Cougar PRIDE Families,

It’s going to be another great week at Casis! ‘Spirit Week’ was so much fun for our students and staff last week. And a good time was had by all at the adult ‘Celebrate Casis’ event as well. We do have so much to celebrate about our school and we are so very thankful to the Parent Coordinators and Volunteers for making every event activity so special. This week will contain more exciting and important activities: STAAR Test, Parent Tour, and a Volunteer Breakfast. A lot of the upcoming happenings in the months of April and May will bring closure to this school year, as we also plan for the next school year. We will also continue to focus on student learning growth and enrichment opportunities, as well as on safe and secure practices. Please see important information for the week below.

Mr. Tinnon 

LATEST SCHOOL NEWS

CASIS SHOE DRIVE

Casis Elementary is having a shoe drive to benefit the Marathon Kids organization. Our efforts will help support this local Non-Profit in their mission to get the community healthy and active in 2023 and beyond. The drive will take place from Monday, April 10 to Friday, April 21 and following is how you can help: DROP OFF USED ATHLETIC SHOES (ANY CONDITION) IN BIN BY FRONT OFFICE – YOUTH TO ADULT SIZES. That’s it! Thanks in advance to everyone who will be able to contribute to this organization and their worthy cause. Go Casis!

AUSTIN ISD EARTH WEEK

AISD is celebrating Earth Week, Monday, April 17 – Friday, April 21! Austin ISD embraces sustainability as a way to help our planet and also as an educational tool to provide challenging and inspiring curriculum to our students. We encourage everyone to take a moment to think about how you can make the earth and our community a better place and perform an action to do so. Please visit the Austin ISD Earth Week Web Page to find fun and meaningful ways to engage and take action from school and home.

PUBLIC SCHOOL VOLUNTEER WEEK

Monday, April 17 – Friday, April 21 is Public School Volunteer Week. It is important that we recognize the creative, tireless, and heartfelt work of our parent volunteers, during this appreciation and recognition week. The educational work of staff is very challenging, but is made that much easier, with the helping hands of our parent volunteers. Our Casis community is enriched and enhanced, hugely due to the selfless support and generous contributions of our parent community. We take our hats off to all of our Casis Parent Volunteers! We will recognize all of our wonderful parent volunteers on Friday, April 21 at 8:00 a.m., following the General PTA Meeting, in the Community Room. Hope to see you there!

CLIMATE SURVEYS FOR PARENTS, STAFF AND STUDENTS

AISD will be administering online climate surveys to Parents, Staff, and Students (3rd – 12th), beginning Monday, March 20. Communication and live survey links will come directly from the AISD Communications Team. These surveys can be easily accessed by computer, phone, and screen readers. Information/instructions to parents on how to opt-out their child (3rd – 5th) was sent in previous AISD family newsletters. All stakeholders are encouraged to complete the survey, when received. All surveys are confidential and will remain open until Friday, April 14. 

FAMILY & STAFF ENGAGEMENT SESSIONS

The AISD Special Education Department offers families and staff members learning opportunities around goal setting and positive behavior support in Power Hour Sessions. Although the sessions are set up for families with students receiving special education services, any parent or caregiver is welcomed to attend. AISD has partnered with VELA for a three-part series in April focused on Autism. See information below. 

3rd – 5th STAAR TESTING DAYS PROTOCOLS

Mark your calendars! Spring testing days for the STAAR (State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness) tests have been scheduled for Tuesday, April 18 (3rd – 5th Reading Language Arts), Tuesday, April 25 (5th Science), and Tuesday, May 2 (3rd – 5th Math). Please note that parents will not be able to visit our campus for lunch or other activities on these days, due to strict testing protocols. 3rd – 5th Parents are asked to make sure that (1) students arrive to school on time [with their laptop], (2) they have not scheduled any types of special outside appointments, (3) students have eaten a good breakfast, and (4) students have gotten plenty of rest the night before testing. See 3rd – 5th Parent Letter Here. We appreciate the compliance and cooperation of everyone, as we support these students in doing their very best on these state assessments. 

SPRING PROSPECTIVE PARENT TOURS

Prospective Parent Tours are great opportunities for families to get to learn about our school culture and programming, as well as take a tour of our new facility and amazing outdoor learning spaces. School Administration and PTA Leadership will lead these adult only tours. We look forward to sharing and showing all of the things that make Casis Elementary such a stellar educational choice for their children. The next tour of this school year will take place on Wednesday, April 19 at 9am – 10am. Can’t wait to show these potential new families our amazing school community! 

