Happy Friday!

Thank you all for taking time to meet with teachers for conferences. We love having the opportunity to talk about all of the amazing work students are doing everyday. This week we had a fabulous song by our Kindergarteners at the Monday assembly. Check out our Instagram post for inspiration.

On Friday, February 28th we will have a special author visit sponsored by our PTA Cultural Arts Program. Author Phương Liên Palafox will talk to students about honoring their own stories centered around her book, Buoy, about her family's refugee journey.

And speaking of our PTA, we are bringing back our Parent Support Series Join us to learn tips for building healthy digital habits in your home, including the PTA Connected: Ready, Tech, Go! workshop supported by AT&T on Thursday, March 6th @ 6pm at Barton Hills Elementary. To make this accessible to caregivers that need it, we are providing childcare through Earth Kids for 4years old - 5th grade...but only for 50 kids! Register yourself, and your kid(s) too if it enables you to attend.

Kati Achtermann, Principal

February 28 - PTA Movie Night in the Park at dark (the reschedule of the reschedule)

March 1 - It's My Park Day

March 6 - 6:00 Screen Smart Families: PTA Parent Support Series

March 7 - Book Character Day and Parade (see Save the Date info below)

March 14 - Student and Staff Holiday

March 17 - 21 - Spring Break

March 27 - PTA Spring Fundraiser "Denim and Diamonds"

April 9 - STAAR Reading/ELAR 3rd - 5th Grade

April 10 - STAAR Make Up - Reading/ELAR 3rd - 5th Grade

April 16 - STAAR Science - 5th Grade

April 17 - STAAR Science - 5th Grade Make Up

April 23 - STAAR Math 3rd - 5th Grade

April 24 - STAAR Math 3rd - 5th Grade Make Up

Happy Women's History Month! Second Grade will be sharing about Women's History Month at an upcoming March Monday Assembly. Please share about an important woman in your life in the padlet linked belos.

Please click on the link below to learn more about this year's PTA Rally Day!

Austin ISD Special Education is developing an Inclusion Workgroup that fosters equitable and inclusive educational environments for students with disabilities. This group will comprise family and community members, campus administrators, teachers, teacher assistants, and speech & related services providers. Members will collaborate to assess current inclusive practices, identify areas for growth, and implement strategies to support students effectively.

Monthly meetings will begin in April and continue through the 2025-2026 school year (no meetings during the summer months). If you want to join this group, please complete the AISD Special Education Inclusion Workgroup Application by Friday, March 7th, 2025.

For further information or to discuss specific questions, please contact the Director of Instructional Delivery, Inclusion, and Related Services Bailey Gates Bailey.Gates@austinisd.org.

Dear Families,

This week, our school community will focus on the character strength of Humility. Humility means not seeking attention and letting your actions speak for themselves. Humble people understand their abilities and achievements without underestimating them. They can admit mistakes, accept advice, and are open to new ideas. They don't show off their successes or possessions.

Developing humility helps people reflect on how they can improve and work well with others. It allows them to grow and become valuable team members.

To practice and encourage the character strength of humility at home, please visit The Positivity Project’s mobile-friendly P2 for Families (available in English and Spanish), where you will watch a video together and discuss a quote and three questions. Below are links to this week’s P2 for Families lessons. Click on the grade level that best meets your child’s needs.

Pre-K–K

Thank you for your support!

LASA Robotics presents S.M.A.R.T. Camps
SMART (Science, Math, and Robotics Technology) Camps are week-long (5 day) STEM discovery camps for incoming 2nd- to 7th-graders. Facilitated by members of the award-winning LASA Robotics team, SMART students learn basic engineering and design principles through fun, hands-on STEM challenges and building/coding LEGO SPIKE™ Prime and VEX V5 robots. Summer 2025 SMART Camps will be taking place at LASA High School on June 2nd-6th, and July 28th-August 1st, with morning (9am-12pm) and afternoon (1pm-4pm) sessions, and students of all experience levels are welcome to join! At the camps, students will be separated into middle and elementary cohorts in different classrooms. We will begin the day with fun STEM-based activities to help the kids get to know each other as well as a brief presentation about the respective kits that they will work with, and will end with putting them into small groups to build their robots. They will then spend the following three days designing, building, and testing their robots, and the final day will involve a competition with prizes! Tuition is $275 per camp, and need-based scholarships are available in the registration. For more information and links to register, visit https://www.lasarobotics.org/smart-camps-general, and feel free to reach out to us with any questions at outreach@lasarobotics.org.

Austin ISD invites all Gifted and Talented students to participate in a district-wide showcase! Projects may be entered into the showcase through April 11, 2025. This year's theme is "This is Our Story!" Please see the flyer below for more information and click on the button for the Showcase Website!

