Handley STEM Elementary is proud to offer an Art Club to 4th and 5th grade students. The purpose of the Panther Art Club is to enrich our scholars in different types of art, develop more advanced art skills, and gain confidence in the arts through entering various art contests and exhibitions throughout the district, city, and state. 

Objectives of the Panther Art Club:

• Improve existing art talents
• Enhance cooperation and teamwork skills by making art together as a community
• Increase self-confidence and self-esteem by showcasing artworks and gaining exposure to art processes
• Collaborate with other clubs, teachers, and events on campus 
• Learn many unique art techniques from around the world
• Strive for good character and academic excellence

Students may join the Panther Art Club each fall. For more information about the art club please contact our school's art teacher Ms. Munetsi. 

Handley STEM is proud to have a UIL competing chess team. Chess team tryouts will be held each fall. Tryouts are open to all 4th and 5th grade students in good academic standing. For more information about the Handley STEM chess team please contact Ms. K. Johnson. 

4th and 5th Grade scholars are invited to join the Handley Honor Choir! Scholars have the opportunity to join choir at the beginning of the school year. Choir is a commitment! Choir students will meet every Wednesday at 7:05am in Mr. Greske's music room. 

In the Fall, choir scholars practice a Winter Program that they will present in the month of December. In the Spring, the choir will learn a program featuring various folk and choral pieces. The Handley Choir plans to visit Southern Methodist University in the Fall for a special winter performance. Handley students will learn new repertoire, visit the George W. Bush library, and get to tour parts of the SMU campus. The Spring season will conclude with a concert for friends and family at Handley Elementary.

Handley STEM is proud to be one of the few elementary schools with a community garden. Our school community garden is entirely maintained by our scholars. Our scholars plant, water, weed, harvest, and maintain the garden throughout the year. A lot of hard work, love, and pride goes in to our garden!

Handley STEM is proud to have a school guitar club. Our Panther Guitar Club is open to all 4th and 5th grade students in good academic standing who have a passion for music! Guitar club is free but it is a weekly commitment. Guitar club will meet every Thursday morning at 7:05am in Mr. Greske's music room. Applications for the 2025-2026 school year are currently closed. 

Handley scholars in fourth and fifth grade are given the opportunity to join our chapter of the 
National Elementary Honor Society (NEHS) each school year. Handley NEHS students must have a GPA of 85, as well as, show responsibility and good citizenship. Handley NEHS members meet a few times each semester and participate in various leadership roles throughout the school and conduct several service projects throughout our local community.  For more information about the Handley chapter of NEHS please contact Mrs. Rolon our site leader. 

Our school safety patrol is open to scholars in 4th and 5th grade looking for leadership roles. Our safety patrol is on duty every morning from 7:30am to 7:50am. They help us greet our younger scholars, monitor the morning traffic flow, enforce our bathroom procedures, and help the kindergartners find their classrooms. 

To be a part of our safety patrol scholars must be passing all classes, have good behavior school wide, show good character traits, and always be willing to help others. Scholars interested in safety patrol can stop by room 14 for an application. 

At the end of each grading cycle our scholars are recognized for their hard work at the grade level awards assembly. Some of the awards we recognize at Handley are: A honor roll, A/B honor roll, perfect attendance, good citizenship, most improved, excellence in Science, Math, Reading and Writing. Students are also recognized for their performance in Art Class, Library, Music Class, and Physical Education Class.

Twice a year our students have the opportunity to purchase books from a wide selection of age-appropriate materials. Book fairs allow families to grow their home libraries, while supporting our school.

All profits from the book fair will go directly to the school. Some of the resources we've purchased with book fair profits are: 

• new books for the library
• books for classrooms and book clubs
• technology
• author visits
• makerspace materials
• STEM materials
• new library soft seating

Each year we conduct several "mini" career days for our scholars to dream big and plan for their futures. The "mini" career concept allows our scholars to be exposed to higher-level learning, various career fields, and the military all year long, rather than just a single focus day at the end of the year. 

Here’s what we are doing at Handley to promote career development this school year:

• Visitor presentation regarding different careers 
• Inciting curiosity and exploration in different careers 
• Role play of different careers
• Books, videos, songs about careers
• Career explorations during each lesson
• Completing a career survey

Throughout the year, we will continue to expose our scholars to a variety of careers to help prepare them to have a successful life. 

Each year our P.E. staff plans our school-wide field day. This is a day every scholar looks forward to. Parents wishing to volunteer for field day should contact Coach Lucas for more details. We need multiple volunteers to make Field Day a success. 

Each school year kindergarten through third grade Scholars have the opportunity to showcase their music skills and “Show What They Know”!  All music programs are structured in a “SING. MOVE. PLAY.” format. Scholars SING songs and rounds they are currently working on in music class. Scholars MOVE to perform various folk dances. Scholars PLAY various instruments from the music classroom. All portions of the program contain repertoire that support the Garland ISD Elementary Music Curriculum. Scholars enjoy performing for their friends and family!

Each year our school hosts it's annual Literacy Night, and each year's theme is different. Families will participate in a wide range of activities including: 

• Live read aloud by Handley staff members
• Opportunities to learn about cultures around the world
• The book fair
• The Reading with Rodney Bus
• Various reading games & and hands-on learning opportunites
• A dyslexia demonstration & information booth 

During this week long event, Handley has a variety of activities and lessons that are aimed at raising awareness on the benefits of preventing alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use. We also spend the week promoting a drug-free lifestyle for our scholars.

The school counselor will send home more information about the activities planned for Red Ribbon Week as we get closer to the actual date. Information will also be shared on our school ClassDojo page. 

Handley Elementary fourth and fifth graders participate in our annual spelling bee competition each spring. The winner from our competition goes on to the district spelling competition. For more information about the spelling bee please email Mrs. Rolon. 

Each year we host a STEAM Family Night for everyone to enjoy. During this event, the Perot Museum brings hands-on science activities for the whole family to participate in. 

Scholars from each grade level, showcase their engineering challenge projects and the top two designs are voted on to move on to STEAMposium in the late spring.

Families also participate in math games, science games, drive robots on a VEX field, and admire the beautiful art displayed throughout our campus.