Bearcat Blast

The Aledo Growth Committee met Monday night to complete a draft bond package to present to the Aledo ISD Board of Trustees on Thursday night. Make plans to attend the special board meeting at 7 PM tonight (January 26) in the board room at the Aledo ISD Administration building. If you aren't able to attend, you can watch a replay of the meeting on the Aledo ISD website Friday afternoon.

Listen in as community co-chairs Dan and Kelli recap this week's meeting and look ahead in this episode of the AGC Minute. Visit aledoisd.org/AGC for more information!

In the past two weeks as the Aledo Growth Committee has been getting closer to tonight's special board meeting with their draft bond proposal, we've been digging into the data they’ve been using to make their decisions. Join us for this important Data Dig of facts on our social media channels (Facebook | Twitter | Instagram)!

Review all of the AGC data and more at www.aledoisd.org/agc, and send your questions or recommendations to the AGC at agcquestions@aledoisd.org.

What is a College and Career Academy (one of the options under consideration for adding HS space to the district)?

While the concept of a College and Career Academy may be new to families in Aledo ISD, it is not a new concept statewide. This is similar to campuses you see in districts like Eagle Mountain-Saginaw, Keller, Rockwall, Allen, Frisco and many more.

A CCA would add high school capacity, creating a centralized location and additional space for Advanced Academic courses (college dual credit courses, UT OnRamps courses, and Advanced Placement courses), as well as Career and Technical Education courses such as Ag Sciences, Health Sciences, Business, Engineering, Teaching and Learning, and more. The building would include flex labs, collaborative spaces and a cafe/commons area. Click here for more information about advanced academic and CTE offerings in AISD (pages24-38): https://www.aledoisd.org/site/handlers/filedownload.ashx?moduleinstanceid=13384&dataid=17106&FileName=presentation_oct24_agc_final.pdf

A CCA would be a separate campus with a capacity of 1,200 which would allow students to move between AHS/DNG (or any future HS) and the CCA throughout the day. This would reduce the number of students at the high school(s) at one time.

If citizens pass a bond to pay for new schools, etc., does it take money away from teacher salaries or other things needed for students to learn?

No, because there are two completely separate parts to the District’s tax rate/budget (as seen above) that are not interchangeable and cannot cross over. Proceeds from a bond issue can be used for the construction and renovation of facilities, the acquisition of land and the purchase of capital items such as equipment, technology and buses. By law, I&S funds cannot be used to pay M&O expenses, which means that voter-approved bonds cannot be used to increase teacher salaries, the number of teachers or other staff, or to fund any other operational expense.

What has happened to the Aledo ISD tax rate in the last five years?

Due to tax compression on the Maintenance and Operations side of the tax rate, the Aledo ISD overall tax rate has decreased 22.71 cents in the last five years, going from $1.595 per $100 of valuation to $1.3679 per $100 of valuation.

How big is Aledo ISD and how much more room is there for growth?

You may have heard this phrase already, but it’s worth reiterating: Aledo ISD isn’t a one or two high school district, we’re more than likely a five or six high school town. So just how big is Aledo ISD? You could fit Carroll ISD, Allen ISD, Birdville ISD and HEB ISD within the boundaries of our school district. Aledo ISD encompasses 130 square miles; Carroll, Allen, Birdville and HEB combined are 130 square miles.

The Aledo ISD Board of Trustees approved the 2023-2024 Instructional Calendar during their Regular January meeting on January 17.

The first day of school for 2023-2024 will be Wednesday, August 16, 2023 with the last day for students being Friday, May 24, 2024. The calendar includes 9 ½ staff development days and 12 days for planning and preparation for teachers and staff.

The 23-24 Instructional Calendar was reviewed by the Districtwide Effectiveness Improvement Committee (DWEIC) and shared with staff and community members for feedback via an online survey. Because of that feedback, the DWEIC kept the extended Fall Break - similar to the new Fall Break on the 22-23 calendar - for October 12-17. DWEIC also adjusted the Winter Break days based on feedback received; Winter Break will be December 21, 2023 through January 7, 2024.

Click here to download a copy of the 2023-2024 Instructional Calendar.

January is School Board Recognition Month, and we are thankful to have the very best in Aledo ISD!

The theme of this year’s School Board Recognition Month is Forward, Together, which highlights the collaboration among school leadership, teachers, and parents on behalf of students. Aledo ISD Trustees, who oversee nearly 7,900 students and more than 900 employees and 12 campuses, serve as an important link between the community and the classroom.

This month, we thought we'd take a little trip down memory lane with our Trustees and find out some of their favorite memories from school during their childhood (and we can't do that without old pictures!). Stay tuned for more Trustees next week!

