Newsletter, Oct. 5, 2016

Uncategorized

Update on School Safety and Security
Dear Austin ISD Community,
The safety and security of all students is our top priority. With that in mind, I am writing to update you about an ongoing situation. Austin ISD police are investigating multiple social media threats made by people dressed as clowns against several of our middle and high schools. At this time, none of the threats has been deemed viable.

This issue affects our entire district, as well as the districts across the state and the country that have received similar threats. Austin ISD police are monitoring and investigating every threat we receive to ensure the safety of our children. If any of these threats is determined to be credible, AISD police and district leadership will immediately begin working with that campus directly.

Threats of any kind against our school, students and staff will continue to be investigated immediately and are not tolerated. We encourage our community to report threatening behavior of any kind so police may investigate and we can work together to keep our campuses safe.

If you have specific information regarding these threats, please contact AISD police at 512-414-1703. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to call your student’s front office. As always, thank you for your support of Austin ISD.

Sincerely,
Eric Mendez
Austin ISD Chief of Police

Koblenz Informational Meeting on Thursday
Would you like to know more about our teacher & student exchange program with Schenkendorf Elementary in Koblenz, Germany? Please join us Thursday, October 6th at 6 pm in the Summitt library. This year our friends from Koblenz will be visiting us in late March through early April. We will travel to Germany the following year in June 2018. See what the program is all about and how you can get involved.

Kona Ice on Friday
Kona Ice will be available for purchase on Friday after school.

Summitt Family Night next week
Join other Summitt families for Family Night at Catfish Parlour, 11910 Research Blvd, on Wednesday, Oct. 12 from 5-9 p.m. There will be guest chefs preparing your meal! Let them know you’re with Summitt when you dine in or take out, and a portion of the sales will benefit Summitt PTA. The owners of Catfish Parlour are long-time supporters of Summitt, so come out and support a great local business.

Need donations for haunted house
We need items to make our Haunted House Spooky! If you have items to donate or loan we would really appreciate it. We are looking for skeletons, glow in the dark paint, glow in the dark items, spooky pictures, and anything to help make our Haunted House scary! We would be happy to pick up items from you. Contact Nicole Erickson at [email protected].

Join the PTA
Did you know that you have to renew your PTA membership every year? We’ve made it easy to renew by going to the Summitt online store OR Stop by the PTA bulletin board in the Great Hall and grab a PTA membership form. Thank you to all those who have renewed their membership or have become members of the PTA. You are helping our students and school just by becoming a member!  Questions? Contact Editt Law at [email protected]

Food Service Workers Appreciation Week
Please remember our cafeteria staff and all of the work they do for us by saying thank you to them in commemoration of Food Service Workers Appreciation Week, October 10-14!

Custodian Appreciation Week this wek
October 3 – October 7 is Custodian Appreciation Week. Please remember our custodial staff and all of the work they do for us by saying thank you to them in commemoration of Custodian Appreciation Week, October 3 – 7!!

Soaring Skyward next week
Soaring Skyward Day will be on Friday, Oct. 14. We will celebrate everything involving air that day. Students will rotate through different stations learning about NASA, flight of the butterflies, meteorology, and even get a visit from the team from iFly, just to name a few!

A big thank you goes to HEB for donating cookies for students that day. We also need the following:

  • Do you have a connection with stunt kite flyers?

  • We need volunteers to run the disc golf station during the day.

Please contact [email protected] if you can help.

Mother/Son bowling
Hey Summitt moms, mark your calendars for Sunday, November 13th from 3-5 pm. We’ll be bowling with our favorite little guys at Highland Lanes, 8909 Burnet Rd. This is a great chance to spend time with your son and get to know other Summitt families so we hope you will join us! It’s $10 per person and includes shoe rental and 2 hours of bowling. Tickets will go on sale November 1st. Questions? Contact [email protected]

Library News
Last chance for Birthday Book Club
Did you know that the average cost of a library bound book is $20? Each year the Summitt Library supports over 800 students ranging in ages from 3 to 10 years old in 3 languages (English, Vietnamese, and Spanish) on a shoestring budget of $3 per student?!!!

