Happiness is in Your Choices

I recently saw a sign in Starbucks that read “Happiness is in your choices.” Everyone likes to have choices from coffee to music to the clothes we buy.

Today, I want to talk to you about a different choice.
But with the same variety of options: Your child’s education!
Your child’s education is one of the most important choices you will make as a parent.

The choices today are plentiful. And the level of excellent education is the greatest it has ever been. The same can be said about the Carrollton-Farmers Branch School District.

C-FB isn't just an ordinary school district. We pride ourselves on offering an abundance of choices to meet the needs of all our students. Your child will receive a world class education – you can count on it.

 If you haven’t considered C-FB as an educational choice for your child – come explore your many options at one of our parent previews. Each campus will be holding events specifically designed for parents to explore the opportunities available and see how your child will benefit from an education in C-FB.

Our menu of campus Parent Previews is available at www.cfbisd.edu/preview. Kindergarten Registration information is also available.

Come get a taste of the best education choice you can make for your child at C-FB ISD. Your child’s education deserves nothing less than the best. Remember “Happiness is in your choices.”

Visit our WHY C-FB section of our website for more information. 

Thanksgiving Message from Dr. Burns

Just Do It!

Today, I want to give you a pep talk. And I am going to use an often over-quoted saying, “Just Do It”. But there is no better way to talk about parent involvement.

November 15 is nationally noted as a day to celebrate the importance role parents play in their child’s education. But I challenge that our children need their parents involved in their lives and especially their education every day. So, in C-FB, we proclaim that every day is Parent Involvement Day.

Judy Molland writes in the national PTA article, Tips on Getting Involved in School, “The research is in, and the results are conclusive: students whose parents are actively involved in their education do better at school, regardless of their family income and background. Specifically, students with involved parents have greater academic success, better attitudes about school, and fewer behavioral problems. This makes sense, since parents are the central figures in the lives of their children.”

As a parent, I want what is best for my own two sons. I know that most parents feel the same way but sometimes you don’t know how to become involved. The award-winning Parent Teacher Association (PTA) in C-FB ISD exists to help parents connect to their child’s education. The national PTA has provided tips to help parents become partners with the school in their child’s education. The pamphlet “100 Ways to Help Your Child and School Succeed” provides valuable tips. I encourage you to read the brochure and try a few. Here are some:

• Share your child’s strengths, talents, and interests with teachers. 
• Share expectations and set goals for your child with his or her teacher. 
• Attend parent-teacher conferences with specific questions you want to ask. 
• Ask teachers or school counselors about how to talk with your child about tough topics. 
• Seek out classes or information on child development, learning styles, discipline, etc. 
• Attend parent education fairs and other special events at school. 
• Start a parent book club to discuss current publications. 

I encourage you to join the PTA on your child’s campus and get involved. As the commercial says, “Just Do It!”

100 Ways to Help Your Child and School Succeed

Living History

As we celebrate Veterans Day on November 11, students and staff across C-FB ISD honor the men and women who have served and are currently serving our country.

Some of our students had the remarkable opportunity to hear from the last living original Navajo Code Talkers, Chester Nez. On Oct. 13, R. L. Turner High School welcomed the last remaining Navajo Code Talker from World War II, Chester Nez. Nez explained to the students that he was one of the original 29 Navajo young men recruited in the U.S. Military’s top secret program.

The Code Talkers used the unique Navajo language to create a code for the U.S. Military to get messages to soldiers in battle. Throughout the war, no attempts by the Japanese government were successful at cracking the code. The program remained top secret until it was declassified in 1968. Until that time, Nez and the other Code Talkers were unable to tell their families what they had done during the war. Nez’s story has now been published in the book, Code Talker: The first and only memoir by one of the original Navajo code talkers.

Mr. Nez is a real-life history and character lesson of bravery, intelligence and problem-solving. High achievement in C-FB ISD is just not about scoring well on a state test. It is more than that. It is about providing our students with a rich learning environment to develop valuable knowledge and skills as they prepare to become contributing members of our society. That is the ultimate measure of high achievement.

In C-FB, we pride ourselves on instilling character in our students. One of the young men or women who heard Mr. Nez speak could be the very individual responsible making changing history like Mr. Nez and his fellow Code Talkers.

We invite you to come to one of our Veterans Day celebrations to experience learning in action in our schools.

Check out the photos from some of the Veterans Day activities across the district:

• R. L. Turner Hosts Veterans Day Celebration 
• Field Middle School Celebrates Veterans Day

Information regarding remaining Veterans Day activities:

• Nov. 12 , 2:00 p.m. , Blalack Middle School Gym: There will be a Salute to Veterans and members of the Armed Services, Police and Fire Dept. 
• Nov. 12 , 5:30-7:30 p.m. , Landry Elementary: There will be an art show and a choir concert, the choir will sing Veterans Day songs. Afterwards, parents and children can enjoy a dance in the gym with concessions to buy. This is a PTA event. 
• Nov. 13 , 6:30 p.m. , Bush Middle School Cafeteria: Orchestra and Choir Program honoring Veterans 

Local news affiliate, CBS 11, visited Turner to interview Mr. Nez. The video can be viewed on their website here.

Living Examples of Service

I often talk about the character values - pride, cooperation, responsibility, respect, integrity, service, and citizenship - that C-FB teaches to our students. Today, though, I want to give you a living example of those values.

