Brentwood Elementary Communication
August 20, 2021 - DIG IN AND BUILD UP! 2021-22 vol. 2
BRENTWOOD ELEMENTARY, SHOW US YOUR P.A.W.S! 🐾
PERSONAL BEST, ACTIVE LISTENING, WITH RESPECT, & BEING SUPER RESPONSIBLE
Ms. Laroche, Principal
Brentwood Families,
It has been such a delight to have a full campus of in person learners this week on our temporary campus. Thank you to all of you who have extended gratitude and time to our staff and campus. Our bulldogs are learning their way around campus, getting to know their teachers and classmates, and learning together.
Each day we tweak and make adjustments to some of our big systems with safety, communication, kindness, and efficiency in mind. By day 2 and 3 our arrival and dismissal process was easier and smoother. Dismissal was over in 7 minutes by day 2. Thank you for your grace, patience, and kindness as we built routines this week.
Thank you to the families who donated umbrellas and picnic tables for outdoor lunch and volunteered your time during set up and lunchtime. Because of you we are helping to prevent the spread of COVID on our campus. Please see the MEAL section in this newsletter to learn more about lunch and how you can request for your child to access the cafe during lunchtime.
We will send out an electronic Brentwood Family Newsletter monthly. This newsletter contains some repeated information from the 8/13 newsletter. We are a paperless communication community and make every effort to create the least amount of waste, including paper, for our environment. Stay connected with use through social media and PTA. All of the links are at the end of this newsletter.
With Appreciation,
Amber Laroche
Proud Brentwood Principal
Back to School Nights (In Person Only)
Back to School Nights are tailored for adults in the family to learn more about your child's classroom experience, spend time with the classroom teacher, and get an overview of school year.
August 24 5:30-6:15 pm PreK & Kindergarten
August 24 6:15-7:00 pm 3rd Grade
August 25 5:30-6:15 pm 1st Grade
August 25 6:15-7:00 pm 2nd Grade
August 26 5:30-6:15 pm 4th Grade
August 26 6:15-7:00 pm 5th Grade
*Masks are required at all events.
*All events below are at Brentwood Elementary's Temporary Campus - located at, 601 East St. Johns Avenue, Austin, TX 78752.
*Brentwood Arrival/Dismissal Entrance is located off of Roland Johnson Dr. (gate with Brentwood Elementary sign).
*Brentwood Main Office Entrance is located off of E. Huntland Dr.
*All events are in person.
Arrival
SCHOOL DAY HOURS FOR STUDENTS
7:40 am - 3:10 pm
MORNING ARRIVAL
- 7:20-7:40 am
- Breakfast is served from 7:20-7:40 am
- Busses - Arrive on Huntland Ln., according to district Bus Finder App. schedule.
- Vehicles - The traffic arrival and dismissal vehicle line begins east on St. Johns and then south on Roland Johnson. Please be patient and wait in the line as the traffic flows. Also, do not block the painted crosswalk and leave ample space at the crosswalk so thru traffic can pass through and go around Brentwood vehicles. Stay in your vehicle at all times.
- Pedestrians - Park in our staff parking lot, located on Roland Johnson, across from our campus and the crosswalk, adjacent to the motel. Accompany your child across the street using the crosswalk and to the arrival gate on Roland Johnson.
- Late Arrivals - Park in our staff parking lot, located on Roland Johnson, across from our campus and the crosswalk, adjacent to the motel. Or, park in designated areas along Roland Johsnon. Accompany your child to the main office gate, located on Huntland Dr.
- All students will wait in designated grade level areas and are monitored by assigned staff members. Teachers pick up their classes at 7:35 pm.
Students will wait in cafe (PK/K), library (1), and outside near track (2, 3, 4, & 5). During inclement weather 2 will go to cafe and 3, 4, & 5 to the gym. Teachers will pick up their students from these areas by 7:35 am each day.
Dismissal
SCHOOL DAY HOURS FOR STUDENTS
7:40 am - 3:10 pm
- Dismissal begins at 3:10 pm
- Busses - Staff will bring students to the bus area, located on Huntland Dr. Busses will dismiss according to the district schedule, located on the district Bus Finder App.
