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Pony Express
WEEKLY NEWSLETTER OF O. HENRY MIDDLE SCHOOL
Week of April 17-23, 2023
In this Edition
NEW featureed items will be in BOLD
- Quick News-Save the Dates
- STAAR Bell Schedule and Testing Schedule
- School Calendar for the week
- Counseling Center Corner- High School Credit Drop Deadline, New Lunch Hangout, Course Verifications, GSA Club restarting this week.
- Athletics-Track Schedule--Zone Schedule for Monday and Tuesday
- Grade Level News-This Week in ACES, 8th Grade End of the Year Field Trip, Gifted and Talented Showcase
- Fine Arts News-Choir News, Jazz Band News, All City Jazz Band, Guitar/Choir Field Trip, Art in Action-Highlighting Student Art each Week
- Library News- Author Visit April 19th- Newberry Award Winner Donna Barba Higuera
- Elective Course News-Native Plants and Animals Plant Request List
- Campus Advisory Counsel-Budget Meeting this Tuesday, April 25
- PTA News-NEW-PTA Audit, Calling for PTA Board, SAVE THE DATE- Cornhole Tournament
- Registration for 2023-2024 school year
- From AISD--AISD Family Survey- Window to complete from March 20-April 14, Events and News--All in for AHS Future Global Studies Parent Social, Model UN, Summer Camp with Verizon now open-- FREE Summer STEM Camp, Girls Empowerment Network Event.
QUICK NEWS
Week of April 17-23
7:00 Tennis Practice
6:00 Track Meet- Zones at Burger Center- Girls Running Events, Boys Field Events
Tuesday, 4/18 "B" Day
7:00 Tennis Practice
6:00 Track Meet- Zones at Burger Center- Girls Field Events, Boys RunningEvents
Wednesday, 4/19 "A" Day
4:00, HW Club, GSA Club
6:00 Tennis vs. Paredes @ Paredes
Thursday, 4/20 "B" Day
STAAR English Language Arts and Reading Assessment
Friday, 4/21 "C" Day
Saturday, 4/22
6th grade Orchestra Solo and Ensemble at OHMS
COUNSELOR CORNER
High School Drop Deadline
Middle School students enrolled in the high school credit courses listed below, have the opportunity to drop the course so that the course and grade do not appear on the high school transcript. The deadline to make this change is Friday, April 21, 2023. In order to make this change, please reach out to your child's teacher for the appropriate course. Counselors will change the student to a middle school credit course with the same teacher in the same period, so no changes will be made to their physical schedule.
Students who remain in the course past the deadline will have the class and the grade posted on the high school transcript and will have the grade calculated in their high school grade point average (GPA).
With a month left of projects, tests, and a midterm, this can be a difficult decision to make. Please contact your child's teacher to make sure you understand your child's progress and options. If you would like to drop the course please sign the Opt Out form from your child's teacher.
HS CREDIT COURSES for this April 21st deadline:
Geometry - megan.aguilar@austinisd.org
HS Art - jenny.parker@austinisd.org
Health (only semester 2 students) - Macie.cohen@austinisd.org
French 1 & 2 - rebecca.harrison@austinisd.org
Spanish 1 - michael.jurkovic@austinisd.org
Spanish 2 - francisco.munoz@austinisd.org
Spanish for Spanish Speakers 3 or 4 - michael.jurkovic@austinisd.org
Principles of Arts, AV Tech, and Communications - gerard.castillo@austinisd.org
Digital Design and Media (Yearbook) - gerard.castillo@austinisd.org
PLTW: DM/AR - jerrod.wolfe@austinisd.org
Principles of Applied Engineering - jerrod.wolfe@austinisd.org
Principles of Business, Marketing, and Finance - dell.mann@austinisd.org
Digital Media - luke.borders@austinisd.org
Digital Communications in the 21st Century (Mustang News) - Luke.borders@austinisd.org
***The deadline for Algebra 1 and semester 1 Health have passed and we can no longer drop students from those courses.
New Lunch Hangout
We know that the cafeteria isn't for everyone. While many kids enjoy the library or brain lab we thought another space would be welcome. The counselors have set up room 401 for students to eat and hang out in a smaller setting. It continues to be a work in progress but it's ready to host students! At this time students can speak to the counselors about getting a pass.
Donations requested for 401 (used items ok!):
Microwave
Board Games
Playing Cards
Precut Tennis Balls (Amazon link, 4 sets needed)
Where are the Course Requests?
