Greetings, Thunderbirds! e-Folder 9/9/20

HAPPY WEDNESDAY, THUNDERBIRDS!
We finally made it to the first day of school. It was so sweet to see all of your shining faces yesterday. We’ve got this THES — Thunderbirds really rock!

A MESSAGE FROM OUR PRINCIPAL

Hello, wonderful Travis Heights community!

Welcome Back!! The first day of school has finally arrived and we will once again all be back together, even though still remotely. The best part for us is getting to meet and learn about our new students! We are so excited to welcome everyone- those who are returning Thunderbirds and those who are new Thunderbirds this year. We know it’s going to be a bit of a roller coaster ride at times, but rides can be thrilling, exciting, sometimes scary, and most of all fun! We will get through all of those times TOGETHER as a community and because of that, we think this is going to be an AMAZING year!

Sincerely,
Michelle Amezuqita-Navarro

ADMIN + PARENT ZOOM: CAMPUS UPDATES
Friday, September 11, 8:30am
Join Principal Navarro for coffee and campus updates. This brief meeting will go over the current status of our reopening and any important information going forward. There will also be an opportunity for Q & A.

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87336871051?pwd=a1M4RVJoN2EvY1RucGtVN3RMaWxMdz09

Meeting ID: 873 3687 1051
Passcode: qPFa0w

PTA + PARENT WELCOME COFFEE RESCHEDULED
Monday, September 14, 8:30am

We apologize for the confusion! The PTA Coffee Chat was intended to be on the first day of school (per tradition) but we realized an hour into the first day of virtual school was probably not the best time for parents to walk away from the kiddos and do their own Zoom meeting. We hope you can join us for the reschedule next week and get to know other parents in the amazing THES community!

Zoom Meeting ID: 818 2723 5066
Passcode: 758458

WELCOME BACK TO SCHOOL PARADE RESCHEDULED
Friday, September 18th, beginning at 12:30pm

Due to weather, we had to reschedule our Back to School Parade. To be respectful of 9/11, we are moving the Parade to Friday 9/18, during our school lunch hours from 11:00 am-1:00 pm. Ice pops, courtesy of the PTA, will be passed out to all who line the streets. Dress up with school colors and share the pride with all your favorite teachers! Check out the parade route below! After the parade, we will be hosting this school year’s first Zoom Dance Party!  More details coming in next week’s eFolder.

ESSENTIAL SCHOOL SUPPLIES & PAPER PACKETS

Our campus has essential school supplies if your student needs them! Please communicate with your child’s teacher and arrange a time to come by the school. 

School Supplies to include: 

• crayons, pencils, glue, scissors, 2 folders, 2 notebooks
• Teacher/Grade level supplemental aids e.g. 100’s chart
• Consumables provided to compliment paper packets
• Paper Packets created by Austin Independent School District

TECHNOLOGY DISTRIBUTION UPDATES

We had an awesome two days last week of distributing almost 100 devices to students and families.  If you missed that window, we will have another opportunity this week.  Chromebooks and iPads are available at the Travis Heights Elementary Campus and no longer at Crockett or the AISD Performing Arts Center. You or your teacher MUST have requested technology through the AISD portal/ Technology Distribution Tile in order to receive. Hotspots are assigned through the district and you will be contacted when they are ready.

The next window for device pickup will be Wednesday, September 9th – Friday, September 11th from 3 – 4pm

Please bring your Student ID for a Chromebook or your student’s QR code for an iPad.  If you are having trouble, please contact your child’s teacher for additional support.

If your device is damaged or has hardware issues you can take it to the AISD Performing Arts Center or Crockett Monday – Friday, 9:30am – 3:30pm. You must bring your child’s S#, name, and description of the issue. If you are having a software/login issue please call the parent support desk at 512-414-9187. 

How to Register for Technology
Families can still request technology in the Parent Cloud. After logging in to my.austinisd.org — search for Technology Distribution and the link for the form will appear. Once complete you may pick up your device(s) from the school. You first must be registered with a Parent Cloud account, my.austinisd.org also has a link and instructions in both English and Spanish for doing that. If you are having trouble, families can also request technology by calling Travis Heights at 512-414-4495 or by contacting your child’s teacher. 

CALLING ALL LIBRARY BOOKS!

If you still have library books from last year, you can drop them off any day on the front of the school in the box labeled library books. We’d really love to get all our books back so we can check them in and have them cleaned and ready for student use later this year. Look in your backpacks, under your beds, on bookshelves or anywhere they may be hiding. Thanks!

AISD TO CONTINUE FREE MEALS THROUGH DECEMBER

All Austin ISD students will receive free school meals through December 2020. The Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA) recently announced an extension of current school meal programs through December 31. This extension allows Austin ISD to continue to provide free meals for any child under 19, or those over the age of 19 who are utilizing special education resources or currently enrolled in school to complete the requirements for a high school diploma from curbside meal sites.

