Stay In-the-Know: This Week’s Top News You Can’t Miss
- Prospective Parent Tour tomorrow, April 28th, at 9am. Help us spread the word to future Casis families
- Order your 26-27 School Supplies. Link in the PTA Section below
- Donate books to the Annual Book Swap! More details below
- 26-27 Enrollment is open. Make sure to enroll your child(ren) for school next year
Cougar PRIDE Families,
It’s going to be another great week at Casis! Last week, we began the celebration of Earth Week, which will continue this week. It was also the final round of the STAAR test for our 3rd – 5th grade students, which was a success. Along with a few appreciations for our Librarian, Office Staff, and Parent Volunteers, our staff got to enjoy an awesome lunch from P. Terry’s. And the week ended with a lovely Volunteer Appreciation Breakfast for our parents. This week, we will host our final Prospective Parent Tour for this year. A lot of 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
NEWS FROM THE PRINCIPAL
EARTH WEEK ACTIVITIES
AISD and Casis Elementary will celebrate Earth Week, Monday, April 20 – Friday, May 1 (Earth Day will be on Wednesday, April 22). Austin ISD embraces sustainability, not only as a way to help our planet, but as an educational tool to provide challenging and inspiring learning experiences to our students. See the following campus/district activities and resources for this special week: (1) Earth Week Activities and (2) AISD Earth Week Web Page. We are so excited to celebrate another Earth Week at Casis and in our district.
NEXT 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 Tuesday, April 28 at 9am – 10am. Can’t wait to show these potential new families our amazing school community!
NATIONAL WALK, BIKE & ROLL TO SCHOOL DAY
Wednesday, May 6 is National Walk, Bike, & Roll To School Day! In collaboration with the City of Austin ‘Safe Routes To School’ program, Casis Elementary will celebrate this special day as well. We are encouraging as many Casis families as possible to walk or bike to Casis. Our P.E. Team will be emphasizing the importance of days like this and will have some free promotional items to share with students during their classes. Looking forward to this day that promotes the healthy activities of biking and walking, as well as highlighting the importance of families having safe routes to their neighborhood schools. For more information about this day, see link here: https://www.walkbiketoschool.org/.
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 8. If you have additional questions, please contact our School Librarian, Courtney Ewing.
HUMAN SEXUALITY & RESPONSIBILITY (HSR) CURRICULUM
In accordance with Austin ISD Board Policy EHAA, the Human Sexuality and Responsibility (HSR) curriculum will be taught between April 2 – May 15 during science class for K – 5 students. There are 3 – 5 available lessons at each grade level. This curriculum has been established to provide information and skill development for students, so that they may reach their highest potential for physical, emotional, mental and social health. All information regarding the HSR policy, grade level lesson overviews, family resources, and more can be found on the HSR website: HERE. Note: Permission letters for parents to Opt-In/Opt-Out of any and/or all of these lessons should be returned, prior to the instruction. It’s very important that all letters are returned to your classroom teacher(s), to ensure that there is ample time to plan and accommodate for all students, whether they will be receiving the HSR lessons or participating in alternative lessons.
AISD ONLINE TRAINING SESSIONS FOR FAMILIES
Austin ISD is once again offering families a refreshed format of Spring Tools for Success. These empowering online sessions for families will cover topics including: Austin ISD Parent Portal, a family guide to STAAR and MAP testing, and Digital Safety 101. Please see the Tools for Success Website, as well as a flyer with the schedule of February – April sessions HERE.
AISD VIRTUAL & IN-PERSON FAMILY ENROLLMENT SESSIONS
AISD is hosting both virtual and in-person sessions to support families interested in Pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten in the 2026-2027 school year. These sessions will provide families with essential program information and enrollment guidance to support informed application decisions. To register for the virtual sessions, which will take place on March 12 & 30, please see the following flyer here: PK & Kinder Enrollment Information Flyer. There will also be two in-person sessions for PK Enrollment and Eligibility ONLY on April 11 (9am – 1pm @ TA Brown Elementary) and May 2 (9am – 1pm @ St. Elmo Elementary).
2026 – 2027 ENROLLMENT DATES & DEADLINES
Enrollment for the 2026 – 2027 school year is about to begin. Austin ISD’s goal is to re-register all 64,000+ PK-11th grade students who are currently enrolled students, as well as to register all new students by the end of May, 2026. Please see the following enrollment windows, by rounds/programs:
Round 1 (Special Programs Enrollment): 1/12/26 – 2/6/26Round 2 (General Registration & Transfers): 2/16/26 – 4/10/26- PK3 & PK4 (Pre-Kinder Registration): 4/1/26 – 5/22/26
- Round 3 (General Registration): 4/13/26 – 5/27/26
Following are some other enrollment support resources that families might find helpful: (1) Enroll Austin Family Support Manual and (2) Enrollment 101 Slide Deck. If families have additional questions, you may also go to the enrollment website (Enroll Austin Website).
CHARACTER STRONG IMPLEMENTATION & PRACTICES
This year, AISD and Casis Elementary are implementing a new Character Education and Behavioral Support program called Character Strong. This program is meant to provide students with the necessary skills and strategies to be the very best humans that they can be in the world. Students will hear morning messages and receive lessons from their teachers about topics like respect, gratitude, honesty, courage and more. Teachers will be providing weekly lessons and sending home monthly information to families about the different program topics learned each month. The lessons derive from a program called, “Purposefull People”. Here’s a Family Introductory Letter about Purposefull People. Each month we will cover a different Character Strong topic and resources will be shared to help families have meaningful conversations at home about the learned trait. Here’s an Overview of the monthly topics that will be taught. The Character Strong trait for the month of April is Courage. Here’s the Family Connection Newsletter – Courage for this month’s theme. We are so excited to be ‘Character Strong’ at Casis Elementary!
IMPORTANT DATES
April – Arab American Heritage Month
Tues., Apr. 28 – Prospective Parent Tour at 9am
May – Jewish American Heritage Month
May – Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage Month
Mon., May 4 – Fri., May 8 – Teacher Appreciation Week
Mon., May 4 – Fri., May 8 – School Nurse Appreciation Week
Tues., May 5 – CAC Meeting at 3:30pm (Community Room)
TRAFFIC SAFETY PROCEDURES
Please adhere to the guidelines in your particular arrival/dismissal area (Front Circle Drive or North Parking Lot). See 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 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 safely by-pass the ‘Circle Drive’ vehicles to enter the parking lot.