Top Nav

Travis Heights Elementary School PTA > Principal's News > Thursday Thunderword 08/25/2022

Thursday Thunderword 08/25/2022

WELCOME BACK, THUNDERBIRDS! 08/25/2022

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.

Welcome Back!

Hello, Wonderful Travis Heights Community! Our theme this year is to “ReFocus, ReDiscover, and ReUnite together as Thunderbirds!” We had a week-long of professional development, team building opportunities, and welcomed new faculty and staff to our campus. Teachers have been hard at work preparing their classrooms and working together to provide an amazing learning experience for our Thunderbirds.

It was great to see so many Thunderbirds at our Ice Cream Social/Meet The Teacher event. We are four days into the new school year, and Thunderbirds are excited for the new start of the year. If you are new to the Travis Heights Community community, welcome! We can’t wait to get to know you this year. To our returning students and families, we are so excited to see you again and hear all about your summer adventures. We are going to have an amazing school year!

As I’m sure you’ve seen, there are staffing shortages for schools all over and the challenge is real. We have worked hard this summer to ensure we have outstanding individuals leading our classrooms, and I am so looking forward to the good work that we’ll do together this year!

In addition to staffing, another area of concern for many is general school safety. Maintaining a safe and positive learning environment for our students is our top priority. This means that we’ll continue with some of the practices we put in place during the pandemic and change a few as well. It is important to us that our safety protocols are in place AND that our students, families, and staff continue to feel a positive and welcoming environment each day.

We are looking forward to an outstanding year! Our dedicated teachers have been hard at work, even over the summer, thinking about new and exciting lessons for their students and our new essential area schedule. Not only will our students benefit from more frequent physical activity but will actually receive even more art and music instruction than they have in previous years!

We are looking forward to an amazing year Thunderbirds!

Sincerely,
Michelle Amezquita-Navarro
Principal

 

THES Procedures–Arrival

We have adjusted our arrival and dismissal procedures to ensure the safety of all our Thunderbirds. Thank you for your patience and we ask that you give us grace to work through the kinks. Everyday it gets better!

PK3-Students will enter through Wildman Woods gate and enter the portable.

PK4, K,& 4th Grade-Students will enter through cafeteria doors and wait for their teachers to pick them up. Cafeteria doors close at 7:40 am. If arriving tardy after 7:40 am, students must enter through the main doors.

1st, 2nd, 3rd, & 5th Grade-Students will enter through the main doors and walk to the gym where they will wait for their teachers to pick them up.

Teachers will pick-up their students up at 7:30 am from the cafeteria or gym for “Breakfast In The Classroom.”

 

THES Procedures–Dismissal

Teachers have completed a dismal tag for every child. Teachers will pass out dismissal tags to every child to help with dismissal. Please remember to bring your dismissal tags when you pick up your child.

PK3-Students will be dismissed from the Wildman Woods gate and parents can pick up from the portable.

Car Riders are considered students whose parents remain in their vehicles in the car line. We ask parents to enter Alameda from Woodward. Please place the dismissal tag with your child’s name on the right side of the windshield (passenger’s side). If you walk up to the door we will not dismiss your child. Please help us by deciding how your child will go home and remain constant on the way they are dismissed to help make dismissal run smoothly.

Prek4-5th grade students will be escorted to their family’s vehicle.

Walkers are considered students whose parents walk up to the school to pick up their child. Students will be located in the gym. Parents will use the trail located in the back of the school and line up at the gym’s main doors. We ask that parents bring their dismissal tag when they are picking up their child. We recommend you park within the neighborhood or on the other side of the park walking across the park and entering through the gates in back to get in line to pick up your child.

Prek4-5th grade students will be escorted to their parents.

Independent Walkers are students who have parent/guardian permission to leave campus grounds independently at 3:10 pm. Teachers must have written permission and parents/guardians understand students will not be under school supervision once released.

