Eagle Update: February 24, 2023

Hello BHE Families,

We look forward to some exciting events as February ends and March begins. Friday will be our Book Character Day. Please see the flyer below for details, and parents are welcome to come to see the parade starting at 8:15.

We want to encourage you to check out our updated (and still hopefully user-friendly) Barton Hills Website at:

Barton Hills Elementary School (austinschools.org). We are working to keep the website updated with current information, school-wide announcements and dates, staff information, and useful links.

Finally, I want to remind parents (and students) about using cell phones and telecommunication devices (like Apple Watches) at school. The district permits students to possess personal cell phones and other telecommunication devices for safety purposes; however, these devices must remain turned off and put away in a student's backpack during the instructional day. Personal devices such as Apple Watches can be permitted but may NOT be used for texting, recording, taking photos, making phone calls, allowing other students to make phone calls, playing games, etc., during the school day. We also need parents to be good role models and not text their children during the school day. If your child has an Apple Watch (or similar device) and inappropriate use is an issue, they will be asked to turn it off and put it away in their backpack or the teacher may take it up during the school day.

Please remind your student that personal telecommunication devices should not be used during the school day. If you need to message your child during the school day, please call or email your child's teacher or the front office.

During standardized testing, all communication devices (including watches) will remain turned off and put away.

Please check the calendar sections and Latest News for updates about our school. I say this every week and sincerely thank you for your support and for being part of this community. The love for our school is deep, and the collective advocacy for our extraordinary campus does not go unnoticed :).

** Parents/guests will line the inside of the track and students will line the outside of the track. You do not need to check in at the office.

The Barton Hills Elementary school and neighborhood park needs you! With the changing seasons and kids hard at play on campus, it's time for a little sprucing up. Join us to clear the cobwebs and make the school grounds at Barton Hills Elementary beautiful again. Sponsored and led by the BHE PTA Greenworks Committee and Friends of Barton Hills Park Committee.

Sign up here: https://givepul.se/bluo3m

Make Barton Hills Elementary Park Beautiful!

• When: Saturday, March 4th from 7 a.m. – 11 a.m.
• What jobs: Moving and spreading mulch and rock, planting plants, beautifying existing planters/beds, shade sail hanging, and more.
• What to bring: Show up with work gloves, a smile, and any tools (labeled with your name) that could help with yard work. We need mulch sleds, wheelbarrows, rakes, shovels, clippers, loppers, trimmers, and more.

Please contact Keith Hegner (keith.hegner@gmail.com) if you have any questions or want to volunteer any special skills or tools. We hope to see you all there!

Austin Ed Fund, AISD’s nonprofit education foundation, is participating in Amplify Austin Day on March 1-2. Early giving starts today.

The 2023 GT Student Showcase Theme is "Find the Good" which comes from a Jesse Owens quote:

"Find the good. It's all around you. Find it, showcase it and you'll start believing in it."

Note: We will only accept ONE link for each project submission. If students have multiple links, they need to find a way to organize/collect them into one link... for example they can create a Google Slide Deck or website and include all their links.

Austin ISD GT Student Showcase Website

The following changes have been approved by the Board of Trustees.

• Changed the Elementary Parent Conference Day / Secondary Professional Development Day / Student Holiday on Monday, September 25, 2023, in recognition of Yom Kippur

• Add a Staff Development / Student Holiday to Monday, November 13, 2023, in recognition of Diwali (Nov 12).

• Add an Elementary Parent Conference Evening to a single Elementary Parent Conference Day / Secondary Professional Development Day / Student Holiday on Friday, February 9, 2024

• Add a Staff Development / Student Holiday to Wednesday, April 10, 2024, in recognition of Eid al-Fitr.

These calendars maintain the necessary number of instructional minutes for students, and the number of required duty days (180) for teachers. The calendar would provide 84 instructional days in Fall, and 89 instructional days in Spring, for a total of 173 instructional days. The calendar adds one additional professional development day prior to previous years.

In August 2023, the District will convene a community task force to review feedback on previous calendars and discuss and propose calendars for future years starting with 2024-2025. The task force would also be asked to consider how to incorporate and recognize holidays important to students, staff, and the community. All interested parties need to apply using the Standard Membership Application, please mark AdHoc - Calendar Task Force.

Because of technical issues that directly affect Austin ISD’s online registration and transfer systems, all district registration processes for the 2023-24 school year are being pushed back one week. Those new dates are:

• Priority transfer window: January 16–February 7.

• General transfer window opens February 8.

Families enrolling in the current school year will not have to complete paper registration packets. In addition, out of district families will be able to register online.

Here are the important links for these two activities:

1. Enrollment landing page: https://www.austinisd.org/enroll

2. Important dates and deadlines: https://www.austinisd.org/transfer/dates-deadlines

3. For questions, please use the districts Let’s Talk https://www.austinisd.org/letstalk and click on “Student Services: Enrollment, Records, & Transfers”

Thank you to those of you who expressed concern about the decision around transfers into our school for the 2023-24 school year and advocated on behalf of our school community.

The district has considered the various points and perspectives that were brought up and has adjusted the Barton Hills transfer guidelines for the upcoming school year as follows:

• Barton Hills is now accepting priority transfers at all grade levels during the special priority window of Thursday, Feb. 23 through Friday, March 24. This includes siblings of students currently enrolled at Barton Hills and students requesting a majority-minority transfer. You may read about these transfer types at https://www.austinisd.org/transfer/priority-transfer.
• Since the districtwide priority transfer window has closed, parents/guardians should check “general” as their transfer type and include in the comments section “sibling” or “majority-minority,” to indicate this type of transfer.
• Barton Hills is no longer frozen at 1st grade. General transfers into kindergarten and 1st grade will be approved based on available space. The campus remains frozen to general transfers at the 2nd through 6th grade levels.

