Doss Elementary PTA

No Hassle Fundraiser

September 8th - October 1st

Gone are the days of selling gift wrap, chocolate and candles!  Our non-selling approach to fund raising allows 100% of your contribution to go directly to the Doss PTA.  The money raised goes towards funding countless programs that benefit our children.

Every family is asked to donate at least $60, but we appreciate any amount you are able to give.  As a special incentive, every family who donates to the No Hassle Fundraiser will receive a “thank you” gift.

All of the information (and much, much more) will be sent home in your child’s folder this week, but if you have any questions, please contact No Hassle Chair, Sara Atkins: satkins@snnalaw.com

The fundraiser ends Friday, October 1st, so please make your donation by that date.  Donations are accepted online at www.dosspta.org or you may send your donation to school in your child’s Wednesday folder or leave it in the PTA office!!

Thank you for supporting your Doss Owl!

Doss is excited to welcome Mrs. Tina Folts to the first grade team!

Mrs. Folts Class List

Derek A.
Trenton B.
Carlos C.
John C.
Jeb D.
Ryan H.
Zephyr R.
Sagar S.
Charlie S.
Valeria A.
Ireland C.
Megan F.
Angela L.
Naomi M.
Bethel N.
Isabelle O.
Zoe P.
Isabelle S.

Place an Advertisement in the Doss Directory…
reach hundreds in our neighborhood!

Business Card - $30; ¼ Page - $60; ½ Page - $120; Full Page - $220.

***Please contact Carrie Schnoor at 633-8382 or
cschnoor@austin.rr.com with any questions***

Deadline for advertisement submission is September 15!

Doss Welcomes the Hub as a new Retail Rebate Partner!

Eat at The Hub, tell them you are a Doss family and give them your receipt and Doss will earn 10% of the purchase price.  Any time!  Any day!

The Hub is a locally owned neighborhood restaurant and has great food and a friendly atmosphere for every age group.  Their dining room is cozy, plus they have a big back porch with a 12×6 foot HD projector screen.  The Hub is located at 3815 Dry Creek Drive (between NW Hills Animal Hospital and the Shell station at the corner of 2222 & Dry Creek).  Please visit their website: www.thehubaustin.com for their menu and events calendar.

Do you know that Doss PTA provides support for the following at Doss?

Accelerated Reader After School Tutoring Art Enrichment Birthday Book Club Bluebonnet Program (Library) Book Fair Butterfly Habitat Computer Lab Assistant Salary Copier Rental Cultural Heritage Debbie Brinks Atrium Directory Doss Daughter Dance Doss Son Event ESL Conversation Club Field Trips 5th Grade Completion Ceremony Friends of the Library Gallery Greats Green Team Homeroom Parties H’Owl Fall Carnival HOOT Publication Hospitality Kinder Koffee & Kleenex Kindergarten Roundup Landscaping Library Enrichment Literacy Library Meet the Teacher Music Enrichment		Newcomers Club No Hassle Fundraiser Owl’s Nest PALS Parent-Principal Coffee Partners-in-Education PE Enrichment Preschool Club Principal Discretionary Fund PTA Website Read Across Doss Week Read Naturally Reflections Robots to Doss Room Parents Science Fair SCORES Second Grade Mexico Program Sister School Sports-a-Rama Spring Party Staff Appreciation Sunshine Committee Teacher Continuing Education Teacher Stipends Teacher Supply Allowance T-shirt and Decal Sales Technology Improvement Volunteer Coordination Yearbook

Doss PTA invites you to join us to work together for Doss kids. Please share your ideas and help with projects and programs that enrich our kids’ education and contribute to their health and welfare. Together we can make Doss an even better school. Contact PTA Vice-President Mary Wolf at mwolf@marywolf.com or 795-2209 with any questions.

PTA membership covers only one person. Please buy a membership for each parent and others – like grandparents — who want to help Doss children.
Additional Membership Benefit: Your PTA membership card allows you to obtain discounts from participating businesses. Check your membership card for instructions on receiving the discounts or check-out the details at txpta.org/about-texas-pta/pta-membership-join.

Missed the Meet-The-Teacher event?

Want to purchase more Doss T-Shirts or pay for other PTA Items?

Need to exchange your T-Shirt for a different size, or get a T-shirt that you ordered?

