December 18, 2025

Spicewood Principal Newsletter

Hello Spicewood Families,

As we head into the end of the first semester and look forward to winter break, I want to extend my sincere gratitude to our incredible Spicewood staff and families. Your support, partnership, and dedication make our school such a special place for students to learn and grow.

It was truly wonderful to see so many families on campus today celebrating together at our winter parties. Moments like these remind us of the strong sense of community that defines Spicewood.

As we move into the next two weeks, I hope each of you has the opportunity to rest, relax, and spend meaningful time with family and loved ones while celebrating the many holidays of the season. We are grateful for all you do and look forward to welcoming everyone back refreshed and ready for the new semester.

Warm wishes for a joyful and restful winter break.  We will see students back on January 6th, 2026!

Have a great winter break!

Sincerely,

Melanie Solis

Principal

Spicewood Elementary

Upcoming Important Dates:

1/6- First Day of School for Students

1/14- STAAR Science Interim (5th grade only)

1/15- 5th to 6th grade Transition Meeting 5:30pm- Spicewood Library (5th grade only)

1/19- Student/Staff Holiday- No School

1/21- STAAR Reading Interim (3rd-5th grade)

1/28- STAAR Math Interim (3rd-5th)

Looking for a game to keep your kids thinking this break? Select a word or phrase (‘Spicewood,’ ‘winter break,’ ‘risk-taker,’ etc.) and see how many words they can make using the letters from your chosen word or phrase. Check out the example that they saw on Broadcast!

Other game ideas:  

Scavenger Hunt: Find something that starts with __, find something that makes sound on its own, find something that opens but does not close, etc.

20 Questions: Take turns selecting an object in the room and see if you can guess it within 20 yes or no questions! 

Rebus puzzles: Figure out which popular phrases these images are displaying! 

Let Ms. Cimo know what else you come up with!

The Intergalactic Sharks competed at Anderson High School last week in the First Lego League Qualifiers against 23 other local teams.  They were awarded 2nd place in Core Values for demonstrating innovation and teamwork and will be advancing to the Regional Competition in San Antonio next semester. Go Sharks!

To support student safety, digital citizenship, and social-emotional well-being, Round Rock ISD partnered with GoGuardian this fall to implement the Beacon digital monitoring system. Beacon helps district and campus staff monitor student online activity during the school day to identify potential safety concerns and provide timely support when needed.

School-day monitoring hours in Beacon are 7:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. on instructional days. On those non-instructional days, district staff will not actively monitor Beacon notifications. 

Outside of school hours, and during weekends, holidays, and school breaks, parents and guardians may continue monitoring their student’s online activity by using the GoGuardian Parent Mobile App.

The Beacon system allows district staff and parents to view:

Student online browsing activity, and

Activity within the student’s district Google account.

When enabled, Beacon generates notifications for online activity that may indicate that a student could benefit from additional support.

Parent Monitoring Encouraged

Parents and guardians are encouraged to download the GoGuardian Parent App to continue monitoring their students’ online activity during Winter Break and throughout the year outside of school hours or on non-instructional days.

Thank you for partnering with us to support student safety and well-being, both online and offline.

....AND  THE WINNER IS....

Thanks to all who participated in our fun and exciting 2026 Gala Table Raffle! Together we raised over $2300 in ticket sales! And without further ado, our 2026 Gala Table winner is...

Sarah Walters! 

Congratulations Avery, and we can't wait to see you at the Gala next year. 

With the announcement of our raffle winner, we are pleased to share that Gala tables are now on sale at https://auctria.events/SWE2026Gala Your official save-the-date is below! Be sure to get your table early, availability is limited and will sell out!

The Panther Patrol is a parent volunteer group that coordinates with Principal and Teachers to identify volunteer opportunites that engage the community in student mentorship and campus improvements.

Parents can sign up at any of our monthly days to spend the day at Spicewood helping teachers and administrators behind the scenes with anything ranging from landscaping, preparing activities for teachers, and much more!

The dates for the school year are listed on the form so plan ahead, take the day off and join us at Spicewood! Here is the link to sign up if interested: https://forms.gle/GQUx1F2cSPZqoGwL9