The 2008-2009 school year has begun. We would like to welcome our new staff: Ms. Ellis, Mrs. Carter, Mrs. Hauser, Mr. Hauser, and Mrs. Walker.

Our character word for the month is `Responsibility. " Responsibility means always doing your best, using self-control and following the rules. We will give out prizes to the students who are caught being responsible.

We want to say thank you to the businesses, organizations and churches that have donated school supplies. Thank you to First United Methodist Church in Chandler, Brookshire's, Delta Kappa Gamma Society, Kappa Pi Chapter, and JC Distributors. We truly appreciate you thinking of us.

Students will be recognized for perfect attendance and no tardies throughout the year. Be sure to be at school on time every day. The school bell rings at 8:00 am. We have some testing dates coming up, so make sure you are at school.

Happy Birthday! Student birthdays are acknowledged in the office. Come by the office and pick up your Birthday Ribbon on your special day. August and September Faculty/Staff Birthdays: Mrs. Kiker, Mrs. Sherman, Mrs. Tullus, Ms. McAdam, Ms. King, and Mrs. Bell.

Upcoming events in October: Pow-Wow Parade 11th; PTO meeting on the 14th at 7:00; Fire Prevention Week 6th-10th; OLSAT testing 13th-17th; Character Counts Week 20th- 24th; Red Ribbon Week 27th-31st; Fall Festival 30th.

We hope you enjoyed reading the news from Chandler Elementary. If you need additional information about the news, please call the school at 903-849-3400. CES loves our school, parents, teachers, students, volunteers, and community.

The Pre-Kindergarten classes have had a great beginning of the year. Pre-K students have been learning how to walk in a line and cooperate with our friends and teachers. Colors and shapes are some of the themes we have been studying. We are also getting ready to write and learn our letters. There's so much to learn!

Kindergarten: Since school has started back, Kindergarten has been working on learning their colors and shapes. We have had a great start in our school year. Our classes had a great time at the Homecoming Pep Rally and we were excited to support our Bears. We are excited to start learning about fall and our community helpers. Please come to the Chandler Pow-Wow on October 11th and see our great group of kindergartners at Chandler Elementary.

First Grade has been working hard. In September, we started using our new reading program called "Imagination Station" and "EnVision," our new math program. It has been an exciting month. During Spirit Week we showed our school spirit by dressing up, letting balloons go, and waving our flags at the pep rally. Next month, we are looking forward to the Pow Wow Parade, visiting a pumpkin patch, and having a pumpkin museum.

The Second Graders have had a busy first of the year making new friends and renewing friendships from last year. They are learning about goods and services in social studies and how living things grow and change in science. They enjoyed the balloon release and seeing the cheerleaders.

Third Grade: Our third grade year is off to a fantastic start! We have finally gotten back into our school routine. But we have also had some fun with the balloon release and pep rally in Brownsboro. During the first six weeks, we have been getting to know each other by presenting our "Me Sacks."

In math we have been reviewing our addition and subtraction by learning how to play the "dice game" and the "domino game." The students are learning the four different types of sentences and how to correctly punctuate them in language. In science we studied plants and grew bean plants in plastic bags. In social studies, we are about to begin learning about communities.

Remember to sign your child's folder and send them back on Wednesday. It is important to go through the graded papers with your child so that you will have a good understanding of how they are progressing and what they are learning.

PTO Meeting was held on Tuesday, September 9th. The current year officers are Kimberly Fleming, President; Holly Satterfield, Treasurer; Toni McCallie, Vice President; Kessa Vanderburg, Secretary; and Linda Richardson, History.

Fund raisers for this year will be Membership Drive, Fall Festival, Christmas Cards, Christmas Store, and another small fund raiser in the spring. The goal of PTO is to put as much as possible back into the school, and provide needs for the teachers to make their jobs easier which will benefit our childen.

Holly discussed creating a volunteer program. If you would like to be a volunteer on campus to help in the classroom, please let Holly know. Fall Festival was discussed, committees were established, and booths were decided on.

Fall Festival will be Thursday, October 30th from 5:30 to 8:00. Join PTO today! It is only $2.00 per person and you can join at any time. If you would like to help with Fall Festival, please attend the next PTO meeting which will be on October 14th at 7:00 p.m. in the cafeteria.