- Vehicles - The traffic arrival and dismissal vehicle line begins east on St. Johns and then south on Roland Johnson. Please be patient and wait in the line as the traffic flows. Also, do not block the painted crosswalk and leave ample space at the crosswalk so thru traffic can pass through and go around Brentwood vehicles. Stay in your vehicle at all times. When at all possible, please consider turning off your engine to support protection of our environment.
- Pedestrians- Park in our staff parking lot, located on Roland Johnson, across from our campus and the crosswalk, adjacent to the motel. Use the crosswalk and wait in the grassy area near Webb’s dumpsters. Staff will dismiss students by grade level using the Webb Gate and sidewalk.
- Offsite Afterschool Care- Park in our staff parking lot, located on Roland Johnson, across from our campus and the crosswalk, adjacent to the motel. Use the crosswalk and wait in the grassy area near Webb’s dumpsters. Staff will dismiss students by after school care program using the Webb Gate and sidewalk.
- Onsite Afterschool Care Programs (YMCA Extend-A-Care & Creative Action) - Designated staff will bring students to the program areas.
- Late Students After Dismissal - All students will be brought to the office at 3:20 pm, at the end of dismissal. Adults will need to sign students out at the office when picking them up late. Parking is available at our staff parking lot or on Roland Johnson in designated areas.
- Brentwood staff members are only able to greet visitors and students at the office entrance gate outside of arrival and dismissal hours. Staff cannot assist idled vehicles on Huntland Dr. This is to ensure the safety of everyone.
Pedestrian & Off Site Afterschool Care Dismissal Area
Two Areas to Pick Up Students During Dismissal
Vehicle Arrival & Dismissal Area
VISITORS, ARRIVAL/DISMISSAL OUTSIDE OF DESIGNATED TIMES
- Park in our staff parking lot, located on Roland Johnson, across from our campus and the crosswalk, adjacent to the motel. Or, park in designated areas along Roland Johsnon. Accompany your child to the main office gate, located on Huntland Dr. Parking access is on Roland Johnson. Huntland Drive is a thru traffic only street and parking is not allowed, in accordance with The City of Austin. Use the call button near the main office entrance to contact an office staff member.
- Depending on the protocols, staff will either meet you at the gate, or give you access to enter and check in at the office, before going to your desired location at Brentwood.
- Brentwood staff members are only able to greet visitors and students at the office entrance gate outside of arrival and dismissal hours. Staff cannot assist idled vehicles on Huntland Dr. This is to ensure the safety of everyone.
- If you need to pick up your child early please call the office 10 minutes before arrival, so that an office staff member can get your child from their classroom. Our campus is outdoors and spread out, which takes a little bit longer than in previous years.
Meals & Nut Aware Campus
MEALS
- All students have access to free breakfast and lunch this school year.
- We will not have access to Breakfast in the Classroom this year. Students will need to eat breakfast in the cafe during breakfast hours, 7:20-7:40 am. If you plan on your child eating breakfast, please arrive within the timeframe.
- Breakfast is served inside the cafe and tables have partition shields.
- Thank you to our Brentwood PTA leads and our generous community for allowing us to have 100% of lunch outside on beautiful picnic tables with partial shade. Students will have a 30 minute lunch. Lunch schedules are provided by your child’s teacher.
- Thank you to all the family members who are volunteering during outdoor lunch.
- Brentwood is a nut aware campus. We encourage all students and staff to bring nut free food items to school to help protect our students with nut allergies.
WHY IS MY CHILD EATING LUNCH OUTSIDE?
Throughout August we had families reach out about the concern of students eating in the cafe. CDC states that the spreading of COVID is greater when indoors and without masks. Brentwood PTA and some staff members met to create a plan where students would eat outdoors (CDC recommendation for meals) to increase our commitment to our students' safety. This plan was communicated through PTA and in our 8/13 Family Newsletter. Our PTA raised over $12,000 to provide picnic tables and umbrellas for our campus (and to share with Webb Middle School). For the first 3 days of classes only 1/2 of the umbrellas were used, due to delivery. By day 4 (Friday) every table had an umbrella.
