White Rock-isms

A General (Lingo) Guide for New (and Current) WRE Families

• Announcements: Morning announcements broadcast via video.  Ms. McGinnis helps our 6th graders deliver the daily announcements.

• Auction: Annual event hosted by the WRE PTA – used to raise funds to provide materials and supplies to our classrooms.

• Back to School Bash: PTA sponsored back to school fun with our entire school community.  We hold this annual event in October to avoid the heat (hopefully).

• Book Fair: A fundraiser for our superb library.  Students fill out a “wish list” and parents have several opportunities to come in and shop.

• BotBall Club: Botball® is a hands-on coding program that uses an engineering design process with robots. The WRE Botball Team is designed for 4th and 5th grade students.

• VIP Lunch Invasion: A time for parents to come shop the Book Fair during the school day.

• Clothes Closet: RISD Council of PTAs clothing donation program.

• Chess Club: Offered to a group of twenty students in 4^th, 5^th or 6^th grade meeting after school-chess boards and instruction provided!
• Dad's Club: comprised of parents from White Rock Elementary who support the school and put on functions like WREck the Night.

• Donuts with Dad: PTA sponsored event in the fall. Dads enjoy breakfast (and small talk) before school at WRE with their Seahawker(s).

• Expo: Annual event hosted by the WRE PTA to kick off the school year.  At the Expo you can pick up items purchased through the WRE Store. You can also join PTA, purchase yearbooks, spirit wear and school supplies. Your child may meet his or her teacher in the classroom during a specified portion of the Expo.

• Field Day: Annual event held in May where WRE students have a chance to do a number of outdoor activities.

• Friend of WRE: PTA Fall fundraiser to provide funds for our PTA budget. Our PTA budget provides support for assemblies, library programs, Talent Show, Teacher Appreciation and many other activities that benefit our children and school throughout the year. It’s so easy!

• 5th grade Sky Ranch Trip: Each fall 5th graders venture to Sky Ranch for an outdoor education field trip.

• 4th grade Fort Worth Trip: Right before school is out (literally), 4th graders travel to Fort Worth and explore the stockyards.

• Hoops in the Highlands: A 3 on 3-basketball tournament to raise money for the PTA's of Lake Highlands Junior High, Northlake, Wallace, White Rock, Lake Highlands Elementary and Thurgood Marshall schools.

• Lone Star Challenge: An academic competition for students in fourth, fifth, and sixth grades based on a given theme.

• Muffins with Mom: PTA sponsored event in May.  We celebrate moms with a breakfast at WRE before school.

• Multicultural Night: PTA sponsored night of food and fun activities as we explore many cultures.

• Open House: A night in the spring where parents can come see how hard their students have been working at school.

• xPlore: RISD after school program on the WRE campus.

• Parent Meet the Teacher: A parent-only opportunity in the fall to hear about curriculum, teacher expectations, etc.

• Pay Pams: Online service that allows parents to pay for cafeteria accounts and check up on what their kids are buying in the cafeteria.

• PIN: Personal Identification Number – Your kids already have one, they keep the same one for all their years at WRE.  Students punch in this number as they exit the lunch line when they purchase a lunch.

• PTA: Parent Teacher Association.

• Raptor: Software RISD uses to track and screen visitors to WRE.  Don’t forget your driver’s license anytime you come to school. Your prehistoric drivers license photo will be used to identify you in the halls.

• Red Ribbon Week: An alcohol, tobacco and other drug and violence prevention awareness campaign observed annually in October in the United States.

• REACH: RISD gifted and talented program. 

• Red Folder: Your student will bring home his or her red folder every day. The folder will give you a report on behavior as well as contain homework, graded work and important classroom information. You will need to sign it daily. It’s a magic portal for communication as well, send it in the Red Folder, and it gets where it’s supposed to go. It’s quite amazing, really.

• Reflections: PTA arts program. Reflections activities typically start in September, and focus on an annual theme.

• Room Reps: Two parents per class help coordinate classroom volunteers and volunteers needed for PTA events. 

• Sammy the Seahawk: WRE’s fearless, fine-feathered mascot. FEARLESS. FINE-feathered. Golden.

• Seahawker: PTA email newsletter service, which allows you to receive important announcements from WRE. Also what we tend to call students at WRE.

• Senior Breakfast: A special morning in May for graduating seniors (sniff sniff) from LHHS who attended WRE.

• Spirit Day: Every Friday, students are encouraged to show their WRE spirit by wearing a WRE t-shirt.

• Staff Appreciation Week.: PTA sponsored week to show how much we appreciate the entire staff at WRE.

• Tooth Treasure Box: Given by the school nurse when a student loses a tooth at school.

• WRE: White Rock Elementary.

• WRE Store: PTA -powered online store available over the summer.  In the online store you can purchase spirit wear, school supplies, join PTA, order yearbooks, obtain the spot-your-neighbors-everywhere WRE sticker, etc.
• WREck the Night: Camp out at WRE put on by Dad's Club.

• WREvue: WRE’s annual talent show produced by our PTA. Come watch all of our students shine!

• Writer’s Workshop: A wonderful volunteer opportunity in kindergarten classrooms as our students begin the process of learning how to write. And you get to hear and read some funny stories!