The Brauchle Post

Patric Rivas

Associate Principal

The Learning Tree program is offered at Brauchle Elementary. Please contact the Learning Tree Staff at 210-397-8108 with questions or concerns.

When dropping off your child, please pull up to the next available car sign to help the traffic flow smoothly. Students may enter the school building at 7:00 a.m. when supervision begins. Students may eat breakfast in the cafeteria and then go to their assigned area at 7:15 to wait for the bell to ring at 7:35. In the mornings, Pre-K will wait at the first three tables in the cafeteria. Kindergarten, 1st grade and 2nd grade students will wait outside their hallways and 3rd through 5th grade students will wait in the gym. We will have teachers supervising students during this time.

If you are dropping off your child off in the front, please adhere to the city code of ordinances which prohibits the use of cell phones while driving on school property. This will help keep our students, parents and staff safe.

Parents who choose to walk their children to class after the first week of school will need to check into the front office to receive a visitor badge. If you will walk your child to class more than once a week, you may want to fill out a FAST pass form. This will make it easier and faster for you to grab your printed badge with Mrs. Debbie Leal outside in the front of the campus doors.

If you would like to walk your child to class, we ask that you arrive no later than 7:40 to make certain that your child will not be late.

Attendance is extremely important for all students to be successful in school. The instructional school day begins at 7:45 a.m. Children arriving after 7:45 a.m. are tardy and must go to the office to obtain a tardy slip. A child who is not present at 9:00 a.m. is counted absent for the day, unless they were at a doctor’s appointment, and the parent brings in the doctor's note with their child upon checking in their child for the day. A child who arrives after 9:00 a.m. should be accompanied by the parent to the school office and must provide the school a written note explaining the reason for the late arrival. When your child is absent, a note must be provided to the teacher explaining the reason for the absence upon their return. Attendance communication can also be emailed to our attendance secretary, Annette Hernandez at annette.hernandez@nisd.net.

We will have attendance celebrations as a way to give back to students and acknowledge their dedication to coming to school every day and demonstrating excellent attendance. Celebrations will be scheduled 4 times throughout the year. Classroom Teachers will monitor students’ participation by ensuring that students do not have any absences, and no more than 3 tardies or early outs.

Birthdays are such an important, magical day for our students, and we know they need to be celebrated. Please feel free to bring store bought treat(s) for your child’s class to celebrate. Birthday celebrations will be in the classrooms. No food may be given in the cafeteria, other than for your own child, as per state guidelines. We do not permit balloons or flowers in the classroom. Birthday party invitations can be distributed to classmates as long as all boys, all girls, or all students receive an invitation. We do not want any of our students to feel left out.

Breakfast will be served from 7:00-7:35 a.m. Students must be in the cafeteria during that time if they would like to eat breakfast so they are not tardy to class. Teachers will be sharing lunch schedules with parents through class dojo.

We are asking parents to refrain from coming to school to eat breakfast or lunch with their children the first week of school.

We want our students to get into the routine of the day, learn lunchroom procedures to ensure a safe, positive environment for them to all enjoy lunch while socializing with their friends.

When parents visit for breakfast and lunch the first couple of weeks, our students (especially our younger ones) struggle with parents leaving and then they have difficulty with the rest of the day.

Beginning the 2nd week of school, parents will be able to come and enjoy breakfast and lunch with their children on stage. Parents are only allowed to take their child on stage to eat with them. Parents are able to bring food for their child only and not other students/friends in class. Thank you!

Our stage will not be set up for breakfast and lunch the first week so we can ensure that we teach our students the procedures and safety within our lunch room.

Our Campus Core Beliefs are what our campus strives for every day:

• Every lifelong learner deserves the freedom and empowerment quality instruction provides.

• Supporting and celebrating the whole child allows learners to reach their highest potential.

• Student success is enhanced by valuing the relationships within the Brauchle community.

