MavMail

It was a MAVulous week at McNeil!

Please read below for important information, updates, and CELEBRATIONS of YOUR MAVS!

Upcoming Dates

Fri., Feb. 14 - Mon., Feb. 17 - McNeil High School HOMEWORK-FREE WEEKEND

Mon., Feb. 17 - RRISD Student and Staff Holiday - NO SCHOOL for Students and Staff

Tues., Feb. 18 - TELPAS Testing Begins (Testing Students and Parents received emails.)

Thurs., March 6 - MANDATORY Senior Class Meeting, 10:30 - 11:00 (FLEX), MHS Cafeteria

Fri., March 7 - End of Marking Period 3 - Report Card Grading Period

Mon., March 10 - 12th Grade Spring Parent Meeting: MHS Cafe, 6-8PM

Wed., March 12 - School Day SAT (Free at McNeil for ALL Juniors)

Fri., March 17-21 - Spring Break - Student/Staff Holiday, HOMEWORK-FREE WEEKEND

Thurs., March 27 - McNeil We Are Blood Drive, New Lecture Hall

Mon., March 31 - Student Holiday / Staff Work Day

Mon., April 7 - 10th Grade Spring Parent Meeting: MHS Cafe, 6-8PM

Saturday, April 19 - McNeil Prom 2025 at Kalahari Convention Center Round Rock, 7-11PM

Important Documents

RRISD 2024 - 2025 Calendar

2024-2025 McNeil High School A/B Day Calendar

2024 - 2025 McNeil High School Bell Schedule

McNeil High School website

OFFICIAL McNeil HS Bell Schedule-2024-2025.pdf

McNeil High School HOMEWORK-FREE WEEKEND Dates, 2024-2025

Parking and Traffic Flow Presentation (updated last year; no new changes)

Each week we send out this newsletter to CELEBRATE OUR Mavericks and share important information about upcoming events. If you see something missing from a MavMail, reach out to the sponsor of the team, club, or event and ask them to have it added.

Are you looking for MORE ways to stay informed of ALL the aMAVzing news from McNeil High School?

Follow YOUR MHS Student Council!

Read the OFFICIAL Student Newspaper: The Trailblazer, and visit this site to read our daily student announcements.

Does your student have an upcoming Driver’s License appointment? If so, YOU WILL need a Verification of Enrollment form. The VOE Request Form and MANY MORE resources are available on our MAV Campus Website A-Z Index. Click HERE for additional information and resources.

WE invite the McNeil Community to click HERE to get to know your 2024 - 2025 McNeil Maverick Staff! All Maverick Staff were able to create a slide about themselves to be featured in MavMail. Some staff will be updating their slides at a later date. It is OUR pleasure to serve the McNeil Students and Community… check back to get to know YOUR MAVulous Maverick Staff!

Don’t forget:

At McNeil… YOU are aMAVzing!

YOU can ALWAYS make YOUR day MAVtastic!

The Horse IS With You, ALWAYS!

At McNeil High School #WE>me AND… GO MAVS!! 💙💚🐎

Congratulations to the McNeil FFA students on their recent success at THREE Major Livestock Shows.

San Angelo Livestock Show

Travis Cykala - British 6th Place

Emylee Copeland - American 10th Place

Emylee Copeland - Black Cross 9th Place

Texas Elite Guilt Show

Emylee Copeland - Poland 5th Place

Makaylah Fuller-Nehring - Poland 5th Place

Kaylie Escobar - Duroc 4th Place

Kaylie Escobar - Duroc 7th Place

San Antonio Livestock Show

Kaylie Escobar - Duroc 6th Place

Ciara Escobar - Duroc 4th Place

Ciara Escobar - Cross 10th Place

Ashlyn Eschberger - Cross 5th Place

February 1st YOUR MAV Choir had 52 students participate in Choir UIL Solo & Ensemble. 45 students received a Superior Rating (highest score) and of those students, 36 singers qualified for State Competition in May. WAY TO GO MAVS!

