Saturday, Sept 7 🎂Happy Birthday Ms. Karen Smith!🎂

Monday, Sept 9

• 3:30 Campus Advisory Council Meeting in Library - open to the public

Tuesday, Sept 10

Wednesday, Sept 11 🎂Happy Birthday Nurse Jenny Ribera!🎂

Thursday, Sept 12

• Picture Day - individual pictures

Friday, Sept 13

• Wear your Clayton spirit shirt

THANK YOU TO:

Circle C Ranch

Birdcreek Roofing

Green Earth Conservation Lawns

Community Volunteers

These groups, in coordination with many neighbors and Clayton families, have worked so hard over the last few months to restore our pond area, which is located behind Clayton on the Doswell trail. Volunteers donated their time, talents, and resources to rebuild the dock, clean out the pond, collect trash, trim bushes, powerwash benches, and more. Our school is incredibly grateful for the support of these volunteers. Our classes at Clayton, as well as community members throughout Circle C, love this pond and use it for enjoyment and educational purposes. THANK YOU for your support!

families apply for free or reduced-price meals in many ways:

• Online applications are preferred. Families may create an account and apply at www.SchoolCafe.com/AustinISD.

• How to create a SchoolCafe account: English / Spanish

• New for this school year, we may now accept PDF applications in English or Spanish completed by families with a digital signature and returned to foodservicebusinesssupport@austinisd.org.

• Families may also complete a paper application and return to your front office.

Please reach out to Amy Turnage, Clayton Registrar, at amy.turnage@austinisd.org for questions.

The back parking lot spaces are reserved for staff. Thank you.

We are also not allowing drop off in the back from cars in the morning this year. The number of parents using the drive is very low. We have many students who walk from the trails and across the back driveway to the back door for arrival. Opening up the back drive to cars requires 2 extra staff members to work the crosswalks. Our staff will be elsewhere on campus helping with supervision. Thank you for your understanding.

Topics include:

Overall school goals for 24-25

Student achievement data overview for 23-24

Facility improvements and school safety

Time for questions and answers

Our CAC team is almost full! Thank you to those who have offered to join our group. We are still in need for a Community Member. This person should live in AISD and have an interest in learning about Clayton and participating with our team to review data, discuss topics relevant to the school, and share their perspective with the group. This person must not be an AISD parent or employee. If you know someone who is interested in serving, please have them email me at karen.mccollum@austinisd.org

Additional information:

Our Campus Advisory Council (CAC) is a decision-making group made of teachers, parents, community members, business owners, and school administrators. We meet monthly to review our campus goals and make decisions. Committee members commit to join CAC for two years. Our meetings are in-person on campus from 3:30-4:30.

Our meeting dates are:

September 9, September 30, November 4, December 2, February 3, March 3, April 7, May 5

If you served on the CAC during the 2023-24 school year and that was your first year, please join us for another year.

Member should plan to attend most or all the meetings.

Visitors are welcome at any meeting and do not need to be members to attend.

Clayton Gardening and Clean-Up Club

Join Mrs. Phillips & Mrs. Walker on campus after school! We will alternate between weeding our butterfly garden, refilling bird feeders on campus, picking up trash, and feeding the turtles at the Clayton Pond.

The Clayton library is excited to host an author/illustrator visit with Ann Patchett and Robin Preiss Glasser, featuring their new picture book, The Verts. This presentation, sponsored by BookPeople, will bon September 27 for students in Kindergarten, First and Second grades. Patchett is a highly acclaimed author of many adult novels and a Pulitzer Prize finalist. Glasser illustrates the beloved Fancy Nancy series. This picture book collaboration is a warm family story which introduces the idea of introverts and extroverts. It's a wonderful opportunity for students to get an inside look at the book creation process.

If you would like to order a personalized copy, please order on the BookPeople website, and return the flyer to Mrs. Sposeep. (This helps ensure your child's personalized copy is reserved.) Flyers were sent home with students in grades K - 2; you can also print a copy.

Picture Day is coming!

Our students and staff will be taking individual portraits (these are the pictures that will be in the yearbook).

Order Pictures at www.lifetouch.com Event ID: EVTZMJSWZ

Make Ups are Thursday, Nov. 7

Please email jennifer.daughtry@austinisd.org if you would like to help out with picture day. Shifts are typically 1.5-2 hrs long starting at 7:40am and ending by 11:30am.

Gone are the days of School Cash Online. We have a new online payment system, so jump in and set up an account!

nanclayton.myschoolcentral.com

Some grades have already activated their Activity Fees. Others will have them out soon and teachers will communicate when they're ready.

It is with great sadness that I share that Clara Herrera, former Clayton Teacher, passed away unexpectedly earlier this week. Ms. Herrera was a beloved 5th grade Teacher at Clayton who was known for her vivacious energy, infectious smile, and love of learning. I did not know Ms. Herrera personally, but have heard so much about her from others at Clayton who knew her well.

