The Brauchle Post
July 22, 2020
Hand in Hand, Heart to Heart
Distance continues to make our hearts grow fonder, as we miss seeing our beautiful Cougars' smiles, faces. As the days, weeks, months, time in general moves forward, we hope that you and your families are getting in much needed family time, and making memories that last a lifetime. As many of you, I continue to pray for our country for many reasons, for the Corona virus to decrease in numbers and for L-O-V-E to be imprinted in the hearts of us all, our community, our Country. We know there is a lot of uncertainties so we will continue to have Faith that we will move forward in the most safest, precautionary way possible for everyone.
We all know that there are still a lot of questions with what back to school will look like for everyone across NISD, the city and the state due to the regulations / mandates TEA is asking from all districts. We truly believe in our district and have faith that we will prevail through this difficult process as we continue to work with the many changes that come from TEA. We can not thank you enough for your continued patience and support during this difficult time as we know that the decisions made can affect every family in different ways.
As of now, we know that the district will offer distance learning for the first 2 weeks of school. We know some of our families appreciate this very much while others are having a difficult time wrapping their minds around why children are not back in school. We will continue to follow the lead of our district as we continue to follow guidelines given to us by our city and state. We hope to receive new information, updates by the end of next week, and will continue to communicate with you as we get closer to our August 24th return date.
Please know that we are all in this together, and are here if you need anything, or have any questions, concerns. Mrs. Montellano and I will try our best to answer any questions you may have. Many of us are parents of school aged children, so please know that we understand where each of you are coming from.
We love you all to pieces and pray you and your beautiful families continue to stay healthy.
April Mata-Tausch
What do we know?
We cannot wait to see each of our families back on campus! We know that we will begin remotely, but are so so eager to see our students face to face (whether in person or via computer). Please see the information below-
FAMILY NIGHT W/ADMIN & COUNSELOR
Prior to the beginning of the year, administration, our counselor, Mrs. Sosa, and a few other staff members will come together to plan out a family evening event that will embed a social emotional activity to get students back in the groove of coming back to school. We can not wait to see our Cougars and families.
MEET THE TEACHER
Even though we will be starting with distance learning, we will continue to have many of our events to get students and families excited to return to campus. Once we have more information to share about Meet the Teacher we will send it out. We will also be sending out post cards from our teachers as well so you are aware of who your child's fabulous teacher will be. This will be a fun and engaging event for our Cougars!
FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL
Our first day of school will be Monday, August 24, 2020. We will begin the year with the 1st two weeks being distance learning. As of now, we are planning to see our students face to face beginning on Tuesday, September 8, 2020. For those parents, who wish to keep their child home in distance learning and those who will decide to send their child, we will share more information as that time comes closer. Again we know the information we get is so fluid it can change from day to day due to State, TEA, then City Ordinance. Thank you so much for your continued patience with this process.
NORTHSIDE ISD CALENDAR
There were minimal changes that were made to our 2020-2021 NISD school calendar.The following was changed- October 12 will no longer be a student holiday. November 3, 2020 will now be a student holiday due to many of our NISD schools being used as voting sites. This will make certain that students will be at home rather than on campus with people coming into vote.
The instructional school day for all levels in NISD was extended by 15 minutes. Therefore elementary campuses new dismissal time will be 3:05 p.m.
SECURITY LOBBY
Construction has started on our security lobby. The security lobby will ensure that all campus doors will be locked at all times during the instructional day. The only access parents, visitors will have to coming through will be front doors. Once someone enters the front doors, they will not be allowed to enter the campus until they are allowed in by our front office staff. Security lobbies are built to keep our students safe from people coming in and out of campus. Construction is expected to go from August to October 2020. We will continue to keep you updated with the progress, and also provide you all with additional information about security lobby schedule, and how we will utilize it on campus to ensure we are keeping students' safety as a priority.
Due to construction, the campus front doors will be closed off, therefore we will have our entrance door to the left of our front doors (doors by where kinder sits at dismissal). Our new office will be the first door to the left as you enter the new campus entry. We will have our amazing front office staff in that larger classroom and our fabulous office clerk right outside of the office to ensure we can better assist all parents.
TECHNOLOGY
For those in need of technology at the start of the school-year, device distribution will begin next month for students/families. If you still have a device from the Spring/Summer, please hold onto that device until we are back to full in-person instruction or until otherwise advised. Wifi Hotspots are also available for those in need. Stay tuned for more information in August!!!
