Stay In-the-Know: This Week’s Top News You Can’t Miss
- This week is Custodian Appreciation Week! Thank you to our amazing Casis custodians for keeping our school clean and beautiful!
- Make sure to pay your field trip fees by October 16th. Links and info below
- Next Thursday is Austin High Future Maroon Night at House Park Stadium at 6pm. More details below
- Fall Parent-Teacher Conferences are coming up in October. Keep an eye out for communication from your teacher to schedule a conference
- Get excited for Carnival on October 23rd! Links below to sponsor, volunteer, buy wristbands, host an auction party, and enter the Cosmic Build Contest
Casis Weekly (9/28/26-10/2/26)
- News from The Principal — Custodian Appreciation Week, Walk, Bike & Roll to School Day, Dyslexia Awareness Month Documentary, Austin High Future Maroon Night, Fall Parent-Teacher Conferences, Field Trip Information, Gifted & Talented Referral Window, Character Strong Implementation & Practices, Important Dates, Traffic Safety Procedures
- PTA News — Casis Carnival, Thank You Volunteers
- Vertical Team News – AHS Future Maroon Night, AHS Future Maroons Cheer Clinic
Have something you want to include in the Casis Weekly? Please send information to PTA VP of Communications Emily Peavey by Wednesday to be included in the following Monday issue.
Cougar PRIDE Families,
It’s going to be another great week at Casis! Our first Administrators’ Coffee Chat of this school year was very engaging. It was great for administration to dialogue with parents about how the year has been going so far, as well as share thoughts about various school topics. Well October is here and it’s ‘Casis Carnival Month’! The planning for our ‘Cosmic Casis’ extravaganza is in full swing and you won’t want to miss it, so everyone should mark their calendars for Friday, October 23. It will be out of this world! Fall Parent Conferences will also be getting underway, so families should be hearing from your teachers about that soon. And while learning certainly remains our top focus, we’re going to have a lot of fun too. Please see other important information for the week below.
Mr. Tinnon
NEWS FROM THE PRINCIPAL
CUSTODIAN APPRECIATION WEEK
Monday, September 28 – Friday, October 2 is recognized as Custodian Appreciation Week in AISD. This week, we recognize and appreciate the hard work of our campus Custodial Team. Casis has been so very fortunate to have an exceptional group of individuals who take excellent care of our school. On a daily basis, they work to keep our modernized facility looking new and well-maintained. Kudos to our team: Richard Castro (Head Custodian), Alvaro Hernandez, Norma Sarinana, and Kenia Torres. We love and appreciate you all so very much!
WALK, BIKE, & ROLL TO SCHOOL DAY
Wednesday, October 7, is ‘International Walk, Bike, & Roll To School Day’. Join children and adults around the world to celebrate the benefits of walking and bicycling, and in spotlighting the importance of traffic safety. Days like these intend to make routes to school safer for active trips or by encouraging children to be more physically active in their lives. We want to encourage as many Casis families as possible to participate. See more information HERE about this special community day. Get those steps in as much as you can!
DYSLEXIA AWARENESS MONTH DOCUMENTARY
October is Dyslexia Awareness Month and the AISD Dyslexia Team invites the community to join them for a screening of the powerful documentary, “Left Behind” on Wednesday, October 7 at the Austin Public Library – Carver Branch from 5:45pm – 7:45pm. The gripping new feature documentary tells the story of five tenacious mothers determined to establish the first public school in New York City for children with dyslexia and serves as a nationwide call to action. Space is limited, so Click Here to secure your spot. See Flyer Here.
AUSTIN HIGH FUTURE MAROON NIGHT
Casis Elementary is a part of the Austin High School Vertical Team of Schools. Thursday, October 8, at 6:00p.m. will be ‘AHS Future Maroon Night’ at the House Park Stadium (1301 Shoal Creek Boulevard). Students are invited to attend, wearing their school shirts, and will run through the AHS Football Team tunnel on the field to signal the start of the game (Austin High vs. Dripping Springs). The first 100 elementary students will be admitted for free (adults must buy a ticket). See flyer here: AHS 2026 Future Maroon Night Flyer. It’s always a great night of family and fun. Hope to see many of you there!