Ms. Herrera was active as a parent and volunteer at Clayton from our beginnings in 2006. In 2015, Ms. Herrera joined our staff as a 4th grade Teacher and later joined the 5th grade team. Her last year here was 2021. Many members of our community and current staff knew and loved Ms. Herrera and her family. You are all in my thoughts today.

I have included a picture from 2019 when Ms. Herrera was our Teacher of the Year:

Austin ISD has adopted curriculum resources to support Social Emotional Learning. The resources are provided through a program called "Purposefull People" and the parent company is Character Strong. The elementary materials follow a sequence listed below, starting with Respect. I am excited about these resources, because they support our focus at Clayton on SEL and educating the whole child. Please check out the two buttons below.

We were excited to welcome students into the library this week! Our library offers a great opportunity for students to practice independence, but here are a few things you can do to support their visits:

Learn your child’s library day (current schedule here) and help them remember to return books so they’ll be clear to take new ones.

You can search our online catalog to see if we own a particular title. Unfortunately, the system does not display user checkouts, so students need to track them, or check in the library if they’re uncertain about which titles are on their account..

Designate a spot for Clayton library books in your home. They’ll have a spine label, and the barcode is marked. Many families accidentally return our books to the public library; they do look pretty similar! There’s a system in place for returning those books, but it can take a month or longer.

Books have a way of blending into the background. When they’re missing, I always suggest looking under beds and sofas, in cars, and on your own bookshelves. If you lose or damage a book, you can pay the replacement fee via My School Central, and send the receipt to the library with your child. (Water bottles and books are a terrible mix; it helps if they keep those lids tightly sealed!)

Volunteers are a vital part of our library! We most need volunteers to help with shelving, assisting students with checkout and locating books, and preparing materials for student projects or displays. We prefer a weekly or bimonthly commitment. (Our book fairs offer opportunities to volunteer for single shifts - they have a separate signup about a month before each fair.) This year’s weekly volunteer signup sheet can be found online. Don’t worry if this is a new venture; we’ll show you the ropes when you come in.

If you have questions, email is the best way to reach me - dana.sposeep@austinisd.org.I look forward to working with all of our Cardinals this year!

~ Dana Sposeep

The Gifted and Talented (GT) referral window is now open and will remain open until October 7.

To learn more about GT services and to submit a referral, click here for the English link.

Additional languages can be found here.

GT services are provided to students who qualify in the general education classroom.

School grounds, including playground - Our playground is open for use by the public after 6 PM. Community members are not permitted to use the playground or school grounds from 7 AM - 6 PM. The Crew after school program has permission to use the playground from 3:10-6 PM. Thank you for your cooperation.

Lunch visitors starting Sept 20 - Adults will be permitted to come eat lunch with their child starting September 20. Be sure to bring your driver's license, which you will present upon entry. Please wear your visitor's pass sticker the entire time you are in the building and stay in the cafeteria area. You will be able to eat with your child(ren) only (not others' children). Please check out at the front office when lunch is over.

Volunteers - We love volunteers at Clayton! Please visit our website (link) for more information if you are interested in volunteering on campus.

For health reasons and food allergies, parents are asked to NOT bring edible treats for student birthdays. Thank you for your cooperation.

For employees and students

If you are feeling sick

If you or your child are feeling sick, regardless of whether you are vaccinated or not, please stay home and contact your medical provider and campus as soon as possible.

If you test positive

Those who test positive will need to stay home and report their case by calling the school’s front office and asking for the COVID-19 designee. Staff should report the COVID-19 positive result to their supervisor.

Returning to school

Any student or staff who tests positive will need to have markedly improved symptoms and be fever-free for 24 hours without the use of medication before returning to school. Wearing a mask upon return is optional, but encouraged whenever possible.

From this AISD website: https://www.austinisd.org/health-services/public-health

Via email to clayton@austinisd.org or use this online form:

Check out our slide deck above for information about:

• arrival
• nurse/medical
• attendance
• lunch
• dismissal
• communication processes...and more

PTA Website

PTA Facebook

PTA Instagram

Cardinal Corner: Clayton Elementary Parents Page Facebook Group

We are excited to kick off another great school year!

Let's make sure our teachers are thriving (and surviving) the first month back to school!

Our teachers are working hard teaching and loving our students, so let’s give them some essentials to make their jobs easier! Teacher "Survival Kits"will include supplies, snacks and various items to meet their needs. Our goal is to provide each member of Clayton’s faculty and staff a bag full of goodies. If you are willing and able, we would love for you to sign up to provide an item to donate.

All supplies should be delivered to 11025 Pairnoy Lane via drop off or Amazon by September 6th.

If you are a business owner or would like make a larger donation to Teacher Appreciation, please send a message and we will be in touch!

Thank you - Teacher Appreciation Team