PfISD Employee Express

• Upcoming Events & Holidays
• 2023-24 Academic Calendar Survey
  
• Employee of the Month
• Pfund Me Mini-Grants due Nov. 30
  
• Respiratory Virus Season
• Pflugerville Pfamily Resource Pfair
  
• Teacher Incentive Allotment
  
• Fall 2022 Employee Survey
• PfISD Partners with UT Austin for UTeach
• Staff Shout Outs
• CTE Corner
• Fine Arts Update
• Athletics Update

November

*Military Family Appreciation Month

*National Homeless Youth Awareness Month

Nov. 17 - Board of Trustees Regular Meeting

Nov. 21-25 - Thanksgiving Break

The Pflugerville ISD instructional calendar results from a collaboration between the community, students, and staff. The calendar is intended to balance the needs of all stakeholders, especially our students and teachers. Our District Academic Advisory Council (DAAC) solicits your feedback as part of their 2023-2024 calendar development process.

Please respond by Nov. 30, 2022.

Click to complete survey

It is that time to nominate a team member for PfISD Employees of the Month (EOM) for professional staff, support staff, and guest educators.

Your November EOM nominations will be accepted through Nov 18th.

To review the process and nominate an employee, please click here: https://www.pfisd.net/EOM

The Pflugerville Education Foundation (PEF) is offering all PfISD teachers the opportunity to apply for Mini-Grants. The purpose of this grants is to enhance, promote and augment classroom instruction in areas not routinely allocated in regular budgetary funds or not eligible for reimbursement from other sources. Mini-Grants are not available for personnel cost, technology or travel expenses. Over the months of September, October, and November, a total of $6,000 will be awarded each month that support individual grants up to $1,500.

Grants will be selected based on the following criteria: The degree to which the grant aligns with a PEF priority area; addresses an area of need substantiated by data; emphasizes or enhances student academic performance or social emotional intelligence; creates value through annual reuse; promotes the sharing of lessons learned with other educators; addresses the degree to which campus and district funding sources have been exhausted.

Apply here:

https://forms.gle/7f4eC4KSrikf4VjX9

The CDC has issued a Health Advisory this week warning of increased risk of respiratory illness this fall and winter. The advisory states that they are tracking increased cases of the Flu, RSV, Rhinovirus and a possible resurgence of COVID. Healthcare providers are seeing higher that normal cases across all age levels. CDC recommends that all eligible individuals get their Flu shots and COVID boosters. Vaccination can prevent hospitalization and death associated with influenza and SARS-CoV-2 viruses.

As a reminder, please stay home if you are not feeling well. If your child is ill, please keep them home and notify the school of their absence.

Please contact your healthcare provider if you or a family member are experiencing symptoms of illness. Below are some frequently asked questions.

Join the Integrations Team on December 8th from 4 to 6 pm for a fun Ed-Tech celebration! Learn and observe the latest instructional technology tools and resources that are available to our district. Participate in our Interactive Tech Playground with hands on learning featuring our new devices available for campus and classroom checkout!

Enjoy an exciting night learning and collaborating with innovative and passionate PfISD educators!

Pflugerville ISD Social Work department invites you to join us for a Pflugerville Pfamily Resource Pfair. This event will be held on Saturday January 21st from 9am – 12pm at the Rock Gym.

Learn about resources related to insurance, employment, mental and physical health, housing and more! Please refer to the flyer for more information.

The Teacher Incentive Allotment was developed out of HB 3 to help bring recognition to highly effective teachers by providing additional money for demonstrating high levels of teaching at the Recognized, Exemplary, or Master Teacher designation level.

To help explain the methodology of PfISD’s local designation system, the 2022-2023 TIA Field Guide has been created. The guide will include information on TEA minimum performance standards, T-TESS observation and student growth components, along with scoring methodology.

The guide will be updated periodically and posted to our District’s TIA website in the coming days.

We always want to know how we are doing as an organization, and the next steps we can take to best serve those working alongside us. In addition to school culture being something we both think about and talk to people about frequently, we also want to provide an opportunity to get additional context through an anonymous survey twice a year.

You will receive a link to take a survey from Upbeat. We ask that you please complete this by the end of the day on Friday, November 18. Thank you so much for all you do every day to make Pflugerville ISD an excellent organization for our scholars, as well as for our team!

