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Weekly Newsletter
August 25, 2023
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Upper School news and updates |
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Picture Day is September 1. Mark your calendar. Order before Picture Day to receive free shipping to the school. Ordering online is easy. To place photo orders, be sure to enter the correct order code for your campus.
Lower and Upper Schools have different days for their pictures so be sure to note the correct date. Your scholar must be in school uniform according to uniform code for Picture Day.
Lower School Picture Day - August 31
(Order Code: 78893F)
Upper School Picture Day - September 1
(Order Code: 78891F)
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Forest Heights 6th grader Emma Love received a Superior Plus in this year's San Antonio Music Teachers Association Achievement Auditions. Judges chose her as a performer at the 2023 Judges Choice Recital held at UTSA on April 22. She performed "Tarantella" by Fritz Spindler. Following Judges Choice, Emma was also invited to play at the McNay Art Museum for MACSA Honors Recital 2023.
We have a lot of talent in our scholar community! We are proud of you, Emma!
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MAP testing continues next week. The testing is a computerized adaptive assessment that measures your scholar’s knowledge of reading and math. All scholars are asked the same number of questions, but the difficulty of each question is based on how a scholar answers all the previous questions.
Work with your scholar to ensure they are aware of their testing dates next week.
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Athletics Schedule and Practice Times | | |
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August 29
Blue Flag Football vs. Great Hearts Invictus at GHFH - 4:30 p.m.
Gold Flag Football vs. Great Hearts Invictus at GHFH - 5:30 p.m.
JV Volleyball vs. Great Hearts Monte Vista at GHFH - 5 p.m.
All Great Hearts families receive free admission. Check out the new SWAG caps, t-shirt hoodies, and sports shirts for sale in the gym.
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Practice Times
JV Volleyball
M, T, W, Th - 6:30-7:30 a.m.
Early Release Fridays - 1:30-3:30 p.m.
Victoria.Ydens@greatheartstxschools.org
Gold Volleyball
M, T, W, Th - 3-4:30 p.m.
Christopher.Schmitz@greatheartstxschools.org
Blue Volleyball
M, T, W, Th - 3:30-5 p.m.
Levi.Cook@greatheartstxschools.org
Navy 6th Grade Volleyball
M, T, W, Th - 4-5:30 p.m.
Nancy.Villarreal@greatheartstxschools.org
White 6th Grade Volleyball
See specific schedule given to players by Coach Villarreal. Nancy.Villarreal@greatheartstxschools.org
JV Flag Football
M, T, W, Th - 3:30-5:30 p.m.
Martin.Villarreal@greatheartstxschools.org
Gold Flag Football
M, T, W, Th - 3:30-5:30 p m
Michael.Hegedusich@greatheartstxschools.org
Blue Flag Football
M, T, W, Th - 3:30-5:30 p.m.
Anthony.Garza@greatheartstxschools.org
MS/JV Boys Cross Country
T, W, Th - 3:50-5 p.m.
Sean.Anderson@greatheartstxschools.org
MS/JV Girls Cross Country
M, T, W, Th - 6:30-7:30 a.m.
Alexandra.Jacobs@greatheartstxschools.org
Every coach has set up either a GroupMe or SportYou account to communicate with parents. Please reach out to the specific coach via email for any questions.
Please check our website for any changes to practice schedules. We will keep a weekly sports practice schedule and game schedule on the website at the link below.
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If you would like to come in for a meeting with any teacher or administrator, please email ahead to set an appointment, if at all possible. Our days are often very busy, and we want to ensure we are available for the amount of time that you require without keeping you waiting.
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Keep Those Shirts Tucked In Please! | | |
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Many of our scholars are struggling to keep their shirts tucked in. Please partner with us in reminding them to do so. It doesn't hurt to check if they've outgrown their shirts either. Many of our scholars came back from summer much taller than they left us in May!
