Principal's Message

Bulldog Families! 🐾 Welcome back! I hope you all had a restful and joyous Christmas break filled with precious memories. It was wonderful to see so many smiling faces walking back through our doors this morning. The energy in the hallways is already buzzing as we kick off the second half of our school year! As we settle back into our routines, our focus is shifting sharply toward academic growth and achievement. The spring semester is a critical time in the life of a school, and I want to share a little bit about what is happening behind the scenes. 📚 Gearing Up for Success While we want our students to enjoy learning every day, we are also entering a season of focused preparation. Our teachers and staff have been working incredibly hard to analyze data and refine lesson plans to ensure every single student is ready for the challenges ahead. Specifically, we are "all hands on deck" preparing for upcoming state assessments, including: TELPAS: For our emerging bilingual students, looking at growth in listening, speaking, reading, and writing. STAAR: Ensuring our students have mastered their grade-level essentials in Reading, Math, and Science. We are approaching this not with stress, but with a spirit of confidence and determination. We want our students to see these tests as opportunities to shine and show off how much they have learned. 🤝 How You Can Help at Home We cannot do this alone. As we ramp up our rigor in the classroom, we need your partnership at home more than ever. Here are three simple ways you can support your child this semester: Prioritize Attendance: Every instructional minute counts right now. Please ensure your child is at school on time every day unless they are truly ill. Read Together: Whether it’s 20 minutes before bed or practicing sight words in the car, reading builds the stamina they need for testing. Encourage Rest: A good night’s sleep makes a massive difference in a child’s ability to focus and retain new information. Thank you for trusting us with your children. We are honored to partner with you. Let’s make this a fantastic, productive, and successful spring semester! With pride and gratitude, Amy Cruz, Principal J.C. Martin Elementary