Hello educational associates, guest educators, and others! Do you have a degree in science, mathematics, or computer science? Are you ready to become a teacher. Consider a university-based program like UTeach facilitated by the University of Texas at Austin. Find out more information and register to attend a November 2022 virtual information session by clicking HERE.

Participants in the January 2023 Central Texas cohort will have program costs of $8,000 waived.

We love our PfISD staff members and we know our parents do too! We want to provide an opportunity for our parents to publicly recognize and thank our staff members who serve our students, staff and the community. We have created a Google Form to provide information directly to us to share with our staff as a whole and let you see the difference you are making in a student's life every single day. Please click here for the Google Form.

These Shout Outs will be included in upcoming issues of the Parent and Staff Newsletters. If a Shout Out directly references a student, we will not include the parent name to protect the child's anonymity. If you are recognized in an anonymous Shout Out and want to learn the parent's name, please contact Tamra Spence at tamra.spence@pfisd.net.

THANK YOU TO OUR AMAZING PFISD STAFF MEMBERS FOR EVERYTHING THEY DO FOR OUR STUDENTS AND COMMUNITY!

Mrs. Krause of Rowe Lane - 1st grade (via Whitney I.): Mrs. Krause communication to parents is excellent. Her dedication and her love for her students and teaching can be seen every single day. I am so happy that my son is in her class.

Christi Leimer of Rowe Lane (via Misty B.): Thank you so much for everything you do and everything you teach Lily! She's learning so much from you!

Laura Sledge of Dyslexia services (via Jen R.): Mrs. Sledge is the most amazing influence for my sons! She truly gets to know her students and I believe that really allows them to work their hardest for her. She puts her students first. I truly believe she is one of a kind! I don’t know where my boys reading would be if they didn’t have someone as kind and attentive as her.

Jennifer Norwood of RLES (via Jessica Stockel): Mrs Norwood has been a kind, patient, dedicated teacher to my daughter. She’s communicative, engaged, and truly loved by her students and in turn their parents! She works incredibly hard but never acts too busy to chat about my child’s needs or share important info with me. You can tell she genuinely cares about kids.

Pamela Ledet of Rowe Lane (via Anonymous): Ms. Ledet has been a wonderful Kindergarten teacher to our little girl Willow. She has been so welcoming and made Kindergarten a place my daughter looks forward to going to each day. ♥️

Brent Corie of Rowe Lane Elementary School (via Amber A.): Mr. Corie is a gem of an educator and someone we are so grateful to know! My child had him last year as a 5th grader, which is such a hard age. We saw Mr. Corie this past weekend at an event outside of school. It was a flag football game that he went to in support of the students in his classes who asked him to attend. The joy on those boys' faces (from both teams) when they saw him on the sidelines, cheering them on, was priceless.

It is so important that our boys especially have him as a male role model for them, particularly in elementary school. And as a parent, I just want him to know that we appreciate him going above and beyond to show them support, in and outside of the classroom.

Ian Young and The Weiss Band Staff of Weiss Band (via Parent): Thank you for a great season- building a great culture, commitment to excellence- we appreciate all you have done in your first season.

Coach Burgess, Case Manager (via Lolita S.): From day one she has been there for my son. She has my sons best interests always. We were scared to come into a new school and newness altogether. I have peace in knowing that he can talk to her at any time. His 9th grade year is shaping out to be great. Thank You

Ms. Shelby Roberts of Mott Elementary (via Nikki S.): Ms. Roberts is an amazing addition to the Mott staff this year. She goes above and beyond showing interest in her students’ lives both in and out of the classroom. My son is very blessed to have her as a teacher.

Macille Grant of Pflugerville Elementary (via Leslie G.): Ms. Grant has been awesome this year. 2nd grade has been challenging for our family for many reasons. Ms Grant has been very responsive and always takes time to communicate with me. She has gone out of her way to make my son feel welcomed in her class. Our family appreciates her so much.

Emily Swain of MES - Dyslexia (via Jennifer K.): I can't even begin to describe how wonderful and instrumental Ms. Emily Swain has been for my child. Prior to working with her, his confidence with reading, writing and spelling was very low. Ms. Swain has done a tremendous job describing what dyslexia is, fostering inclusion and teaching him all the tips and tricks to help him. He is also always so excited to show off the cursive he has learned! I remember the first assignment he brought home from school where I could really read and understand what he wrote, it brought tears to my eyes. My kid adores Ms. Swain so much and she is a true gem. Thank you for all you do Ms. Swain!