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No Spirit Day Next Friday | | |
Upper School will not have Spirit Day next Friday because of picture day. Please send your scholar to school in regular uniform. | | | |
Fun With Friends and Family | | | |
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At Forest Heights, building community is a TOP priority. What better way to do so than by having fun with friends and family?
On October 21, block off 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. to join us for our first-ever Falcon Family Topgolf Tournament. Enjoy game play, food, prizes, and a GREAT time of fellowship with some friendly competition! Parents, kids, teachers, and staff can tee up together as we watch the memories unfold.
More details, including ticket information, will be released soon. You can play individually, build a team, or even sponsor tickets or bays for teachers and staff.
We are also gathering donations for items that can be used for prizes, raffles, or a Silent Auction. For more information, reach out to Holly Weese, Director of Community Engagement and Academy Giving. All proceeds from this event will go to Community Investment to benefit your Great Hearts Forest Heights scholar.
Tee up with us!
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Parent Service Organization | | | |
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Join the PSO in the Upper School parking lot for our first tailgating event of the year! We will be hosting volleyball and flag football games from 4:30-6:30 p.m. on August 29.
Bring your cash for concessions, or purchase one of our new Game Snacks Punch Cards. We'll have hatch chile cheese sausage wraps and all-beef hot dogs in addition to other snacks.
You must pick up your scholars as usual using the carlines, and return to campus for the tailgate at 4:30 p.m.
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Presales for 2023-2024 PSO Spirit Shirts end on Sunday. Some extra sizes will be ordered, but the best way to guarantee your shirt size is to place a preorder. Shirts will be distributed to scholars in their classrooms when they arrive. | |
While visiting the virtual Spirit Store, check out the Proud Home of a Forest Heights Falcon yard signs! Signs cannot be delivered to a classroom, so pickup must be arranged with an adult. Be sure to include your scholar's full name and class section in the checkout comments. | | | |
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The Parent Service Organization at Great Hearts Forest Heights serves in partnership with our school to support Falcon families and staff via volunteerism, community engagement, and fundraising. The PSO is open to all parents at no cost and is the best way to get involved and make new friends.
Be sure to join the PSO's grade-level Facebook groups. Helpful PSO resources and FAQs are also available for new families.
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Room Parents and Volunteers Needed | Volunteers are needed across both campuses throughout the year. To get involved, fill out the Community Involvement Form to indicate your primary interests. |
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Background Check and Volunteer Training | | |
Fill out a quick background check, and complete Volunteer Training to ensure you are ready to go! All PSO volunteers must take this step before serving. Please retain your background check approval email for quicker check-in on campus. | | | |
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To begin or continue getting emailed newsletters from the PSO, you MUST SUBSCRIBE! Even if you received PSO newsletters last year, you must subscribe this year.
PSO newsletters contain information on upcoming events, volunteer opportunities, Lost and Found updates, Spirit Wear information, and more. Please complete the form to opt in. Fill out a different form for each person who wants to subscribe, including grandparents. PSO newsletters are sent out every two to three weeks.
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Dear Falcon Families,
With the triple-digit temperatures, it is very important for you and your scholars to stay well-hydrated. Please make sure your scholar has a water bottle to refill throughout the day. Additionally encourage them to eat breakfast so they have a good start to their day.
Also, we now have two school nurses servicing the Upper campus: Nurse Montgomery and Nurse Dahl. Please feel free to reach out to any of our nurses if you ever have questions or concerns.
In good health,
Nurse Hildebrand, Lower Campus Nurse
darlene.hildebrand@greatheartstxschools.org
Nurse Dahl, Upper Campus Nurse
melissa.dahn@greatheartstxschools.org
Nurse Montgomery, Upper Campus Nurse
morgan.montgomery@greatheartstxschools.org
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Texas Education and Legislative Updates | | | |
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The Virtue of Citizenship: Learn how to advocate for our classical public charter schools through Parent Advocacy Leadership, sponsored by the Texas Public Charter School Association. You will learn how to perform advocacy actions like this video created by a Great Hearts Arlington PAL alum. Apply between September 11-22 to join the next cohort of charter parent advocacy champions! The fall cohort will meet virtually on the second Wednesday of each month between October and December.