PARENT FEEDBACK FOR NEXT YEAR CLASS PLACEMENT

[Please Read Carefully] In an effort to create balanced classes for next year and to foster a positive school-home partnership, parent input is taken under consideration. And while not guaranteed, parental feedback about placement is strictly based on input letters, not verbal interactions or promises between parents and staff. Know that Administration does not keep placement input from previous years, therefore, if there is important student information to be considered, please provide that information in the current year’s parent input process. Feedback is due by Friday, April 28.

A letter regarding placement for next year is not required, however, if parents have extenuating circumstances or significant concerns, please see the following guidelines: (1) A separate letter (email attachment OR hard copy) MUST be submitted. Limit to one-page (10-12 font size). Due to the amount of input received every year, general email communications WILL NOT be accepted. (2) Specific teachers or classmates CANNOT be requested. All teachers on our teams are skilled and competent individuals. (3) Share traits and characteristics of your child(ren) that describe their learning styles/needs. (4) Share the type of educational setting and class dynamic that you feel will best meet your child(ren)’s needs. (5) Email attachment OR hard copy MUST be sent to the Principal, NOT the Classroom Teacher. Please note that I DO NOT schedule meetings to discuss next year placement. Thanks for all of your support, as we strive to make the best placement decisions for your child(ren). 

CAMPUS ADVISORY COUNCIL 2023 – 2024 MEMBERSHIP

There will be some parent openings on our Campus Advisory Council (CAC) for the next school year. The membership term is for two years. If you’re interested in serving on this Principal advisory organization, please consider applying. The campus CAC meets on the first Tuesdays of each month after school. Please visit the district website for more information about CAC (CAC in AISD). If interested, please submit the application (CAC Application) to samuel.tinnon@austinisd.org. The deadline for application submittal is Friday, April 28. New members will be notified in May and the two-year term will officially begin in the 2023 – 2024 school year.

DONATE BOOKS FOR CASIS’ ANNUAL BOOK SWAP

Please consider donating any unwanted books, regardless of reading level, to the Casis Library. These books will be available for trade in our annual Book Swap event in May. Books that are not selected by students will be donated to classroom libraries and/or local charities. The deadline for these donations is Friday, May 5. If you have additional questions, please contact our School Librarian, Courtney Ewing.

SUPPORT OUR MUSIC TEACHER 

Nicole Stevens, Music Teacher, will once again participate in the ‘Recorders Without Borders’ program this summer in Kenya. As a founding member, Ms. Stevens continues to embrace and embody their mission to facilitate a cultural exchange between U.S. students and educators with those in developing countries through the gift of musical instruments and instruction. For more information about the program and ways to support Ms. Stevens, please see the flyer here: Support Nicole Stevens and informational website here: Recorders Without Borders. Ms. Nicole Stevens is an excellent ‘World Ambassador’ for learning – way to go!

2023 – 2024 REGISTRATION INFORMATION

The online registration process for both the current 2022 – 2023 and next year’s 2023 – 2024 school years will be open concurrently, starting in January, 2023. Families enrolling in the current school year will be able to continue to do so. This process will also apply to out-of-district transfer families as well.

Following are important links, regarding enrollment, registration, and transfers:

(1) Enrollment 

(2) Important Dates

(3) Questions 

All current and prospective families are encouraged to begin the registration process as early as possible. This information allows the school district to make impactful and accurate decisions in the areas of school budgeting, staffing, and student services to all campuses in the district. 

ONE MILLION MINUTES READING CHALLENGE

Dr. Anthony Mays, Interim Superintendent, is challenging PK – 12th Grade students in AISD to read one million minutes this school year. Book titles and genres of interest will be recorded as well, to see and understand what our various learning communities are most interested in reading by age level. See the following information to participate: (1) Students should Log Minutes Here [Elementary Teachers/Parents should walk students through completing this form.], (2) Follow the reading competition on the Website Here, (3) See Flyer Here with QR code to post and log minutes as well. This healthy reading competition will result in the top school receiving a prize and a traveling trophy. This challenge will run through April 30, 2023.

MORNING ARRIVAL WINDOW REMINDER

A noticeable amount of our families are arriving to school right after the 7:40a.m. school bell rings. Please remember that students are considered ‘tardy’ if they arrive after this time. We purposely have a 30-minute window of time for all students to arrive at school everyday (7:10a.m. – 7:40a.m.). This window of time gives families ample time to plan their arrival. If you are a family that typically arrives right at 7:40a.m., please consider adjusting your morning routines by 5 – 10 minutes to ensure an ‘on-time’ arrival to school. It’s so very important that students have enough time to settle into their classroom and begin their day of learning. Consistent and timely routines help ensure that students are at their very best and able to be the most successful student that they can be for the school day. Thanks in advance for your compliance and cooperation with this request.