We understand that each situation is not ideal for everyone. We put this plan in place truly for the safety of our students. We adhere to the heat and cold weather guidelines. Lunch is 30 minutes for each class, which is the same amount of time children spend during recess.
WHAT IF I WANT MY CHILD TO EAT IN THE CAFE DURING LUNCH?
Please complete this google form by, Fri., 8/27/21, if you want your child to eat in the cafe only. Please know that your child may be seated with students from other classes during this time, based on the number of responses. The cafe tables will have accordion dividers down the middle of the table. Students may sit directly next to another student while eating, depending on table space available. CDC states that the spreading of COVID is greater when indoors and without masks. As a campus we will do all we can to provide safe ways for students to eat, learn, and limit the frequency of contact tracing.
Measure of Academic Progress (MAP) Growth Beginning of the Year Assessments
All Kinder - 5th grade students in our school district will take the Measure of Academic Progress (MAP) Growth Assessment three times a year. Our beginning of the year assessment window ends during the 3rd week of classes.
What is MAP Growth? MAP Growth assessments from NWEA are computer adaptive and aligned to state-specific content standards. MAP Growth is a norm-referenced assessment through which each student receives a percentile rank and RIT score for each test administration.
Being a Computer-adaptive test means that if a student answers a question correctly, the next question is more challenging. If they answer incorrectly, the next one is easier. This type of assessment challenges top performers without overwhelming students whose skills are below grade level.
Through this adaptive process, MAP Growth generates a learning continuum for each student. This serves as a resource for teachers to create personalized learning experiences for each student and provides the information needed to place students on the appropriate pathway with other digital learning programs our students use.
MAP Growth measures student academic growth over time.
If you were a virtual learning home last year you may remember your child taking this assessment. Our teachers will use this data as a benchmark, along with other classroom data, to inform instruction, set goals for students, and meet with students to set goals (when appropriate).
Students will use their AISD issued device for this assessment while in class. Ms. Dymkowski and Ms. Slaten are in the process of distributing technology to all students and are expected to be complete at the beginning of the 3rd week of classes.
Picnic Tables for Outdoor Lunch
Sunshade covered area for recess/wow
COVID-19 SAFETY PROTOCOLS
COVID-19 SAFETY PROTOCOLS
Masks are required for anyone on district property.
Our students will have access to mask breaks organized by classroom teachers.
Please send your child to school with at least 2 masks to change out after recess, PE, or any other time.
PPE & Hepa Filters are in every classroom.
We will follow district protocol for contract tracing of COVID-19.
Visitors, Family members, and others are available to access our campus to go to the office, attend meetings (outside of the classroom during the school day), and other educational needs.
Please read the district's COVID Protocols for more information
If your child is in close contact with someone who tests positive for COVID, has symptoms, is presumed positive please contact the school immediately. The Nurse, Principal, or Assistant Principal will contact you, gather information, and provide you with next steps and specifics on a quarantine period, if needed.
AISD Virtual Learning
AISD 2021-2022 Calendar
Before We Go
Stay Connected with Brentwood
Brentwood Elementary, "Where we always do our personal best!"
2021-22 School Year Theme: Dig In And Build Up!
Brentwood Elementary is temporarily located on site at Webb Middle School from Aug. 2020-June 2022 while our building undergoes a beautiful and massive partial rebuild and full modernization construction. We are located at, 601 East St. Johns Avenue, Austin, TX 78752.
https://www.austinisd.org/hr/customer-service/rave
Click on the link to recognize an AISD staff member who is going above and beyond! The Recognizing All Valuable Employees, or RAVE, Program was established to publicly honor those who exemplify the highest level of customer service.
Facebook: Principal Laroche
PTA Facebook: Brentwood Elementary PTA
Twitter: @BrentwoodAISD and @bulldogtechAISD
Instagram: BrentwoodAISD
PTA Website: http://brentwoodpta.com
Brentwood Website: http://brentwood.austinschools.org/
Previous Weekly Newsletters