This is Ms. Evans Vinings' 6th year in education and 2nd year at Pin Oak. She recently completed her master's degree in school administration and is eager to support our students and teachers in learning. She has balanced both the POMS choir and 504 programs this year with trainings, meetings, and building relationships. Her positive, student-focused personality shines, so reach out to her if you haven't already met her. In her spare time, she enjoys weightlifting and running with her new puppy.

aevans15@houstonisd.org

Ms. Schaaf recently moved to the Houston area after living in New York and London for most of her life. She is a Juilliard-trained musician with two master's degrees in vocal performance. She started singing opera at the age of 7 and has performed in over 100 operas. Her most recent job was with the Yale University Glee Club and she comes to us with glowing accolades from the Yale Head Choral Director. (WOW!) Her passion for music is contagious, so we are sure our students will grow with her as a teacher.

chloe.schaaf@houstonisd.org

This is Ms. Sanderson's 6th year as a teacher. She is joining us with an experienced background in the English, ESL, and Special Education classrooms. Her most recent job was teaching special education students virtually for a private company. Our students and staff have already welcomed her to our SLC classroom, both in-person and virtually. We are happy to add her to our special education department.

brandi.sanderson@houstonisd.org

Ms. Johnson has been a TA at Pin Oak for over a year working with our special education students. She's smart, kind, gets along well with everyone, and loves kids. We think her organization skills and eagerness to learn make her a perfect fit for this position. She is currently studying to be a teacher, so we are proud to continue to help her pursue this goal.

michelle.fusilierjohnson@houstonisd.org

Join us for our PTO General Meeting on Tuesday, November 10th, at 9 a.m. Use this Teams link to join.

If you ordered an 8th Grade Class of 2021 shirt, they have arrived! We also have the yard signs, which are available to ALL 8th grade POMS students, thanks to our generous underwriters. Please see below for pickup/distribution:

Yard signs and ordered t-shirts will be delivered to in-person students on Thursday, November 12th.

For virtual 8th graders, plan to pick up your yard sign (and class shirt if ordered) during one of these pick-up times:

• Thursday, November 12th (4:15 p.m. - 5:15 p.m.)
• Friday, November 13th (4:15 p.m. – 5:15 p.m.)
• Saturday, November 14th (10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.)

The drive-thru will be at the back of the school, where the school busses drop off and pick-up. Social distancing rules will be in effect.

If you missed the pre-order opportunity, we have limited inventory in various sizes remaining. Please email 8thgradeactivities@pinoakpto.org if you would like to order a shirt.

Please remind your child to complete the three mandatory COVID-19 and Digital Citizenship courses by this Friday, November 13th. The courses can be accessed through the HUB and students should have already begun working on them in their Social Studies classes. Information regarding accessing the courses can be found here.

For more information, please contact Lucara Stewart.

Dear Pin Oak Family and Friends,

We are overwhelmed!

On Friday, we walked together as Team #kirbystrong for MD Anderson to Give Cancer the Boot. And boy did we ever give it a hard kick!

=Our efforts contributed $1,606 to Team #kirbystrong's total funds raised of $6,452! 100% of your gifts provide support for patient programs, research, prevention, and education at MD Anderson.

Pin Oak students, staff, admin team, and families are truly amazing. Your compassion, sweet smiles, heartfelt notes and emails, expressions of hope and support, signs in the hallways, and air hugs are simply the best. I am proud to be a Charger!

Thank you from the bottom of our heart for your support, kindness, and continued prayers.

The Taylor Family

#kirbystrong #endcancer #chargeon

NJHS applications for prospective 8th grade members will be available here beginning tomorrow, November 9th, and will be accepted through Wednesday, November 18th.

Applications for current 7th grade students will be available in the spring.

This sign-up is for all 8th grade virtual students who have NOT already taken the PSAT (Oct. 27th). Please note the first 30 students for each date will be allowed to come to test so that CDC/Federal/State/HISD/College Board testing and health guidelines can be followed. Ms. Warren will notify/confirm each student, through their HISD email, as to their testing date. Please remember that the PSAT is optional in 8th grade and only counts toward admission into Bellaire's IB program. The remaining testing dates are as follows: 11/11, 11/18, 12/1, 12/7, 12/9, 12/10, and 12/16. Ms. Warren will send an email confirmation to each student's HISD email the MONDAY before the testing date. (In the case of a Monday test date, it will go out Friday.)

Please remember that you must be signed in to your HISD email to access the document.

Questions? Contact Kat Warren at awarren4@houstonisd.org.

POMS School Store is now virtual! If you would like to purchase polos, sweatshirts, or spirit shirts for your Charger, you can do so here.

You will have to log into your Membership Toolkit account (the same way you do to access the school directory) or create a new account if you don't already have one. You can pay for your items through PayPal or with a credit/debit card.

Once you have purchased your items, you will be contacted by the school store volunteers regarding picking up those items. We plan to have designated pick-up days for items ordered through the online store.

Due to COVID restrictions, the physical store at school will remain closed until further notice.

Please email schoolstore@pinoakpto.org with any questions. Thank you for supporting POMS!

Log in to update your directory info or sign up for a new account if you're a new user. If you have used Membership Toolkit at another school, you may log in using your same account information.

Also, be sure to download the free Membership Toolkit app on the App Store or Google Play, so you'll have the school directory and school calendar with you at all times on your mobile device! You can even sync the PTO calendar to your phone's calendar and opt to receive push notifications for important announcements!

Take part in donating gently used jackets & non-perishable food items in anticipation of cool weather and the holiday season. Donations will be accepted at the Pin Oak main entrance (Circle Drive) in designated bins. #ChargerStrong

Questions? Contact Bruno Mesa at bruno.mesa@houstonisd.org.

HISD Wraparound Services is here to help. Please see the following documents and complete a Student Assistance Form (SAF) found here.

Wraparound Services Contact Sheet

Wraparound Services Info Sheet English/Spanish

For more information, visit HISD Wraparound Services.