FALL PARENT-TEACHER CONFERENCES
Elementary Parent Fall Conference Day is scheduled on the AISD School Calendar to take place on Monday, October 12. This day will be a Student Holiday. At Casis Elementary, these important meetings will be scheduled within a ‘window of days’ during the month of October. Teachers will be scheduling times during the day and/or after school. During these meetings, Teachers will share information about your child(ren)’s academic and emotional well-being, with a specific focus on individual learning growth, as well as discussing any factors that might hinder that growth this year (learning needs, attendance, behavior, etc.). Parents can then expect ‘1st 9-Weeks Report Cards’ to be available in their AISD Parent Portal by October 22.
FIELD TRIP INFORMATION
Field trips are wonderful extension experiences for students outside of the classroom learning environment. At Casis Elementary, we will offer a few field trip opportunities for each grade level throughout the school year. Parents will be asked to pay a bulk one-time ‘Field Trip Fee’ to cover the costs of these planned educational outings. Please see the following letters from each grade level, sharing the planned field trips and their associated fees: Pre-K, Kinder, 1st Grade, 2nd Grade, 3rd Grade, 4th Grade, & 5th Grade. Additionally, here’s a flyer that gives guidance on how to process payment: Fee Payment Flyer. All families will be asked to pay this fee by Friday, October 16 We are hopeful to get full participation from all of our families, but regardless, please know that no student will be excluded from any of the year’s field trip events.
GIFTED & TALENTED PARENT REFERRAL WINDOW
The Gifted & Talented referral window is now open and will remain open until Friday, October 16. To learn more about GT services in AISD and to submit a referral, click here for the English link. Additional languages can be found here. Prior to submitting a referral, it is recommended that parents notify their child’s classroom teacher. For additional information, you may reach out to our campus GT Advocates and presenters, Jonathan Padgett (2nd) and Vickie Price (3rd).
CHARACTER STRONG IMPLEMENTATION & PRACTICES
AISD and Casis Elementary will continue implementing Character Strong, the district Character Education and Behavioral Support program. 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 October is Responsibility. Here’s the Family Connection Newsletter – Responsibility for this month’s theme, as well as a list of recommended books for both school and home: Responsibility Book List. We are so excited to be ‘Character Strong’ at Casis Elementary!
IMPORTANT DATES
Tues., Sept. 15 – Thurs., Oct. 15 – National Hispanic American Heritage Month
Mon., Sept. 28 – Fri., Oct. 2 – AISD Custodian Appreciation Week
Mon., Oct. 5 – Fri., Oct. 9 – AISD Principal Appreciation Week
Tues., Oct. 6 – CAC Meeting at 3:30pm (Community Room)
Wed., Oct. 7 – Thurs., Oct. 8 – K – 5 Vision & Hearing Screenings
Thurs., Oct. 8 – Austin High Vertical Team Night at 6:00pm (House Park)
Fri., Oct. 9 – Student & Staff Holiday
Mon., Oct. 12 – Fall Parent Conference Day / Student Holiday (Indigenous Peoples Day)
Thurs., Oct. 15 – Fall Individual Picture Day
Mon., Oct. 19 – Fri., Oct. 23 – AISD Transportation Employee Appreciation Week
Thurs., Oct. 22 – Casis Carnival Parade at 8:10am (Front Circle Drive)
Fri., Oct. 23 – ‘Cosmic Casis’ Carnival Event at 5:00pm – 8:00pm
Fri., Oct. 30 – Annual School-Wide Crazy Hat Day
Fri., Oct. 30 – Administrators’ Coffee Chat at 8:00am
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.
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.