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- Charter schools across Texas achieved huge wins for scholars during the 2023 legislative session that ended in May. The major victory was the passage of House Bill 1707, a bill that stops cities from discriminating against public charter schools in zoning and permitting. This is expected to put millions of dollars back into the classroom where they belonged, rather than caught up in unnecessary red tape. This was a hard-fought win for charters and the Texas Public Charter School Association. TPCSA worked on this bill for four sessions over the span of eight years.
- What else? TPCSA helped put the brakes on bad laws. They worked with key lawmakers and staff to ensure that none of the 19 anti-charter bills filed by opponents received a committee hearing, much less that they passed.
- What’s next? The Legislature adjourned in May without passing a school finance package. A special legislative session will likely be called this fall – probably in October – to tackle increases to the state’s rate of per-pupil funding, teacher pay, and more. TPCSA is also working on a bill for the special session to address charters’ unequal facilities funding.
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Stay up to date on critical charter school bills and action alerts from the Texas Public Charter School Association. TPCSA is the statewide organization representing Texas charter schools to state leaders, lawmakers, and state agencies. All parents can stay informed by subscribing to TPCSA’s emails and alerts. To receive TPCSA emails and alerts, please click this link.
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Great Hearts Forest Heights' meal provider is SLA Management. SLA works hard to offer your student healthy and delicious meal options for lunch and breakfast each school day. For more information about them, please visit the SLA Management website.
SLA has created menus for the 2023-2024 school year. Breakfast is $2, and lunch is $4. For reduced-price students, breakfast is 30 cents, and lunch is 40 cents. A la carte items will also be available for purchase by all students.
Breakfast service runs from 7:15-7:45 a.m. Please make sure your scholar arrives with enough time if you choose for them to eat breakfast on campus. Lunch will be served by grade, and lunchtimes will be provided by your scholar's teacher.
To access more information about our 2023-2024 meal program, go to the meal portion of the Great Hearts website.
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Great Hearts has recently partnered with LINQ Connect to provide a mobile app for families to add money to meal accounts, add district menus, and set spending limits. Through the app, you can:
- Set reminders and be alerted when your scholar’s account is running low.
- Check your scholar’s purchase history to see the purchases they make.
- Apply for free or reduced meals directly from your device.
- Set up AutoPay, and eliminate the worry of your scholar losing lunch money.
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Communications Housekeeping | | |
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Providing accurate and current email and text opt-in information to Great Hearts is important so we know how best to communicate with you. You can opt in to text messages for updates affecting our campus and the entire district. Follow the directions to opt in by clicking the button below.
From the campus level, should you need to make any updates now or in the future, please contact our registrars directly:
Megan Moreno, Lower School
Nicole Anderson, Upper School
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Know Someone Who Did Not Receive Our Communication? | | |
If you speak to someone who is not receiving our emails, first direct them to check their spam or junk folder. If they are still unable to locate communications from us, please tell them to contact the registrar for their campus to have their information updated. | | | |
Will You Partner With Us? | | |
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Community Investment is our annual fundraising campaign that equips Great Hearts Forest Heights to offer the great-hearted education you have chosen for your scholar. As a charter school, we receive approximately $1,500 less in funding per student per year than a traditional public school. While we do more with less, we could use your help to provide the rich, liberal arts, classical curriculum that attracted you to our school.
We ask that each family thoughtfully consider being a part of our giving community with a donation that is meaningful to them. Each gift made benefits your child by providing the teachers, staff, curriculum, and facilities needed to deliver a Great Hearts education tuition-free. It is also an opportunity to partner with other parents, grandparents, and loved ones who already give to our campus.
You can make a one-time donation or set up a monthly commitment by clicking on the button below. You may also give by cash or check.
Please reach out to Holly Weese, Director of Community Engagement and Academy Giving, if you have questions about Community Investment or if you need assistance in arranging a gift.
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