Titan Tips

Don't find out the hard way!

Read this instead! All the little tips that will make your year easier in one place! 

Attendance

Did you know that students are considered late at the 7:40 am bell? And absent if they are not at school by 8:40 am? What does this mean to you? If you schedule an appointment for your kiddo in the morning and bring them to school at 9:00am, they are considered absent! So schedule any appointments later in the day, not in the morning.

Transportation

There are 3 categories: Bus Rider, Front Walker, and Car Rider.

Front Walker is easy - a designated teacher brings the front walker students out the front door of the school and parents walk up to pick them up. You can park in the lot or across the street in the dirt parking lot or any of the parking spots in front of the school. Please do not pull over on the side of the Sittio Del Rio to pick up your student. It is dangerous and you will immediately be asked to move. 

Car Riders - are picked up by car on the southeast side of the school. Think of this as school valet. You just drive up and wait for your kid(s) to get into the car. 

Bus Riders - which is as simple as it sounds. You will fill out transportation/dismissal info at Meet the Teacher (on August 13th). Every day (for the first week) your child will wear a name tag with their release info on it. There is also a clip board that every teacher gets daily from the office that has dismissal info on it. So if you change transportation it must be done by 1:00 daily so the clipboard gets updated before release. Each child is put in their appropriate dismissal line and chaperoned to their departure spot daily/throughout the year. Each child is accounted for when loading buses and going off property with a parent. If your child mistakenly gets in the wrong bus line, for instance, they won’t be permitted to board that bus if their name isn’t on that list. The teachers all have walkie talkies and will call out over the walkies asking who has "insert child name here" on their list. They will ensure your kid gets to the right place. No buses can depart until every child in their bus list has boarded. So let’s say she’s in the nurse office getting a band aid last minute. They will wait for her until she loads before buses depart. Click here to find out bus info! .

lunch & library 

Did you find out who will be inspiring and teaching your kiddo this year? Here's a tip when you meet your student's teacher (especially for younger grades) - clarify if you need to pack their lunch and snack separately. Often times lunch bags are collected in a roller and snacks are kept in their backpack. Knowing how your teacher handles this will ensure your student does not go hungry at snack time!

Also, have you met Mrs. Algase, our wonderful school Librarian? She has an awesome system for reminding parents when their students library books are due - this is particularly helpful when you have multiple kids with multiple library days that are rotating each week! Stop by and talk to her about signing up for text reminders. It literally takes less than a minute to sign up and is a game changer during the school year.

lost & found

Write your student's name (and even grade and/or teacher) on their stuff (ie, backpack, lunch box, jacket, glasses, water bottle - basically anything that isn't attached to them!) Because they will lose it. But, our Lost and Found system is awesome! Once their item finds its way to the Lost and Found, designated upper grade students are assigned to go through it and anything that has a name is returned to that student. Easy and full proof. Just write their name on it!

communication

Communication can be a little confusing. There are 4 different entities communicating with you in relation to the school. Here is a break down:

River Place Insider - These are emails directly from Tina Pasak, our principal. If there is pertinent news or a request, you will receive an email from her. The Titan Times - a monthly newsletter from our principal also began this year (2019-2020)!

LISD - The school district sends you emails about district news. You can download the Messenger app to receive these messages on your phone. 

Your Child's Teacher - Each teacher has a different system, but usually you will receive an email from your child's teacher near the beginning of the week about classroom news and sometimes general Titan Community news too (volunteer opportunities, drives, events).

PTA - The PTA communicates through the Monday Memo, the website, the app,  Facebook and Instagram. Of all the forms of communication it is the most detailed and robust. Make sure to create a profile on our website (this ensures you will get the Monday Memo and that you will have access to the app), follow us on Facebook, and on Instagram. A quick note - the school calendar is color coded! Red= district, Aqua = PTA Meeting, Green = Titan Garden Event, Royal Blue = RPE Events (biggest section on the calendar). Also, CLICK on the calendar to find out all of the details!!!!