Smallville-

This week we invited all 6th and 7th grade students to the cafeteria to go over choice sheets for next year. Be looking for these at home and work with them to fill it out correctly. We will also be sending electronic versions home this week through BLEND. We will accept either form; however, I suggest filling out one on paper then transferring your info to the online version. It’s imperative that your student select up to 10 electives and number them accordingly. The class they most want to take should be #1, and the course they least like to take should be #10. Numbers 2-9 are based on preference. Please help explain that they aren’t signing up for ten electives (most students will be getting 4 of them), but some classes may be too full or will not make it, so we’ll need to place them in their backup selection. The good thing about our school is that we have so many unique electives, if choices 1 through 3 aren’t available, I guarantee options 4 through 10 will be just as fun and rewarding.

COVID Numbers on Campus: We are still awaiting AISD to create and disseminate the COVID numbers for students and staff. Currently, the dashboard is the only form of communication that shares our COVID numbers; however, these numbers include cases incurred over the Winter Break. Here is the link COVID Dashboard Whether our numbers are low or high compared to other schools within the district, we ask you to take every precaution you can at all times. If your student displays any symptoms, especially if in contact with somebody diagnosed, please keep them at home. Also, we ask for your support in preparing them for the day ahead by reminding them to wear their masks, wash their hands thoroughly, and try to maintain a safe distance from others. As soon as we have updated information, we will work with AISD to get it out to you.

HB4545 Tutorials: On Friday we gave your student their assignment for accelerated instruction tutorials, which are set to begin on Tuesday, January 18th. Your student (if eligible) will either be assigned an after school or morning time to meet with the teacher of record once a week (in the afternoons) or twice a week in the mornings. Please make every effort to have them on time for the a.m. session (7:45-8:15) and be ready to pick them up after the p.m. sessions at or around 5:00. If you have any questions, please contact me directly. Those students who are invited to, but do not attend, will have to make up the hours on Saturdays or during the summer.

Enjoy your 3-day weekend with your family. Aside from watching some great football action (Go Cowboys!) please take some time to acknowledge and appreciate the efforts of the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. We are a long way from where we were, thanks to him, yet still not where we need to be in order for all people to feel accepted and for others to accept all. We are thankful he paved the way for inclusivity for us here in America and his teachings on respecting diversity are still with us today. On MLK Day, try to be of service to others if you can, safely, but also remind your student that many of the freedoms we have today were fought hard to achieve by people like the honorable Reverend and we should not take them lightly.

Matthew Nelson

Principal

Clint Small Middle School

(512) 841-6705

www.smallmiddleschool.org

matthew.m.nelson@austinisd.org

Hi everyone, I am Amanda Elliott the new attendance specialist at Small. I am excited to be working with everyone and look forward to getting to know you. We have updated the Small Website Attendance page and can submit notes online. This will allow for less paper and will help make Small a Greener Campus. On the Attendance Page you can now enter an absence and request an early pickup. Remember when picking up students early to give us at least an hour notice. This will ensure you are not waiting for your student for up to 15 minutes to arrive when you get here. It helps saves you time as well and will make sure you get to where you need to go as well. You can still handwrite an excuse note as well if needed. Don't forget that school starts right at 8:20. If you arrive after that your student will be marked Tardy. Please feel free to contact me with any questions by email at amanda.elliott@austinisd.org or directly at 512-841-6702. Have a wonderful Holiday Season.

Hola a todos, soy Amanda Elliott, la nueva especialista en asistencia de Small. Estoy emocionado de trabajar con todos y espero conocerlos. Hemos actualizado la página de Asistencia a sitios web pequeños y podemos enviar notas en línea. Esto permitirá menos papel y ayudará a que Small sea un campus más ecológico. En la página de asistencia ahora puede ingresar una ausencia y solicitar una recogida anticipada. Cuando recoja a los estudiantes temprano, recuerde avisarnos con al menos una hora de anticipación. Esto asegurará que no espere a que su estudiante llegue hasta por 15 minutos cuando llegue aquí. También le ayuda a ahorrar tiempo y se asegurará de que llegue a donde necesita ir. También puede escribir a mano una nota de excusa si es necesario. No olvide que la escuela comienza a las 8:20. Si llega después de eso, su estudiante será marcado como Tarde. No dude en comunicarse conmigo con cualquier pregunta por correo electrónico a amanda.elliott@austinisd.org o directamente al 512-841-6702. Que tengas una maravillosa temporada navideña.

https://small.austinschools.org/parents/attendance

Have your heard the new jingle staring our 6th grade choir? Check it out here.