
Hornet Herald
News and notes for the week of January 17th, 2022
Have a Happy Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day!
Out of an abundance of caution the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Service day in Kealing Gardens has been cancelled
The January CAC meeting has been resecheduled to January 27th
A - Week!
Courtyard Lunch Assignments for the week of 1/18/2022
Principal's Message to Hornet Families for the week of 1/18/2022
Great evening fantastic families,
As we embark upon our 3rd week of the Spring semester, I am reminded of my favorite Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Quote, "The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in times of comfort and convenience, but where he stands in times of challenge and controversy". To my knowledge, there has never been a more challenging time in education than today, but I am confident we will get through this together and become stronger because of it. This past week we had great participation at our Virtual Principal's Coffee event, our scholars completed MAP testing in Math & English, and we enjoyed girls’ soccer and boys’ basketball victories. This upcoming week we look for more of the same coupled with an amazing learning experience despite the pandemic we are living through. On January 21st our Cyberpatriots will compete for another state championship led by KMS Coding teacher Anita Johnson. We look forward to GREAT results. Unfortunately, we had to cancel January service day event and reschedule our CAC meeting. AISD has adjusted the COVID Flowchart. To keep our community informed we have included it below. Thank you for choosing Kealing Middle School and Austin ISD as your child's primary educator.
#BEGREATmentality #ProgressNotPerfection
PTA Corner!
Happy New Year! Thank you to everyone who attended the PTA membership meeting on Thursday morning. The next meeting will be on February 3rd at 8 am on zoom.
With the additional outdoor seating purchased by the PTA, our kids have more outdoor eating options at lunchtime. This requires extra adults to supervise! If you can spare an hour or two once a week, it would be greatly appreciated. If you'd like to help, you can let us know your availability here: https://forms.gle/KFPkc7UVLU5dbuhe6 Thank you!
At our December PTA meeting, the student council presented a proposal to give the teachers stipends if they host an after school club. The PTA executive board decided to use the extracurricular budget funds to pay each teacher $100/semester to host a club. We know it's not a significant amount of money, but it's available in the budget and it's at least a small token of gratitude for taking on the extra work.
Our fundraising goals are below where we would like them to be in order to do all the projects we were hoping to this year. Keep an eye out for more information about fundraising.
Not a Kealing PTA member, yet? Click the link below to join Kealing PTA.
Happy Holidays!
The Kealing PTA Executive Board
2021-2022 Initiatives and Goals
1.) Daily Formative Assessment
2.) Literacy in Every Classroom
3.) Standards Aligned Instruction
4.) Progress Monitoring
Academic Goal
Utilizing an array of assessments (MAP- Measure of Academic Progress, SCA - AISD Short Course Assessment, and STAAR - State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness), the percentage of each demographic/special group of students performing at the meets level in Math & English will increase by at least 5% - 10% from August 17th, 2021 to May 27th,2022.
Social Goal
- TBA (we are still working on this but planning to look at the types of counseling visits our students are requesting)
KMS Safety Protocols as of 1/16/2021
All Day
Mask wearing is mandatory
Before School
All staff, students, and visitors are encouraged to self screen for COVID 19 symptoms before entering into a campus or other Austin ISD Facilities each day
Arrival
- We will maintain outdoor markers to social distance
Transition
- we will encourage moving halls where students are encourage to not stop while transitioning to classes
- staggered release
Classrooms
- We are seating/desks at least 3 feet apart when feasible
- Each classroom has a HEPA (High Efficiency Particulate Air) filtration unit
- Personal Protective Equipment will be available in each room
- Plexiglass dividers available
- Additional outdoor seating (2 outdoor classrooms & the courtyard if teachers plan to use)
Breakfast & Lunch
- Assigned seating
- Students are allowed to eat lunch both inside the cafeteria and outside in the courtyard
- Plexiglass accordian dividers
-Volunteer lunch monitors
- The courtyard comfortably seats 4 classes, which is from 25% - 100% of the lunch capacity for each lunch period.
Dismissal
- we will have staggered dismissal where scholars will be dismissed by areas of the building to reduce traffic.
