Bonjour, hola, and hello from AIS!

We hope you all have been enjoying your summer. Now that August is upon us, we wanted to send you a few items in preparation of the upcoming 2022-2023 school year. First and foremost, we want to extend a warm welcome to our new AIS families and students! We have 41 new families and 65 new students joining AIS this year! We are so glad to have you all at our school community. Bienvenue, bienvenidos, and welcome to the Abousselham, Assyad, Ayat, Beaufreton, Belanger, Benke, Boucaud, Chen, Courtois, Cruz Pineda, Dedun Gaviria, Fauchreau, Frassanito, Gorbett Begueret, Grau, Guruswamy, Hinton, Hoffer, Holtorf, Jarrous-Kalman, Jusko, Kabore, Khan, Khoshnood, Kokou-Abi, Li, LoForese, Matar, Nicol Barbosa, Nissi, Popivanova, Reymond-Christensen, Rockwood, Roussel, Sagnes, Sauveplane Tamez, Sinet, Standridge, Viaene, Villareal, and Wescott families. We are also excited to welcome siblings from the Freedman, Hillin, Matsumura, Moutran, Otalora, Reynolds, and Wigley families.

Make sure to check your inboxes each Friday during the regular academic year for our weekly newsletter. Friday Flash distribution emails come from your Family Web contact information you submitted during enrollment, so thank you for self-updating your contact information directly within your Family Portal as needed to receive these important school communiqués, as they contain a wealth of information about upcoming events and needs for our school. If you are not receiving our Friday Flash, check your spam, social, or promotions folders. If it’s there, add the sending address to your safe sender’s list. If it’s not there, reach out to us so we can confirm your email address. Remember that you are always able to find each issue on the school’s website under the News section and in the Announcements section of your Family Portal.

2022-2023 School Calendar & Family Handbooks.

Please reference this latest 2022-2023 school calendar to remain up-to-date about important school events for this upcoming school year. You may also download a PDF of the calendar for easy reference and printing.

For important school information, please reference the complete 2022-2023 Elementary Family Handbook and the 2022-2023 Middle School Family Handbook here. Important policy updates and other information will be shared at our Back to School Night on September 1st, so please mark your calendars.

School Hours

Please remember that our school hours are as follows:

• Grades PS-GS/PreK3-Kinder on M, T, Th, F 8:30 am - 3:45 pm
• Grades CP-4e/1st-Middle on M, T, TH, F 8:15 am - 3:45 pm
• On Wednesdays, school hours end at 2:45 pm for students from PS - CM2; Middle Schoolers have a full day on Wednesdays until 3:45 pm.
• On Wednesdays, all students (except Middle Schoolers) not signed up for the flat-rate Extended Care program must be picked up no later than 2:45 pm. We cannot accommodate ANY one-day care on Wednesdays due to limited staffing and to remain within student-teacher ratios for the proper care and safety of all our students.
• At this time, we cannot accommodate siblings of middle schoolers on Wednesdays during that first hour. If our staffing capacity changes as the year goes by, we are happy to update this policy and will notify those families accordingly.

• Any students not picked up at dismissal time on early release Wednesdays will be charged $5 per minute.

Yearbook Orders

The 2021-2022 yearbooks may be purchased for $41.89 plus tax through Tree Ring. Place your order in August or September to receive 10% off and they will be mailed to the school address. We will pass these out once school begins (revised). Order yours today here or at treering.com/1014743869961294. For each book ordered, Tree Ring will plant a tree in honor of AIS.

School Lunch Sign-up

School lunches are back! AIS has partnered with a new provider, Crave-It Nutrition, to deliver tasty and healthy meals to the school on Mondays through Thursdays. There will be varied hot and cold meal options priced between $4.50 and $6.00. Please check your inbox or the included flyer above for more details about how to set up your account so that you will be ready to place your orders for the new year. This lunch service is optional, and you may opt to pack a lunch from home instead. Regardless, all students should also bring 2 healthy snacks and a full water bottle with them daily.

• If you want to place an order for hot lunches for the first week of school (Thur., 8/18-Fri., 8/19, thank you for creating and account per the instructions and placing your order by this Sunday, 8/14 at noon.
• Regularly, however, orders must be placed by Fridays at 2:00 pm for the upcoming week, however, it is strongly suggested that you look at the lunch calendar and order by month to provide sufficient planning to our catering partner.

• Registration for Pizza Fridays will be facilitated via the Parent Teacher Organization and information will be shared at or before our Meet the Teachers event next Wednesday.

