Kiker Comments: February 7, 2023

February

13 - PTA General Membership Meeting - right after drop off

15 - School Assembly; Guest Quan Cosby

15 - Evening Parent Teacher Conferences Available

16 - Evening Parent Teacher Conferences Available

17 - No PE

17 - Early Release Day - 1:30 Dismissal

20 - No School, Staff/Student Holiday

24 - Guest Author visit for 1st -3rd Grades, Dan Yaccarino and his new book, City Under the City

March

6 - CAC meeting, library 3:30

6-10 Book Fair

13 - 17 Spring Break

24 - International Night

31 - Cesar Chavez/Dolores Huerta Day - No School

20-31 Map Growth testing window for Reading and Math K-5

In the event that your child will be missing school, please follow these steps:

1) Email both your child's teacher and Ms. Amy McGovern, our registrar. Amy.mcgovern@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.

We are still waiting to hear from TEA if the waiver has been approved for make up days. At this time, we are unsure if make up days will be required or not. More information will be shared as soon as we have it.

Please honor the no parking zones. It is a safety issue, and we need everyone's help. Please do not park (or drop off) in the no parking zone on La Crosse right at the entry to the circle drive. Each time someone parks there, it limits the visibility of those that are entering the circle drive and puts our staff, students, and families at risk.

It is better to be late than to put others' safety at risk!

The Kiker cafeteria manager has shared with us the following menu adjustments. Please reference the red February lunch menu for all side items that accompany these main course options.

2/8 - Hamburger or veggie burger (reference the original February menu scheduled for 2/1)

2/9 Cuban Bowl with chicken or black beans; bean and cheese burrito (reference the menu: 2/2)

2/10 - Chicken tenders or baked alfredo garden pasta (see menu 2/3)

2/13 - TBD

2/14 - Crispy beef tacos or Tex-Mex Pizza (see menu 2/7)

2/15 - Spaghetti and chicken meatballs or manicotti (see menu 2/8)

2/16 - Chicken burger or veggie burger (see menu 2/9)

2/17 - Turkey peperoni pizza or cheese pizza (see menu 2/10)

Beginning on 2/21 we will be back on track and aligned with the paper menu.

In addition to the classroom curriculum and activities, your students and families can join these two district events:

Community Experience Opportunities

• FREE screening of The Anderson Yellow Jackets documentary with Alumni Panel Discussion

• February 4, 2023 | 1:15 - 3:15 p.m.

• Location: Austin Film Society Cinemas, 6259 Middle Fiskville Rd., Austin, TX 78752

• Space is limited. Please reserve your ticket.

• African-American Heritage Celebration at the Austin ISD Performing Arts Center

• February 24, 2023 | 6:30 p.m.

• Location: Austin ISD Performing Arts Center, 1500 Barbara Jordan Blvd, Austin, TX 78723

• Featuring student performances and student hosts from Travis Early College High School

The following students have advanced to the Reflections Program State-Level Judging. This is a wonderful achievement as nearly 60,000 students participate in the program annually and less than 3% of those advance to Texas PTA. Final results will be announced on March 15 via the Texas PTA website.

March 24th is Kiker International Night which is kicked off with a morning assembly. There are many ways for you and your kiddos to get involved and celebrate and showcase the diversity of our school. Visit our site to sign up by Feb 28th to host a booth, have your kiddo participate in the morning parade, and/or pre-record a greeting for morning assemblies leading up to the event.

Click here to sign up!

Join us on February 13th at 7:40am for our PTA General Membership Meeting and Coffee talk! Meet with school administrators for conversation, coffee, donuts and a raffle. Location TBD.

Kiker PTA thanks Club Z! for sponsoring the Staff Coffee Lounge for the month of February. Club Z! is an in-home tutoring and test prep service provider based in Southwest Austin, owned by Austinite Sabah Khan. Club Z! takes pride in providing expert tutoring to students looking to improve and succeed in their education careers. Club Z! focuses on hiring highly-qualified tutors who will prove to not only be great educators, but also great mentors. Their Tutor Match Guarantee promises to pair the right tutor with your student. A significant aspect of Club Z!'s tutoring service is helping students with various learning difficulties such as ADHD, dyslexia, dysgraphia, and mood anxiety disorders. Club Z!'s success is apparent when they see their Special Education students thriving under the 1:1 attention from Club Z! tutors.

2023 Yearbook On Sale Now! Don't miss out, order your yearbook today! jostensyearbooks.com

GT Humanities: Students who are identified GT or TE in Language Arts and/or Social Studies will select 1 or more advanced Humanities courses each year throughout middle and high school. Your child should choose the following courses* in middle school.

• Advanced English Language Arts/Reading

• Advanced Social Studies (Advanced World Cultures, Advanced Texas History)

*Students participating in the Dual Language Program, may also receive GT services through participation in their Spanish for Spanish Speakers Course (which is part of the pathway to taking AP Spanish in 8th grade).

GT STEM: Students who are identified GT or TE in Mathematics and/or Science will select 1 or more advanced STEM courses each year throughout middle and high school. While there is an Advanced Math option, the recommended course for GT and TE STEM students is Accelerated Math, which will prepare your child to take Algebra I (or Geometry) in 8th grade. Your child should choose the following courses in middle school.

• Accelerated Math

• Advanced Science

GMS Electives: https://www.smore.com/ahe57

Video on how to fill out your choice sheet:

Viewers will be able to see the entire choice sheet, but not actually fill it out yet. Encourage them to view this and review the Course Description Guide to be ready for the choice sheets (below).

Filling Out Your 6th Grade Choice Sheet

Reminders:

• Instrument Selection Day Sat, Feb 4th Drop in: Orchestra 8-1, Band 9-3

• Choice Sheet Night is Mon Feb 6th 5-7 pm come-n-go style

• Choice Sheet submission deadline: Friday, Feb 10th

Rising 6th Grade Choice Sheet - Gorzycki Middle School

If any students are interested in touring either one of these schools, please reach out to Mr. Macias.

A tour day is available for 2/24. Since these campuses are quite far for our area, we typically don't have students attend, but we still wanted to share the information.

For questions about these meetings, please email us at budget@austinisd.org or visit https://www.austinisd.org/budget for more information.

ALL CURRENT STUDENTS RETURNING TO AISD FOR THE 2023-2024 SCHOOL YEAR MUST COMPLETE ONLINE REGISTRATION.

PRE-K4 Registration will open in April. More information to come.

Please follow the link below to sign into your Parent Portal to complete this process.

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 contact Let’s Talk https://www.austinisd.org/letstalk and click on “Student Services: Enrollment, Records, & Transfers."

February

9 - Tarren Kingsley

11 - Tori Peterson

23 - Somin Lee

25 - Alberto Vasquez

26 - Vicente Macias

We have been working with various businesses and clubs to get new sessions for the spring. Check out the new and updated options.

This year we are encouraging 4th and 5th grade students to sign up for safety patrol for a two week block of time during the school year. Thank you for being a campus leader!

Students will drop backpack off in the front foyer/vestibule, sign in, grab a vest, and head out front. We need help waving cars to the front of the line, opening doors, and welcoming each child with a warm greeting or sending students off at the end of the day.

SIgn Up Genius Link

How To Video - This is the Training Video for Safety Patrol

Cory Matheny - Principal

Alma Chapa Moore - Assistant Principal

Kelly Zilem - Assistant Principal

Email: cory.matheny@austinisd.org
Website: https://kikerelementary.org/
Location: 5913 La Crosse Avenue, Austin, TX, USA
Phone: 512-414-2584
Facebook: facebook.com/CMathenyPrincipal
Twitter: @KikerComets