Hornet Herald

Great evening fantastic families,

The Fall semester of the 2021-2022 school year is over and now we look forward to the Spring Semester and are excited for all it can be. This Fall we were able to achieve some level of normalcy during the pandemic and none of that would have been possible without your support. We were grateful to receive your support with snacks, water bottles, lunch supervision and campus support. This Spring we look to refine and tighten our systems campus wide and adjust our master schedule to support learning in the most direct way. We plan for this Spring to be even better than an already stellar Fall.

We are still making decisions for our 2022-2023 master schedule. So far, we have elected to keep 8 classes for our scholars to assure they still have at least 2 elective courses. Next year some of our teachers will teach 7/8 classes and some will teach 6/8. This option presents our campus with more flexibility for scheduling and keeps our class sizes the same or smaller. Both groups of teachers will have early release on Monday with the additional hour without students as an additional hour of planning or system wide professional development. Unfortunately, we did not get a chance to discuss these changes at our December CAC meeting but are looking forward to discussing more in January. Please feel free to reach out to me directly if you have questions.

We hope this time is enjoyable for all the families in our Kealing Community and everyone can recharge and gear up for Spring 2022. Happy holidays from KMS!

#BEGREATmentality #ProgressNotPerfection

Hornet Families,

Not a Kealing PTA member, yet? Click the link below to join Kealing PTA.

https://www.kealingpta.org/

Happy Holidays!

The Kealing PTA Executive Board

Instructional Initiatives

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)

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

Classrooms

- We are space seating/desks at least 3 feet apart when feasible

- Each classroom will have a HEPA (High Efficiency Particulate Air) filtration unit

- Personal Protective Equipment will be available in each room

- Plexiglass dividers available

- Additional outdoor seating

-Volunteer lunch monitors

Breakfast & Lunch

- Assigned seating

- Students are allowed to eat lunch both inside the cafeteria and outside in the courtyard

- Plexiglass accordian dividers.

Dismissal

- we will have staggered dismissal where scholars will be dismissed by areas of the building to reduce traffic.

Monday - January 3rd

No School

Tuesday - January 4th

No School - Staff Professional Development Day

Wednesday - January 5th - A Day

Thursday - January 6th - B Day

Friday - January 7th - A Day

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.

Hello Hornets Community! Yearbook recognition ads are currently available through the Josten's website (www.jostens.com > search Kealing)! Recognition Ads a great way for parents, families and friends to commemorate student achievements and important milestones. Limited ads are available so be sure to secure your space now! Recognition and Personalized Yearbook Ads start as low as $35!

How To Order Guide (https://drive.google.com/file/d/1b6bv9eEqfKqLAyzyyYIIeYCaz3_e_xXY/view?usp=sharing)

With many AISD students living in food insecure households, access to healthy food may be challenging when the district is closed. Families can use the community resources below to find free meals in their area while AISD offices and schools are closed for the winter break:

• Central Texas Food Bank - Find Food Now

• United Way for Greater Austin - ConnectATX

• Texas Health and Human Services - Call 2-1-1 or (877) 541-7905 to speak to a live operator.

The last day Food Service will distribute meal packs for virtual learners is Dec. 8. On this day, families will receive eight meal packs, to provide food through Dec. 17.

Thank you for all your generous contributions to our campus! We appreciate you and all the many ways you show up for our Kealing Community. We have started a Community Donates spreadsheet in order to repurpose household items to our campus. There are two ways to contribute--1. Drop off the requested item to the front office labeled with the requesting teacher's name. 2. If you have item(s) to offer that might have a second life on our campus, please add a description to the spreadsheet. Teachers can then go in and claim the item. HERE is a link to the spreadsheet. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1IOK7cMk99UZtIQcClIWNQ8Wgc3_nBQ0tBrj7amKXLro/edit?usp=sharing

Thank you, community, for your ongoing support via the Amazon Wishlist. Students are using the supplies for organization, collaboration, and creativity! Teachers continue to update the list as needs arise. "Thank you, community, for your ongoing support via the Amazon Wishlist. Students are using the supplies for organization, collaboration, and creativity! Teachers continue to update the list as needs arise. https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/B7BQHNMLAOP/ref=nav_wishlist_lists_2?_encoding=UTF8&type=wishlist

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