CONGRATULATIONS to the following MAVulous Maverick Choir Singers:

Superior ratings: Scarlett Caffey, Saranya Chilukuri, Roxie Ezell, Alex Johnson, Tvisha Kalambi, Molly Pollard, Srinidhi Sarthy, Lucas Tolleson, & Soyeon (Abby) Won

Superior ratings & Qualified for State: Rachel Abraham, Connor Bilz, Luke Bogue, Brianna Brito, Abraham Cherian, Elie Cohen, Maggie Cohen, Lucy Connor, Suhani Desai, Riley Donachy, Allison Floor, Nikolaus Fruehling, Ankitha Garga, Ella Giard, Olivia Gonzales, Zach Greer, Reese Hibbard, Jenine Ingaiza, Sydnee Ingram, Paula Jurado Mera, Nishan Kennedy, Kat Kenney, Ethan Kottarathil, Amelia Kung, Josh Li, Tim Li, Kobe Maldonado, Kale Matteson, Vincent McClure, Uhunoma (Kim) Omobogie, Cecilia Pugliese, Owen Rhea, Anya Roshan, Isabella Sichevoi, Adriana Talley, & Isaiah Thomas

This weekend, MAVERICKal Maverick Musicians from YOUR Band, Choir, and Orchestra performed at the Texas Music Educators Association (TMEA) All-State Convention in San Antonio! CONGRATULATIONS to…

Arianna Brito, Preston Caffey, Caleb Carter, Allyson Chu, Austin Eun, Suhaan Khan, Carson Kellams, Nicole Kim, Samuel (Sungjin) Lee, Jenny Thomas, and Ellie Washecka

Click HERE for photos from YOUR Maverick Band Winter Concert last Tuesday! Your Mav Band Concert season is officially in full swing and now it's on to UIL. GOOD LUCK MAVS!

YOUR aMAVzing McNeil Quantum Computing Club is thrilled to share the highlights of a recent guest speaker event at McNeil High School, featuring Dr. Alec Eickbusch, a distinguished McNeil alumni and Quantum Computing expert currently working at Google! This event, organized by our school's Quantum Computing & Cybersecurity Clubs, provided an incredible opportunity for Maverick students to gain insights into the exciting and rapidly evolving field of quantum computing!

Dr. Eickbusch's presentation captivated the audience with his journey from McNeil High School, UT Austin, and Yale to his current role at Google. He emphasized the importance of Math education in pursuing a career in Quantum Computing, inspiring many young minds in attendance. Students were particularly engaged by his discussion on the real-world applications of Quantum Computing and the potential it holds for the future.

The Quantum Computing Club is thrilled to continue exploring opportunities for parents & students to engage with experts in various fields. The Quantum Computing & Cybersecurity Clubs are actively planning future events and welcomes any ideas or suggestions from the school community. Stay tuned for more updates and opportunities to get involved!

If you know a Maverick that is interested in joining the Quantum Computing & Cybersecurity Clubs please contact Ms. Arcuri (marcia_arcuri@roundrockisd.org).

Thank you to the 44 MAVulous Maverick seniors that participated in the NAEP testing this week.

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP)—administered by the

National Center for Education Statistics (NCES)—is the largest nationally representative

and continuing assessment of what our nation’s students know and can do in various

Subjects. YOUR Mavericks represented OUR entire NATION by participating in this exam and the NAEP test proctors said they had never worked with such a respectful group of students! We were NOT surprised BUT we want to say THANK YOU and we are SO PROUD OF OUR MAVS for ALWAYS being aMAVzing! Thank you to Eman A., Simran A., Ranayja D., Henry D., Evelyn DS., Cash E., Arianna G., Nayun K., Teo K., Akshith M., Mia M., Frank M-G., Arianna M., Prit P., Arturo R., Oscar R-B., Rute S., Syed H., Allen, Valerie A., Xavier A., William B., Sanath B., Jasmine C., Elizabeth D., Cole G., Zachary G., Jadasen H., Ben L., Nash L., Rivera, Olivia R., Maxfield R., Felix S., and Luke W. GO MAVS!

Congratulations to YOUR McNeil Automotive Skills USA contestants! Saturday 14 MAVtastic Maverick students ADVANCED from the District to the State Level Contest. This is the result of hard work and dedication of our Skills Team… WAY TO GO MAVS!

Congratulations to the following MAV students:

Advancing to State on their “Rebuilt Projects”:

Ari Braddy, Tigerlily Broomfield, Jesse Milstead, Aubrianna Martinez, Jose Sanchez, Caleb Salinas, Isaiah Swegheimer, Kush Patel, Gavin Odom, Kayden Cordell, and Jesus Rivera.