Students should not have their cell phones on during school hours. Cell phones should be in their backpacks and silenced. If the phone becomes an issue, we will need to take the phone and notify parent to pick up at the end of the school day.

Students in Kinder-5th grades will attend Discovery classes for 45 minutes each day. They will be participating in PE, STEM, Music and Art class throughout the week.

The dismissal bell rings at 3:00 p.m. We will continue implementing our dismissal process where parents are given numbers / car signs to pick up children in the car line. Please have your car tag up so we are able to quickly input the number. Please pull up to the first car sign to help with traffic flow and expedite our pick up process. Once we begin dismissal all car numbers will be entered and students will begin to position themselves at the waiting area cones in front of the campus. Parents walking up to get their child will wait in the area at the flagpole. This will help with student safety in ensuring our students are all accounted for and in class until parents come to pick up. Parents at the flagpole will need the car tag to pick up their child. Children attending day care will be accompanied to the daycare bus. At 3:20 p.m., all children remaining are brought to the office and staff will begin to contact parents. After 3:20, students must be signed out of the office. Parent(s)/guardian(s) will need to go to the office with proper ID in order to sign out students. There is no supervision after 3:20.

We highly recommend all parents driving to pick up their child to drive through our front pick up lane. This helps with student safety and minimizes the number of students we are having to cross. We will begin entering parents who are picking up in car line first prior to parents picking up at the flag pole due to traffic.

If you are picking up your child in the front, please adhere to the city code of ordinances which prohibits the use of cell phones while driving on school property. This will help keep our students, parents and staff safe.

We know that there are times when dismissal changes may happen, please notify your child’s teacher of any changes in writing. Our teachers are busy at work teaching throughout the day, therefore if you are going to send a class dojo, please ensure you send the message of dismissal changes the day prior so teachers have enough time to see the change. Please do not ask your child to verbally let their teacher know as sometimes the information does not get to teachers accurately. If you need to make immediate changes the day of, please call the front office at 210-397-1500 prior to 2:15pm.

Brauchle’s dress code policy for students is in accordance with Northside’s policy as explained in the Student-Parent Handbook. Unconventionally colored, multi-colored, spiked or Mohawk hairstyles are specifically prohibited. Students are encouraged to wear rubber-soled shoes the day they have PE. Flip-flops are not considered safe footwear and should not be worn. For safety reasons, shoes with wheels are not to be worn.

We do our best to offer a variety of extra curricular activities for our students. Please be on the lookout for more information on different clubs that we will have throughout the year.

The nurse is permitted to administer first aid only. The nurse does not diagnose illnesses, but takes notes of symptoms and notifies the parent of the observations. A child with a temperature will need to be picked up. A student should be fever-free for a minimum of 24 hours before returning to school. Please try and schedule medications to be given at home. In circumstances where medication needs to be given at school, it should be taken directly to the nurse by the parent. No medications may be kept in the classroom. Only medication prescribed by a physician may be taken at school; this includes over the counter medication. A medication form must be completed and the prescription must be in the original prescription container. Long term medication may be administered only if the physician completes the school’s Special Health form. For more information, please visit: https://www.nisd.net/schools/health

We strive to provide our families with the best communication possible. Our campus will continue to utilize Class Dojo for communication. All teachers, staff and administration will be using this platform to communicate with our families. We will also send out call outs, and newsletters.

Please scan the QR code below to get access to our class dojo. Thanks.

The Brauchle Parent-Teacher Association extends a cordial welcome to all parents and urges you to join and participate in the organization’s activities throughout the year. Assisting our school through PTA benefits all children. PTA funds student field trips, different incentives for PBIS Cougar store, and other fun events/characters we may have on campus.

There are many ways parents may volunteer on campus including mentoring students, helping teachers make instructional materials (copies), and/or serving as a room parent or field trip chaperone. All parent volunteers must complete a criminal background check and be cleared prior to volunteering. Forms are available at: https://www.nisd.net/community/volunteer-mentor or you may come to the school library to complete the form online using one of the school’s computers.

