Thursday Thunderword! 03/10/2022

HAPPY THURSDAY, THUNDERBIRDS! 03/10/2022

Have an announcement or other great news to share? Please submit your info to the school the week prior to when you’d like to see it in this newsletter.

Shamrock Dance

THES wants to give a huge shout out to everyone that helped with our Shamrock Dance. Fun was had by all. Many thanks to HEB for their generous donations.

Social and Emotional Learning and Cultural Proficiency & Inclusiveness

Please join the Social and Emotional Learning and Cultural Proficiency & Inclusiveness (SEL and CP&I) department, in partnership with the Urban Assembly and SEL4US, to celebrate the third annual International SEL Day on March 11, 2022. This initiative aims to create an annual global campaign to recognize the immense value of social and emotional learning (SEL) and its importance to the academic and social development of young people across the globe. In fact, Mayor Adler has proclaimed March 11 as Austin’s SEL and CP&I Day!

March 11 is a day to #SELebrate the amazing work your campuses are doing year-round. Transformative and culturally proficient SEL is not done in a moment or day; it’s a mindset shift. Finding Common Ground. Pursuing Common Good.

Career Day at Travis Heights: PRESENTERS NEEDED

This Spring the counselors and administrators are organizing a Career Day on March 31st from 1:00 – 3:00pm. We need presenters who would be willing to speak to our 4th and 5th graders about their jobs! If you or someone you know is interested in giving a presentation to share some professional wisdom with our students, please email raquel.brown@austinisd.org for more information. We are looking for a variety of job representatives.

Picture Day Rescheduled
Class Picture Day Rescheduled – April 19, 2022

What is better than picture day in elementary school? Looking at your pictures 20 years later!! Picture day is coming fast and this year individual and class pictures will be taken on the same day! Be sure to have your best look on that day.

April 1st – Parent Workshops at THES

10:00 am – Internet Safety Training (Spanish)
11:15 am – Effective Discipline Training (Spanish)

The Center For Child Protection offers many different types of workshops. They will be presenting two parent workshops, free of charge, in Spanish, on April 1st! They will provide information about internet safety and effective discipline. Anyone that is interested in learning more strategies in these areas should register for these workshops using the link below.

https://forms.gle/UkmcMBihCtTDRc1c6

Access To Healthy Food during Spring Break

With many AISD students living in food-insecure households, access to healthy food may be challenging when the district is closed. Families can use the community resources below to find free meals in their area while AISD offices and schools are closed for Spring Break:

• Central Texas Food Bank
• United Way for Greater Austin – ConnectATX
• Texas Health and Human Services – Call 2-1-1 or (877) 541-7905 to speak to a live operator.

Masks in Austin ISD

Austin ISD is going mask-optional starting Monday, March 7.

Why it matters: The mask mandate worked when vaccines weren’t available for all students and helped students and staff weather the Delta and Omicron surges. Now that guidance from public health experts is changing, we need to update our protocols.

Driving the news: Last Friday, the CDC unveiled a new tool called COVID-19 Community Levels that sorts counties into high-, medium-, and low-risk categories by looking at hospital beds being used, hospital admissions, and the total number of new COVID-19 cases.

• Recommendations for low-risk counties do not include masking, just staying up to date on vaccinations and getting tested if you show symptoms.
• Travis County is a low-risk county. So, the CDC does not recommend masks for Austin, even indoors, unless…
• The CDC still recommends masking for anyone who isn’t vaccinated.

By the numbers: We’ve seen a 97% drop in student and staff cases in the past six weeks.

• To put that in perspective, our current case total (59) represents 0.09% of our total students and staff.

The bottom line: Masks are one layer of protection along with staying up-to-date on your COVID-19 vaccine, getting tested, and staying home when you’re sick.

• We’re still committed to hosting frequent vaccine clinics and testing sites to limit community spread.
• N95 masks will be available for students and staff at every campus if they want one.
• Together we’ve made it through this pandemic with grace, resilience, and a strong commitment to our community. The pandemic isn’t over, but we’ll continue working together to keep each other safe and to support all students.

Go deeper: Get more details in our FAQs.

