Cougar News
Week of 10/5/20 - 10/9/20
Letter from Principal Nelson
Smallville-
We have sent word to the first batch of students who will be reporting back to campus (if they chose so on their survey) and are still taking any changes you and your family would like to make. We will send out the next Phase-in group by Thursday of this week, so please get any modifications to your original answer to jennifer.newell@austinisd.org in before Wednesday at the latest.
Regardless of whether or not your student will be on campus this week for remote learning, all students will be following the new Virtual Bell Schedule *new bell schedule* which has classes beginning 40 minutes earlier than before. The amount of time when students and teachers are meeting synchronously (via Zoom, TEAMS, etc…) has not changed; we’ve just dedicated the 2nd half of each class period to asynchronous learning specifically for that class. For ease of use, the schedule is color-coded. Purple means students and teachers are meeting live and grey is dedicated to asynchronous/self-care time.
Fridays are all grey because we still want our students to preserve the weekend by getting any and all work assigned throughout the week completed during this time. Teachers will not be assigning new work on Fridays (with the exception of HS credit courses) and students will need to log in to BLEND to take a temperature check or submit an exit ticket proving they were there. We plan on keeping Fridays asynchronous for as long as we can so kids can stay ahead and not work on the weekends and so our teachers can plan with their Professional
Learning Communities and continue to improve.
If your student is heading to campus this next week or soon thereafter, please remind h/her of a few things:
- They must download the AISD Covid Self-Screening App for Apple or Android (aisd app) and have it populated before they enter the door. They will need to show it to HSS monitors either by the busses, in their cars, or near the front door.
- Masks must be worn at all times and they might want to bring a back-up one just in case.
- Bring their school issued ChromeBook and charger to class each day. You may want them to keep it there overnight so there’s no chance they forget it.
- Bring a refillable water bottle with their name on it. Drinking fountains will not be available but the refill stations will.
- Remind them that this is Remote Learning on Campus, meaning they will still receive 100% of instruction, accommodations, and assistance online. The monitor in the room is there to reinforce safety and social distance measures and may not be able to help them with any difficulties. Please make them aware that the monitor in the room is most likely teaching a synchronized class of up to 30 students and will not be able to readily assist. They need to problem solve and ask questions remotely as they have been doing since September 8.
- Have them bring a book to read of something to entertain themselves offline. We encourage reading, drawing, and puzzling. Anything to keep them engaged and occupied that doesn’t require a screen.
- Have them bring some headphones. Since everyone in the room will be in different classes, it will be easier to focus with headphones.
As we near the next Phase-in date we will reach out to students who have marked “return to campus” on their survey with their arrival date and learning group. Again, if you have any changes you would like to make, please send us an email.
Regardless if your student is on campus or at home learning this upcoming week, I guarantee they’ll have fun, be engaged, and hopefully feel challenged as well.
Thank you,
Matthew Nelson
Principal
Small Middle School
(512) 841-6705
@smallprincipal
A/B Calendar
Clubs at Small
More clubs have been added to the list and many are starting next week. Be sure to checkout our list of clubs and email the club sponsor if you are interested. They will add your student to the club blend page that will then appear in their blend dashboard.
Art & Anime Club
Who: ALL currently enrolled CSMS students of interest in one or both art & anime- regardless of experience.
When/Where: Fridays via Zoom from 10:10-10:55 (F2F meetings will be determined at a much later date - announcements will be made then).
Clint Small's Art & Anime club will begin meeting virtually on Fridays during your asynchronous learning time.
If you don't know what anime/manga is and want to learn more, this is a great place to be! Even if you've got shelves and shelves of manga and are a long time subscriber to crunchyroll- this is STILL the place to be! Expand your knowledge or share your expertise! This time will also be for art students to meet and discuss different art strategies they're using or different artists that they may be admiring online or in real life here in Austin. See you all on Friday!
Free COVID-19 Testing
Free testing available for those who:
- have COVID-19-related symptoms
- have had close contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19
- have traveled outside of Austin/Travis County in the last 14 days
Steps:
- Click on “take a self-assessment” at: https://www.austintexas.gov/covid-testinfo
- If this is your first time to request a test through Austin Public Health (APH), you will have to create an account through the APH website in order to take the assessment. You will see the following:
- After you have created and verified your account, you will click on “schedule a test.”
- Complete all the information requested to determine if a COVID-19 test is recommended.
- If a COVID-19 test is recommended, you will be prompted to enter your zip-code/address to schedule COVID-19 testing at a testing site near you.
To view FREE testing sites provided by APH, go to: Free APH Testing Sites
Find COVID-Related Resources here: https://www.austintexas.gov/department/covid-19-information/covid-19-reso urces
Safety Tools
Crimestoppers Reporting Tool: https://new.tipsubmit.com/en/
AISD Safety Resources: https://www.austinisd.org/police
Check out this weeks Living Room Library from Ms. Sylvia.
Address the CAC Committee
If you are interested in speaking to our CAC using our Citizen Communication time, please email our CAC chair Emma Renault-Varian emma.renaultvarian@austinisd.org or 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.
Update your Contact Info
Did you know that parents can update their email preferences by signing into their Parent Cloud Account my.austinisd.org -------> Parent Self Serve------->Student-------->Edit Contact Info and Notifications (See below).
Make sure your Contact info is always up to date!
Discipline Matrix
Ever wonder how Small handles Discipline? Click here to read our Discipline Matrix
Distance Learning Attendance
If you have any questions, contact our new attendance clerk Bettina Schmitz at 512-841-6702 Icela.schmitz@austinisd.org
Attendance Video - English
Attendance Video - Spanish
Clint Small, Jr. Middle School
Email: jennifer.newell@austinisd.org
Website: http://www.smallmiddleschool.org/
Location: 4801 Monterey Oaks Boulevard, Austin, TX, United States
Phone: (512) 841-6700