Last Tuesday night, our district honored 271 team members for completing 10, 15, 20, 25, and 30, 35 and yes … 40 years of service with the Carrollton-Farmers Branch School District. Combined, these employees have served C-FB ISD families for 3,145 years. Their years of service have touched tens of thousands of students helping them to achieve their dreams. Amazing!

There was one really special moment for me, though. We paid a special tribute to our employees with 30, 35 and 40 years of service.

Our 30 year recipients are:

• LaDonna Conner 
• Bun Lim 
• Chip Melara 
• Sue Thompson 

Our 35 year recipients are:

• Glenda Brooks-Tidwell 
• Terrie Grimes 
• Kathy Hurley 
• Kathy Lanigan 
• Ben Priddy 
• Janet Truett 

And we recognized Jo Luttrell for 40 years of service. She has given four decades of service to our district helping us accomplish our goal of high achievement for all students. To Jo and the other honorees – Thank you. There are not enough words to express our gratitude for your commitment to C-FB.

List of honorees 

Photos of Service Awards Dinner

Talk, Talk, Talk

We believe that for high achievement to take place, our schools must be safe and focused on learning.

What do C-FB ISD parents say about student safety?Our 2012 spring parent survey shows that 91 percent of parents responding feel that "their child's school provides a safe environment".

Our teachers, principals, counselors, and other educational team members use many great strategies to ensure that our schools are positive learning environments.

How do we accomplish this task? We teach students to talk.  That might sound strange.  Many schools want students to sit quietly.  In C-FB ISD, we know that learning to talk and express feeling, thoughts and ideas appropriately is crucial to social and emotional development.

We also teach our district's character values of integrity, pride, respect, responsibility, service and citizenship in our classrooms. Our students learn extensively about the ideals on which our country and community were founded. Also, the C-FB ISD District Improvement Plan includes action strategies to address bullying, dating violence, conflict resolution, and suicide prevention.

You might have heard about our elementary program called R time.  This program is about talking.  It also emphasizes C-FB ISD's long-established character values as well as promoting courtesy and good manners. Our elementary teachers find R time helps our students build stronger relationships with one another and adults.  The weekly reinforcement of courtesy, respect, good manners and listening skills helps our elementary students not only with their academic achievement but also with their emotional and behavioral well being.

Here is an example of students learning to talk in appropriate ways. In a third grade classroom at Davis Elementary, students were discussing different strategies to solve a math problem.  Two students used two different methods to solve a problem and they came up with different answers.  "I disagree with Susie because..." one student remarked in a polite manner.  The discussion was focused on finding a solution to the problem while still encouraging students who might not have had the "right" answer.  This type of classroom environment encourages risk-taking and allows students to explore and learn without feeling demeaned or isolated.  Across our district, students are learning to talk in appropriate ways with one another and adults.

An extension of R time, Negotiate is a program C-FB ISD is using at our six middle schools. Negotiate provides a forum in which the students explore and share their views on a complete range topics, including how to make and maintain friends, how to resolve conflicts and problems, how to plan and work cooperatively. Through the sessions, we want to students learn that they may not always agree with their partner's viewpoint, but they can talk about ideas and learn to respect and value differences.

Teens face challenging issues at school, at home or in their neighborhood. C-FB ISD has a staff of qualified counselors who help students deal with pressures around them.  Our counselors will visit every classroom in the district this year to talk about age-appropriate issues.  At the middle and high school levels, they will talk about suicide prevention, grief, loss, drug use, conflict resolution, bullying, dating violence, and making healthy choices.

In C-FB ISD, we offer an anonymous online and texting program called Talk About It.  Talk About It allows campus staff to meet students where they are - online and with text messaging - to help solve issues. More about Talk About It.

What can a parent do to help? Talk with your child - often. Ask them about school work, homework, and their friends. Talking helps you stay connected.

Charles Dickens said, "Electric communication will never be a substitute for the face of someone who with their soul encourages another person to be brave and true."

We believe to meet our goal of high achievement for all students, the schools and classrooms must be safe and promote learning.  By having a variety of strategies in place to promote safety, cooperation, respect and conflict resolution, we are teaching our students valuable tools for life during and after their public school days.

It Isn’t Just a Week – It’s about Healthy Choices All Year Long

Did you know? The Red Ribbon Campaign was started when drug traffickers in Mexico City murdered DEA agent Kiki Camarena in 1985. This began the continuing tradition of displaying Red Ribbons as a symbol of intolerance towards the use of drugs. The mission of the Red Ribbon Campaign is to present a unified and visible commitment towards the creation of a drug-free America.

This year, we are celebrating Red Ribbon Week October 22-26 with a Kick-Off Breakfast on October 19 hosted by our local Chambers of Commerce. Red Ribbon Week is a time dedicated to teach and encourage students across the nation to make healthy choices.

But in C-FB ISD, we focus on this more than just one week out of the year – we are always modeling and teaching our students about living a healthy life. C-FB ISD encourages healthy choices all year but we dedicate one week a year to teaching our students to say “no” to drugs and to live a drug free life.

So how do we do it? Well, it comes down to helping students develop character. Roy Disney once said, “It's not hard to make decisions when you know what your values are.” In C-FB ISD, we live the character values of cooperation, integrity, pride, respect, responsibility, service and citizenship. We are deliberate in teaching students to respect themselves, their health, and others around them. Saying “no” to drugs is just one way that students respect themselves. Students, who are healthy, are prepared to learn. More than that, students who live a healthy life can accomplish their dreams. And in C-FB, that is what we are about. We want students to have high achievement so they can reach their full potential.

Link to Red Ribbon Week activities