Teacher Talent Show on Friday
Are you coming to the talent show? Are you ready to see the best talents Summitt has to offer? Teacher Talent Show is on Friday, January 20, 2017 at 7pm, in the Summitt cafeteria. Tickets will be sold this week at 7:30 am and 2:40 pm in the Great Hall. The tickets will also be sold the night of the show. The first five rows are $10 per seat. The rest of the tickets are $5 each. These are assigned seats so get yours early! Concession items will be available for purchase at the show. Our Teacher Talent Show benefits the Koblenz Exchange Program. See you at the show!
No Name-Calling Week
It is never OK to name‐call or bully another student for any reason! On Jan. 17-20, we are dressing up each day to CELEBRATE KINDNESS AND DIVERSITY!
Thursday, January 19: Twin Thursday – Double the kindness and dress as a twin
Friday, January 20: Diversity Day – Wear as many colors as you can to celebrate diversity
Gift card donation drive
Did you receive a gift card for the holidays to somewhere you won’t shop or eat? Don’t let it just expire in a drawer – donate it to the Summitt PTA! Periodically through the year, the PTA rewards our hardworking teachers for meeting and/or exceeding goals set by Summitt’s administration, counselors, and even our Summitt fundraisers. We are accepting gift cards in any denomination from any local or online store or restaurant. Just bring it to the front office in an envelope marked “PTA Gift Card Drive” and we will make sure it gets to our awesome Summitt teachers!
Girls on the Run
GOTR Spring 2017 needs more volunteers to keep this AMAZING, LIFE-CHANGING program going at Summitt!! What is GOTR? (Girls on the Run): a program for 3rd-5th grade girls to train for and complete a 5k fun run, also learn life skills in a welcoming and casual environment. All the curriculum is pre-printed and completely ready to be taught by any willing souls. Coach Ryan Lanier has to hand the reins over and we need MORE HELP to keep things RUNNING:) Please email [email protected]. You do NOT NEED to be a RUNNER!!!! It’s a program for all levels of participant and volunteer. And super FUN of course!
Easter Seals Clothing and Household Items Drive
Wondering what you should do with all those clothes and household items you cleaned out over the break. We are here to help. Summitt PTA will be holding a clothing and household items drive on Saturday, January 28 with Easter Seals of Central Texas. This is a fundraiser for the PTA because Easter Seals pays .20 cents per pound for soft items like clothes, shoes, clothing accessories, sheets, small rugs and similar items. And they also pay .05 cents per pound for small household items such as dishes, pots, pans, or any other small items used in a home. Donations can be dropped off in the Great Hall during school hours January 23-27. The Easter Seals truck will be on campus for donation pick up on January 28th from 10am – noon.
Gifted and Talented Program info
– If you are interested in learning more about the Gifted and Talented program at Summitt, I encourage you to read the FAQs found at the Summitt website: https://summitteagles.org/curriculum/gifted-talented/ Note that we will not be having our previously scheduled Afterschool GT club meeting this month. We will resume meetings on February 1st, so watch for the sign up to go out on Jan. 18th. Or, contact me, Denise Richey, by phone or email at 512-414-4249/ [email protected].
– This school year we are piloting a change in the GT Screening Process at Summitt Elementary. Students in grades K-2 will be tested in the Spring 2017 Semester with the nomination window of January 13 through January 27.
This change will allow younger students to have an opportunity to adjust to the new school year and produce quality work samples required for the GT portfolio before the students participate in the lengthy GT Screening Process. The GT Screening Process does include online testing which is timed and the gathering of student work samples for the Student GT Portfolio. By separating students into two groups for testing, the campus will be able to test students in smaller groups and provide teachers with more time to collect student work samples and other screening data for younger students.
The following link offers the nomination paperwork and parental forms to be signed and to be returned to Summitt before any testing can begin. www.austinisd.org/academics/advancedacademics/gifted/parent-corner. Any parents interested in nominating their Kinder through 2nd grade student should do so beginning this week. Thank you!
