Howdy Smallville!

Greetings and salutations! I am writing to you today from the hallowed (yet frigid) halls of Smallville for the first time in what seems like an eternity. True it’s only been a few months, but it has certainly been way too long and believe me when I say (write) to you that it is good to be back and communicating with each of you.

Thanks to our incredible staff and our admin team for keeping the ship afloat in and in tip-top shape during my leave. There’s never a good time to be off campus, and these last 4 months might be considered the worst times ever to not be present, but due to the professionalism and support of our team I was able to spend quality time with our newest family member. We welcomed Kaylin Jade Nelson into the world on November 5th, 2021 and she is a complete and utter joy! Please see attached pics for reference:

Now that I am back on campus officially and have completed Mr. Sammon’s mandatory, new employee indoctrination, complete with a scavenger hunt and being forced to watch his HS Football HIghlight reel several times, I am ready to get back to the task at hand. The task at hand is to make sure our students feel connected and comfortable in their own skin, whether online or at home, and to grow each day academically and social emotionally. That’s the goal, and it may look different from week to week, but if we focus on the above, no amount of pratfalls can deter us.

Next week will look the same as school did prior to the Freeze with students coming to campus, following the same systems and protocols as before, to learn and grow with their classmates. Your student should know the routine and not expect too many changes in the next few weeks, with the exception of seeing more teachers in their classrooms. We are making our way back to normalcy and are fortunate to have more and more teachers grace our classes with their presence and expertise.

One note for next week in regards to Friday: Friday will be an A day, not an asynchronous one as previously noted, so make sure your students are prepared to follow their typical A-day (1,3,5, PRIDE, 7) is followed.

Thank you and if you have any questions, concerns, or kudos, please feel free to send them my way.

Excelsior!

Matthew Nelson

Principal

Clint Small Middle School

(512) 841-6705

www.smallmiddleschool.org matthew.m.nelson@austinisd.org

NJHS Inductees from Spring 2020 AND Spring 2021-

You and your families are invited to a virtual induction ceremony hosted by members of LASA NHS and your NJHS Sponsor christie.manners@austinisd.org.

Please mark your calendars for the evening of May 20th. More information to come in the Cougar News as the date approaches.

NJHS Induction Certificates for all inductees from this year and last year are in the office now and may be picked up M-F from 8-4 pm.

6th grade parents: Read the Cougar News in Fall 2021 for application information.

The Small Middle School counselors are super excited to star a special community project. We are hoping to paint two murals in front of the counseling office in collaboration with Small Middle School families. The murals will be made in efforts to promote unity and celebrate diversity.

We are in need of donations that will help in painting the murals and are looking for volunteers to come in shifts and help collaborate in making the murals come to life. Please review the available slots below and click on the button to sign up to donate or to volunteer. Thank you!

Click here to check out the murals we will be recreating

Click here to see what they need and/or to volunteer to help:https://www.signupgenius.com/go/60B0F49A4A72BA6FE3-selmurals

This is the announcement requesting pictures from Small families:

Please send pictures of your students or share them to Google Drive:

thomas.shoptaw@austinisd.org

• camp outs
• trips
• backyard gardens
• next to Austin landmarks and murals
• with pets
• baby pics with name of student
• anything celebrating student success and creativity:
• costumes
• customs
• sports
• art
• playing an instrument
• holding up a favorite book

Our yearbook will be a colorful keepsake of the good things that happened this year.

It will be unique. But, this year our campus is Austin, our neighborhoods, cougar homes, and wherever our cougars roam.

We are looking into doing a drive by Picture Day - Look in future newsletters for more details.

PTA Hassle-Free November Fundraiser

Click here to donate

This has been a crazy year for all of us, and Small’s PTA is no exception. Our Spring Carnival, which provides over half our annual budget didn’t take place, and it’s unlikely to happen in 2021. Our school store, the Cougar Cage, is closed indefinitely. We need your help more than ever!

The PTA budget will be used to fund unique supply needs of pandemic-era classrooms like chargers, extension cords, and headphones. We’ll provide guest speakers for parents - coming November 18th, Dr. Mike Brooks on screen time - and we’re working on creative community-building events that can be done virtually.

We hope to raise $30 per child. We know it's a hard time for many families in our community, and we appreciate any donation you can make. And don’t forget corporate matching if your employer participates. Thank you for your ongoing support!

Donate to the PTA here

Join the PTA here

Questions about the PTA? Contact SmallPTA2020@gmail.com

If you are interested in speaking to our CAC using our Citizen Communication time, please email our CAC chair Co-Chair Chasee chappellhudgins@mac.com for the meeting Zoom details.

Citizens Communications. For all regular and other plenary meetings of the CAC, time at the beginning of the meeting shall be set aside for citizens communications. This time is specifically for non-members to make comments to the CAC. The Co-Chairs may limit the time for citizens communications and the time given to individual speakers. The Co-Chairs shall ensure that the district’s “Citizens Communications and Visitor Guidelines” are applied. Under these guidelines, except for requests for clarification, dialogue shall not occur between speakers and members. If the CAC is interested in hearing more from a speaker, the speaker may be invited to a future meeting and placed on the agenda specifically for that purpose. Or, the CAC may call a special meeting specifically for the purpose of open dialogue with non-members (e.g., a “community conversation”), but it must be posted for discussion on a specific topic or topics.

Parents, are you looking for a way to give back to teachers and staff at Small Middle School?

We (A handful of Small Parents) have found a free and very effective way to show some love and thought we would share it with you all.

RAVE: Recognizing All Valuable Employees

Let's send some sparkly gratitude to our faculty & staff this holiday season with an AISD RAVE submission!

• Does your student have a favorite teacher?
• Has someone at Small (or any other AISD School) gone above and beyond for you and your family?
• Do you want to support teachers and let everyone (Teacher, Principal, AISD District) know about it?

All of our faculty and staff have gone above and beyond this semester. The best free, easy, sparkly way to show our gratitude is via the RAVE form on the AISD website (link below.) It only takes a couple of minutes to complete!

This form is received by AISD administration. RAVE submissions mean a lot to teachers and staff. It's equivalent to a virtual hug! And, there's never been a better time to remind the Superintendent how indispensable they all are.

Please submit a RAVE for any teacher or staff member (current or from school years past.)

Maybe send one or two a day! You do need the first and last name of the employee you wish to RAVE about. Those can be sourced on Small's Staff Directory :

https://www.austinisd.org/schools/small/directory

Flooding AISD administration with positive feedback will make an important and lasting impact. Let's make this holiday season sparkle a little extra with RAVES!

https://www.austinisd.org/hr/customer-service/rave

Thank you,

Small Parents