Davee Garcia has taught at Stafford Elementary as the accelerated reading initiative and accelerated math teacher for a year and a half. This year she will be teaching fourth grade english, language arts, writing, reading and social studies. And she can’t wait for the new school year to begin.

As a member of the Hillsboro Unified Tae Kwon Do School, Italy’s Nick Sam earns a towering trophy in recognition of his earning All A’s as a student at Italy Stafford Elementary during the 2012-2013 school year.

As you walked into the cafeteria of Stafford Elementary last Friday morning you saw the cutest cowgirls and cowboys you ever saw singing and dancing and having lots of fun performing “Nowhere else but Texas.” This is their annual second grade program and they really out did themselves.

Last Thursday Stafford Elementary’s gifted and talented and student council students took a field trip to the North Texas Food Bank. What they did there has made a wonderful impression on these students.

When you walked into Stafford Elementary last Friday night you took a double take to be sure you were in the right place! Vines, trees and wild animals had transformed the cafeteria into an amazing jungle complete with drum beat music. Yes, I am talking about the annual 1st grade play Deep in the Jungle.

Spring is in the air! Everywhere you look you are starting to see flowers blooming, humming birds visiting bright blooms and your grass is turning green. Well, if you are a first grader at Stafford Elementary you will also know that “spring has sprung” because they have baby chicks hatching away.

It is that time again! Time to honor those students that excelled these past six weeks. And once again there were lots of awards given out for A honor roll, A-B honor roll, B honor roll, perfect attendance, excellent conduct and AR points.

First time principal Jonathan Nash is ready and raring to get started as Stafford elementary’s new principal. He is excited and happy to be here and loves our school already in the two short weeks he has been here.

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The Stafford Elementary Student Council is at it again. Whenever someone needs a helping hand the Stafford Student Council members put their heads together, make a plan and do what is needed. So it comes as no surprise that they are at it again and coming up with a plan to help the town of West after the devastating explosion.

The Italy School Board of Trustees named Jonathan Nash of Red Oak the new principal at Stafford Elementary at a special meeting Monday evening.

In celebration of St. Patricks Day the student council had to come up with something fun for the kids at Stafford Elementary. And they did, they decided to have a contest to see which class could wear the most green!

So many awards, so many proud parents, grandparents, and students could be seen in the Stafford Elementary cafeteria for their fourth six weeks honor assembly.

Myla Wilson has been the principal for Stafford Elementary for a very short time. And in that short time she has had a big impact on our school. We now have a student council and a choir to name just a few of the positive programs she instituted. Her last day is this Friday. She has been offered a wonderful job opportunity with DeSoto ISD.

Thursday morning the cafeteria was full with students, teachers, family and friends celebrating Black History Month. With the help of the choir, students and guest speakers, it was a huge success.

Italy ISD’s Special Olympic athletes receive a champions return celebration after competing in an olympic basketball competition held in Cedar Hill on Wednesday.

Stafford Elementary has a student choir this year. It is comprised of third, fourth and fifth graders. And boy can they sing!

Lots of business was taken care of at the PTO meeting Tuesday night at Stafford Elementary. But nothing could top the fourth graders reciting their Gladiator, Valentine and Martin Luther King poems.

The war on the STAAR test is in full swing at Stafford Elementary. Nothing is going to keep Stafford students from doing their very best on this test. They will battle to the very end to get the best grades.

Charla Sparks is the “new kid on the block” at Stafford Elementary. She is their new sixth grade teacher and boy is she happy to be teaching at Stafford, teaching social studies and science.

It is that time again! Time to honor Stafford Elementary students for all A’s, all A’s and B’s, all B’s, perfect attendance, AR points and good conduct.

It has been a while since they have had a science fair at Stafford Elementary but the students and staff picked up the ball and ran with it. The science fair was quite the success. The students tried really hard and you could tell it in their projects.

Felicia Burkhalter was very surprised when it was announced that she was Employee of the Month. Voting by the faculty and staff of Stafford Elementary made this quite an honor.

It is tough being the new kid on the block. But when you work with some of the best teachers and staff it makes it easy. Myla Wilson has made it through her first semester as principal at Stafford Elementary and is ready for the second semester.

Everyone knows Stafford Elementary tries very hard to give our kids everything they need for a good education. And that they help the students realize their potential and back it up with guests that reinforce the positive. Such as Michael Finklea the author of children’s books such as Fester the Pester, Tardy Marty, Creepers, Creepers Part Two and many more.

Everyone I know has a change jar. You know, the jar you put all your change in when your pockets and purse are full. You don’t want to carry it around so you put it in a “change” jar. Well, after a while that change adds up quick and this is exactly what the students at Stafford Elementary learned when trying to help the victims of hurricane Sandy.