Marine Service Technology - 2nd Place Ben Cohen, 3rd Place Grant Thompson

Motorcycle Service Technology - 3rd Place Jesse Milstead

Aviation Maintenance Technology - 3rd Place Arturo Bernard

Diesel Equipment Technology - 2nd Place Jose Sanchez and 3rd Place Caleb Salinas

Maintenance and Light Repair - 2nd Place Ben Cohen

Power Equipment Technology (All Podium Spots) - 1st Place Quinn Hannigan, 2nd Place Joshua Picket, 3rd Place Julian Hernandez

Mobile Electronics Installation - 2nd Place Ari Braddy and 3rd Place Aubri Martinez

Automotive Quiz Bowl - 3rd Place Team: Ari Braddy, Jesse Milstead, Gavin Odom, Jesus Rivera, Grant Thompson, William Johnson, Aubri Martinez

Automotive Senior Spotlight. To start off our first ever automotive senior spotlight, we will showcase Korbin Burke. Korbin is a 4th year automotive student who was assigned to Austin Subaru as his job shadowing internship. Korbin has been hired as a Tech Intern on a part time basis and will have the opportunity to transition to full time after graduation. Congratulations Korbin, you represent the first of many outstanding seniors representing McNeil Automotive Department.

Your aMAVzing McNeil Winter Guard place FIRST in their competition round, and Fifth Place overall. This earned YOUR MAVS a spot in finals @wgisportofthearts New Braunfels! CONGRATULATIONS and Way to GO, MAVS

YOUR MAVERICKal Majestics competed in their second contest of the season this weekend on Saturday, February 15th bringing home MANY awards including the GRAND CHAMPION Medium Team AWARD. CONGRATULATIONS Majestics! This week, YOUR Majestics will compete in the Vista Ridge Contest on Friday, February 21 and Saturday, February 22 at Vista Ridge High School (200 S Vista Ridge Blvd, Cedar Park, TX 78613) GOOD LUCK, Majestics!

YOUR McNeil Sapphires also competed MAVulously at the Westwood Dance Competition last Saturday in events such as Team Contemporary, Leaders Dance, Team Modern and Team Hip-Hop. WAY TO GO MAVS!

On Thursday, we CELEBRATED YOUR Maverick Senior Wrestler, Maxfield Rotches with a STATE SEND OFF from McNeil High School before Maxfield competed in the UIL State Wrestling Championships in Houston last weekend. We are SO PROUD of MAXFIELD! You are truly an inspiring EXAMPLE of HARD WORK and DEDICATION to ALL Mavericks! Thank you to FIRST YEAR MAVERICK COACHES, Coach Hale and Coach Doyle for ALL of your WORK this season. We can’t wait to see what next year brings! CONGRATULATIONS Maxfield and GO MAVS! If you (or a MAV you know) are interested in competing for McNeil Wrestling next year please email Coach Hale (michael_hale@roundrockisd.org).

YOUR MAV Swimmer, Parker Childs, will compete in the UIL State Swimming meet this Friday, February 21 and Saturday, February 22 at the Lee & Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center (1900 Red River St, Austin, TX 78705). GOOD LUCK PARKER!

It was a long and cold SUCCESSFUL day at the A&M/ College Station Varsity Tennis Tournament this past Friday. Congratulations to YOUR Maverick Tennis Team: Freshman Jaivanth Satish 1st Place Boys A Draw Singles Champion; Aahana Gondaila/Ishan Rastogi 1st Place A Draw Mixed Doubles Champions: Andrew Tran 2nd Place Boys B Draw Singles Runner-up: Freshman Suhani Rao 2nd Place Girls C Draw singles Runner-up, Freshman Adia Casillas 3rd Place Girls B Draw Singles Champion: Brooks Bergeron/Shlok Borkar B Draw Boys Doubles Consolation Champions and Alejandro Juarez Consolation Finalist Boys A Draw singles. WAY TO GO MAVS! This week, YOUR McNeil Freshman Tennis Team will compete in the Westwood Tournament on Tuesday, February 18. On Friday, February 21 YOUR Varsity MAV Tennis Teams will compete at the Westwood Classic Tennis Tournament. GOOD LUCK MAVS!

YOUR Varsity Lady Mavs Soccer Team beat the Hutto Hippos 2-0 on Tuesday night. Click HERE for the highlights! Goals were scored by Ally Weir and Dayana Tellez with a shutout in goal by Keeper Sophia Rogers. YOUR JV Lady Mavs Soccer Team beat Hutto 3-1. Goals were scored by Victoria Birmingham (2) and Catey Jones. Keep up the GREAT WORK! YOUR Lady Mavs Soccer Teams will take on Round Rock at McNeil’s Maverick Stadium on Tuesday, February 18 before traveling to Stony Point on Friday, February 21. All game times are JV - 5:30, and Varsity - 7:15PM. GO MAVS!

During the finals of the region meet, YOUR Mav Swimmer sophomore Kristen Burke dropped a MASSIVE 1.5 seconds in her 100 breastroke, tying an 18-YEAR-OLD McNeil High School RECORD and ADDING HER NAME TO THE MAV RECORD BOARD! WAY TO GO KRISTEN!!! Sophomore Parker Childs SMASHED his previous 500 Freestyle record by 2 seconds at regionals last weekend, finishing in a time of 4:40.40! Congratulations Parker!