Upcoming Dates
Monday - January 17th - No School is observance of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day
Tuesday - January 18th - A Day (1st - 4th Periods)
Wednesday - January 19th - B Day (5th - 8th Periods)
Thursday - January 20th - A Day (1st - 4th Periods)
Kealing Boys Basketball vs Lamar Middle School @ 6p & 7p
Friday - January 21st - B Day (5th - 8th Periods)
Saturday - January 22nd
Kealing Girls Soccer vs O'Henry Middle School @ 9a, O'Henry Middle School
Next Week
1/27 - Thursday CAC Meeting @ 4p
1/27 - Kealing Boys Basketball vs Murchison @ 6p & 7p
2/1 - February Principal's Coffee @ 8am, location-tbd
2/5 - Kealing Girls Soccer vs Murchison, @ 9a at Murchison Middle School
This Past Week on Campus
Announcements!
Kealing Vespa wins the Crown Award!
In December, the 2020-21 Kealing yearbook was recognized for two national honors.On December 15, the Columbia Scholastic Press Association announced the Kealing Vespa as a Crown Award winner. The Crown Awards honor top student publications chosen from a field of 817 eligible publications. Crown Finalists are actual winners, not nominees. Some will be announced as Gold Crowns; the rest are Silver Crowns. Final results will be announced and presented at the CSPA ceremonies in March 2022.
The following day, December 16, the National Scholastic Press Association announced its finalists for scholastic journalism’s preeminent award, the Pacemaker Award. Pacemaker winners will be announced at the spring convention in Los Angeles.
In both contests, entries were judged by teams of professionals based on the following criteria: coverage and content; quality of writing and reporting; leadership; design; photography; and graphics.
Way to go Girls Soccer!
CCCN Resources and Events
- TCiNN Workshop - Intro to Project WET: learn all about the water based curriculum Project WET with their sampler workshop on January 22 at 10:00am CT. This workshop will provide you with activities you can do in your classroom to discuss all aspects of water education. The workshop will feature 2 hours of pre-work online and two hours at your closest Project WET Coordinator site. Texas Children in Nature Network (TCiNN) will let you know individually where you will be doing the second portion of the training.
- Bike Maintenance 101 with Yellow Bike Project - learn basic bike maintenance with Yellow Bike Project volunteer mechanics on Sun, Jan 30. During this class, participants will learn about maintaining tires, tubes, brakes, cables, bearings, and drivetrains to help ensure safe and pleasant rides. City of Austin employees have free entry.
- Arts + Culture on the Butler Trail - The Trail Foundation is currently accepting applications from artists, designers, and creatives who live in Austin or have lived experience in the city, and who identify as traditionally non-white (Black, Chicano, Hispanic, Latino, Asian American, Indigenous). This call is for (but not limited to) visual, literary, spoken word, music, sound design, performance, dance, textile, and environmental arts backgrounds; designers in the fields of environmental, fashion, graphic, industrial, and similar design fields; as well as people who practice creative cultural traditions. Three creatives will be paid to collaborate on the design and installation of floating wetlands on Lady Bird Lake in spring 2022, incorporating artistic components and ecological function to the project. Applications are due February 4, 2022.
Julia Hill (she/her)
Program Coordinator – Cities Connecting Children to Nature
City of Austin | Parks & Recreation Department | Park Planning Division
+1 512-974-9466 | julia.hill@austintexas.gov
PTA Membership
Kealing prides itself on fostering a supportive & caring community, and one way it does that is through the Parent-Teacher Association. The PTA comprises families, teachers, administrators, students, and community members dedicated to enriching every student learning experience.
Your PTA membership makes Kealing a great community and unique learning environment. While our memberships number is at an impressive 486 members, we are 150 members short of the Texas PTA 3-year-high award. Let's finish this year with the largest PTA that Kealing has ever seen!!
To join the Kealing PTA hive, click the link below:
www.kealingpta.org
If you have Kealing PTA membership questions, please email Shannan Riemer, vpmembership@kealingpta.org.
Why Join PTA? Watch this video to learn more about why you should join the Kealing PTA: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzGtGcYdEFs
Please contact Kealing membership VP, Shannan Riemer, vpmembership@kealingpta.org, with any membership questions, comments, or concerns.
Yearbook Recognition Ads are Available! Pre-Order Your Yearbook Today!
How To Order Guide (https://drive.google.com/file/d/1b6bv9eEqfKqLAyzyyYIIeYCaz3_e_xXY/view?usp=sharing)
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