Click on the image below for more information about how to exchange your T-shirt, or to resolve an order that was not received.

Visit the Doss PTA Online Store and use the “All-In-One” form to order more T-Shirts, join the PTA, pre-order a yearbook, donate a book to the library in honor of your child’s birthday, etc. with your major credit card.

If you wish to purchase T-Shirts using cash or a check, please print out and complete the T-shirt only order form below and return it to the school PTA mailbox in an envelope with your payment.

August 23rd,  8:00 - 9:00 a.m.

in the CAFETERIA

This is a meeting for ALL kindergarten parents

Mrs. Raven will join at 8:15 a.m.  You can’t stand in the pod and just stare at them so come on down to the cafeteria and join other parents, meet new friends and find old ones.  Visit with “alumni parents” who have had your child’s teacher before and get the scoop on what to expect.  Have some coffee, share a laugh or shed a tear - there will be Kleenex there!!

Saturday, August 21

9:00 AM

There will be no planting and only a few bags of mulch to spread.  We will be doing some light trimming and weeding, sweeping and mulching the front beds.  Kids are welcome and would be great help by walking the grounds to pick up litter.  Please bring your tools and cold water.  Pressure washers are welcome too.

Dear all,

I am sure you noticed today as you looked at class lists that Doss is overflowing with Owls!! We have never had as many students as we do this year.

While we are thrilled to welcome so many new families and children to Doss, we will face some challenges. Texas state law says that classes for grades PreK-4 are limited to 22 students with 1 teacher. When more than half of the classes at a grade level have 23 general education students or more, the district must either make a new class or ask for a waiver from the state. The limit does not apply to fifth grade — there is no state law that covers fifth grade. AISD says that the target for fifth grade classes is 28 and the proposed cap is 30. When more than half of the fifth grade classes have more than 30 general education students, we may apply for another fifth grade teacher.

We are right at these numbers in second grade and in fifth grade. I will be talking with the district over the next two weeks about staffing and numbers. We cannot add a teacher in either grade level right now — we have to wait until the children actually arrive at school to see how many children are in attendance.

The district “leveling” process occurs the week following Labor Day. At that point, the district looks across the district as a whole at class numbers and reassigns teachers as needed, or gives schools permission to hire if there is not a teacher already under contract to move to a school.

I know that classes are large and that large classes are not ideal. I will work with the district within state and local parameters to obtain as many teaching positions as possible to benefit the children at Doss. I understand that you don’t want to begin the year this way — I’m not thrilled about it, either. We can do this this, though, and our teachers are up to the challenge.

How can you help?
1.  Realize that if teachers are added, classroom assignments may change — I will talk with parents before this happens.
2.  Offer any help you might be able to give to our teaching staff. Someone to make copies or bring coffee or just give a smile and a hug makes all the difference in the world.
3.  Bring your concerns to me. Your teacher is doing the very best he/she can under some challenging circumstances. The easiest way to reach me is through email: sraven@austinisd.org Thank you for addressing your concerns to me and not just to each other. I do appreciate each of you and read each of your emails carefully.
4.  Be patient. Smile at people. Welcome newcomers to Doss. Remember all the things that make this school great and share that incredible community feeling with each other.

We can only do this job with your support, and we want to do the very best we can for each and every child that enters our doors. With your help, we make a difference in the world!

Sherrie Raven
Principal, Doss Elementary
7005 Northledge Dr.
Austin, TX  78731
(512) 414-4150

Here are the class lists!

Order your Back to School Items now at www.portal.dosspta.org — the “store” closes tonight at 10:00. Last Chance!!!

See you at Meet the Teacher Friday at 11:30am.

• Student names are only listed as First Name and first initial of the Last Name. (example Barack O.)
• If you find an error in the listing, or have a question, please contact the school at (512) 414-2365

Pre-Kindergarten Class List
Kindergarten Class List
1st Grade Class List
2nd Grade Class List
3rd Grade Class List
4th Grade Class List
5th Grade Class List

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT FROM THE PRINCIPAL ABOUT CLASS LISTS: I have been asked by Sherrie Raven to notify you that there is a slight change in the previous information provided about how you will be notified of your child’s teacher.