Extended Care Program Changes

AIS is offering limited availability to our flat rate Extended Care Program (ECP) this year due to increased school attendance, ongoing staffing shortages, and increased safety protocols. Registration for Extended Care has closed, and all spots are filled. Should spots open up at a later date, we will inform families at that time. Families who were enrolled received confirmation emails on Tuesday. While we understand the limited capacity may not meet the needs of all our families, we value having a safe and quality afterschool program to meet our accreditation standards with the safety of all our students and staff in mind. Thank you for understanding our constraints and we encourage those who are not able to keep their students in this program to explore our Afterschool Activities (schedule and offerings have been updated) as alternative options or find independent or group share sitters.

Please note no extended care will be available the first week of school. If registered in the program, extended care will begin on Monday, August 22nd.

Afterschool Activity Registration is Open

Registration for our afterschool activities began this Wednesday, 8/10 and will continue through 9/2. Sign-up via your Family Portal as shown on page 2 of the Fall 2022 Activities Schedule by following these steps below.

• Log into your Family Web account with your user id and password. (Our school code is ai-tx).
• Access the Student menu on the left.
• Open up Course Requests.
• Make your course requests (one per drop down field).

School Supplies for 2022-2023

You may still order school supplies via Yubbler. Orders may be shipped directly to your home, and you can bring student supplies to the Meet the Teacher event on Wednesday, August 17th. To order directly through the site, follow the steps below. You can add everything to your cart or pick out individual items. Plus, Yubbler will generously donate 50% of the proceeds back to AIS! One-click ordering makes back-to-school shopping simple! Plus, all lists are teacher-approved, parents can customize orders (buy only what you need), items are quality, name-brand products you trust, items are priced at low prices with next-day shipping to your home, and the school gets half the profits! We recommend ordering items as soon as possible to get them in time for the school year.

To order through Yubbler follow these steps:

1. Visit Yubbler online for AIS here
   
2. Find your child's list by grade along the top under the circle icons.
3. You can add the full list (note some grades have additional items you may need to find elsewhere), or just pick the items you want.
4. Have them shipped to your home
5. Label each supply with your student's full first and last name.
6. Bring them to Meet the Teacher in August.

Though we make this option available to our families, you may certainly choose to procure items elsewhere. You may request the grade list by emailing reception. Please remember to write your student's first and last name on all items before bringing them to school in August.

Pick Up & Drop Off Procedures

AIS will utilize the PikmyKid platform to manage student drop-off and pick-up at our school. New families, be on the lookout for a message with these instructional videos about how to register with the app on your cell phone, how to delegate pickup, and more.

• PikMykid registration video
• PikMykid parent app video

We will send more details via email over the next couple of weeks and will have car and backpack tags for all students to pick up from teachers at our Meet the Teacher event on 8/17.

Parents will need to announce their arrival via the app in the afternoons before arriving on campus or when you see the PMK sign at the Coronet driveway. Please note, that your cell phone's location settings must be turned on to announce properly within the app.

For families moving from abroad, we are unable to set up your PikMyKid and student information without a US cell phone number. Please update your Family Web contact information with this information as soon as possible and we will get you squared away with PMK. Thank you.

Drop-Off and Pickup Locations (UPDATED)

All students in CP/1st Grade through Middle School will be dropped off and picked up via the carline underneath the portico. To increase school safety, we will not use separate outside entrances by grade this year. Students will enter the school through the large doors at the foyer.

PLEASE NOTE THIS UPDATE to Cycle 1 Drop-off/Pick-up:

All students in Cycle 1 (PS/PreK3, MS/PreK4, and GS/Kinder) will be dropped off and picked up at left front double doors across from reception. Parents will need to park in the front and side of the building and walk their students up to the school and a teaching assistant will meet you to escort students to the classrooms. No entrance will be allowed via other outside doors to increase our safety procedures. Cycle 1 family members will say their goodbyes outside of the school and will be in great hands for the rest of the school day.

Driving on Campus: School Entrance and Exits

The school remains a one-way via the entrance on Coronet Street. The Adelphi Lane driveway is exit only! Cycle 1 families will need to enter the drive-through line via the Coronet driveway, and drive around to the front of the school to park and walk their children in at drop-off and for pickup. For the safety of all, drivers must adhere to the 5 miles per hour limit while on our campus. Parking at the rear of the school is strictly prohibited for non-staff members.

New Spaces at AIS

When you arrive on campus, you will see new portables in the rear of the school funded by an EANS grant. These buildings will serve as administrative offices. The permitting and electrical work is in process before they are fully operational, and we look forward to utilizing these new spaces as our campus grows.

New Family Meet and Greet - Wed., 8/17 2:00 - 3:00 pm

We will have a special hour just for the new students and families joining AIS on Wednesday, August 17th right before our Meet the Teacher event. Join us for a mini reception, to pick up your new student welcome packet, and meet other families and students new to AIS.