Mrs. Lisa Betz of Murchison Elementary Kindergarten (via Melissa S.): Mrs. Betz has been a fantastic teacher to our girl. To paraphrase my daughter, "Mrs. Betz is a superhero because she is helpful and kind and makes my brain smart." Our thanks to Mrs. Betz for all you do.

Mrs. Tan of Dearing Elementary (via Cate): She’s the best! Such a beaming light of joy everyday. She went above and beyond for my daughter with some trouble she had adjusting to new stuff at school and is truly the sweetest. She makes me daughter so excited to go to school each day. She’s so smart and really knows her stuff when it comes to teaching. We are so happy her first teacher is as wonderful as Mrs. Tan!

Amber Khan of Mott Elementary (via Chisom N.): My son was having a tough time adjusting to school and needed extra guidance and patience. I was feeling frustrated and ignored but Amber listened to me and immediately made things happen on my son's behalf. I am forever grateful to Amber for taking my concerns seriously. Now my son is on track to getting the help he needs for academic success.

Andrea Masanda of Connally High School (via Michelle T.): Coach Masanda was quick to respond to my son about tutorials and also encouraging him to come in to work on his written responses. Thank you for your support to build better writers!

On Tuesday, November 8th, PfISD CTE students attended the annual Counter-Life Herstories Conference at Texas State University in San Marcos. The annual Counter-Life Herstories Conference shares women of color’s narratives in a live, TEDx-style format with girls in grades 5-12 in Central Texas.

This invitation-only event consisted of a guided campus tour, a selection of speakers recounting their stories as women of color pursuing careers in Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics & Computer Science (STEM+C), as well as lunch on campus. PfISD CTE programs are open to all students in the district and are led by very talented teachers, many joining our teaching staff from careers in industry; building a multifaceted student, prepared for employment in their career of choice, is one of our overarching goals.

To learn more about our Engineering program, Computer Science program, and more, visit our website: https://www.pfisd.net/Page/7408.

Congratulations to Pflugerville HS percussion for placing 2nd overall in standstill and also earning best snare line at the Lone Star Classic drumline competition. Also worth noting: they were up at the school at 4 a.m. to ride to Dallas and performed in 38° weather! They truly showed some resilience and grit last Saturday!

Congratulations to the Hawk Band for placing 9th in finals at BOA Grand Nationals in Indianapolis last week with their award-winning marching show, Trainlapse! The three-day contest included 100 band programs from across the nation. This is a first for any of our Pflugerville HS band programs!

(All schedules can be found on rankonesports.com)

Football: WHS lost 37-20 this past Friday @ #18 perennial power Desoto Eagles. The Wolves finished the season at 5-6 and helped Coach Van Meter collect his 203 wins for his career!!!

Volleyball: (Academic ALL STATE) PHS-Adelaide Weeks (2nd Team), WHS- Alexa Cilindro (2nd Team), WHS-Chelsea Go (Honorable Mention) CONGRATULATIONS LADIES!!!

Fun Fact: HHS Girls Basketball is currently ranked #2 in the TGCA poll. GREAT JOB LADIES!!!

Girls Basketball: PHS Girls are 3-1 while the CHS Cougars are 1-2 on the early season. WHS is currently 1-1 while HHS is 3-0. Lots more action as the ladies starts tournament play and gear up for district!!!

Wrestling: WHS senior Maya Khabbaz won her 1st tournament of the year in the 145 lb. class, looking forward to a GREAT senior year!!!

Tennis (All District): CHS Boys Singles Line 1 Ethan To-Pham 1st team, Line 2 Hoai Le 1st team Line 3 Sammy Cortez 1st team, Line 4 Thinh Le 2nd team, Line 6 Johnathan Pham Honorable Mention Boys Doubles Line 1 Ethan To-Pham and Hoai Le 1st team, Line 2 Sammy Cortez and Thinh Le 1st team Mix Doubles Johnathan Pham and Jackie Nguyen Honorable Mention!!!

Junior High Athletics: Basketball starts soon November 16th!!!

Coach of The Month: (Going ABOVE and BEYOND to serve the Children of PfISD!!!) Congratulations to PMS Coach Jacques Gordan (left) and HHS Coach Felipe Castro (right)