The Pillow Page
8/30/15
First Week
What a week! I knew I was lucky when I found out I was going to get to lead the Pillow Elementary staff, but this past week truly helped to reaffirm that. I couldn't have asked for a better start to the year. You are all such dedicated professionals and I thank everyone for putting forth so much effort to make sure that our Panthers had the best first week they could of possibly had. Assemblies have been fun, visiting classrooms has been a blast, and seeing the relationships being built between students and teachers has been awesome. Continue to build those relationships this week as well. I can't stress enough the importance of getting those relationships built from the start. Thank you for reinforcing the campus expectations in the hallway, cafeteria, playground, and during assemblies. Thank you for being on time to assemblies in the morning and for participating. Thank you for showing up to morning duty on time and for actively monitoring our Panthers. It takes us all working together to ensure we have the best year yet, and I appreciate all of your efforts to make that happen.
A couple of reminders...we will be starting tardies this week. Students who aren't with you by 7:45 are to be marked tardy. Remember to actively monitor your children on the playground. You never know when one might wander off (it's happened already this year). Count your students before coming inside to make sure they are all there. Walk behind them in line so you can see the whole class. Please take attendance by 10. Please continue to practice how we walk down the hall and the expectations for different areas of the school. Please get to special areas on time and pick up your Panthers from special areas on time. Please continue to work on dismissing your Panthers in a timely manner at the end of the day. Busses aren't going to stay as late as they have been. They want to leave by 2:50 if they can.
Facility updates...the library has a data connection, so checkouts can begin! The playground parts should be ordered this week so that construction of the new playground can begin soon. We are trying to build a better relationship with the community, and in order to do that, we are going to be more welcoming to community members during the day. Because we share a space with the City of Austin, community members are allowed to use the park space next to the school. The plan is for the track, field inside the track, and small playground (eventually including the new playground) to be available to families in the community during the day. BUT, if a class is present for recess, WOW, etc., community members need to leave the area. Technically, between 7:30 and 2:45, that space is ours. But, if it's not being used at certain times during the day, we want to welcome the community to use it. If someone from the community is on the track, field, or small playground when you go outside, please politely ask them to leave. If they don't, call me. I am working on getting signs posted on the fence that say this. Also, the plumbers are working on the smell that comes around in the morning. They smoked the school last week to look for leaks but found none. Now they think the smell is coming from the vents over the bathrooms that release the smell on the roof. They think the smell from those vents is being pushed back into the building through the AC. So, they are extending the vents to make them higher to keep the smell from entering through the AC. They'll be working on it this week. If that doesn't work, they'll try the next thing. Thank you for being patient while we try and get this worked out.
Lastly, if you remember, the PPfT online orientation is to be completed no later than the 8th of September. This online module takes anywhere from 60 to 90 minutes. If you have completed it, great. If not, in an effort to help make sure everyone completes it on time, we will be using this Wednesday's staff meeting to complete the orientation together. Please bring your laptop as you will have to answer online quiz questions through HCP in order to get credit. We will plan on starting at 3:00 in the commons and try and finish by 4:00. If you complete the orientation before Wednesday, YOU DON'T HAVE TO ATTEND THE STAFF MEETING!!! Woohoo!!!
Thank you again for all of your hard work and thank you again for the opportunity to be your principal. Please let me know if you have any questions or need anything.
-Mr. Hill
Recent Pics
Thanks AHS Cheerleaders For Welcoming Back Our Panthers!
#PillowProud Of Our Team!
Ms. Anderson's Read Aloud!
Mr. Hicks Visits
Mr. C Welcoming Our Panthers Every Morning!
Coach Leading Think Fitness Thursday Assembly!
Our Teachers Are The Sweetest!
Aquapalooza Was A Huge Success!
Everett Had Fun Too!
Upcoming Events
Happy Birthday Ms. Torres!
9/1/15 - Tue
1:45pm - 2:30pm - Crisis Team Meeting
3:00pm - 4:00pm - CST Meeting
6:30pm - 8:00pm - NSCNA General Meeting
9/2/15 - Wed
3:00pm - 4:00pm - Staff Meeting
9/3/15 - Thur
10:40am - 1:00pm - EdAustin Visit
9/4/15 - Fri
8:00am - 9:00am - Coffee W/ The Principal
SLO Team Visits During Planning Periods
9/5/15 - Sat
Happy Birthday Ms. Reynolds!
Useful Links
Pillow Connect
Email: brian.hill@austinisd.org
Website: pillowelementary.weebly.com
Location: Pillow Elementary School, Crosscreek Drive, Austin, TX, United States
Phone: 512-414-2350
Twitter: @PillowPanthers