We have had a lot of questions about course requests. We submitted the report two weeks ago but there has been an issue with the email program that sends it out. We thought it would be sent by Friday but just got notified there will be an additional delay. We apologize for the inconvenience. Please continue to keep an eye out for them in your inbox!
GSA is starting back up!
Genders & Sexualities Alliances, or GSAs for short, are student-run organizations that unite LGBTQ+ and allied youth to build community and organize around issues impacting them in their schools and communities.
We are excited to bring GSA back to O. Henry. Students do not need to sign up in advance. This is a safe space for all students who identify as or support the LGBTQ+ community. GSA will be held on Wednesdays from 4-5pm in room 401 starting this week!
ATHLETICS
Track and Field
Our Zone Championship Track & Field meet is on Monday and Tuesday! The meet will start at 6:00 at Burger Stadium on both nights. Girls running events and boys field events will be on Monday, and boys running and girls field will be on Tuesday.
*The Fentanyl presentation at OHMS on Monday night will be recorded if your student is competing on Monday.
FINE ARTS NEWS
Choir News!
Congratulations to the following Choir members for their participation in the very first Austin ISD Tenor Bass Choir"
8th Grade - Luke Gonzalez
7th Grade - Jonah Rodriguez
6th Grade - Oakland Massey
These students practiced with the other tenor bass students in the district on Thursday April 13th and performed a wonderful concert
at the AISD Performing Arts Center that evening. Here's a fun recording of their Finale
Jazz Band News
The jazz band played a great concert on Weds. April 13th with the Austin High School Vertical Team.
Groups from O. Henry MS, Small MS, and Austin High School celebrated the 30th anniversary of the Jazz Band Dinner Dance.
The dinner dance was held in the cafeteria at Austin High School and the taco bar dinner from Cabo Bob's was delicious.
Thank you to all of the friends and parents who attended this event. If you have any photos from this event, please send a copy to jennifer.boltz@austinisd.org
All-City Jazz Band
Congratulation to the following 8th grade students for being selected to represent O. Henry MS for the All-City Jazz Ensemble.
Jack Moore, Trumpet
Will Achtermann, Trombone
Jacques Noguess, Guitar
These students will rehearse briefly with students from across the district and perform at the AISD PAC on Thursday April 27. The concert will begin at 6:30 PM featuring the All-City Middle School and All-City High School Jazz Ensembles.
Guitar/Choir News
Guitar and Choir students will be having a fun time at Six Flags in May. The 7th & 8th grade students will be going to Six Flags Over Dallas in Arlington, Tx on May 6th, and the 6th grade students will be going to Six Flags Fiesta Texas on Saturday May 13.
The students will also be traveling with the Band and Orchestra students as we celebrate our year of team building and music making. Please complete payment for the trips online - you can search "Six Flags" - or follow this link. Permission forms were distributed during class and should be returned by Weds. April 19.
If you need a new form or more information, please contact jennifer.boltz@austinisd.org This is an optional activity.
Art in Action
Matthew Prieto-6th Gr
Finley Perez-7th Gr
Jaret Santos Sanchez-8th Gr
Grade Level News
This Week in ACES
- Lesson from Mustang Student Council
- Have Outside Time with their ACES grade
- Have a Study Hall and Do a Backpack Cleanout
- Participate in a Student Technology Inventory Check (chargers and Chromebooks)
- Review the Tardy Report
- ACES Teams play in Kickball
8th grade End of the Year Trip--Wednesday, May 24th
"We are going to Typhoon Texas this year for our EOY 8th grade field trip.
Permission forms have been handed out through science and should be returned to science teachers. They are due by March 31st. Please click on the link below for information about the field trip and payment. If you have questions, please email Crystal Gaffney or Megan Aguilar."
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1b2bqlWjkK1aWR4VUfM1a-QU-PWFB-gVC386Chsk5pTA/edit
7th grade End of the Year Trip
Hello 7th grade Parents,
Last week 7th grade students received information (three forms and an information sheet) about our end of year 7th grade field trip.
Please fill out the forms (purple, blue, and yellow), and encourage your student to return them ASAP to their ACES teacher.
If you have questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to Amber Bass Patterson, amber.bass-patterson@austinisd.org.
Here is the information sheet:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/17yhpgFVBe1LLtRiLGSU4en7agpooe4LmMEjWW4QMdto/edit?usp=sharing
6th grade End of the Year Trip- Wednesday, May 24th
Library News
Author visit coming soon
On Wednesday, April 19th, O. Henry will host Newbery Award winning author Donna Barba Higuera to discuss her book, The Last Cuentista, and role of storytelling in society. School Library Journal called it "a keep-you-up-all-night, compulsively readable science fiction novel that offers much food for thought." Books will be available for purchase at the event or you can preorder through the BookPeople event page: https://www.bookpeople.com/school-events/spring23/event/var/donna-barba-higuera Books can be signed at the event.