YOUR Varsity Boys Soccer Team beat the Hutto Hippos on Tuesday Night WINNING 5-3! Goals were scored by R. Chintakindi (2), M. Zouzouambe (2), H. Syed. It was another Man of the Match performance from Freshman Keeper D. Puckalski and R. Chintakindi. YOUR JVA MAVS WON 5-1 over Hutto! Goals by C. Castillo, C. Gentile (2), E. Lovaas, and J. Tibaquira. And half YOUR JVB team WON 4-0 over Hutto and the other half traveled to Legacy Ranch and WON 4-1! WAY TO GO MAVS! Then, on Friday, YOUR JVB Mavs beat Westwood 2-0, JVA tied 1-1, and YOUR Varsity Mavs ended the evening by beating Westwood on Friday, 5-1!. Marcel Zouzouambe scored 4 goals, I. Abdullah added the 5th. Assists by R. Santi and R. Chintakindi. WAY TO GO MAVS! This week, YOUR McNeil Boys Soccer teams travel to Round Rock HS on Tuesday, February 18. Then, on Friday, February 21 YOUR Boys Soccer Team will take on Stony Point at McNeil.

All game times are JVB - 4:30, JVA - 5:45, and VAR - 7:30 PM. GO MAVS!

YOUR Maverick Softball team traveled to Killeen this weekend and won 1 game and ended a game in a tie after time expired on Friday. Then, on Saturday YOUR Maverick Softball team WON 2 games in a row to bring their record from this weekend’s Killeen Tournament to 3-1-1! Great job MAVERICKS! Then, Maverick Way got some new McNeil Softball decorations this weekend. Come see YOUR Maverick Softball Teams’ FIRST home game this Tuesday, February 18 against Cedar Ridge. Game times are JV - 5PM and Varsity - 7PM. Then YOUR McNeil Varsity Softball Team will compete in the LASA Raptor Softball Tournament, Thursday, February 20 through Saturday, February 22 at the Noack Sports Complex (5300 Crainway Dr, Austin, TX 78724). GOOD LUCK MAVS!

This will be another busy week for YOUR Maverick Golf Teams. To start the week, YOUR McNeil Girls Golf Varsity Team is traveling to the Brenham Invitational Golf Tournament on Monday, February 17 at the Brenham Country Club (4107 TX-105, Brenham, TX 77833). Then, on Tuesday, February 18 YOUR Boys Golf Team 3 will travel to the Cedar Creek Invitational at Shadow Glen Golf Club (12801 Lexington St, Manor, TX 78653). Next, YOUR

Girls Golf Team 2 will travel to the Hutto Invitational on Wednesday, February 19 at The Golf Club at Star Ranch (2500 FM 685, Hutto, TX 78634). Friday, February 21 and Saturday, February 22, YOUR McNeil Golf Boys Varsity Team will travel to the San Antonio Clark Invitational Tournament at the Golf Club of Texas in San Antonio (13600 Briggs Ranch, San Antonio, TX 78245). GOOD LUCK MAV Golfers!

YOUR Maverick Varsity Baseball Team hosts the Central Texas 1st Pitch Varsity Classic at McNeil this week beginning Thursday, February 20 with games at McNeil v LD Bell at 10AM; McNeil v SA Johnson at 4PM. Then on Friday, February 21 your Mavs will play Buda Johnson at 2PM and Arlington at 5PM. The Saturday games are time TBA. Your McNeil JV Baseball will travel to the Belton High Baseball Tournament Thursday, February 20 – Saturday, February 22. GOOD LUCK MAVS!

YOUR McNeil Track Teams will compete in the Hays Hawks Relays this Saturday, February 22 at Jack C Hays High School (4800 Jack C Hays Trail, Buda, TX 78610). GOOD LUCK MAV Track and Field!

Hackathon registration OPENS February 26.

Round Rock ISD & CodeWizardsHQ are hosting a fun one-day event for middle and high school students to collaborate and solve real-world problems using code. At the Hackathon, students get together to work on engaging projects that solve real-world problems in the community. They have an exciting opportunity to develop their problem-solving skills, receive valuable mentorship from industry professionals, and achieve district-wide recognition. Limited to 125 students. https://www.codewizardshq.com/rrisd-hackathon/

Mark your calendars…ACC Adulting Northridge - Adulting 101

Friday, March 7, 2025

Join us for Austin Community College’s Adulting 101 to learn skills needed to be successful inside and outside the classroom. This event is free and open to the community.