Counselors’ Chronicle
We are in need of many (about 150-200) Voss water bottles. If anyone uses this bottled water product, we would love your empty bottles as soon as possible. We know you can purchase this product at HEB or Walgreens. We think they might be on sale at HEB now. We will place an empty box in the Great Hall (under the Watch Dog calendar). We appreciate your help and support. (Summitt participates in a program called Social/Emotional Learning, and we want to make something special for each teacher to place in his/her classroom. We will be using the bottles to help the teachers enrich their “peace corner”.)
Computer Lab News
Happy New Year! Hope everyone is refreshed and ready for some great learning. We’ve continued working on Hour of Code, students are enjoying these activities. A reminder, they can access the programming sites by going to https://code.org/ Aside from programming, we have been learning (3rd grade) and refreshing (4th & 5th) our use of Google Drive, Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides, and more. For more information about the Student Cloud and Google Drive, refer to my Blog at http://getyourgoogle.blogspot.com/. I know there is a lot of information to take in, but it is important for our families to understand the responsibility given to our students by using these online resources.
We will also be expanding our Google Drive experience to our lower grades, at the request of teachers. We will be taking this step slowly, as mentioned, it is a big responsibility. If you have any questions, please email me at: [email protected]. I would love to hear from you.
Save the Date: Fun Run!
Parents! One of this year’s big fundraisers is the Summitt Eagle Fun Run! It’s a 9-day program that kicks off with a Pep Rally on February 13, 2017. Then families will have time to get pledges for every lap your student runs (30-35 laps), and we’ll celebrate at the Fun Run on February 23, 2017. With our big goal to raise funds for Math & Reading Intervention programs, we asked the Fun Run experts at Boosterthon to power our Fun Run and make it more profitable, easier, and fun.
Students will also experience an amazing character theme, BACKYARD BOX OFFICE! It’s a movie theme all about making a difference by getting into character. Our students will learn from five REAL kid difference-makers. From inventors, to world-class speakers, to business owners, to world-record holders, these five kids will inspire our students to practice the five “Character Acts” and make a difference in our community.
Donations will go toward Math & Reading Intervention programs and to the entire 9-day experience. So please help our school by reaching out to sponsors. Also, all families are invited to come out and cheer on your student at the Fun Run! Thank you for your support! Click here to get the information in Vietnamese.
Lost and Found
Please take a look in the Lost and Found for your student’s warm coat. The Lost and Found is full of coats and the cold weather is coming this week. All items not claimed by Friday, January 27th will be donated to Easter Seals on Saturday, January 28th.
Fifth Grade News
Important Upcoming Dates for incoming Murchison Middle School 2017-2018 6th Graders:
January 21 from 9 am – 4 pm and Thursday, January 26 from 4:30 – 7:30 pm in the MMS Cafeteria-Instrument Test Drive for MMS Band.
January 27 – Summit Elementary Choice Sheet Presentation to students (8:15).
February 6 – Choice Sheet/Parent Night at MMS; flyers are being prepared for your campus notification; see our website for details. (The date was changed recently!)
February 6 – 10 – Shadowing days are during the week of Feb. 6 for four days (see our website); these are solely for students whose parents are struggling to make the decision between their home campus (MMS) and magnet. charter, or private schools.
February 26 – All choice sheets are due. Paper copy must be signed by the parent and be turned in to the 5th grade homeroom teacher.
March 1 – March 10 – 5th grade students enter their own course requests in Scheduling Self-Serve at elementary campuses. Summitt will be looking for parent volunteers to assist with this. More information to come.
March 20 – Aug. 1 – Any changes to choice sheets can only be made through Murchison Middle School’s Counseling Office or through the MMS Main Office.
Need pictures for yearbook
Have you taken pictures of classroom parties? Eagle Fest? Soaring Skyward? Third Grade musical? Second Grade 50s Day? Anything at school? Send those pictures to be considered for the yearbook – [email protected]. Please send full size images with the event name, grade and teacher name if possible. We prefer small group pictures over individual student pictures.
AISD and Community Events
AISD Survey
Austin ISD needs your input. A survey was sent out in this week’s Monday folders. Please fill out that survey and return it. Please note that the hard copy scan forms are due no later than Monday, February 20, 2017. You may also choose to take the survey online. Online responses will be accepted through February 3, 2017.
