Cunningham Messenger
September 10, 2020: Social Media Edition
All the News from the Coolest Little School in South Austin!
Principal's Message
Happy Thursday!
We've almost made it through the first week! The hiccups we expected arrived and together we've worked through them. The power and positive energy of our amazing Cunningham Virtual Village will help us conquer all that comes our way! Thank you for your patience and shared determination in problem-solving. Together we can do hard things!
This week we are highlighting:
- Counselor's Corner: "The Platinum Rule"
- Success Stories from Remote Learning (with some great pictures!)
- Reopening Highlights: Tech Tips & Resources
- News from the PTA for this school year
Next week will begin to feel more academic, but there will still be a focus on building positive relationships, establishing the learning community as a safe place, and developing strong routines and procedures.
We'd love to hear your glows (great things) and grows (areas we can make stronger) in remote learning. You can enter your feedback here.
If you need anything, please do not hesitate to reach out to us (heather.petruzzini@austinisd.org). We are happy to assist so that this can be a successful experience for ALL students.
Cobra Strong,
Heather Petruzzini
Principal
¡Feliz jueves!
¡Ya estamos próximos a terminar nuestra primera semana! Los contratiempos que esperábamos llegaron y juntos los hemos superado. ¡El poder y la energía de nuestra Villa Virtual Cunningham tan positiva nos ayudará a conquistar todo lo que se nos presente! Gracias por su paciencia y por su determinación al encontrar la solución a los problemas. ¡Juntos podemos hacer cosas difíciles!
Los temas sobresalientes de esta semana son:
- El Rincón de la Consejera: "La regla Platino"
- Historias de éxito del aprendizaje virtual
- Aspectos destacados de la reapertura: Recursos y Consejos Técnicos
Nos encantaría escuchar sus logros (sus grandes éxitos) y su experiencia (áreas que podemos fortalecer) en el aprendizaje remoto. Puede ingresar sus comentarios aquí.
Si necesita cualquier cosa, no dude en comunicarse con nosotros a este correo electrónico (heather.petruzzini@austinisd.org). Estaremos felices de ayudarles a que esta sea una experiencia buena para TODOS los estudiantes.
TOMORROW - September 11th: 7:45 (time change) - First Schoolwide Friday Assembly featuring Ms. Petruzzini, Ms. Rodriguez, Ms. O'Connor, and Ms. Quigley. We will host this every Friday morning via Zoom and then repost later on the Cunningham Cobras social media channels. (Yes, we will still give out character awards every Friday!)
- Check your email for zoom link
Thursday, September 17th: 6 p.m. PTA Meeting. Pre-register for the meeting here: https://forms.gle/y91nh7Q31hWHynTa9
Friday, September 18th: 7:45 - Whole School Assembly & Characters awards!
- Check your email for zoom link
Thursday, September 24th: 6:00 - 7:30 Back-to-School Night - Homeroom Teachers will Send out Zoom
Information
Tuesday, October 6th: Restart Phase-In Begins - more information forthcoming
October 12th: Staff Development, No School For Students
Fidgets help us get our work done!
Working Parents - Rejoice!
Dedicated Students
SEL Focus - Community & Respect
Dear Families,
The Cunningham teachers have been very thoughtful and intentional in creating welcoming virtual classrooms. As you reflect on this past week of learning here are some questions you can ask your child:
- What helps you feel welcome in a group?
- How did your teacher and classmates make you feel welcome?
- What strengths do you bring to the classroom?
This upcoming week we will continue to talk about how to cultivate a welcoming and respectful classroom community. What is respect? We have all heard The Golden Rule - “Treat others the way you want to be treated.” What if we considered The Platinum Rule - “Treat others the way THEY wanted to be treated.” This encourages our students to ask questions and learn about one another, rather than make assumptions. We are all different. We all have different needs, wants and contexts. Respect includes honoring those differences.
Here are some questions to ask your child as you prepare for the new week:
- What is one way you can show respect to teachers and classmates at school?
- What is one way someone can show YOU respect?
- How does it feel to be respected?
Below you will find recommendations of books on the topic of welcoming communities and respect.