We would appreciate your thoughts on a research study by a doctoral student that examines school staff and family perceptions of whole child development through an anonymous survey. The survey will close on February 28th.

Below are links to the survey in both English and Spanish. It takes approximately 5 minutes or less to complete.

It’s My Park Day – Saturday, March 1st from 8AM-12PM!

Parents – your school park and campus need you! Let’s work together to beautify Barton Hills Elementary Park! The PTA Greenworks Committee will be gathering on Saturday, March 1st from 8AM – 12PM to work on various projects to beautify the school grounds and we need your help.

We are again honored to be an official Austin Parks Foundation Project, so please sign up to record your support and you will receive a free t-shirt! We can also confirm volunteer hours via the site! https://givepul.se/uptc1o

Show up with work gloves, a smile, and a wheelbarrow (if you happen to have one). Other tools will be provided. Please contact Keith Hegner (keith.hegner@gmail.com) if you have any questions or want to volunteer any special skills or tools. We hope to see you all there!

Austin ISD’s Tools for Success (TFS) is a series of virtual sessions to empower families to learn more about Austin ISD services, programs, and community resources. Please see the link below for the topics and dates.

Date: Friday, March 7th

Time: 8:30 am (tentatively)

Where: the outdoor track at Barton Hills Elementary School

What: Students dress up as a character from a book! Students carry the book with them along the track to show off their BHE spirit and book character pride!

Important Notes for Caregivers/Parents:

1. Parents are welcome to join in observing the parade - parents line the track by about 8:25 - parents are observers, and do not walk in the parade with students.

2. Leave dogs and all furry friends at home (we love them, but it is against regulations to have dogs on campus while students are present).

3. Books need to come with the student the morning of the parade (books cannot be checked out from the BHE library the morning of the event).

Does your child talk about digraphs, trigraphs, CVC words? Does this sound like a strange language to you? Check out the Early Literacy Newsletters for specific skills students are learning to support their early reading and writing.

Austin ISD trustees approved the calendars for the 2025-26 and 2026-27 school years during its Regular Voting Meeting Dec. 19.

The final calendar version for both school years were developed by the Calendar Task Force and include faith based and cultural observances and staff development days:

• This includes Spring Break aligning with the University of Texas calendar (the third week of March).

• For the 2025-26 school year, the first day of class for students will be Aug. 19 and the last day of class will be May 28, 2026.

• For the 2026-27 school year, the first day of class for students will be Aug. 18 and the last day of class will be May 27, 2027.

• The total number of student instructional days is 169.

We are happy to share the new and updated process to be a volunteer with Barton Hills. AISD changed the system for volunteer registration and background checks so it has taken us a little longer than usual to get the information out to you. All BHE volunteers who will be in contact with children must complete a background check. Background checks are good for one year. If you’re a new volunteer or haven’t done a background check in the current school year, please click the link and follow the directions below. It’s quick and easy!

To begin the volunteer approval process, please click on the link below.

Austin ISD Volunteers

Questions? Contact our Administrative Assistant, Kathy Carr, at mary.k.carr@austinisd.org.

The Responsible Use Policy is now in place. Acknowledgement and adherence to the RUP is applicable each time anyone uses an AISD device, logs into our network and/or accesses the AISD portal and related applications. Please take time to review the K-5 Responsible Use Policy

Please see information below on the AISD Student Success Guide for the 24-25 School Year:

Education in this community represents a significant commitment of financial and human resources. The benefits a student derives from this investment depend very much on the student's attitude toward learning and the student's adherence to high standards of behavior.

The Student Code of Conduct that follows is the district's specific response to requirements of Chapter 37: Discipline; Law And Order of the Texas Education Code. The law requires the district to define misconduct that may or must result in a range of specific disciplinary consequences.

This code is an outgrowth of collaboration among district and campus staff, parents, and other community members and was adopted by the AISD Board of Trustees. It provides information and direction to students and parents regarding standards of behavior as well as consequences of misconduct. In the case of conflict between the Student Code of Conduct and board policy, the Student Code of Conduct will prevail.

• Please send in documentation of student absences using the School Absence Form on the AISD website or complete a paper form (pick up in Front Office).
• We, DO NOT accept phone calls or voicemail messages as documentation for a student's absence.
• Please have medical offices submit documentation of your student’s visit to “bartonhills@austinisd.org”.
• Please allow up to 72 hours (3 business days) for attendance to be corrected.
• Set up notifications for your student’s attendance and grades via Parent Self Serve.
• Students attending family trips during scheduled school days will remain coded as an unexcused absence. Car problems, traffic, or oversleeping will not be considered as an excused absence or excused tardy.

A student is tardy if he/she is not with their homeroom teacher when the 7:40 bell rings. If you arrive late to school, your student will be required to come to the office for a tardy slip before going to class.