If parents do not wish to complete the scan form survey, the online version of the Parent Survey is now available. Parents can reach the survey by going to AISD’s main page (http://www.austinisd.org/) and clicking on the survey announcement below the rotating banner. This will take them to the Parent Survey page where they can choose to take the survey in English, Spanish, or Vietnamese. PLEASE NOTE: THE SURVEY SHOULD ONLY BE COMPLETED IN ONE FORM, SCAN FORM OR ON-LINE, BUT NOT BOTH!
AISD Accepting Open Nominations
Open nominations for Principal of the Year, Assistant Principal of the Year, Counselor of the Year, Librarian of the Year and Campus Classified Staff and District Classified Staff of the Year began Jan. 3 and close Jan. 31. We invite staff, students, parents and community members to nominate a candidate for these awards. Join us May 16, 2017 at the AISD Performing Arts Center. Click here to nominate.
FABPAC Meeting
As the new year approaches, we look forward to working with you to shape our #AISDFuture by updating our Facility Master Plan to modernize campuses during the next two decades.
Our community’s feedback has helped refine our approach to modernization to include:
State-of-the-art technology in all schools
Flexible learning spaces in all schools and
Community spaces.
Community members on the trustee-appointed Facilities and Bond Planning Advisory Committee continue to examine the consultants’ preliminary options, which have been reviewed with every school’s leadership. They will review community comments and bring recommendations to the Board of Trustees.
As we continue to plan, shape and build our #AISDFuture, we need your input.
Community Engagement Series Jan. 24-Feb.1
Invite your stakeholders to join us at the next series of community engagement conversations to share feedback about the FMP update and the options identified to date with FABPAC. The meetings are:
Jan. 24 – 6 to 8 p.m. at McCallum High School
Jan. 25 – 6 to 8 p.m. at Crockett High School
Jan. 26 – 6 to 8 p.m. at Gus Garcia Young Men’s Leadership Academy
Jan. 31 – 6 to 8 p.m. at Martin Middle School
Feb. 1 – 6 to 8 p.m. at Burnet Middle School and
Feb. 2 – 6 to 8 p.m. at Gorzycki Middle School.
Food and refreshments will be provided. Interpretation services will be available upon request. To request interpretation services, please call 512-414-9595 or email [email protected].
AISD will offer childcare with Maker Kids Lab, a district partner that offers fun projects that inspire kids to explore their interests in science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics. Arrive early as there will be limited space for children to participate in the small group activity. To learn more about the FMP process, visit AISD’s website (English and Spanish) and watch and share the FMP video (English and Spanish). We look forward to hearing from you. Please contact us at [email protected] or 512-414-9595. A flyer with this information is here.
Community Conversation
Connect with other parents and staff for a conversation about Helping build a bilingual community in Austin ISD. It’s on Monday, Jan. 23 from 5:30-7:30 p.m. at Webb Middle School, 601 E. St. John’s. More information is here.
Ann Richards School Showcase
Learn more about the Ann Richards School for Young Women Leaders (2206 Prather Ln) this Saturday, Jan. 21 from 10 a.m. to noon. More information is here.
Fulmore Magnet School deadlines
Fulmore Magnet Application and testing deadlines:
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Application deadline: February 3rd at 4:30 p.m.
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Admissions testing in January (Families do not need to pre-register unless their student needs a 504 or Special Education accommodation). All testing will be located in the Fulmore Cafeteria.
Session 2: January 21st: 8:00-10:00 a.m. (Last Names A-L) or 11:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m. (Last Names M-Z)
Session 3: January 28st: 8:00-10:00 a.m. (Last Names A-L) or 11:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m. (Last Names M-Z)
Screening at Anderson tonight
Do you wonder if your student is spending too much time on technology devices? Do you wonder how technology maybe impacting your student’s development? Do you have challenges navigating your student’s digital world? Then plan on attending the screening of Screenagers on the evening of January 18th at the Anderson High School Theater at 7 PM with other parents with the same ‘wonderings’.