O. HENRY CAMPUS ADVISORY COUNCIL (CAC)-- MUSTANG COUNCIL
Speaking at a CAC Meeting
Our next CAC meeting will be TUESDAY, APRIL 25 from 4:00-5:15.
If you are interested in speaking to our CAC using our citizen communication time, please email our CAC Co-chairs Paula Cook (paula.cook@austinisd.org) or Suzzane Perez (suzannep@gmail.com)
Meeting Agendas and Meeting Minutes can be found on our campus web page.
Citizen Communications is the first item on the agenda and is time set aside for non-members to make comments to the CAC. The co-chairs may limit the time given to individual speakers and will ensure that the districts "Citizens Communication and Visitor Guidelines" are applied. Under these guidelines, except for requests for clarification, dialogue shall not occur between the speaker and the members. If the CAC is interested in hearing more from a speaker, the speaker may be invited to a future meeting and be placed on the agenda. The CAC may also call a special meeting specifically for the purpose of open-dialogue with non-members but it must be posted for discussion on specific topics.
PTA NEWS
PTA Audit
PTA Positions for 2023-2024 School Year
President Elect
Treasurer Elect
Secretary
VP Communications
VP Ways and Means
VP Support
OTHER AISD SCHOOL NEWS
Registration for 2023-2024 School Year
Hello, Mustang Parents!
I hope this message finds you and your family well.
This is a reminder to register your student to O. Henry for the upcoming school year, 2023-24. If your student plans to attend O. Henry next year, you must register him/her online as soon as possible.
Your student registration is also critical to helping us determine how many students we will have in each class, and how many teachers we will need.
Please keep in mind that student registration must be repeated each year, even if yours is a returning student. Filling out the class choice sheet does not mean your student has already registered.
Follow the link according to what applies to you (new or returning). If there are any documents that you're unable to upload, you are welcome to email them to me
(lizbeth.rodriguez-loza@austinisd.org). Please be sure to include your student's name in any emailed communications.
Also, if you run into any technical problems with the website or your login, please call our Parent Support Line at 512.414.9187.
All in For AHS
Parents of Future Maroons are invited to get a jump start on impacting your student’s high school education by attending ALL IN for AUSTIN HIGH, the only school-wide fundraising event supporting academic and experiential programming at Austin High, including:
Our innovative four-academy structure
Travel and field trip opportunities for all students
Challenging and diverse academic experiences for all students
A wide variety of electives and extracurricular opportunities
Join us for a sneak peek at ALL the great things happening at Austin High, connect with current parents, teachers, staff and alumni and help ensure ALL Austin High students have excellent academic opportunities. It will be a fun night of friends and fundraising where 100% of the proceeds will go to academic and extracurricular programming at Austin High School that benefits ALL students in ALL academies.
ALL IN for AUSTIN HIGH
Saturday, April 15, 2023
6-9pm
Lions Municipal Golf Course
2901 Enfield Road
Ticket and sponsorship information is available at www.austinexcellence.com. Any and every level of participation by our parents and community makes a difference and we can’t do this without ALL of you! Questions? Contact Shannon Grethel at shannon_mullen@yahoo.com We hope to see you there!
FREE Summer STEM Camp
Austin Community College is partnering with Verizon and the National Association for Community College Entrepreneurship (NACCE) to offer a free STEM learning summer opportunity. The VIL STEM Achievers program is a FREE four-week STEM camp for middle school students. The Verizon Innovative Learning STEM Achievers program will empower students to discover new skills and learn about careers in different technology fields through hands-on activities, mentorship, and technology. The camp will occur from June 6 - June 30 (Mon - Fri) and be held in person at our ACC Rio Grande Campus.
We will host several informational sessions via zoom. Please use the link below to sign up for an info session to learn more about the VIL STEM Achievers program.
RSVP here for an information session
Join Zoom Meeting
https://austincc.zoom.us/j/91933915628?pwd=UEZ5UTZJWDNaSzlTY0JYdFFlWnhYdz09
Meeting ID: 919 3391 5628
Passcode: 004147
Registration is now open for the camp; all middle school youths are welcome. Here is the link to register https://naccemeets.nacce.nacce.com/vil/home.