Letter from Ms. Garza
Dear Smallville Community,
For this newsletter you will hear a different voice. Mr. Sammon’s positive words will return in a couple of weeks but for now, you get me. In case some of you don’t know who I am, I am the substitute principal in Mr. Nelson’s place. I will be here until he returns in February. Hopefully you received my short bio that Mr. Sammon sent out a few weeks ago.
Thank you to all the families who opted to keep their child home this week. We had between 35 and 48 students on campus. Last week we had between 108-125 students. This is a big difference and again, a big thank you. Once again, our Superintendent is asking that we continue to encourage our families to participate in remote learning from home for the week of January 19-22. We know that these are tough decisions to make and I want to ensure you that we are prepared to offer on campus learning for any and all students should you need to send your child to school.
We were also able to create a schedule for our staff members that includes rotating days of teaching remotely from home. This helps us continue with the effort to reduce the spread of COVID-19 during this critical time. Our teams have created a schedule so that students will have certified teachers in all their classes while they learn virtually from their assigned teacher. Like the “pods” from earlier in the year, students and teachers will be virtual. Unlike the “pods” students will be in classrooms with subject specific certified teachers in case they need assistance, they will rotate to assigned classrooms based on their current schedule, AND they will have lunch in the cafeteria. The difference will be that although they will have math in a classroom with a math teacher, it may not be their assigned teacher. Their assigned teacher will be teaching virtually.
Please know that if at any point you have to send your child to campus, we are here and ready to welcome them back. If you are able to do so, keep them home but if not, we are here and prepared for them.
Stay safe and healthy,
Anna Garza
Administrative Substitute
Small Middle School Substitute Principal
Austin Independent School District
Help! Yearbook Pictures
Please take a quick moment to upload a current picture of your student into this form and we will put that picture in the yearbook. Enter your pictures here: https://forms.gle/FVhSBupWdgnPRDnk9
Questions? Email thomas.shoptaw@austinisd.org
Congratulations Counselors
We are so proud of our counseling team for earning the honor of being a CREST recognized campus.
We are officially the only middle school in AISD to have received this honor along with 13 other elementary schools in the district.
Counselors Reinforcing Excellence for Students in Texas (CREST) is sponsored by the Texas School Counselor Association and is awarded to exemplary school counseling programs. CREST is a continuous document that professional school counselors can use to demonstrate effective program design and implementation and to emphasize a commitment to obtaining results that boost achievement and wellness for students.
PARENTS CAMPAIGN TO RAVE!
Parents, are you looking for a way to give back to teachers and staff at Small Middle School?
We (A handful of Small Parents) have found a free and very effective way to show some love and thought we would share it with you all.
RAVE: Recognizing All Valuable Employees
Let's send some sparkly gratitude to our faculty & staff this holiday season with an AISD RAVE submission!
- Does your student have a favorite teacher?
- Has someone at Small (or any other AISD School) gone above and beyond for you and your family?
- Do you want to support teachers and let everyone (Teacher, Principal, AISD District) know about it?
All of our faculty and staff have gone above and beyond this semester. The best free, easy, sparkly way to show our gratitude is via the RAVE form on the AISD website (link below.) It only takes a couple of minutes to complete!
This form is received by AISD administration. RAVE submissions mean a lot to teachers and staff. It's equivalent to a virtual hug! And, there's never been a better time to remind the Superintendent how indispensable they all are.
Please submit a RAVE for any teacher or staff member (current or from school years past.)
Maybe send one or two a day! You do need the first and last name of the employee you wish to RAVE about. Those can be sourced on Small's Staff Directory :
https://www.austinisd.org/schools/small/directory
Flooding AISD administration with positive feedback will make an important and lasting impact. Let's make this holiday season sparkle a little extra with RAVES!
https://www.austinisd.org/hr/customer-service/rave
Thank you,
Small Parents
Small PTA Info
PTA Hassle-Free November Fundraiser
This has been a crazy year for all of us, and Small’s PTA is no exception. Our Spring Carnival, which provides over half our annual budget didn’t take place, and it’s unlikely to happen in 2021. Our school store, the Cougar Cage, is closed indefinitely. We need your help more than ever!
The PTA budget will be used to fund unique supply needs of pandemic-era classrooms like chargers, extension cords, and headphones. We’ll provide guest speakers for parents - coming November 18th, Dr. Mike Brooks on screen time - and we’re working on creative community-building events that can be done virtually.
We hope to raise $30 per child. We know it's a hard time for many families in our community, and we appreciate any donation you can make. And don’t forget corporate matching if your employer participates. Thank you for your ongoing support!
Questions about the PTA? Contact SmallPTA2020@gmail.com
Clubs at Small
There are a lot of Clubs To choose from. Click Here to see a list and how to join.
Remember that these clubs are an extra service the teachers are offering you and that all school rules apply. Please come and take advantage of the extra social time with other students who are interested in the same thing as you are!
If you have questions, please email the club sponsor.
Yearbook Pictures
This is the announcement requesting pictures from Small families:
Please send pictures of your students or share them to Google Drive:
- camp outs
- trips
- backyard gardens
- next to Austin landmarks and murals
- with pets
- baby pics with name of student
- anything celebrating student success and creativity:
- costumes
- customs
- sports
- art
- playing an instrument
- holding up a favorite book
Our yearbook will be a colorful keepsake of the good things that happened this year.
It will be unique. But, this year our campus is Austin, our neighborhoods, cougar homes, and wherever our cougars roam.
We are looking into doing a drive by Picture Day - Look in future newsletters for more details.
Address the CAC Committee
If you are interested in speaking to our CAC using our Citizen Communication time, please email our CAC chair Co-Chair Chasee chappellhudgins@mac.com for the meeting Zoom details.
Citizens Communications. For all regular and other plenary meetings of the CAC, time at the beginning of the meeting shall be set aside for citizens communications. This time is specifically for non-members to make comments to the CAC. The Co-Chairs may limit the time for citizens communications and the time given to individual speakers. The Co-Chairs shall ensure that the district’s “Citizens Communications and Visitor Guidelines” are applied. Under these guidelines, except for requests for clarification, dialogue shall not occur between speakers and members. If the CAC is interested in hearing more from a speaker, the speaker may be invited to a future meeting and placed on the agenda specifically for that purpose. Or, the CAC may call a special meeting specifically for the purpose of open dialogue with non-members (e.g., a “community conversation”), but it must be posted for discussion on a specific topic or topics.
Clint Small, Jr. Middle School