AISD has implemented a new computerized registration software program that is taking some time to get to know and the Doss Front Office Staff is still furiously working to get some of the kinks and issues worked out. The result is that you will NOT be contacted via email or phone by your child’s teacher before Wednesday 8/18 at 4:00 p.m.

CLASS LISTS WILL BE POSTED ON THE CAFETERIA WINDOWS AS WELL AS THE WEBSITE WEDNESDAY 8/18 AT 4:00 P.M
We regret that the personal contact was not possible and we very much appreciate your understanding with the situation.

GO ONLINE NOW TO HANDLE ALL YOUR ORDERS for t-shirts AND PTA BUSINESS BEFORE MEET THE TEACHER FRIDAY!! Don’t put it off: www.portal.dosspta.org THE DEALINE IS TOMORROW!! Remember there will be no t-shirts handed out in the cafeteria!!

GRAND OPENING!!

THE ALL-IN-ONE PRE-ORDER FORM

FOR MEET THE TEACHER IS NOW ONLINE!!!

Place your orders now! The “store closes” and
the DEADLINE for pre-orders is
10:00 p.m. Wednesday, August 18.
The store will re-open AFTER Meet The Teacher at 2:00 p.m.
All ONLINE orders placed at that time will be filled and delivered sometime after the first week of school.

GO ONLINE TO  www.portal.dosspta.org

This is a direct link to the online store. There you can pre-order, with your credit card, some things you will need for the school year from the PTA. This includes:

DOSS T-shirts    +    PTA membership    +    Yearbooks
Birthday Book Awards    +    Decals and Bumper Stickers
Class Party Fees
Extra Copies of the Directory (one free per family)

THERE WILL NOT BE A T-SHIRT TABLE AT Meet The Teacher.
The process has changed somewhat so read on to find out about the changes:

IMPORTANT: IF YOU PRE-ORDER, YOU CAN SPEND YOUR TIME AT MEET THE TEACHER ACTUALLY DOING THAT
– MEETING THE TEACHER –
and it’s THE ONLY WAY you will get your t-shirts that day.
AVOID THE CAFETERIA ALTOGETHER!!!

This year we’ve made it even simpler for online pre-order families. If you pre-order everything online, you won’t even have to go by the cafeteria during Meet The Teacher. Your t-shirts and decals and bumper stickers will be waiting for you in your child’s classroom – similar to the method for pre-ordered school supplies. The other things will be delivered to your child’s classroom later in the year as soon as they are available. Go straight to your classrooms and spend all your time meeting the teacher and introducing your child to her new friends and new environment – exactly what Meet The Teacher should be.
No rush – Less stress.

PLEASE NOTE—IMPORTANT CHANGE—TOTALLY DIFFERENT
There WILL NOT be a t-shirt table in the cafeteria during Meet The Teacher and there will be no t-shirts available during and immediately after the event.  You WILL NOT receive your child’s t-shirt that day or even before school starts if you wait to order them AT MEET THE TEACHER.  All orders for t-shirts placed Friday at Meet The Teacher will be filled AFTER SCHOOL STARTS.  The shirts will be delivered to your child’s classroom and will come home in his or her backpack sometime after the first week of school.  So if your child will want to wear the t-shirt that first Friday for Spirit Day, or if you want to have those T-shirts before school starts, you MUST pre-order online at www.portal.dosspta.org.

PLEASE TAKE THE TIME TO PROVIDE US WITH THE NAMES AND GRADES OF ALL OF YOUR DOSS STUDENTS in your PARENT PROFILE on the online form, even though you don’t know the teacher’s names yet. We will use this data to properly deliver your items to you.

[Please note: As of Wednesday, August 11 the online store Parent Profile editing is not working. We are working to get it fixed asap. You can still order online and we’ll let you know when it is working again so that you can enter your student information.]

WHAT IF YOU DON’T GO ONLINE AND PRE-ORDER?
The process in the cafeteria this year will be much more streamlined.
It’s simply a “3 STOP PROCESS”

STOP 1: Stop at the greeting table and pick up your form.

STOP 2: Go to the center section and sit at a table and fill the forms out. There will be a QUESTION AND ANSWER TABLE there to help answer all your questions.

STOP 3: Go to the checkout table and pay with cash, check, or credit cards. At the checkout table you will also receive any bumper stickers or decals you paid for but that is all. Your t-shirts will be delivered to your child’s classroom sometime AFTER the first day of school.