 

Safety Protocols

Our safety protocols have been updated and reviewed with faculty and staff. We will now have a staff member in the front lobby to greet and direct or escort parents to the front office. We will continue to run our monthly safety drills for students and staff to prepare in case of inclement weather or an emergency situation. Parents will be welcomed into the school for official school business or volunteer opportunities which require a background check with APIE. We ask that you bring your identification so we can properly check you into our system. You might have noticed we have secured the perimeter of the building with padlocks on our fences. The fence gates will open at 6:30 am and close at 7:45 am. The fence gates will open again at the end of the school day at 3:00 pm for parents to have access to pick up their child and close at 6:00 pm. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact administration.

 

Technology Distribution

Next week we will start the process of distributing devices to all students. We will be working with your teachers to make sure every student has a working Chromebook, IPad or hot spot. Once your student has received the new devices they will be instructed to keep them in class and not take them home unless working on a school project or homework.
There are changes to policies related to devices this year. It is inevitable that some devices will be damaged or lost over time. AISD has a new policy regarding lost or damaged devices.

First lost charger is replaced from campus stock.
–Second and beyond are charged $15/per charger to the campus fund for purchasing stock once district-supplied chargers have been exhausted for the year OR student replaces it.

First incidental damage or lost device is replaced from campus stock.
–Second and beyond are charged $50/per device to the campus fund for purchasing stock once district-supplied devices have been exhausted for the year.

Any questions regarding this policy can be directed to your school’s device manager Kent Hawes, william.hawes@austinisd.org, or you can reach out to the district technology team which can be found here:
https://www.austinisd.org/technology/family-technology-resources

We appreciate you helping us keep your student’s devices ready for all the exciting things they will accomplish this year.

 

Device Care and Tips

https://www.canva.com/design/DAFA3zvZ3ZQ/gh75hcUO0RwnH94oJ4sKFw/view?utm_content=DAFA3zvZ3ZQ&utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=link2&utm_source=sharebutton

 

Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) Program

The 2022-23 school year is a pivotal data collection year for many of our schools participating in the CEP program, as we must recertify eligibility for the program every four years. Schools qualify for CEP by the number of students directly certified for free meals, most commonly by receiving state funded benefits such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). In addition to sharing the news about free meals, we encourage continued promotion of families applying for SNAP, to help keep your school eligible for CEP and other types of education funding. Learn more about state funded benefits here.

 

Visitors

Parents/guardians who wish to visit during the day for a conference or to volunteer are encouraged to make an appointment with the teacher beforehand. For the safety of our students and staff, all visitors are to report to the office where their ID will be checked, and a visitor’s pass will be given. Volunteers must first go through the APIE background check process. https://austinpartners.org/

 

Cafeteria, Breakfast and Lunch

Breakfast is served from 7:40-8:00 am in the classroom. Lunch times are scheduled by classroom; please check with your teacher for the exact time. Parents may come and eat lunch with their child only (they may not bring other students) on Wednesdays and Fridays only starting the 4th week of school (week of September 5th). Due to limited dining space in the cafeteria, tables reserved for parent/student lunch are located outside the cafeteria doors and under the blue top.

 

Snacks

Depending on what time your child has lunch, teachers may offer your child a snack. If so, families may be asked to bring snacks for the whole class. Please ask what snacks are appropriate because some students are dealing with severe food allergies. All snacks should be healthy (fruits/veggies/whole grain crackers, etc). Please avoid sending sugary drinks and snacks high in sugar. Candy, sodas, and Takis are not permitted.

 

Birthdays

Birthday parties, flowers, cakes or balloons for a student’s birthday are NOT allowed in the classroom. Students may share healthy snacks with classmates on their birthday at the end of the day (no earlier than 2:40 pm). Please notify the teacher beforehand you will be sending snacks so as to reduce distractions to learning time. Check with your child’s teacher for detailed information about food allergies in the classroom and grade level.

Up & Coming

September
01 PTA Board Meeting (Library, 3:30-4:30 pm)
02 Upper Grade Assembly (Gym, 7:30-8:00 am)
05 Labor Day (No School)
09 Lower Grade Assembly (Gym, 7:30-8:00 am)

For district-wide events you can view the AISD calendar here.

Top