Stay In-the-Know: This Week’s Top News You Can’t Miss
- Get ready for a 4-day weekend! There’s no school next Monday, November 2 and Tuesday, November 3
- This Friday is school-wide Crazy Hat Day! See guidelines below
- Join us this Friday for the October Administrative Coffee Chat at 8am in the Casis Community Room
Casis Weekly (10/26/26-10/30/26)
- News from The Principal — AISD RAVE Award Recognition, School-Wide ‘Crazy Hat Day’ at Casis, Administrative Coffee Chat for October, November Student Holidays, Character Strong Implementation & Practices, Important Dates, Traffic Safety Procedures
- PTA News — Casis Carnival, November Garden Days, Coats For Kids Drive Next Week, General PTA Meeting, Forest Club, Casis Dads Posse, Thank You Volunteers
- Vertical Team News – Austin High 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! Last week was an amazing week of carnival activities. The ‘Cosmic Casis’ carnival was just outstanding and will go down in school history as one of the very best fall events ever! The On-Line Auction, Estimation Contest, Build Contest, Parade, and the Carnival itself, were all huge successes and so enjoyable. And our school staff truly appreciated the delicious breakfast, free wristbands, and food vouchers that were provided. Special thanks to our exceptional Carnival Co-Coordinators (Hillary Arnaoutakis, Sarah Ford, Ashley Hollmig, & Lindsay Sims), their excellent Sub-Committees, our wonderful parent volunteers, and our outstanding Custodial Team. Additionally, this year’s ‘Forest Adventure’ and the ‘Haunted House’ were both outstanding – thanks to those volunteers as well. Everyone showed true Cougar ‘PRIDE’ with their teamwork, cooperation, and hard work, to make sure that we all had an unforgettable experience. Please see important information for the week below.
Mr. Tinnon
NEWS FROM THE PRINCIPAL
AISD RAVE AWARD RECOGNITION
The AISD Recognizing All Valuable Employees (RAVE) Program was created to honor those who take the extra steps to provide equitable and exceptional experiences for schools in our district. The following Casis Staff Member received an AISD RAVE Award from an AISD parent or staff member: Shannon Sims, Special Education Teacher Assistant. Mr. Sims has been a Teacher Assistant at Casis for many years now and has always maintained such a calm and non-assuming demeanor the entire time. The support that he gives to students is invaluable and has not gone unnoticed. Teams report how he goes out of his way to step in and help whenever help is needed. His patience, care, and rapport with kids who need extra support is deeply appreciated. We give much thanks to Shannon Sims, who is such an asset to our campus and our community. Way to go Mr. Sims!
SCHOOL-WIDE ‘CRAZY HAT DAY’ AT CASIS
We’ll celebrate ‘Crazy Hat Day’ on Friday, October 30. In lieu of costumes, all grades (students and staff) are invited to wear a fun, unusual, or unique (purchased or home-made) hat of their choice. Please see ‘hat wearing’ guidelines: (1) Must be appropriate in nature (no violent or inappropriate depictions/words), (2) No halloween-type masks are allowed, and (3) Teacher discretion as to when worn during the class time. We look forward to seeing all of the wonderfully interesting ‘crazy hats’ in the hallways of our school. And Mr. Tinnon will be giving away a hat to staff members every hour on the hour throughout the whole day. Hope that everyone joins in on this fun annual event!
ADMINISTRATIVE COFFEE CHAT FOR OCTOBER
Casis Administration will host a series of meetings during the school year, to engage with parents about various school topics and happenings. During these informal meetings, Mr. Tinnon, Ms. Beckham, and Ms. Davis will share school information and dialogue with parents about school topics of their choice. The goal of this platform is to build our shared knowledge and make community connections. Our next ‘Administrative Chat’ will take place on Friday, October 30 at 8:00 a.m. in the Casis Community Room. We look forward to having some very authentic conversations with our learning community.
NOVEMBER STUDENT HOLIDAYS
Monday, November 2 and Tuesday, November 3 will be Student Holidays. Staff will be engaging in professional learning on Tuesday. We look forward to seeing everyone back on campus Wednesday for a short learning week. We hope that families enjoy their days off.
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
Fri., Oct. 30 – Annual School-Wide Crazy Hat Day
Fri., Oct. 30 – Administrators’ Coffee Chat at 8:00am (Community Room)
November – Native American Heritage Month
Mon., Nov. 2 – Fri., Nov. 6 – AISD School Psychologists Appreciation Month
Mon., Nov. 2 – School Holiday
Tues., Nov. 3 – Election Day/Student Holiday/Staff Professional Learning Day
Wed., Nov. 11 – School-Wide Veteran’s Day Program at 8:15am
Tues., Nov. 17 – Prospective Parent Tour at 9:00am
Mon., Nov. 23 – Fri., Nov. 27 – School Holiday (Fall Break)
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.