Hornet Herald
News and notes for the week of February 14th, 2022
A Week!
Happy Black History Month!
Three African American Contributions
Home Security System & First Closed Circuit Television African American nurse Mary Van Brittan Brown, devised an early security unit for her own home. She and her husband took out a patent for the system in the same year, and they were awarded the patent three years later, in 1969. Home security systems commonly used today took various elements from her design. She is also credited with the invention of the first closed circuit television. | Three-light Traffic Light & Gas Mask Garrett Morgan was the first Black person in Cleveland, Ohio, to own a car. After he witnessed a severe car accident at an intersection in the city, he expanded on the current traffic light by adding a “yield” component, warning oncoming drivers of an impending stop. He also patented a breathing device in the form of a canvas hood—a precursor to the modern gas mask. | Blood Bank Charles Richard Drew became interested in researching the preservation of blood when he was studying at Columbia University. Drew discovered a method of separating red blood cells from plasma and then storing the two components separately. This new process allowed blood to be stored for more than a week, which was the maximum at that time. Drew documented these findings in a paper that led to the first blood bank. |
Home Security System & First Closed Circuit Television
Three-light Traffic Light & Gas Mask
Blood Bank
Courtyard Lunch Assignments for the week of 2/14/2022

KMS Courtyard Diagram

Principal's Message to Hornet Families for the week of 2/14/2022
Hello families,
We are now in our 7th week of the new semester and with cases going down its starting to feel like normal school again. In response to the 2 days out and the AISD approved holiday on Friday, we made an adjustment to our A/B Calendar to maintain our balance of A & B days. Therefore last week, and this week are A Weeks. The revised schedule is just below this message. Please review this week's events below to see all the great events we have planned this week.
I would like to give a special thank you to our parent community for joining us Thursday morning for the Principal's Coffee and communication this past week. Your involvement, concern, and presence were certainly appreciated. I appreciate those who brought forward concerns and those who expressed support. Both contributions will help us grow to be a stronger Kealing Community for our scholars. The roll out for the action plan is below, please take a moment to review. Thank you for choosing Kealing Middle School and Austin ISD, feel free to reach out to me directly for any reason at all: jerald.wilson@austinisd.org
Action Plan Rollout
Tuesday - Kealing Magnet Director Hiring Planning Meeting
Wednesday - Kealing 7/8 Master Schedule Work group will meet
Thursday - Principal's Coffee (Action Plan Follow Up)
Due to the weather days last week(2/3 & 2/4) and the AISD Approved holiday (2/11), we adjusted our A/B Calendar for the 2021-2022 School year. Click here to observe the calendar.
Budget Time Line
1/31 - Share budget details with staff
2/3 - Share budget details with PTA
2/3 & 2/4 - 7th grade choice sheets through the Social Studies Classes (choices will influence budget decisions)
2/17 - share budget details & workshop with CAC
3/3 - Budget workshop with PTA
3/11 - Budget due to AISD
4/15 - CAC signature Sheets due
PTA Corner!
Hornet Parents,
Thank you to everyone who attended our recent PTA meeting (Feb 3). At that meeting, we approved a letter to the superintendent and trustees opposing the proposed change in planning time for teachers for next year. Many parents and organizations throughout the district opposed the proposal and on Friday we heard that the district will stay with a 6/8 schedule for middle and high school teachers next year as well as schedule planning time for elementary teachers. This means that the budget deficit will have to be made up elsewhere. Please continue to pressure your state representatives to change the recapture formula that takes nearly half of collected property taxes for education in Austin and sends them to elsewhere in the state.
TEACHER APPRECIATION
This week we will be having our second Secret Pal gift drops. If you’ve signed up as a secret pal, you’ll be dropping off your gifts on either Tuesday or Wednesday of this week. Make sure they are well labelled and have your student drop the gift off to the front office.
We all know that teachers are feeling beleaguered these days. Please encourage your student to write a note, make a video or post on this padlet (https://padlet.com/vpmembership3/qarn8d4kph7fa5jw) to show some love and appreciation to our teachers. You’re welcome to send notes as well!
MEMBERSHIP
Our hive is strong with a whopping 509 members; currently, Kealing has the highest Middle school PTA membership in Austin ISD. We only need 126 members to receive Texas PTA all-time high award. If you haven't joined the KealingPTA, it's not too late! You can join Kealing PTA at www.kealingpta.org
COMMUNICATION
PTA is adopting a new communication tool, Konstella, to provide Kealing with a voluntary, opt-in Directory for current families (and teachers/staff), and the ability for PTA to easily communicate direct to email. In the future Konstella can also be used for volunteer sign ups, committee organization, and more. Konstella can be accessed via your desktop or by mobile app by downloading the Konstella app on iOS or Android.
To start with Konstella, please visit: https://www.konstella.com/cd/DZLPNN which will take you through the Kealing Konstella registration process. Like the Kealing MS Parents Facebook group (which can be found in the Kealing Middle School Facebook page), Konstella activity should pertain specifically to Kealing and remain kind, courteous, and respectful of others' privacy. Hate speech/bullying, self-promotion or spam are not allowed.
We hope Konstella makes connecting with each other even easier. Please reach out to Jen Loving at jen.loving@gmail.com with any questions about registering an account or using Konstella.
HOW TO HELP
Sign up to monitor lunch (gives the teachers a break during the day!) or monitor hallways during passing periods. Sign ups are found in Konstella. You can sign up as often or as rarely as you like. If you're going to volunteer on campus, please register as a volunteer here: https://austinpartners.org/volunteer/
NEXT MEETING
Our next meeting will be on March 1 immediately following the regularly scheduled Principal's Coffee. We had discussed calling an extra meeting, but feel that the topics we would discuss there are being covered in the extra Principal's Coffees.
KMS Safety Protocols as of 2/13/2021
All Day
Mask wearing is mandatory
Before School
All staff, students, and visitors are encouraged to self screen for COVID 19 symptoms before entering into a campus or other Austin ISD Facilities each day
Arrival
- We will maintain outdoor markers to social distance
Transition
- we will encourage moving halls where students are encourage to not stop while transitioning to classes
- staggered release
Classrooms
- We are seating/desks at least 3 feet apart when feasible
- Each classroom has a HEPA (High Efficiency Particulate Air) filtration unit
- Personal Protective Equipment will be available in each room
- Plexiglass dividers available
- Additional outdoor seating (2 outdoor classrooms & the courtyard if teachers plan to use)
Breakfast & Lunch
- Assigned seating
- Students are allowed to eat lunch both inside the cafeteria and outside in the courtyard
- Plexiglass accordian dividers
-Volunteer lunch monitors
- The courtyard comfortably seats 4 classes, which is from 25% - 100% of the lunch capacity for each lunch period.
Dismissal
- we will have staggered dismissal where scholars will be dismissed by areas of the building to reduce traffic.