What to do if your student must leave school early:

• When you arrive to Barton Hills to pick up your student, please be prepared with your photo I.D. Your student will be called to the attendance office to leave campus.

• Please do not plan to pick up your student from school 30 minutes prior to dismissal (ie 2:40 PM).

• You must sign the student out in the office. Leaving for any part of the day will result in an unexcused tardy. Students leaving for a medical appointment must bring a note from the doctor to excuse the absence/tardy.

For more information visit the district's attendance page.

AISD is launching a new App. Please see the flyer for QR Code

Maintaining a safe and positive learning environment for our students is our top priority. It is important to us that our safety protocols are in place AND that our students, families, and staff continue to feel a positive and welcoming environment each day. Please help us keep everyone safe.

Arrival:

• We will continue to have a secure morning arrival with families/caregivers saying goodbye before students enter the building. Parents/Caregivers may walk students to the front walkway during car drop off/walking drop off. Staff members will be outside and inside ready to greet, welcome, and support our students as they enter the building at 7:30. Parents will not be allowed to walk students to the classrooms and portables.
• The front doors will open for breakfast at 7:15 am. At 7:30 am, all students will enter the building.
• The first week our Kinder students will meet their teachers in the cafeteria before going to class. The teachers will be there to meet them and then walk together to the classroom.
• IMPORTANT: There is NO parking in the drive in front of the school between 7:00 - 8:00 am. This lane is reserved for drop off only. If you'd like to walk your child to the front door, please park in the neighborhood and walk to school together. Thank you!
• If you need to bring something to your child after they have entered the building, please leave it on the labeled cart outside the front doors with a clearly marked label. Please call the front office to let us know you are leaving an item (lunch, water bottle, device, etc.) and we will get it to your child.

Exterior Doors:

• All exterior doors will remain locked at all times during the school day. Portable classroom doors will also remain fully locked all day.
• Staff will check each exterior door weekly to ensure they close and lock as intended.

Dismissal:

• All kindergarten students will be dismissed with their homeroom teacher at 3:05pm.

• 1st- 5th grade car riders, walkers, and bikers will be dismissed from specific outdoor locations with their homeroom teacher at 3:10pm.

• Older siblings may join younger siblings at the younger sibling location.

• Third Base After School Care students will go to the cafeteria.

• *See map below for dismissal locations by grade level.

• Students must leave by 3:20 at the latest.

• Please see map below and note that areas in RED are NO Parking Zones - even for drop off and pick up.

Visitors:

• Visitors are welcome at Barton Hills for the purposes of student support. This may include scheduled parent teacher conferences and meetings, registration, pre-arranged volunteer opportunities, and other scheduled events.
• Lunch Visitors: You may come have lunch with your child. You must sign in at the office prior to going to the cafeteria. Please note that if you plan to have lunch with your students, you will need to plan to eat outside or at a separate designated table. Provide lunch only for your child. Do not arrange to purchase lunch for a group of students and then have your child pass it out. You may only have lunch with your own child - please do not invite other students to join you. *No lunch visitors for the first three weeks of school so we can work on routines and expectations.
• The main front doors are the only entry doors to the campus for visitors. The door buzzer/office communicator is on the right side wall by the front doors. Please push the button to communicate with the office and, once verified, we will buzz you in to the building.
• All visitors MUST sign in at the front office upon arrival AND sign out at the front office when leaving. Please remember to bring your photo ID with you when visiting campus. We will be using the 360 system to scan licenses and print out Visitor tags.
• IMPORTANT: Families, please do not ask a staff member to hold a side or back door open for you to enter the building. All students, parents, and visitors must enter through the front entry doors. Thank you!

Staff Training, Campus Drills, and Threat Assessment

• Our staff will be trained on safety prior to students entering the building.
• We will review safety plans and practices throughout the year.
• We will continue to hold all required safety drills with our students. Most of the drills will be announced drills so our students aren't surprised or alarmed by them.
• Barton Hills has an established threat assessment team comprised of administration, counseling and teaching staff. All members of the team have received Threat Assessment training from Texas State. Licensed Mental Health Providers and School Resource Officers are on call to assist when needed.

Phew! I know that's a lot to digest, but wanted everyone to know we're prepared for a strong, safe, and productive year.

AISD Weather Guidelines

• Temperature guidelines have been established in order to provide a safe and healthy environment for students participating in outdoor activities at Austin ISD.

• The listed temperatures, heat indexes, and wind-chill factors are designated figures for terminating and/or modifying outdoor activities including: Athletics, Fine Arts, PE, and recess.

• AISD_Temperature Weather Guidelines

Website: bartonhills.austinschools.org/schoool
Location: 2108 Barton Hills Drive, Austin, TX, USA
Phone: 512-414-2013
Facebook: facebook.com/BartonhillsPTA
Twitter: @bheeagles

Instagram: bheeagles