Big Sandy ISD

Big Sandy Community: We have so many events taking place at the end of the school year! I am sending you a schedule of events, so that you can be informed and be sure to be at those events of your choosing! We love to see our community support our kids and we want you to know what is happening at school! I will be sending the following weeks' events each Friday, from now to the last day, which is May 30th! Elementary: Thursday 9th: Kindergarten Promotion at 6:30pm Friday 10th: Muffins with Mom at 7:30am in the Student Center Secondary: Monday, May 6th: Algebra I EOC Nurse’s Day Tues. May 7th: Biology EOC Paraprofessionals’ Day Wed. May 8th: US History EOC Thurs. May 9th: State Track Meet Send Off (9:30 ish) 7th Grade Field Trip to Oil Museum in Kilgore District Teacher Appreciation Lunch Fri. May 10th: Special Education Prom @ Maud Cobb in Longview JH Track Pictures State Track Meet Secondary Teacher Appreciation Lunch (BBQ) Grades due in Gradebook by 3:40 Sat. May 11th: State Track Meet Go Wildcats!

Dear Parents, Staff, and All Community Members, I am writing this to you on behalf of the Big Sandy Independent School District administrators, teachers, and staff members. Over the past few weeks, we have begun the process of our children’s state testing (STAAR and EOC). Although this standardized test is used by the state to score and rank our district, this is not the end-all for Big Sandy ISD. We have a higher standard. We love and believe in our children, each and every one of them. There is no standardized test that can assess what makes each student special. Our district is incredibly blessed, and we want to thank each of you for the support you provide. At the beginning of each school year, you continue to send your children to us, so that we may educate and nurture them through their learning years, as students. We have the great opportunity to build relationships with each of them, and for this, we are truly grateful. We know that a score on an exam does not reflect the quality of the children that we serve. This single test cannot measure what we know about your child. We have students who play musical instruments, dance, sing, play sports, write songs and poetry, lead in organizations, compete at high levels, and produce magnificent works of art. We have students who work after-school jobs or care for younger siblings into the late hours of the evening. This test cannot measure when your child is kind or thoughtful, trustworthy, helpful, or when they try their hardest to be the very best they can be. I have also been witness to teachers and staff that will purchase clothing for a child in need, or place food into their backpack before they leave for the weekend, or spend numerous extra hours trying to help a child understand a concept that they just could not get in class. We have a staff that cares for our children, not only because we have wonderful educators, but we have students that are ALL worthy of such care and support. Big Sandy ISD will continue to have a tradition of excellence. That tradition starts with you. Our parental and community support is amazing. At any given school function, our parking lots are full and people continue to pour in the doors. You have supported us on all fronts, our community individuals and organizations present student scholarships, and you spend countless hours volunteering in our schools. The 2018–2019 school year has been an excellent one. It’s the cooperative effort of our students, parents, teachers, staff members, volunteers, and community supporters that make Big Sandy ISD a great school system, not the test scores on state-mandated tests. Your child’s highest potential is our highest priority. We are grateful for your unwavering support in our tradition of excellence. You and your child are what make us great. Education is more than a number, it’s about making our Wildcats winners. Go Wildcats! Sincerely, Jay Ratcliff Big Sandy ISD Superintendent

Hey Big Sandy: Kindergarten and Head Start Round-up starts today, April 25th. Come to the Elementary office to get registered! Come on Lil Wildcats!

We have a medical emergency in the Elementary parking lot for a staff member. An ambulance has been called. School will not be called into ‘Stay Put’, as this is outside in the parking lot. We wanted to inform you.

All campuses have been let out of ‘stay put’, and everyone is back to regular schedule. Stay Put is a safety protocol that we use when we have emergencies that are non-threatening to students and staff. This simply tells the students and teachers to stay in their classes and to ignore the bells. Teaching still happens as normal within the classrooms. Stay Put is called in the instance of an ambulance being called for a medical emergency.

Attention: We have a parent that has a medical emergency in the junior high office area. We have placed the school in our ’stay put’ mode, so that the ambulance can come and take care of the individual. This is normal procedure for any time that we call an ambulance.

Attention: Tomorrow, Thursday, April 18th, is a Double Day, and that means an Early Release Day for our students, at 12:18 pm. Good Friday, April 19th, is a School Holiday, so enjoy your long Easter Weekend! We will resume classes on Monday, April 22nd, at normal time! Go Wildcats!