Please click to see the most update Positive Case Updates pertaining to our campus. Our most recent letter went out January 28th, 2022.
Upcoming Dates
Monday - February 14th - A Day (1st - 4th Periods)
Deadline to Accept Magnet Offer
Tuesday - February 15th - B Day (5th - 8th Periods)
Wednesday - February 16th- A Day (1st - 4th Periods)
COVID 19 Vaccine Clinic
Thursday - February 17th - B Day (5th - 8th Periods)
Principal's Coffee Follow up meeting 8:00a - 8:30a, Click Here for Zoom Link
CAC Meeting @ 4p - 5p , location - Virtual
Kealing Boys Basketball vs Small Middle School @ 6p & 7p
Homework Hiatus
Friday - February 18th -A Day (1st - 4th Periods)
Homework Hiatus
Saturday - February 19th
KMS Virtual Choice Fair, 10a - 12p
Instrument Selection, 1p - 5p (Large & Small Gym)
Next Week - B Week
2/21 - Student Holiday / Staff Professional Development
2/23 - Math Placement Exam
2/26 - Instrument tryout @ 9a - 12p, Large & Small Gym
2/26 - Math Placement Exam @ 9a-12p then 1p - 4p
Entries must be submitted by Thursdays weekly to be included in the upcoming week's communication.
This Past Week on Campus
The PTA Coffee Cart was Great!
In Classrooms!
The Annie Jr. Musical was hit!

We celebrated National Counselor's Appreciation Week by honoring our Caring Counselors!

Announcements!
Please click here to support our Amazon Wishlist
COVID-19 Protection Drive
- Our next student-selected service project is a COVID-19 Protection Drive in which we are asking the Kealing Community to donate PPE and other related items to unhoused Austin community members.
- We need disposable masks (preferably surgical masks, KN95s, or N95s), hand sanitizer, and sanitizing wipes.
- The drive will run from February 1st through the 28th.
- Drop off items at Ms. Chambers’ room (116)
All Call for Supplies
KMS is looking for substitutes
The details: We've increased the base rate of substitute teacher pay for all levels. For example, degreed substitutes can now earn between $140 and $200 per day for filling a teacher assignment. We’ve also added compensation for supporting campuses when Austin-Travis County is in Stages 4 and 5.
We also expanded our eligibility requirements so that people with fewer than 60 college credit hours are eligible to work in elementary or middle schools.
Hopefully, we’ll get back to normal soon. In the meantime, if you know someone who would excel in a substitute role in AISD, point them to our website and encourage them to apply online.
SYEP is offering summer employment opportunities to young people 14-17 years of age as well as young people with a disability up to the age of 22. Employment opportunities include 100 hours of paid learning/work experience.
PTA Membership
Kealing prides itself on fostering a supportive & caring community, and one way it does that is through the Parent-Teacher Association. The PTA comprises families, teachers, administrators, students, and community members dedicated to enriching every student learning experience.
Your PTA membership makes Kealing a great community and unique learning environment. While our memberships number is at an impressive 486 members, we are 150 members short of the Texas PTA 3-year-high award. Let's finish this year with the largest PTA that Kealing has ever seen!!
To join the Kealing PTA hive, click the link below:
www.kealingpta.org
If you have Kealing PTA membership questions, please email Shannan Riemer, vpmembership@kealingpta.org.
Why Join PTA? Watch this video to learn more about why you should join the Kealing PTA: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzGtGcYdEFs
Please contact Kealing membership VP, Shannan Riemer, vpmembership@kealingpta.org, with any membership questions, comments, or concerns.
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How To Order Guide (https://drive.google.com/file/d/1b6bv9eEqfKqLAyzyyYIIeYCaz3_e_xXY/view?usp=sharing)
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