With Peace, Love, & Gratitude,
Ms. O'Connor
All Are Welcome
By Suzanne Kaufman
We're All Wonders
By R. J. Palacio
The Proudest Blue
By Ibtihaj Muhammad
“Power wash” Chromebooks to Update Zoom
Students may notice that Zoom is out of date on their Chromebooks. To update Zoom, students and caregivers must “power wash” their Chromebook (restore to Austin ISD default settings). Here is a step set as well as a link to a video.
Si Zoom está desactualizado en sus Chromebooks
Para actualizar Zoom, los estudiantes o cuidadores deben restaurar a la configuración predeterminada de Austin ISD en su Chromebook. Aquí hay un conjunto de pasos y un enlace a un video.
Student’s browser history can't be cleared
A friendly reminder that student’s browser history on an Austin ISD device cannot be cleared. Anyone who opens history on their device will be able to see students’ search history, along with dates and times.
No se puede borrar el historial del navegador del alumno
Un recordatorio amistoso de que el historial de navegación del estudiante en un dispositivo de Austin ISD no se puede borrar. Cualquiera que abra el historial en su dispositivo podrá ver el historial de búsqueda de los estudiantes, junto con las fechas y horas.
A note from Mr. Marks, our PTA President
Hello Cobras!
Welcome back, and we hope everyone's student had a good first day. We certainly enjoyed seeing the smiling faces of our students shared on Facebook today, as they eagerly began their new adventures.
This year will certainly be an interesting one, with new challenges and new changes every day. One set of those challenges and changes will be our PTA meetings: until AISD allows us to hold meetings on campus, our meetings will be held entirely on Zoom. Even after the school building is open to us, we may continue meeting online or in a hybrid format. Like everything else, we'll be figuring this out and adjusting as we go along.
Our first meeting will be at 6pm, Thursday September 17, via Zoom. Texas PTA asks that we only provide Zoom links to those who pre-register for the meeting, which you may do here: https://forms.gle/y91nh7Q31hWHynTa9
The meeting schedule for the rest of the year is:
- September 17
- October 1
- November 5
- December 3
- January 7
- February 4
- March 4
- April 1 (Elections meeting)
Dates are subject to change. All meetings will begin at 6pm.
We're still planning for a great year, and we would like all of you to be a part of it. Be thinking about how you'd like to be involved.
- Teacher appreciation will be a big focus this year, and it will need to look different than it has traditionally, as the teachers won't always be on campus together!
- Teachers will need more direct support this year, and our Room Parent program may be more important than ever. We'll need someone to lead this effort.
- We'll need a team to plan for 45 Fest in spring. Some of the planning and event work is already done from last year, but it'll need to be organized and put together for this year, as well.
- We'll need to plan smaller events as well, as they can happen - Spirit Nights, a possible return of the movie night, the spring dance.
- The board has an opening for Parliamentarian
- The Austin Council of PTAs has asked every PTA to name an Advocacy/Legislative Action chair
- Any other way you'd like to lend your unique talents and time to strengthen our community!
We'll be discussing some of these things at our first meeting in September, but if you know some ways you'd like to get involved now (especially if you want to chair any of the efforts listed above), feel free to email us at cunninghamcobraspta@gmail.com
Please be sure to join our PTA! You must be a current member of Cunningham PTA in order to vote on PTA business during our meetings, and we must have at least 10 paid members present in order to conduct official business. We have two options for joining:
1. Visit www.cobrapta.org/join, fill out our membership form, and follow the instructions to pay via PayPal
2. Visit www.joinpta.org, choose "Join PTA" and search for Austin ISD - Mary E Cunningham Elementary.
Dues are $10 per person, and your dues help fund PTA programs locally, statewide, and nationally. At Cunningham, your dues help us to sponsor events, support learning needs, and are used for staff appreciation. Last year, Cunningham PTA gave back over $2000 to support the purchase of supplies and fund programs and subscriptions in our classrooms. This year, we're planning for more.
Looking forward to a great year!
-Cunningham PTA Board
Michael Marks, President
David Dupont, VP - Aide to President
Carissa Crabtree, VP - Communications
Amy Campbell, VP - Membership
Briana Garica, Secretary
Emily Chapa, Treasurer
Virtual Learning Schedules
School Supply List
About Us
Email: Heather.Petruzzini@austinisd.org
Website: https://cunningham.austinschools.org/
Location: 2200 Berkeley Avenue, Austin, TX, USA
Phone: 512-414-2067
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/CunninghamCobras/
Twitter: @CunninghamATX