Blood drive today from 9:00 to 1:00, in the Main Gym Foyer. Come give blood and help save lives through your blood donation(s). Go Wildcats!

Attention: Due to recent inclement weather and lightning strike(s), the light poles adjacent to the tennis courts are in disrepair. There are also large pieces of lighting on top of the poles that are simply dangling with wire. We direct all school functions to stay off of the field and tennis courts at this point, as we are requesting that Swepco come take down the poles. We will keep you updated as to when the field and tennis courts are safe to use. Thank you for attention.

Big Sandy Community: We have worked with Law Enforcement all day today, including the Upshur County Sheriff’s Department, the Big Sandy Police Department, the Longview Cybercrime Unit, the FBI, and the Texas Rangers. Law Enforcement has identified persons of interest that may have created and shared a fake Snap Chat post, in which, Big Sandy was threatened. The investigation remains open and will continue until the person or persons responsible are fully identified and brought to justice. Social media threats are all too common nowadays, but we will always take them very seriously. Law Enforcement and the School District believe strongly that we are safe to open our school district tomorrow, Thursday, April 11th, at normal time. As an added safety precaution, we will have a Law Enforcement presence on campus, to ensure safety and security within all of our facilities. Parents and Guardians, please talk with your student(s) about the negative use of social media and the potential panic that can be caused by such a short message. We thank you for your patience during this time of investigation. We also thank the students and parents that reached out to us to inform us of the threat that was posted on the fake Snap Chat post. We also apologize for such a late cancellation of school last night. We know how much of an inconvenience this could have caused for each of you today.

UPDATE: We have been working with the Big Sandy Police Department as well as the Upshur County Sheriffs Department this evening. I have also personally been in contact with the Texas Rangers. We have a lead to follow as to who may have posted this social media threat to Big Sandy. Given the time of night as well as us not being sure as to where the threat originated, we are making the decision to cancel all school classes for tomorrow, Wednesday, April 10. There will be no school tomorrow. We will be working with the Upshur County Sheriffs Department, Big Sandy Police Department, and the Texas Rangers tomorrow to get to the bottom of this social media threat. The safety of our students is our top priority! We will keep you informed as we find out more information. School administrators will report to campus at 9 AM in the morning. All other staff will not report to campus, but be available for phone calls from law-enforcement as we follow leads as to where this social media threat came from, as we may need your help.

Big Sandy Community: We are aware of a recent threat that was made against Big Sandy. We were made aware of this after 10:00 pm this evening. We thank the parents that have reached out to us. We are working diligently to figure out where the threat originated. Snapchat and Instagram fake accounts are easily created. None the less, we take seriously all threats made toward our school, even though there are 2 Big Sandy ISDs in East Texas. As we discover more details, we will inform you via text message and Facebook.

The Lockdown Drill went great this morning! Our staff and students did an amazing job! The Lockdown Drill lasted about 22 minutes, so we were ahead of schedule. Thank you for working with us to train our staff and students on Campus Safety! Go Wildcats!

Just a reminder that we will be doing a Lockdown Drill this morning, Monday, April 1st, at 9:00 am. This is only a drill. Go Wildcats!

Again, as a reminder: The Texas School Safety Center upholds the safety guidelines for each school district in the State of Texas. Each month, we undergo Fire Drills, in the event of a fire. We also periodically perform Inclement Weather Drills in the event of a weather emergency. The Texas School Safety Center also recommends that schools undergo Lockdown Drills, in the event of a campus threat or emergency. The Texas Education Code also mandates these drills to happen in each school district. On Monday, April 1st, at 9:00 am, the Big Sandy ISD will perform a Lockdown Drill, to practice our response during an actual emergency event. The campuses have informed their teachers, and we have discussed this as Administration. We wanted to inform our community, so that there is ample time to be informed of the Lockdown Drill that will take place on Monday, April 1st, at 9:00 am. This is only a drill, and no one will be allowed into or out of the building during the drill. The drill will take approximately 30 minutes. Thank you for working with us to train on how to keep our children and staff safe each day! Go Wildcats!