If you have not already done so, please consider signing up your child(ren), friends, neighbors, and favorite teachers for the Birthday Book Club. Each $10 donation goes directly back into our library collection development and library programming. https://goo.gl/forms/OrEEXywrcf9uvHSt2

New pet guinea pig
This weekend I was finally able to find a new companion for Whiskers! As you may recall,  Shelley passed away over Labor Day of old age, and Whiskers has been living alone since.  Thank you to all for the heartfelt condolences on Shelley’s behalf.

Many of you have also inquired about Whiskers well-being. And, from what I can tell she is eating quite a bit and sleeping a lot–all signs of depression. . .or standard Guinea Pig behavior?  It’s hard to tell. To be on the safe side, and knowing how much Guinea Pigs crave companionship, I did bring this sweet little baby into all our lives here at Summitt. She doesn’t have a name yet, but my daughter is partial to Mouse. Perhaps another name contest?  What are your ideas?

GT News
Gifted and Talented Screening/ Testing
GT nominees in grades 3rd through 5th will begin the screening process next week. If you have a student who is being screened for the GT program, please try to have them arrive at school on time, rested and fed. Thanks!

Testing Dates/Times

  • Tues., Oct. 11 at 7:45am

  • Wed., Oct. 12 at 7:45 am

  • Thur., Oct. 13 at 7:45 am

  • Mon., Oct. 17 at 10:45am

  • Mon., Oct. 24 at 10:30 am

Please visit www.Summitteagles.org for more Gifted and Talented testing/identification information and opportunities for students.

GT After School Program
Attention all Gifted and Talented Students!! This year we are offering an after school program just for you and your siblings. This will happen one afternoon a month from 3-4:30 p.m., usually on the first Wednesday of the month! This year you will be required to sign up in advance for these dates to help us plan our time together. Please keep your eye out for an email this week with the first sign up. Please save the tentative dates below:

October 5, 2016

November 2, 2016

December 7, 2016

January 11, 2017

February 1, 2017

March 1, 2017

April 5, 2017

May 3, 2017

We may have one or two opportunities for an off campus experience, but we will keep you up to date on that as it gets closer! We also may need some supplies from home as things go on. For now, would you collect paper towel and toilet paper rolls for us? Your child may bring them into school in small bundles as you have them.

This year for our GT after school program we will be requiring sign ups in advance of the event each month. This allows us to plan supplies, volunteers and schedules. If your child is not signed up we will have to ask them to join us for the following month. Here you will find our sign ups for the October Program! Each month we limit our sign up to 25 kids and will not allow kids to attend without signing up. www.SignUpGenius.com/go/10C0C4FACAB2EA3FF2-october

If you have any questions about this program or want to volunteer, please email Becca Phillips at [email protected] or Denise Richey at [email protected]

Order tickets for Eagle Fest
Skip the line! There are three ways to purchase tickets early:

  1. Visit the Summitt Online Store at summitteagles.org/store and use your credit card.

  2. Return the form below to your child’s teacher along with cash/check. You will receive your tickets between October 3rd and 14th.

  3. Purchase tickets in the Great Hall before and after school on October 17-21 using cash/check/credit card

Tickets are 2/$1 and sold in $5 bundles. Just $10 buys one play of each token-earning game and $10 can buy a hot dog dinner for four.

Classroom Booth Volunteer Sign Up
Eagle Fest runs on volunteer power! Please sign up here to help staff your child’s class booth. We need your help to make this year’s event a success!

Item Donations (small prizes and drinks/chips/candy)
Eagle Fest is still accepting small, unopened toys from restaurants like McDonalds, Chick Fil’A, Wendy’s, and Arby’s. A toy donation box has been set in the Great Hall near the Summitt Office. Grade level food and drink donations are also being accepted in the Great Hall. For a list of each grade’s suggested donation, please visit www.summitteagles.org/fall-fest

Join the Daisies
Is your kindergarten daughter interested in joining the Girl Scouts? The Summitt Daisies are still looking for Kindergarten girls who are interested in joining our small Daisy troop. For the first year, meetings will be held once or twice a month and focus on community involvement and building friendship, courage, and respect.  Please contact Bethany Metzger at [email protected] or (512) 293-2434 if you are interested in learning more or joining our Troop!