Classrooms will have 3 party days held (Christmas) December 20th , (Fiesta) May 1st, and (End of Year) May 29th. On these days, students are allowed to bring and eat food items, which are not normally permitted. Classroom teachers will send information as dates come closer. No food may be given in the cafeteria, other than for your own child, as per state guidelines. Balloons or flowers are not permitted and should not be delivered to school.

At Brauchle, we are a PBIS campus, Positive Behavior Intervention Support Campus. In all areas of our campus our students follow our PBIS expectations to BE SAFE, BE RESPONSIBLE and BE RESPECTFUL. Our students are celebrated for their positive behavior in many different ways.

We welcome all parents who desire to work together for the best educational setting. For security purposes, our visitors will go through the security lobby. All parents and visitors to our school campus must sign or check in at the security lobby, list the reason for the visit, and display his or her driver’s license or other government-issued form of photographic identification prior to proceeding elsewhere on campus. ALL VISITORS must present a picture ID (no pictures of ID will be accepted) that will be scanned through our Raptor System every time you visit our campus. No one will be allowed to enter the building without an ID. Visitor badges need to be visible at all times while on campus.

Security continues to be our number one priority at Brauchle. Point of entry & exit for all visitors will be through the security lobby. All visitors should be leaving campus through the security lobby doors only. We will continue to ID all visitors on campus and ensure they are clear to enter using our Raptor system. We will also continue with our Lock down/Safety Drills, Fire drills throughout the year. Anytime we conduct a Lockdown Safety Drill, administration will be notifying parents through Class Dojo. Teachers will also inform parents. Administration and custodial staff work very closely to ensure that all doors on campus are functioning properly.

If you are going to walk onto the campus, you will need to check into the office for a Raptor badge OR fill out a fast pass to have your badge pre-printed and ready to go each day.

Every Friday is Spirit Day! We want our students to “Finish Strong” and give their full effort EVERY learning week. All students are encouraged to wear Blue/White or their school spirit shirt on Fridays to finish the week off strong!

If you have questions or concerns directly related to your child’s interactions in their classroom, we ask that you speak directly to your child’s teacher first before coming to an administrator. Your child’s teacher will be the first point of contact as they are the most informed person when it comes to your child. If the matter cannot be resolved at that level, please call or email an administrator.

April Mata-Tausch, Principal

april.mata-tausch@nisd.net

Patric Rivas, Associate Principal

patric.rivas@nisd.net

Office Staff/Nurse/Counselor-

Roseann Alvarado, Principal Secretary

roseann.alvarado@nisd.net

Annette Hernandez, Attendance Secretary

annette.hernandez@nisd.net

Debbie Leal, Office Clerk

Debra.leal@nisd.net

Lori East, Nurse

laura.east@nisd.net

Belinda Galindo, Counselor

belinda.galindo@nisd.net

We have our year at a glance for you all to plan accordingly. We know days get so busy. Please know that events may be added or changed as needed. We will let you know as soon as we have word of any changes. Thanks!

We are always in need of volunteers for different campus events. Please fill out the link below if you are interested in volunteering. Thank you!

August 19, 2024

Dear Parent(s)/Guardian(s):

Staffing of the District’s schools is based on projected enrollment figures. The process of staffing begins in February preceding each upcoming school year and continues after the school year begins. As principal, I will be working daily with Central Office personnel on staffing allocations based on our most current registration numbers in order to finalize the 2024 - 2025 classes for our students.

Due to circumstances in our current situation, it may be necessary to revise your child’s class schedule during the first few weeks of the school year. We will try to avoid this if possible; however, we want to inform you that it might be necessary to consolidate classes and move teachers between classes, grade levels, or schools. We will notify parents whose children are affected as soon as possible.

If you have any questions and/or concerns, please contact the school.

Thank you so much.