Welcome to Baldwin Elementary

Welcome to the new Baldwin Elementary website! We hope you find everything you're looking for. Use the "Get Involved" section to discover ways you can volunteer at the school. Review the "Events Snapshot" section to note important upcoming dates on your calendar. Check back regularly for the latest information.

Love Your School Campaign
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Baldwin's Love Your School No Hassle Giving Campaign kicks off February 8th. This giving campaign is in lieu of selling cookie dough or magazines and the proceeds raised benefit your children with worthwhile enrichment programs, technology improvements, in-classroom learning opportunities, and books/materials/resources not covered by the District. This year's goal is to raise at least $10,000 and each expression of support, regardless of the amount is important. Every Gift Matters. The following are examples of waht PTA funds can purchase (all donations go into the PTA general fund and any expenditures must be voted on by the PTA general membership):
$10 - Set of headphones for Netbook computers
$25 - Dirt for 1 teaching garden
$50 - Set of 50 chapter books for a classroom or 1/2 hour of outdoor movie
$75 - Backpack hooks for 1 classroom or 1 hour of Planetarium
$100 - 50 gallon recycle bin
$125 - 1 Gaga Pit wall
$200 - Rolling cart for science lab
$300 - One lego robot kit
 
Remember, when you give to PTA, you give to your kids. Tax deductible donations are accepted in cash or check payable to Baldwin PTA, or donate online through February 16th. Thank you for your support. For any questions, please contact Kelsey Friedman.
Middle School Transition Events
Do you have a 5th grader? If so, you won't want to miss any of the important Middle School Transition Events coming up. Below are some key dates for our 5th Graders:
o Small Elective Showcase - February 15, 7:30pm.
o Covington Academic Showcase - February 16, 6-8pm.
o Gorzycki Visit - May 10.
o Small Visit - May 10.
For more details, please see 5th Grade Middle School Transition Events or contact Ms Klaras.
Garden and Landscape Teams
Are you interested in helping with a few landscape tasks around our school? Here is your opportunity. We will create a Landscape Team to plan and implement a Spring Clean-up Day. If you are interested in putting on some gloves and clearing some brush, trimming back some trees, and possibly planting some native plants, please join us on Thursday, February 16th at 4:00pm in the library.
If you cannot attend but are interested in helping, please send a note to Gayle Grance. I will put your name on an email list so that we can contact you about our future weekend work day event.
Tuition Based Pre-K at Baldwin Next Year
Baldwin has been approved to be a tuition supported Pre-K program for the 2012-13 school year. We will have 15 lottery based slots available. Parents will be able to apply for the Baldwin Pre-K program February 1-29, 2012 at the Student Services Office located at 1111 West 6th Street.
If you are not in the Baldwin Elementary attendance zone but are interested in participating in the Pre-K program, you will need to apply for a one year transfer. Applications adn transfer requests can be obtained and returnede to the Student Services Office downtown.
The first round of students will be chosen by lottery on March 5th. Principals and parents will be notified before Spring Break of their placement. Parents will have until the end of March to confirm their participation in the program. Once selected, participants will need to bring their acceptance letter to Baldwin and fill out the remaining paperwork in order to confirm participation (parent agreement form and payment option form). If students are not confirmed by the end of March, slots will be given to the next child on the lottery list. The second round of the lottery will be held at the end of August after the eligible students have arrived and numbers are analyzed.
Further questions should be directed to the Department of Early Childhood at (512) 414-4790.
Spring Book Fair
The Spring Book Fair will be held in the Baldwin Library from Monday, February 27th until Friday, March 2nd. The fair opens at 8:00am every day and closes at 3:30 except for the final Friday, when we will stay open until 4:30. The last day of the Book Fair we will also be celebrating Dr. Seuss Day. If you are interested in volunteering please watch the ROAR for a website link where you can sign up for times. Come Read At The Beach With A Sneetch and help support the Baldwin Library.
March Mathness
Plans are being made for another successful March Mathness event and we need your help. If you would like to lead students in real world explorations and hands-on learning experiences in the classroom that revolve around math, please complete the March Mathness Form and turn it in to your child's teacher.
March Mathness will be held on March 9th and times for the different grade levels are as follows:
o Pre-K and Kinder: four, 30-minute rotations, beginning at 8:00am and ending at 10:15am.
o 1st - 5th: five, 30-minute rotations, beginning at 8:00am and ending at 10:50am.
Did You Know These Facts About Attendance?
Few would argue with the fact that there is a direct correlation between good attendance and success in school - and later in life, too! Please do all that you can to ensure that your child is at school whenever possible. Illness, family emergencies, and other unavoidable reasons for absences are understandable. Vacations, extended trips, and other recreational activities, which can be scheduled during holidays or during the summer, should be avoided during instructional time. Students are expected to attend school regularly and to arrive punctually. In the event that your child does miss school, AISD requires that parents send in a written note the day the child returns to school. The note must include: Student's name, grade level, teacher name, date of absence(s), reason for the absence and a parent's signature. For more information, please read Baldwin's Attendance Policy.
AISD is also holding their 2nd Attendance Matters class on February 28th, time TBD. This is the class that parents are invited to attend once they reach 5 unexcused tardies and/or absences.
Baldwin Drop-Off and Pick-Up Reminders
We need your help in continuing to keep our Bobcats safe! Please review these important safety reminders. We start morning assembly at 7:35 each morning in the cafeteria. Please help us remind your child that they need to go straight to the cafeteria and not to their classroom. It is unsafe for your child to be unsupervised in the classroom while we are in the cafeteria.
 
At 7:45 we lock the doors each morning. If your child is arriving after 7:45 your child is late and must go to the office to get a tardy slip. Remember after 3 unexcused tardies you will receive a warning letter from AISD regarding the Texas Compulsory School Attendance Law.
 
Additionally, the back entrance off of Espina Drive is not for student drop-off. Please do not drop your child off in the back parking lot. The back entrance is designated for buses and staff parking only.
 
Afternoon dismissal seems to be going fairly well. However, we do need to remind all of the parents that are picking up children in an automobile to come through the front circle drive and stay in your automobiles until your child is brought to your car. We cannot have parents parking along the curb, getting out of the car to find their child or walking up to the teachers to pick-up their child. It is important to display the name card on your windshield with your child’s name and the teacher’s name. This will help us get your child to you faster and this will help keep the traffic flowing through the front circle drive. Please do not park your car on the front curb.
 
During afternoon dismissal we are asking ALL parents to wait outside for their children whether you pick up your child in the front of the school or the back of the school. If you are walking from Espina Drive, you should wait for your child at the west end of the covered sidewalk/bus area. The teachers will escort the Espina walkers outside the back doors after all of the buses leave the school lot and the teachers will dismiss the students at that time. Please help us by waiting in the designated area and not blocking the doorway.
 
All Meridian walkers who are being picked up by a parent or guardian will be dismissed out of the gym. Teachers will escort the Meridian walkers to the gym to wait in assigned areas. A few parents at a time will be allowed to come into the gym to pick-up their child. The staff member in charge of the students will dismiss your child to the appropriate person in charge of picking them up.
 
As a reminder and for the safety of our children we ask that pets are not permitted on campus during arrival and dismissal.
 
Thank you for helping us make Baldwin a safe school and for your continued support!