For students participating in remote, off-campus learning, both breakfast and lunch will be offered Monday through Friday from 10:30am to 12:30pm at more than 40 curbside locations throughout Austin. Austin ISD will serve free breakfast and lunch in the classroom for on-campus learners. Curbside meal sites and more information can be found here: https://www.austinisd.org/openforlearning/meals

FARM FRESH FOOD BOXES

AISD will continue to provide free, local Farm Fresh Boxes from The Common Market Texas through October 7 at specific AISD curbside meal sites.The boxes feature locally grown produce, such as peppers, melons, squash, carrots and other seasonal staples. The Common Market Texas, a mission-driven distributor of sustainable, local farm foods prepare and deliver the produce boxes to AISD. The produce boxes will be available at each curbside meal site one time through October 7th until they run out each day.  Distribution will take place from 10:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m as follows. More info HERE!

• Wednesday, August 26: Hart Elementary, Lamar Middle School, McCallum High School, Pickle Elementary, T.A. Brown Elementary
• Wednesday, September 2: Blanton Elementary, Campbell Elementary, Garcia Young Men’s Leadership Academy, LBJ Early College High School, Oak Springs Elementary, Pecan Springs Elementary
• Wednesday, September 9: Dawson Elementary, Galindo Elementary, Linder Elementary, Lively Middle School, St. Elmo Elementary, Travis Early College High School
• Wednesday, September 16: Allison Elementary, Blackshear Elementary, Eastside Memorial Early College High School, Govalle Elementary, Martin Middle School, Metz Elementary 
• Wednesday, September 23: Ann Richards School for Young Women Leaders, Crockett Early College High School, Oak Hill Elementary, Odom Elementary, Patton Elementary, Sunset Valley Elementary
• Wednesday, September 30: Akins Early College High School, Casey Elementary, Covington Middle School, Kiker Elementary, Kocurek Elementary, Paredes Middle School
• Wednesday, October 7: Blazier Elementary, Langford Elementary, Perez Elementary, Pleasant Hill Elementary, Rodriguez Elementary, Uphaus Early Childhood Center, Widen Elementary

ASBESTOS & PEST CONTROL MANAGEMENT PLAN
Please read this very important notice from AISD!
NOTIFICATION AHERA & IPM FY 20-21

A LETTER FROM THES PTA PRESIDENT

Greetings Thunderbirds.

Hopefully, you all made it through Day#1 of Virtual Learning with little to no trauma. I know things were definitely bustling at our house. Big thanks to my wife for holding down the fort as I had to go to work. As we get a few more days under our belts, I am optimistic that this just gets smoother and less complicated for everyone. 

Speaking of big thanks, I want to send a HUGE thanks to my PTA Executive Board and the other parents that have been volunteering with us recently. It takes a village and these folks are really dedicated to making Travis Heights Elementary the best school it can be. 

I have to swallow some crow now and let everyone know that the PTA Parent Coffee Chat scheduled for Tuesday morning was canceled due to my error. I truly hope that I didn’t inconvenience anyone with my mistake. In addition to my own last-minute crunch, I felt that parents might have their hands full getting kiddos online and during this very different first day of school. We are rescheduling for this coming Monday, 9/14.  Here’s the info:

PTA Parent Coffee Chat
Monday, September 14th 8:30am-9:30am
Zoom Meeting ID: 818 2723 5066
Passcode:  758458

Back to School Parade
Due to weather, we also had to reschedule our Back to School Parade (imagine something getting rained out in Texas in summer)! To be respectful of 9/11, we are moving the Parade to Friday 9/18, right after school hours.  After the parade, we will be hosting this school year’s first Zoom Dance Party! More details coming in next week’s eFolder.  

If you haven’t already, please remember that you have to renew your PTA Membership EVERY year.  If you haven’t signed up for the 20-21 School Year, please do so soon.  You can sign up online here:  https://www.travisheightselementary.com/join-the-pta/. While there, you can also make a donation to PTA which will go directly to Travis Heights to support our teachers and kids. PTA is still looking to fill a few positions on our Board.  If you are interested in volunteering with PTA, please reach out and I can steer you in the right direction. You can email me at ptapresident@travisheightselementary.com 

Finally, PTA wants to send a big APPRECIATION PUMP to the teachers, administration, and staff of Travis Heights. Their dedication to a safe and responsible, but also productive education for your Thunderbird has really risen to the highest levels. I was able to see them in action last week and everyone was working so hard and diligently to make sure that each and every Thunderbird has a great school year. 

Stay safe Thunderbirds and I look forward to “seeing” you all soon. 

Merrideth Jiles
PTA President

Thunderbirds united,
faithful, strong and true.
Thunderbirds united,
good at all we do.
Boys and girls together,
Cheerful, brave, and bright!
Here’s to the red!
Here’s to the white!
Here’s to Travis Heights!

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