We Love Our Volunteers!

Interested in volunteering to be a lunch monitor? Or would you rather help with making copies or decorating bulletin boards? If you want to help, we have plenty that needs to be done!

If interested, please follow the process for becoming a Travis Heights Elementary Volunteer by following this link https://www.travisheightselementary.com/volunteering/.

Our new volunteer coordinators Anna Roth, anna.m.roth@gmail.com, and Sura Jasim (Parent Support Specialist), sura.jasim@austinisd.org, will be in touch with you.

Fill The Staff Pantry

What helps the day go better… How about a little pick me up for staff? We would like to work toward filling the empty pantry in the lounge with some quick grabs to help keep the energy up throughout the day. Other than a few goldfish in the classroom, our teaching team does not have access to healthy snacks or the ability to go off campus when the need presents. Let’s help out by providing some nutritious and delicious items that staff can enjoy while keeping the day going.

Drop-off items in the marked box at the main entrance.
Individually-wrapped items preferred. Healthy snack and drink ideas:

GT Virtual District Showcase

All K-12 GT students will be invited to submit a student project (individual, partner, or group) in one of the following categories: Humanities, STEM, or Creativity. The Spring 2022 theme will be Pathways and Passions. All projects will need to be submitted digitally (either a link to the work or a picture of the final product). The submission window will be open from March 1-31st, 2022. The Virtual Showcase website will open in May. This website has additional details and information: https://sites.google.com/austinisd.org/austinisdgtstudentshowcase/home

AISD Pride Week

Get ready! Get excited! AISD Pride Week is March 21-26, 2022, and aligns with National LGBT Health Awareness Week. This celebration highlights the district’s commitment to creating a safe, supportive and inclusive environment for all.

• Monday, March 21 – All Are Welcome and Pride History
• Tuesday, March 22 – Differences are Awesome
• Wednesday, March 23 – Know Your Rights
• Thursday, March 24 – Pride and You – Creative Expression
• Friday, March 25 – Local Pride and Spirit Day
• Saturday, March 26 – Connect and Celebrate

DISTRICTWIDE EVENT: Please join us for “PRIDE OUT! Party in the Park” on Saturday, March 26, from 10 a.m. – 1 p.m. at Eastside ECHS! The event includes community partners, performances, activities, book bus, vaccine clinic, conversation safe spaces, and more! More Information: event flyers.

Time to register your returning students!

RETURNING STUDENTS: For families registering students returning to Austin ISD, a Parent Portal account must be created before you can access the online registration system. To create a Parent Portal account, visit portal.austinisd.org.

Note: Only parent/guardian contacts are able to use the online registration system. If you have any questions or need assistance with Parent Portal or online registration, please contact your student’s campus or call the Family Support Line at 512-414-9187.

*All returning students who have had a recent change of address should submit proof of residency to the campus when returning to school in August. Please note that additional documentation may be requested by the campus in order to complete enrollment if those documents are not attached electronically during this online registration process. *

NEW STUDENTS: For families registering students new to AISD, a Parent Portal account must be created before you can access the online registration system. To create a Parent Portal account, visit portal.austinisd.org.

Note: Only parent/guardian contacts are able to use the online registration system. If you have any questions or need assistance with Parent Portal or Online Registration, please contact your student’s campus or call the Family Support Line at 512-414-9187.

Families registering students new to AISD will need to provide the following documentation at the child’s campus:

• Child’s birth certificate
• Child’s social security card (optional)
• Child’s immunization records
• Child’s withdrawal form/last report card (if applicable)
• Parent/guardian photo ID
• Proof of guardianship (if applicable)
• Proof of residency

*All students new to AISD must submit proof of residency to the campus when starting school in August. Please note that additional documentation may be requested by the campus in order to complete enrollment if those documents are not attached electronically during this online registration process.*

Reminders

To condense the length of our E-folder, some important news has been moved to a page of its own.

Please find out about meals and snacks at THES Meals
You can find our COVID guidelines and testing sites at COVID Updates
Follow the school on FB: https://www.facebook.com/TravisHeightsES
Follow the PTA on FB: https://www.facebook.com/TravisHeightsElem