News for the Nest
Clayton Family Update for April 14, 2023
Greetings from the Principal
Hello Cardinal Family,
Please take a few minutes to complete online registration for next year. We are busy planning for staffing/class sizes and need to have all current students registered now. The goal for this early registration is to know where our students will be next year. If you are not 100% sure about next year, it's better to register now and adjust later. Please use this link to access our portal and use the Student Registration tile:
Please contact our registrar, Amy Turnage, with any registration questions: amy.turnage@austinisd.org
With Cardinal pride,
Karen McCollum
Nan Clayton Elementary Principal
UPCOMING EVENTS
Monday, Apr 17
Tuesday, Apr 18
3:15 Care Club in Room 209
Wednesday, Apr 19
- Happy Birthday Kathy Rush, dyslexia intervention teacher!
STAAR - Reading for 3rd, 4th, and 5th grades *no visitors please including lunch*
Friday, Apr 21
Please check out our events for the current semester (link). This is a list of combined school-led and PTA-led events. All events are subject to change.
Link to Austin ISD district calendar
Attendance Spotlight
We want to boost our daily attendance! We’ll track our progress here week by week.
Our school’s current year overall attendance rate is 95.4%
Goal: May 25 we hit at least 96% for our overall attendance rate.
Let’s all work together to surpass our 96% goal!
NEW UPDATES
Cultural Celebration was a huge success!
THANK YOU to families that joined us for our Clayton Cultural Celebration on April 4! We had an AMAZING turn out, with over 50 students performing and hundreds of students, parents, staff, and community members present. We hosted booths and snacks from around the world. It was a great time for community and connection. A special thank you to our Student MC's and our PTA's Committee for Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion (DEI) for making this special night a huge success.
Students Mixed It Up at lunch!
Students across Clayton participated in an activity called Mix It Up Lunch on Thursday, April 15. Mix It Up was organized by our No Place for Hate student committee. The purpose of Mix It Up is to allow all students to meet other Cardinals who might not be in their own class during a structured lunch activity. Students were given different colored wristbands and sat at that color table. Our counselors provided conversation topics and sentence stems to promote positive conversation among students. We feel Mix It Up is a great way for our students to learn about different perspectives and make new connections.
Please complete the Parent Survey - we value your feedback!
*So far, we have 70 family responses. Ms. McCollum's goal is least 250 responses. Let us hear from you!*
We are currently surveying Austin ISD families in order to gain insight into your perception of our school and district effectiveness. To ensure we continue to provide high-quality, rigorous learning experiences that meet the needs of our learners and prepare them for college and career, we need your feedback. We want to know what you think.
To administer these surveys, we have partnered with Panorama Education to conduct our 2022-23 Family Survey. Panorama safeguards your privacy, keeping your responses
confidential. The survey shouldn’t take more than a few minutes to complete and will be a valuable source of information for us as we work to make our schools and district as
good as they can be.
You may complete the survey online now through April 8, 2022 using a
computer, tablet, or smartphone by visiting the website
surveys.panoramaed.com/austinisd/family
We thank you in advance for your responses.
Student Council hosts Pet Supplies Drive!
It's a RUFF life out there for some Austin cats and dogs. Our 5th Grade Student Council hopes to make their lives as PURRfect as possible by providing some much-needed items.
CATS vs DOGS: A Popularity Contest
Student Council will tally the donated cat and dog items. Whoever gets more items will be deemed the most PAWpular Pet!
STAAR is coming
Our 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade students will be taking the STAAR test on three specific days in April and May. STAAR is one important indicator that our staff, as well as local and state leaders, use to gauge student achievement and student progress.
Our STAAR testing days are:
Wednesday, April 19 - Reading Language Arts STAAR - 3rd, 4th, and 5th grades
Monday, April 24 - make-up day for Reading Language Arts
Wednesday, April 26 - Science STAAR - 5th grade only
Monday, May 1 - make-up day for Science STAAR - 5th grade only
Thursday, May 4 - Math STAAR - 3rd, 4th, and 5th grades
Monday, May 8 - make-up day for Math STAAR - 3rd, 4th, and 5th grades
Please ensure your student is on time and present on their STAAR testing days, unless they are sick. Students who are not present on STAAR testing days will take the make-up test on the designated make-up day.
No visitors will be allowed on campus these days, including for lunch. The purpose of this is to minimize distractions for students.
Thank you for your support. Please reach out to your child’s teacher and an administrator if you have any questions.
PREVIOUS UPDATES
Have you registered for next year?
Please take a few minutes to complete online registration for next year. We are busy planning for staffing/class sizes and need to have all current students registered now. The goal for this early registration is to know where our students will be next year. If you are not 100% sure about next year, it's better to register now and adjust later. Please use this link to access our portal and use the Student Registration tile:
Please contact our registrar, Amy Turnage, with any registration questions: amy.turnage@austinisd.org
Clayto's Playland Spring Carnival is coming April 28!
Mark your calendars for our Spring Festival! Please check out this link to volunteer. Thank you to our amazing PTA for hosting this fun event!
INFO FOR FAMILIES of 5th GRADERS - Transition to Middle School
If you have a 5th grader this year, please check out Gorzycki Middle School's fine arts offerings at this link
WAYS TO ENGAGE AT CLAYTON
Still Have Volunteer Opportunities - Lunch
Cafeteria Monitor Volunteers: We need your help! Come hang out with us in the cafeteria- finally meet this "Mr. Chris", the cafeteria manager that all the kids talk about. Fill out this form if you want to join our volunteer team.
ALL VOLUNTEERS MUST COMPLETE A BACKGROUND CHECK HERE: https://austinpartners.org/
How to Report a Student Absence
In the event that your child will be missing school, please follow these steps:
1) Email both your child's teacher and Deanna McDonald, attendance clerk, at deanna.mcdonald@austinisd.org
2) Please include your child's first and last name
3) Please provide the reason for the absence so we can code it correctly in our attendance system.
Trail of Resolution
The Trail of Resolution is a problem-solving path we will use at Clayton Elementary. The purpose of the Trail of Resolution is to address questions and concerns in an effective and efficient manner. If you have a question or concern, first contact the person who is directly involved in the situation. For example, if you have a question or concern about something in the classroom, first contact the teacher to seek clarification. Follow the trail if the concern persists.
Teacher → Assistant principal → Principal
Arrival and Dismissal times for 2022-23
7:15 - campus opens
7:15-7:35 - breakfast served in cafeteria
7:35 - 1st bell rings
7:40 - SCHOOL STARTS
3:05 - dismissal begins
3:10 official end of the school day
Stay Connected!
Website: Clayton has a beautiful and informative new website: https://clayton.austinschools.org/
PTA website (link)
Join our PTA (link)
Weekly News for the Nest: weekly newsletter to families from the principal, Karen McCollum