2022 SCHOOL BOND PASSED

Austin Voters recently passed all three of Austin ISD’s bond proposals, an investment of $2.44 billion in local schools. The 2022 Bond will fund capital projects, such as upgrades to safety and security, repairing failing building systems, new facility construction and renovations, technology upgrades and other improvements. Nearly every AISD campus will receive improvements with these bond funds, helping the district to save money on repairs and maintenance, thereby freeing up money that can be used to increase teacher pay. This new work on bond projects will begin in Summer 2023, starting with safety upgrades to keep students and teachers safe. While Casis has just completed a fully modernized facility (2017 Bond), our school is also included in the 2022 Bond package and will receive additional bond items. Please see the following link for more information about its impact for our campus: Casis ES Facility Project Sheet. For more information about the 2022 Bond Program, visit AISDFuture.com.

SEL & EQUITY PRACTICES 

In Austin ISD and at Casis Elementary, we believe that Social Emotional Learning (SEL) is at the heart of equity-centered systems and structures. Our goal is to use and grow our social and emotional skills, while creating brave, respectful, collaborative spaces that support all students, staff, families and communities throughout our district and in our learning community. Throughout the school year, we will teach specific skills-building strategies to our students, in order to develop important character traits, like respect, empathy, compassion, and friendships. Mindfulness strategies and principles will also be a common core of this instruction as well. Administration, Teachers, and Support Staff will all be working with students throughout the school year to develop a strong social/emotional foundation, that includes building a lens of fairness and equity for all, no matter the differences among us.

The SEL word for the months of April & May is Integrity. Integrity is when you are strong enough to do what is right, even when it’s difficult, and even when no one is watching. It can be hard to do the right thing when your friends aren’t making the same choice. It’s important to act with integrity in our community. When we do, it makes our school a kinder, more inclusive, and more just place for everyone! The Equity word for the months of April & May is Justice. Justice means people behave in ways that are fair, equal, and balanced. When we work to create a more just and equitable community, we interrupt stereotypes or biased language, we are allies and friends, and we work to make things fair for everyone. When we all work hard for justice, we create a kinder, safer, more welcoming community for all.

Following is a resources sheet for the months of April & May that will help support these two important concepts, both at school and at home. APRIL/MAY RESOURCES SHEET

IMPORTANT DATES

April – School Library Month

April – Arab American Heritage Month

Mon., Apr. 17 – Fri., Apr. 21 – Earth Week

Mon., Apr. 17 – Fri., Apr. 21 – Public School Volunteer Week

Tues., Apr. 18 – STAAR Testing – Reading/Language Arts (3rd – 5th) **CAMPUS CLOSED**

Wed., Apr. 19 – Prospective Parent Tour at 9am – 10am

Fri., Apr. 21 – Volunteer Appreciation Breakfast at 8am (Community Room)

Tues., Apr. 25 – STAAR Testing – Science (5th) **CAMPUS CLOSED**

Wed., Apr. 26 – Administrative Professionals Day

TRAFFIC SAFETY PROCEDURES

Please adhere to the guidelines in your particular arrival/dismissal area (Front Circle Drive or North Parking Lot). See our Arrival & Dismissal Plan here. We continually ask for your patience and cooperation in exercising safe practices in your area.

Additionally, please see the following reminders/updates:

• Walkers should use crosswalks at all times.
• Bikers should park bikes at bike racks and walk bikes through crosswalks.
• Drivers should ALWAYS be aware of our foot and bike traffic.
• Drivers should consider TURNING OFF ENGINES when not moving forward.
• Avoid Parking in the Casis Village, if conducting school business.
  • Front Circle Drive & Hillview are available for parent parking during the day.
  • The North Parking Lot is designated for staff parking only.
• Vehicles using the North Parking Lot during arrival and dismissal (3rd – 5th) should be aware of all walkers who are using the parking lot crosswalks.

• Vehicles cued on Northwood for Circle Drive afternoon pick-up should TURN ON THEIR HAZARD LIGHTS and remain in one moving line to avoid double-parking.
  • Vehicles who need to enter the North Parking Lot for morning/afternoon drop-offs/pick-ups of 3rd – 5th graders may by-pass the ‘Circle Drive’ vehicles to enter the parking lot.

We ask that everyone exercise extra caution and patience. Adherence will help to maintain safety for all. We truly appreciate everyone’s compliance with the above requests.

PTA NEWS