Dear ROE Families:

I hope you and your families are having a wonderful summer break.  We have an exciting time ahead for ROE as we come back from our summer break and get ready for a new school year!

We are very thankful to Mr. Andre Spencer, HISD School Improvement Officer, for leading the Principal Search Committee, along with committee members Paul Heyburn,Liz Palmer, Susan Shenker, Liz Goodman, and Donna Brown-Bennett in the search for a new Principal.  It was great that so many of you were able to attend the introductory meeting in June when Mr. Spencer introduced Dr. Keri Fovargue to the ROE community.   If you were unable to attend, rest assured that there will be more opportunities for you to meet Dr. Fovargue in the weeks and months ahead.   We look forward to working with Dr. Fovargue in her role as the new Head of School.  She is amazing and will continue to build on ROE’s strong educational foundation, especially its IB program and curriculum for all ROE students.

A special thank you for the amazing PTO support received throughout this past year from our community and parent donations!  These funds continue to support essential needs of our school including Kinder and First Grade reading books, an amazing new science lab, the International Baccalaureate (IB) Program, staff development, field trips, officer support and bully prevention program, as well as our outstanding and important student enrichment programs including math, science, Spanish, Odyssey of the Mind, technology, art, and music.

Our new technology team, which is being overseen by Kef Wilson (VP-Public Relations), is in the process of moving our PTO website to a new server over the summer and then will be working on improvements to our website.  Thank you for your patience as our website is under construction at this time.

Please note the following:

1. Summer Grade Rep Playdates:  Thank you to Meredith Maierson (VP-Internal Relations) and the Grade Representatives in planning the individual grade rep playdates over the summer.  Please see the enclosed flyer for dates and contact emails for each grade rep.
2. School Directory:  Please help us create a complete directory this year for our ROE family by submitting your directory contact information to our Directory team.  Spirit ads and business ads are a wonderful special touch to our directory.  Please contact Katy Perez and Maria Onufrow at directory@riveroakspto.org for assistance.    Please also visit our PTO website www.riveroakspto.org for more information regarding business ads (deadline: August 15^th) and spirit ads (Deadline: Sept 7^th).
3. PTO Volunteers:  If you are interested in volunteering and participating in any capacity on PTO, please contact our PTO Volunteer Coordinators Amie Canfield and Madhuri Chilakapati at volunteer@riveroakspto.org.  The PTO Board and its Chairs are continuing to build teams and all ROE families are invited to participate.  As required by HISD, please go to the HISD website (www.houstonisd.org) and complete the VIPS volunteer process application in order to serve as a parent volunteer at ROE.
4. School Supplies: If you have not yet ordered your school supplies for next year, please contact PTO School Supply Chair-Ann Tanabe at school-supplies@riveroakspto.org.  Pre-orders were due in June; however, Ann will be happy to assist families as needed.
5. ROE Connection (After School Program): Please visit the ROE School Site regarding the after-school program which is coordinated by River Oaks Elementary Administration at www.riveroakselementaryschool.org/roe-connections.
6. ROE Spirit Store:  Students celebrate their ROE school spirit every Friday by wearing an ROE school t-shirt. Please check out the ROE Spirit store on line at www.riveroakspto.org or at the Meet and Greet on Thursday, August 18^th 5:00-6:30 p.m. in the ROE cafeteria to pick up great apparel and items.
7. Development Update: In the coming month, we will post updated underwriting opportunities for our ROE events along with additional opportunities on our website as we continue to meet our fundraising needs for our school.  We will be looking to expand the corporate “Matching Gift Program” wherein companies match funds given by their employees to non-profit organizations. In addition to matching monetary gifts, companies often will match hours of volunteer work donated by the parent with a financial gift.  We greatly appreciate the support we have received from parents working with ExxonMobil in the past through their ExxonMobil Foundation Volunteer Involvement Program and look forward to expanding this program for ROE and other partnerships in our Houston community.  Our annual Fall Frenzy Social/Auction Event will be held on November 5^th at The Junior League of Houston, Inc.   More details to follow on this fun evening.  Please contact the Development team  (development@riveroakspto.org) with suggestions and names of prospective donors, especially for our events from underwriting to in-kind donations.  We will continue to collaborate as we centralize and work on development outreach and fundraising in our ROE parent and neighborhood community.
8. New Fall Fundraiser: ROE students will be selling personalized products such as luggage tags, gift labels, memo pads, note cards and lunch bags from our new vendor, The Gift Queen.  There are wonderful monogrammed items such as lunch kits, travel bags and wallets, as well as personalized stationery, gift labels and luggage tags available.  All items can be purchased online through the ROE Store, the most convenient way for the PTO to process your order.  Order packets will be distributed to students during the week of September 12th and sales will end on September 30th.  Orders will be delivered to student’s classrooms before Thanksgiving break.  Please contact our Fall Fundraiser chairs – Colleen Morris and Wendy Selvaggi at fallfundraiser@riveroakspto.org with any questions.
9. 2011-2012 Calendar Events:  Please see the attached save the date flyer for the 2011-2012 calendar of events and mark your calendars for another fun year!
10. Birthday Book Club:  Coming back again this year is our fabulous Birthday Book Club under the leadership of our PTO Birthday Book Club Chairs Jennifer Randall and Angela Yarborough.  More details will follow as we work with Ms. Eastman on the book wish list for the library.  As birthdays or special celebrations approach this year, please consider making a donation to the library through the Birthday Book Club.   The donated book will contain a nameplate for name recognition inside the book.

Please feel free to email me at president@riveroakspto.org if you would like to learn more about PTO or have any questions.  We look forward to another outstanding year together at ROE and hope to see you at the Meet and Greet on Thursday, August 18^th from 5:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.

Sincerely,

Holly C. Shilstone

Holly Shilstone

PTO President

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