New to Bearcat Blast, in this space each month, Aledo ISD will be giving our readers the Bearcats Safe Update - a look into some of the safety measures in place in the district. Please note that there are many aspects to safety in the district, and these are just a few examples. Please visit our website at www.aledoisd.org/safety for detailed information on the Standard Response Protocol and much more related to safety.

JANUARY 2023 UPDATE

• So far during the 2022-2023 school year, the campus police officers have conducted 1,200 door checks districtwide. Each police officer conducts these checks daily, confirming that doors that are to remain locked are locked and functioning appropriately.
• The districtwide safety committee, made up of staff, parents, community members, and law enforcement has met four times since the beginning of the school year. The fourth meeting of the year was held on January 6, 2023, in which the committee reviewed and discussed the district’s results from the recent safety audit.
• To date, 1,815 volunteers have been trained, and they have logged an incredible 10,609 volunteer hours supporting our children and staff in the district!
• All Aledo ISD campuses have conducted required fire (evacuate), secure, lockdown, and shelter drills to date.

CITRUS MONTH CONTINUES!

Get your Vitamin C and stay well! Check our our Orange Dreamsicle Frappe available at the AHS coffee bar!

We had a great day sharing our beautiful middle schools - Aledo Middle School and McAnally Middle School - with our community! Students at both campuses helped with the ribbon cuttings, and we were honored to have special guest Nell McAnally - wife of the late Charles McAnally, MMS namesake - and some of the McAnally family join us for the MMS ceremony.

Thank you to our entire community for your support of #AledoBond2019 that created these projects. We believe these campuses meet the high expectations of our community, and we hope you are proud of them!

View more photos from the Open Houses here.

This week's P2 Character Trait of the Week is Social Intelligence!

Remember P2 has a site set up for families called P2 for Families. It is password protected, but the password is simply P2. This site has all of the Character Cards that we will share each week, plus related and inspiring videos as well as questions for families to discuss around each character strength for ALL 24 character strengths AND broken down by grade bands (PK-2; 3-5; 6-8; 9-12).

See the Social Intelligence Character Card below, and consider using one of these Table Talk questions to start a conversation with your child about Social Intelligence!

SOCIAL INTELLIGENCE TABLE TALK for your FAMILY

Grades Pre-K-2: What are some clues that help you know how another person is feeling?

Grades 3-5: How do our own experiences help us to understand the feelings of others?

Grades 6-8: What are some specific ways that you can show more empathy in your everyday life?

Grades 9-12: How can social intelligence positively impact your friendships?

The Aledo AdvoCats Run, Walk or Crawl Glow Run is a nighttime fun run in the heart of Aledo that raises money for a great cause. Bring out the whole family for a night like no other – participants can choose between a 1K or a 5K race (or do both!) that begins and ends on the Aledo High School track! Every participant is given glow gear so they light the night as they run. We will have food and entertainment before and after the race for a fun family night benefiting the children in our community. Ready, set … GLOW!

Click here to register!

Help support the students and teachers of Aledo ISD by attending the 9th annual Aledo Education Foundation Bearcats 'N Boots event! This event will be from 6-10 p.m. on Friday, March 31, at the Hilton in downtown Fort Worth, and it will feature live entertainment by Lonestar.

Sponsorships are available at www.aledoef.org or email Valerie Kerr at Valerie@aledoef.org

Aledo ISD and the Aledo Education Foundation are partnering once again for the Bearcat Backer program, and we'd love your support!

As our district is #GrowingGreatness through exceptional experiences that empower learners for life, we are committed to fostering relationships and partnerships with our outstanding businesses and organizations to help support our Bearcats. Your partnership provides a direct investment and benefit to our Bearcat students and staff.

If your business is interested in joining our Bearcat Backers program, please visit our Bearcat Backers webpage that includes sponsorship levels as well as a commitment form to fill out.

Thank you to our 2022-2023 Bearcat Backers!

Platinum Level

EECU

Harvest Senior Living Aledo

H-E-B

K&M Elevator

Myser Orthodontics

Texas Health Willow Park

UEA

Gold Level Sponsors

First Financial Bank
TWFG Insurance Services - Christi James

Silver Level Sponsors

Bigfoot Ink/Ecoimprint

SkinMD

Bronze Level Sponsors

Brandon Swain REALTOR
Brookshire's Grocery Company
Bryan Insurance Agency
Camp Fire First Texas
Khill Shot Photography by Keith Hill
Lynch Legacy Realty Group
Paradigm Wealth Management - Christopher Roberts
Reading Friends Aledo
Slade & Nash

The Bearcat Blast E-Newletter is managed by the Aledo ISD Communications Department. To submit news items, email communications@aledoisd.org.

Email: communications@aledoisd.org
Website: https://www.aledoisd.org/
Location: 1008 Bailey Ranch Road, Aledo, TX, USA
Phone: 817-441-8327
Facebook: facebook.com/AledoISD
Twitter: @AledoISD