The Texas School Safety Center upholds the safety guidelines for each school district in the State of Texas. Each month, we undergo Fire Drills, in the event of a fire. We also periodically perform Inclement Weather Drills in the event of a weather emergency. The Texas School Safety Center also recommends that schools undergo Lockdown Drills, in the event of a campus threat or emergency. The Texas Education Code also mandates these drills to happen in each school district. On Monday, April 1st, at 9:00 am, the Big Sandy ISD will perform a Lockdown Drill, to practice our response during an actual emergency event. The campuses have informed their teachers, and we have discussed this as Administration. We wanted to inform our community, so that there is ample time to be informed of the Lockdown Drill that will take place on Monday, April 1st, at 9:00 am. This is only a drill, and no one will be allowed into or out of the building during the drill. The drill will take approximately 30 minutes. Thank you for working with us to train on how to keep our children and staff safe each day! Go Wildcats!

Just a reminder- The gym doors will open at 5:50 for parents and guests; however, elementary students may enter the gym beginning at 5:30 so that they have time to get in their assigned spots by 5:45. Classrooms will be open from 6:30-7:30. PTO will be selling cotton candy for $2.00 in the student center and the elementary will be selling binders for $1.00. Please join us for this spectacular evening!

Tonight, Thursday, March 7, 2019: The Elementary PE Program will begin at 6:00 pm in the Junior High Gymnasium. These kids and teachers have worked so hard for the best program ever! Open House for the entire school district will begin at 6:30 pm. Plan to come and visit your child's teacher(s) this evening! Go Wildcats!

Come out and support our Mighty Wildcats, as we travel to Rains High School to play Bland High School in the Area Round of the State Championship Basketball Playoffs at 6:00 pm, tonight, February 22, 2019! Let's pack the gym in Rains High School, as the Big Sandy Wildcats Basketball Team will be the HOME Team this evening! This is a special group of young men and Coaches, as we give them our full support, as they continue on theis journey! Also, Big Sandy ISD and Winona ISD will be traveling to RYLA this weekend in Athens for the annual RYLA Camp! https://www.facebook.com/BigSandyWildcats/?__xts__%5B0%5D=68.ARCGhtiYbRx2-50kpl7LW3GYcBN8HrRtH4Go2WoKr029_QqXf9SjogWvILlKSSj24ZGNsFxwMJFIhUDI6J3kxhDBhyzWawT5Aek_KmM32i1esa7YlCxP6jLbLDet0mrBUqjOqKrmXcdI3_zninhI1qEY92a_36Vh-gm780cOAeArKRFJcNwdwmkAJWTFqpG4vlwPieIQ0NpmcGmfs95Q7hOXht2-g3OhayBSCQMLTVHTuob8o_whR6TaNXKAeM4DdefwyyMI98vLOTImYGMlF9WOueooK355XSZsw5s5Ozp5F5fEqUMzvpucBcXGNwSj_5q2yh5kzM5qyOgGipqz0eAvMw&__xts__%5B1%5D=68.ARB175x1hGhQOuP-i4Sqj231U59qszdSeHp0pl0FpPt5m7bo4GgFNBI04sQpNrbKkbeyNtIQBNpk_hHxfIDMyafZdxGFhbTf2xnBz2FAe2e0KvGngc5bRH_beySXl1eJZzRpHPiWnmOQ2kNzONoyEXuhgXr8UicXicl1sv4S34oq9of6i246FpNwbFtyMoi75dyWGTqpRE2E1BqzPWS7AZ1yumhSHKViJjreFL85Hqb8lAPP68s57kt8ZJANQ9VteUw9slwvB0q7qqPlQ_CLwEE0kx1ygzPTwtXyAMO09SgNElzQ3e1VbN_1oUaEOlpIqZRLlgZk8i3MgIuVlNDO3xOUIA&__tn__=kC-R&eid=ARBA2lnRmnWHMMrukX8HsjBE8P8ge50YqMNBUAl1Ub7Qv3FBsiR1Yqu0djBPMOk6GXG1Ri6ZW8j5RzFf&hc_ref=ARTEtpqITJFR96_e6kcfbEdjkjOCS7O7Qjzd3uGPCZ2da69tNsyjO-BVihFqsav-Bok&fref=nf Go Wildcats!

The Wildcats won First Round, 103-60, vs Rivercrest! Now, on to Round 2! When: Friday, February 22nd Where: Rains High School, Emory, TX Time: 6:00 pm Opponent: Bland High School Go Wildcats!