Meet the Teachers-Wed., 8/17 3:00 - 5:00 pm

All families are encouraged to attend our Meet the Teachers event on Wednesday, August 17th from 3:00 - 5:00 pm. Families will be able to drop by for short visits during that window. Please understand, that our teaching teams will need to have time to welcome all their class students and families during this visit; as such, teachers will not have time to have in-depth one-on-one conversations. Please note, however, that there will be future opportunities to learn more about the year ahead and ask questions. See the save the dates at the bottom of this newsletter for other school events, and in particular, our Back to School Night which will be held on Thursday, September 1st. During that event, you will be able to learn more from your child's classroom teachers about the year ahead, class needs and expectations, curriculum and program information, and more.

We will also welcome you to purchase items via the honor system from the PTO's Uniform Exchange ($1 - $5 each) and collect Pizza Friday registrations. Thank you for understanding we will not have change on hand. Additionally, we will also have Afterschool Activities registration at this event. You may view a draft of the Fall ASA Schedule here and more offerings may be added in the future.

First Day of School - Thur., 8/18

We can't wait to see you all back on Thursday, August 18th for the first day of the 2022-2023 school year.

• Drop-off for students in PS, MS, and GS is between 7:45 am and 8:30 am.
• Drop-off for students in CP and up is between 7:45 am and 8:15 am.
• All students are considered tardy past the times above and will need to obtain a tardy slip at reception to go to class.
• Pickup for students in PS, MS, & GS is between 3:15 pm and 3:45 pm daily except Wednesdays at 2:15 pm and 2:45 pm
• Pickup for students in CP to 4e is between 3:30 pm and 3:45 pm daily except Wednesdays at 2:30 pm and 2:45 pm
• Students registered for the Extended Care program in GS and up will be picked up from the drive-through line under the portico between 3:45 pm and 6:00 pm M, T, Th, & Fr (2:45 pm to 6:00 pm on Wednesdays)
  
• Students registered for the Extended Care program in PS & MS will be picked up from reception between 3:45 pm and 6:00 pm M, T, Th, & Fr. Parents should park and come inside and wait in the lobby for extended care students in Prek3 & Prek4. (2:45 pm to 6:00 pm on Wednesdays)

August School Spirit Night-Tue., 8/30

AIS is excited to partner with Phil's Icehouse & Amy's Ice Cream for our first monthly Spirit Night of the year on Tuesday, August 30th at their Lake Creek location on 183N. AIS patrons may actually go all day from 11 am to 11 pm, so order your business lunch and then grab dinner with other members of the AIS community from 4:00 - 8:00 pm for dinner. Phil's & Amy's will generously donate a portion of sales back to the school for anyone mentioning AIS at either/both Phil's & Amy's at the registers for dine-in or when ordering for pickup! Thank you for RSVPing to the event link below to provide the restaurant with an approximate headcount and, of course, thank you for participating in this fun community event and fundraiser.

Head of School Coffee-Thur., 9/1, 8:30 - 9:30 am

Join our Head of School, Jacques Weber, for the first monthly coffee of the year on Thursday, 9/1 out in front of the school. On the first Thursday of each month, the school and Parent-Teacher Organization take turns hosting a monthly coffee. These are informal gatherings to chat with other school parents and staff or sometimes they are themed around a particular area of interest.

Back to School Night- Thur., 9/1, 5:00 - 7:00 pm
All families are invited to join us for our Back to School Night on 9/1 at 5:00 pm. We will include a school presentation followed by visits with classroom teachers to get to know the teaching teams, discuss an overview of the year, classroom expectations, and much more. More details to come.

Labor Day/No School-Mon., 9/5

The school will be closed in observance of the Labor Day holiday, and we will see you back on Tuesday, September 6th.

Save the dates

Mark these important upcoming dates on your calendars.

• 8/17 Meet the Teachers
  
• 8/18 First Day of 2022-2023 School Year
• 8/22 Extended Care begins for registered participants
• 8/30 August Spirit Night- Phil's Icehouse & Amy's Icecream
  
• 9/1 Head of School Coffee
• 9/1 Back to School Night
• 9/5 Labor Day/No School
• 9/12-9/14 Middle School Retreat
• 9/15 Room Parent Coffee
• 9/16 Vision, Hearing, Speech/Language, Motor Screenings
• 9/19 MAP Assessments begin
• 9/24 AIS Board Retreat
• 9/30 Staff In-Service/No School
• 10/3-10/7 Fall Break/No School
• 10/3-10/7 Fall Camp available

Email: info@austinis.org
Website: www.austininternationalschool.org
Location: 4001 Adelphi Lane, Austin, TX, United States
Phone: 512-331-7806
Facebook: www.facebook.com/AustinInternationalSchool
Twitter: @austinintschool