Fifth Grade News
The directors of the Fulmore and Kealing magnet programs and the principal of the Ann Richards School for Young Women Leaders will be visiting Summitt on Tuesday, October 25. They will be here from 9-10 am to make presentations about their campuses for 5th grade students. Murchison Middle School is also scheduled to send a representative to present either directly before or following the magnet schools (will update once a specific time is provided from them). Parents are invited to join us in the 5th grade commons area to hear these presentations if they desire to do so.

FABPAC Update
Beginning in October, another round of community engagement meetings will be held to solicit input regarding facility condition trends, the planning strategies used to address facility needs, and a new modernization approach. Here are the dates, times, and locations for you to provide input. These are drop in and out sessions, so you can provide your input anytime during the meeting:

·       October 11 – Eastside Memorial HS Cafeteria – (6 – 8 pm)

·       October 12 – Burger Stadium – (4 – 6:30 pm)

·       October 13 – Reagan Cafeteria – (6 – 8 pm)

·       October 14 – Allan Center Cafeteria – (12 – 1:30 pm)

·       October 15 – Small Middle School Cafeteria – (9 – 11 am)

·       October 15 – Lamar Middle School Cafeteria – (12:30 pm – 2:30 pm)

In order to get as much representation from our neighborhood as possible, please try to attend one of these meetings to provide input. Your opinions will be folded into the planning as Austin ISD continues to work toward a ballot initiative in 2017. More information on FABPAC is here.

Thank you to Business Partners in Education
Thank you to the following Diamond Eagle Sponsors: Blue Dragon Plumbing and Laurie Flood, Realtor and our Bronze Eagle Sponsor: Bulls Eye Recruiting.

Do you own your own business or know someone who does? We invite all local businesses to invest in our community by becoming a Summitt Elementary 2016-2017 Partner in Education business sponsor. All 100% of money raised through our business sponsors by the Summitt PTA goes directly to programs that benefit our students and all donations are tax deductible.

Summitt Elementary’s 2016-2017 Partners in Education will receive recognition throughout the school year. Visit http://summitteagles.org/sponsors/business-sponsors/ for a complete list of sponsor benefits. Purchase your sponsorship online today at https://summitteagles.org/store/

 

AISD and Community Events

NWAYBA Basketball Season – Register today!
Basketball season is almost upon us! Northwest Austin Youth Basketball Association (NWAYBA) is open to boys and girls of all skill levels from 1st grade through high school. Many divisions are filling up but there are spots available for FIRST AND SECOND GRADERS! Skills will be taught and game experience is fun! ALL-GIRLS teams are available for grades 1-2, 3-4, and 5-7. Girls receive special headbands for play. Player evaluations will be on Oct.15 and 16 at the Murchison Middle School gym. Check the NWAYBA website for more information.

Anderson Robotic Parents Night Out
DON’T MISS THE FUN! Night of the Robots with the Anderson HS Robotics Team, will host a Parent’s Night Out on Friday, October 21, 5:30-9 pm, at the new Applied Technology Building, Anderson HS. Enjoy a Parents Night Out while your kids (K-5th grade) enjoy an evening of fun and all things robot: see VEX and humanoid robots in action, build with Legos and Little Bits modules, pizza and apples, robot crafts and watch the movie A Bug’s Life. It’s $33/child.

Register at:  https://nightoftherobotsoct2016.splashthat.com/.  Questions, contact Renee Otken at [email protected].

Fulmore Prospective Parent Sessions
Fulmore Middle School invites the parents of all 5th and 6th grade elementary students to attend one of our Prospective Parent Sessions on Thursday, October 6th, or Thursday, November 10th from 6-7 p.m. in the Fulmore Cafeteria.  Meet members of the Fulmore community and learn about the Magnet program. Information on the Magnet application process will also be shared.  Flyers are coming home and feel free to contact the Magnet Assistant, Maria Benitez Morales at 512-841-4916 with any questions.