9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. | austincc.edu/adulting101

RSVP HERE

If you need tutoring you can sign up for tutoring from fellow Mavericks using this FORM.

This week during Flex, YOUR Maverick Students will take the 2024-2025 High School Student Climate Survey. If you want to see what is on the survey, have your student follow the directions below. Please encourage your student to take the Climate Survey. The survey takes approximately 10 minutes to complete AND is actively used by McNeil and District staff to plan for improvements in OUR Schools. YOUR FEEDBACK IS APPRECIATED!

Survey Link: https://roundrockisd.sjc1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_b3F5Am4yyRjOQtw

MAVulous Maverick 11th graders, it is time to book your 1:1 meeting with your counselor. Please look over this conference form (Junior Conference) and this PowerPoint slideshow (Junior PPT) to prepare yourself for your 1:1 conference. Parents/guardians are invited to these meetings as well and are encouraged to attend virtually. If you have any questions, please email your alpha counselor directly.

Click the link below that matches your last name to schedule your Junior 1:1 Conference:

Ms. Bauerkemper (students with Last names A - Cal)

Ms. Eickbusch (students with Last names Cam - Fah)

Ms. Carter (students with Last names Fai - Ho)

Ms. Williams (students with Last names Hp - Mac)

Ms. Atherton (students with Last names Mad - Pal)

Mr. Tate (students with Last names Pam - R)

Ms. Garza (students with Last names S - T)

Ms. Kidwell (students with Last names U - Z)

**The booking sites will close on FEB 21st. Any student who is not booked will be called in by the counselor sometime before the end of March.

The Gattis Elementary PTA will provide two $500 scholarships to former Gators graduating from a RRISD high school in May 2025. Click HERE for more information and to apply. The application deadline this year is 4/20.

The Pearson Ranch Middle School Alumni Scholarship has been established by the Pearson Ranch MS PTA to award scholarship funds to former Pearson Ranch Middle School attendees aspiring to higher education. Click HERE for more information and to apply.

Applications will be accepted until April 30th and scholarships will be decided and notified by May 15th.

The Deerpark Middle School (DMS) PTA sets aside money each year to award scholarship funds to McNeil High School seniors aspiring to higher education.
Applicants must be in their senior year at McNeil High School and must have attended DMS during each year of middle school.
The deadline for the 2025 application is April 18, 2025.
This year, the DMS PTA will award two $1000 scholarships based on their essay and academics. The DMS PTA will select and inform the recipients by Friday, May 16, 2025. Scholarship funds will be sent directly to the student’s higher education institution of choice to apply toward the cost of tuition.
If you have questions or need to submit the form offline, please contact Ruchi Messick, DMS PTA Scholarship Chair, at scholarships@deerparkmspta.org or work with your counselor.

Link to application: https://forms.gle/JRfxuxDEgw9sBdPFA

In accordance with RRISD attendance policies, Maverick students who arrive to their assigned class 10 minutes late (or more) will be marked ABSENT for that CLASS.

After returning from an absence, students have 5 days to turn in excuse notes to the attendance office.

Parents may email absence excuse notes to mcneil_attendance@roundrockisd.org.

For notes to excuse an absence the note must be turned in to the attendance office or be sent as an email within 5 days of returning from the absence.

Click HERE to view the Tardy / Absence Policy Presentation presented to MAV students by their teachers during flex on Friday, August 23 developed by the McNeil Behavior and Student Support Committee.

UPDATED Tardy Information (9/16/2025): In accordance with our campus Tardy Policy, students may be assigned a range of consequences for excessive tardies, including Saturday Detention, In-School Suspension, or other consequences deemed appropriate by your student's administrator.

McNeil Administration is adding a new consequence from the range of consequences available to assign students for excessive tardies. Beginning next week, students will be assigned Lunch Detention if they exceed more than 5 tardies in a grading period. Disciplinary assignments because of tardies will be progressive, and students with increasing numbers of tardies will be assigned more Lunch Detention, possible Saturday Detentions, or other consequences deemed appropriate by your student's administrator.

Please encourage your student to report to class on time. Students with more than 5 tardies this week will be assigned administrative consequences as described above.

NOW OPEN: Free & reduced school meal application for eligible families.

It takes only 5 minutes to apply and your application is completely confidential.

For more details and to apply click HERE: https://www.myschoolapps.com/Application

McNeil High School Community Calendar

MHS School Newspaper - The Trailblazer

MHS IB Corner Newsletter

Website: https://mcneil.roundrockisd.org/
Location: 5720 East McNeil Road, Austin, TX, USA
Phone: (512) 464-6300
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rrisd.mcneil
Twitter: @MHSmavs