Travis ECHS Monthly Message
Travis ECHS Program Monthly Update: October 2020
Greetings Travis ECHS Program Students & Parents!
Welcome to the 2020-2021 Travis ECHS Monthly Message, the newsletter for the Early College program at Travis High School. I am excited to begin using Smore again as a communication tool to share news and important information. My goal with the newsletters is to keep you feeling connected and informed, whether you are doing remote or in-person learning, and to have an easily accessible place to keep the most up-to-date ECHS information. Although this newsletter will be sent out monthly, it will also be updated with any new information that becomes available at any point throughout the month. So click on the link often to check for updates (it will be sent through Remind and Twitter, and it will remain posted on the ECHS landing page on our Travis website).
I want to thank you all so much for your patience. It has been quite a challenging Back to School season for everyone. I had hoped to get a newsletter out in September but it has taken some time to get organized and settled into this very different academic school year. This October edition will be a bit more packed than usual, since I include some general Fall 2020 information.
Make sure to scroll down to read through all of the sections of the newsletter!
News & Updates
ECHS Academic Support Fridays are on Zoom
At ECHS Friday meetings we will talk about how things are going in your ACC classes --what you are enjoying and what you are struggling with, and how we can help you. We will check the syllabus & class calendar to see what assignments are coming up. Sometimes we will just use it as study time, while sometimes we will take care of ACC business, such as midterm advising and registration.
For the most part, freshmen & sophomores are assigned to A Fridays and juniors & seniors are assigned to B Fridays. See google document below for your specific schedule. If you have ACC periods on the Fridays that you are not assigned to meet, you are free to participate in any of your teacher's office hours, catch up on your homework, or participate in other school activities (such as GO Center, TSI Prep sessions, etc).
ECHS Friday meetings are a mandatory part of the ECHS program and your attendance is expected. If you miss ECHS Friday meetings without letting me know of a valid excuse, you could be subject to removal from the ECHS program the following semester. We have learned that participating in the ECHS Fridays makes a really big difference in student success.
ACC Midterm Advising Season is Here
Your ACC adviser, Ms. Juanita Ferguson, is also available to help you. This is what Midterm Advising is all about. In our ECHS Friday zoom meetings you've been hearing that it is time to complete your Online Midterm Progress form. Since you do not get progress reports for your ACC classes, this form helps you determine where you are in your academic progress at the midpoint of the semester. This is a time to pause and see where your grades are for each of your classes. If you have fallen behind or don't have the grades you'd like to see, this is a good time to make a plan for catching up and improving your grades. By filling out the form honestly and to the best of your ability, you are also letting us know if you need help. Based on these forms, as well as any information we have from professors, we will set up individual advising meetings in the last two weeks in October
Some of you have already filled out your Online Midterm Progress form, but many of you have not. We reviewed this in the last two ECHS Friday meetings, but not all students attended. Completing your Online Midterm Progress Form is a requirement of the ECHS program. The deadline is Tuesday, October 20th. The form can be accessed through your "MyACC" portal, which is found on the ACC website (or click on tile below). Open here for instructions to filling out the form. If you have questions or need help contact Mrs. Orozco.
Tools & Tips for Academic Success
ACC Academic Success Tools
Tutoring Support
Writing Support
- Got Essays and papers to write? I know you do! ACC has writing coaches that are part of the Online tutoring staff. You can make a specific request for a writing tutor when you fill out your online tutoring request.
- Another great writing support tool is called Brainfuse. You can find Brainfuse within Blackboard (on the left hand side navigation menu). Every students gets 5 hours of free instant tutoring per semester. In addition to tutoring, Brainfuse offers many things: a way to create and share flashcards and games to study for an exam, a private virtual study room to schedule study sessions with friends, and the Brainfuse Writing Lab. This is a service in which you can upload your paper and they will give you feedback within 24 hours. Students have told me that the feedback is really helpful!
- Also, I have great news! Google has just released a new and very easy way to cite sources and create a bibliography in Google Docs. It is part of google docs, not an add on. Now Google Docs will create the in-text citation for you and the bibliography page that you need at the end, and it will do that according to the citation style that you select (MLA, APA or Chicago /Turabian). You just have to input the information such as author, title, date of publication, etc. This is amazing! It will save you so much time and effort! Watch this video to learn more.
Staying Connected
Travis ECHS Program - New Parent Meeting
New ECHS Program Parent/Guardians,
Please join us to learn more about the ECHS program and how to support your student's success in their college class this semester and beyond. This meeting is for parents of our new Fall 2020 ECHS students (currently taking EDUC 1300). See flier below for zoom information.
Thursday, Oct 29, 2020, 06:30 PM
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ACC Office of High School Programs NEW Parent Newsletter
Students are already signed up to receive these newsletters through their ACC email. Parents, you can sign up by clicking on the button below.
Click here to see the archived newsletters since August 2020.
ECHS Parent Information
Also, remember that you can schedule a meeting with me by using Calendly. Click on button below.
Fall 2020 General Information
Travis ECHS Program
WE USE REMIND TO SEND IMPORTANT, LAST MINUTE INFORMATION OUT TO STUDENTS AND PARENTS, so let us know if you get disconnected from Remind or change your phone number. Both Mrs. Garcia and Mrs. Orozco have been reporting to campus since October 5th. You can reach us by phone and email at:
Mrs. Orozco: 512-414-7715, vangie.orozco@austinisd.org
Mrs. Garcia: 512-414-6356, jaime.garcia@austinisd.org
Email: vangie.orozco@austinisd.org
Website: http://www.travisrebels.org/our-programs/echs
Location: 1211 East Oltorf Street, Austin, TX, USA
Phone: 512-414-7715
Twitter: @WBTravisECHS