As you walk down the halls of Stafford Elementary you think you have stepped into a Christmas wonderland. Christmas lights in all colors adorn the ceilings and Christmas trees decorated in fine style line the halls. There is even a hall with beautiful green wreaths hanging from the ceiling hand made by Stafford students.

As Student Council president, I want to welcome everyone to an exciting year of fun. As this is the first year for Stafford Elementary Student Council, we are looking forward to accomplishing many things.

On Friday, November 9, Stafford Elementary and Italy High School combined talents to honor our local Veterans. Even the youngest of the group participated in the honors.

Italy Elementary and Italy High School CBI students recently participated in the Special Olympics Bowling tournament held at USA Bowl in Dallas. According to Mrs. Young (High School CBI teacher) and Mrs. Cox (Stafford Elementary CBI teacher) the students were excited and ready to bowl and I would say they were right on target by all the ribbons and medals they brought home.

This year at Stafford Elementary the students were treated to “Trunk or Treat” coordinated by the Stafford Elementary PTO. The teachers, staff and lots of parents handed out lots of candy from the trunks of their cars and trucks. The back parking lot was filled with students and creatively decorated vehicles. They went all out!

When you walked down the hall towards Mrs. Aguado’s fourth grade class all you could see were carved pumpkins everywhere! There were spiders, snowmen, ghosts, mummies just all kinds of jack-o’-lanterns.

Red Ribbon week is an alcohol, tobacco and other drug and violence prevention awareness campaign observed annually in October in the United States. To help the students be more aware of the harm drugs, alcohol and tobacco does to them Stafford Elementary participated in Red Ribbon Week.

With lots of hard work and dedication from the teachers and principal of Stafford Elementary, students got the opportunity to witness democracy in action when voting for the student council members. The election was run like the real thing and students got to learn about democracy first hand.

The halls at Stafford Elementary have been transformed into a magic forest complete with bird nests and even a ghost. It is amazing what one can do with twisted paper and cardboard cylinders!

Calling all Parents, Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles and family members as well as the entire community. Stafford Elementary along with help from Italy PTO want to give your children a wonderful Halloween treat! But they need your help.

It is that time again! It is time to celebrate Stafford students for a job well done at the awards assembly for the first six weeks of school. And again, as usual, everyone was there in the cafeteria. Moms, dads, aunts, uncles, and tons of relatives were seen clapping loudly for the great job the students had done.

Monday at Stafford Elementary the Italy volunteer firemen drove up in their beautiful, red shinny fire engine. No, there was not a fire! These wonderful volunteer firemen of the Italy Volunteer Fire Department donated their time to the students to help them learn how to be safe in case of a fire.

Amy McCleskey started college not knowing what she wanted to do. She knew it had to be something that involved interacting with children because of her love for them. Her career choice was between teaching and pediatric nursing. Lucky for Stafford Elementary she chose teaching and has now taught there for ten years.

Stafford Elementary Library will host its annual Scholastic Book Fair the week of October 15-19. The fair will be open Monday-Thursday from 8 a.m. until 3 p.m. and on Friday from 8-10 a.m. in the library.

Lots and lots of families, music, food and fun is what was happening at Stafford Elementary on Tuesday and Thursday evening this past week. Yes, I am talking about the family picnics that took place at Stafford Elementary.

Melissa Fullmer loves kids and loves sports. These two thing are her life. So what better position for her than being a Physical Ed teacher for Stafford Elementary and head girls basketball coach for Italy High School?

Come and join your Stafford family at our Family Picnics. We will have food, music and games so don’t forget your lawn chair and have fun!! On Tuesday, September 25, 2012- PreK- 2nd grade from 5:30pm-7:30pm and Thursday, September 27 3rd-5th grades from 5:30pm-7:30pm.

Kindergarten, what a wonderful grade to teach! The students are thrilled to be at school and can’t wait to learn everything you have to teach them. They are like little blank books ready for their pages to be written in. Stafford Elementary has just the right teacher for the job.

Stafford Elementary recently celebrated “Grandparents Day.”

Stafford had a field day the first week of school. How much fun is that you ask? Lots of fun! But, there is a method to the madness so to speak.

Myla Wilson is a welcomed addition to Stafford Elementary, not only has she taught school but she has ten years experience in administration. She brings with her a love of children and an enthusiasm for learning, teaching and bringing out the best in each student, teacher and staff member.

Attention Kindergarten Parents! Boo Hoo Breakfast in the Library on Monday, August 27th from 8 am until 8:45 am. The Stafford PTO will be serving pastries, juice, and coffee. Please drop your child off at their designated classroom, and come visit with other kindergarten parents.