Town Hall Meeting/Q & A session
Save the dates will be sent out soon along with zoom links for grade level / town meetings.
During this time, we will provide time for parents to ask questions as well.
Thank you.
Brauchle Allocations
Teachers who were displaced were-
- Maria Lopez, 2nd grade
- Shannon Gaffney, 5th grade
- Lauren Murawski, 3rd grade
- Kimberly Montez, 5th grade
- Patrice Mornoney, Art (we went from a full time art teacher to a split teacher)
- Erica Gentry - Counselor (we will only have ONE counselor on campus now)
Our teachers will be deeply missed, but know that they will be fabulous at their new placements. No matter where they go, they will continue to be part of our Brauchle family and we know they will go and make their imprints in the lives of many more students and families.
Congratulations...
We had Mrs. Bleamaster, former 4th grade teacher who was looping with her class to 5th grade retire after 17 years of teaching our Brauchle community. Mrs. Bleamaster is one who always went that extra mile for each of her students and parents. She will be dearly missed, but we wish her the very best in her new endeavor. Thank you Mrs. Bleamaster for making such a positive impact on so many here at Brauchle Elementary.
Mrs. Kent, our former reading specialist was promoted to a Instructional Support Teacher in the ELAR department in Northside ISD. Mrs. Kent did so much for our community and we can not thank her enough for her passion and love of literacy she instilled in so many students and adults. She will continue to move mountains supporting teachers and students around the district.
Ms. Lacy Greco, our former STEM teacher has decided to move closer to where she will be living soon. She was an amazing asset to our campus and was such a fabulous STEM pioneer as she led our first ever STEM Discovery class! She will continue to impact the lives of students, and families around the community. She will be dearly missed but know, she will continue to embed the newest and greatest instruction and love into her new community.
Ms. Grace Kohler, former Instructional Assistant will be joining Leon Springs Elementary as a 4th grade teacher. We are beyond excited as Ms. Grace will begin her new journey as a first year teacher. WHOOP! WHOOP! She is going to be an excellent educator who her kids are going to fall in love with! We wish her the very best!
Joanna Rodriguez, 5th Grade Teacher
This will be my 10th year as an educator. I previously taught at a Private school (Shepherd of the Hills) here in San Antonio. As well as have had experience in SAISD and NISD. My experience includes grades Kindergarten, 1st grade, 2nd grade, and 5th grade, as well as substituting for K-8th. I attended school at Texas A&M University- San Antonio and earned my BS in Interdisciplinary Studies 4th-8th English Language Arts/Reading. I am certified to teach Early Child – 6th grade as well as Language Arts and Reading 4th-8th grade.
I am excited to be returning to 5th grade and am excited to be a part of the Brauchle community. I live very close by with my husband, three girls, a husky dog, chihuahua and a cat. I love sunflowers, the beach, animals and spending time with my family. I look forward to learning more and am ready for what the year will bring.
Renee Porter, Art Teacher
Renee will be joining us from Steubing Elementary. She will be split with Steubing and Brauchle.
I've been teaching art for NISD for about 14 years now. I taught 5th grade for 5 years before that, and in the Lubbock area before we moved to SA. I love art and kids, so I have the best job in the world! Looking forward to meeting you all!
We are super excited to have Renee join us!
Cheryl Perez, STEM teacher
Hello Brauchle Cougars! My name is Cheryl Perez, and I am super excited to join your fabulous campus as a STEM teacher. I am truly looking forward to getting to know all of the wonderful teachers and staff in the upcoming school year.
I just completed my 19th year within NISD with the past 2 years teaching 7th grade Science in middle school. Prior to that I taught on the elementary level and served as an Elementary Science Facilitator. I have been very involved with Project Acorn both through the masters program at OLLU and within NISD while partnering with Texas AgriLife extension, Monarch Heroes, San Antonio River Authority, and Texas Parks and Wildlife.
On the side I also enjoy working with FLL Robotics. Finally, I look forward to serving our students, families, and community members as we prepare for our new school year.
Rashanna Tice, Title 1 Reading Specialist
My name is Rashanna Tice, and I am a new reading specialist at Brauchle Elementary. I was a classroom teacher for 7 years, and I taught third and fourth grade. This will be my second year as a reading specialist. In my spare time, I love to READ! I also enjoy jogging, biking and spending time with my family. I am so thrilled to be a part of the Brauchle Elementary family, and I am looking forward to meeting everyone and getting started with the new school year!