The district website has been updated to reflect these changes and we will be sharing this information with surrounding schools. Please feel free to share this news among your social networks.

As we prepare for the FY2024 Budget year, please join us in conversations about Austin ISD’s 2023-24 budget. There will be several occurrences between January and May to attend. Participants will have the opportunity to learn about the district's priorities, plans for staffing and programming, and how you can get involved in the budgeting process with your campus.

An updated calendar is available at https://www.austinisd.org/budget

March 3 - Book Character Day

March 4 - GreenWorks and "It's My Parks Day" Work Day

March 13 - 17 - Spring Break

March 31- Student/Staff Holiday

April 11 - Spring Individual and Class Picture Day

April 19: STAAR Reading- Grades 3,4,5

April 20 STAAR Reading Make-ups- Grades 3,4,5

April 25: STAAR Science- Grade 5

April 26: STAAR Science Make-ups- Grade 5

May 3: STAAR Math- Grades 3,4,5

May 4: STAAR Math Make-ups- Grades 3,4,5

*Please note that the campus will be closed to visitors on these dates.

As we head into the new semester of school, a few reminders about traffic and safety. It takes all of us to make arrival and dismissal a safe experience for our students. When you have 350 students arriving and leaving at the same time, it's always a good idea to pack your patience or leave earlier if time is a concern.

• The front circle drive is the place for drive-through drop off and pick up. If you need to get out with your child for any reason, please park in the neighborhood and walk up. Please do not use the front parking lot or the back parking lot.
• Do not use the right turn lane on Barton Hills Drive to drop off or pick up students. Parents have been dropping off students in the right turn lane to avoid waiting in line for the circle drive and then either pulling a U-Turn or pulling back out into the driving lane, causing several near-miss accidents. No one wants to start their morning or end their day with that!
• Crosswalks are to be used to cross the street for students and parents.
• When driving, please follow all stop signs and signals from our crossing guards.
• School Zones are hands free zones!
• School grounds are also dog -free zones - at drop off, pick up and during school events.

Together we can ensure our students start and end their day safely! Thank you!

We know parents are excited to support our school through volunteer opportunities - and we're excited to have you! ALL school volunteer opportunities will start with the classroom teacher or sponsoring staff member. For example, volunteer opportunities for the Library will be coordinated through Ms. Ewing; classroom gardening, field trips chaperones, classroom guest readers will be coordinated through the classroom teacher. Once teachers are ready for volunteers the following will happen:

1. We will set up the volunteer opportunity on the APIE website.
2. Teachers/Event Sponsor will email parents the name of the volunteer opportunity and directions for completing the background checks.
3. Mrs Ewing will let you know when the background check is complete
4. You will bring your driver's license to Kathy Carr in the office for verification
5. Once verification is complete, Mrs. Ewing will let you and the classroom teacher know you are cleared to volunteer.

If you have questions about the volunteer opportunities please contact your child's teacher.

If your child needs to leave early for an appointment, please notify your child's teacher and the front office. When you arrive at the school, you can come to the front door or call from your car and then we will call for your student. We will not call for students until you are here. With our new schedules (and a new phone number system) please leave PLENTY of time (at least 10 minutes) from the time you call us to the time your child is ready to leave. If you have an appointment right after school, it is best to pick up your student no later than 2:45 to avoid the dismissal crunch. **If you have not had your driver's license scanned into our Raptor System in the last year, we will ask you to bring in your driver's license to the office***

Masks:

With the beginning of the 2022-2023 school year, students, staff and visitors are not required to wear face masks when on school properties, unless they have tested positive for COVID-19. Note: Per CDC guidance, individuals with a positive COVID-19 result will be required to wear a mask for five days after returning from quarantine/isolation.

• Masks are not required, but are encouraged at any time of the school day or in any school space.
• Masks are optional at all times.Face masks will continue to be provided for any student, staff, or visitor upon request.

• All students, staff, and visitors will be allowed to make their own choice.
  

Close Contact and Contact Tracing

• Campus administrators will notify all families of positive cases on the campus using a standard notification letter. Individual classroom letters will not be sent home.

• With masking now being optional, all students and staff at the campus may be considered close contacts when there is a positive case identified.

• Campus Administrators will not be required to track close contacts.

• Any asymptomatic individual (except those who have tested positive) may remain at school as long as they are asymptomatic.

Testing Availability

• Testing sites are located at specified district sites and can be found on the COVID-19 district webpage.

• All sites will accept insurance, medicaid, and self-pay.

• Site will be updated whenever vaccines are available.

Temperature Guidelines

• Temperature guidelines have been established in order to provide a safe and healthy environment for students participating in outdoor activities at Austin ISD.

• The listed temperatures, heat indexes, and wind-chill factors are designated figures for terminating and/or modifying outdoor activities including: Athletics, Fine Arts, PE, and recess.

• AISD_Temperature Weather Guidelines_2022-2023
  

Our PTA is the best! Please check out the link for the latest PTA Newsletter below and sign up to receive them directly:

http://bheeagles.com/eagle-news/

Website: https://bartonhills.austinschools.org/
Location: 2108 Barton Hills Drive, Austin, TX, USA
Phone: 512-414-2013
Facebook: facebook.com/BartonhillsPTA
Twitter: @bheeagles