Martin MS September 2018 Newsletter
Principal's Corner
Dear Eagles,
We are off to a great start! Our classrooms and hallways are buzzing with the sound of excited students. Our leadership team agrees that instruction is off to a solid start as our teachers are delivering excellent lessons. I am very excited about this school year!
Our official STAAR scores are in. I am proud to announce that Martin not only met accountability, but we also earned a STAAR distinction in Science! We are proud of our Eagles! We worked hard all year and together we proved that it’s not important where you start, what matters is where you end up.
I look forward to meeting our parents and partners on Back to School Night. Our festivities start at 5:00 on Tuesday September 4th. Please see our Smore HERE for more information. If you are not able to come on Back to School Night, we will have two other opportunities to chat: our first Community Alliance meeting is on September 13th at 8:30 am and our 1st CAC meeting is on September 24th at 5 pm.
I want to thank all of our staff, students, parents, and community members for being patient with us as the city works on water line maintenance on Comal street. We expect that construction will be done by the end of September. We will keep you posted if anything changes.
September is Attendance Awareness Month. Please make sure your student is coming to school every day. Studies show that being absent more that 2 days per month can dramatically impact student success. If you miss school you miss out!
As always, please reach out to me if there is anything I can do to help your child be successful.
Proud Eagle,
Monica de la Garza-Conness
Principal of Martin Middle School
Students of the Month
Nomerica Hastings
Nomerica started the 2018-19 School Year strong. She has been present each day and has been actively engaged in her ELA class the first week of school. Nomerica has a positive influence on her peers and is helpful towards her classmates. Way to go Nomerica!!! Congratulations for being named Student of the Month for the 8th grade Team.
Manu Raya
Manu has demonstrated Martin's newest initiative - a growth mindset. Manu is a model student at this point. He has been very polite and willing to actively participate in all academic environments. Kudos to Manu for showing great strides as an individual and growth as a new 7th grader!
Victor Carr
Victor Carr has gotten off to a great school year. Victor finds time to help in his classes and is really trying. We are super proud of him. Keep up the great work!
Congratulations for being named Student of the Month for the 6th Grade. Go Eagles!!!
Teacher Spotlight: New Teachers to Martin
Ms. Warren
Ms. Olivo
Ms. Canete
Ms. Sans
On my free time, I enjoy the great outdoors, biking, kayaking, swimming, yoga and gardening in my home in Austin. I have a new joy of my life- four month old puppy named Lilu. I have volunteered with Sea Shepherd Conservation Society which is a non-profit marine conservation organization. Additionally, I take pleasure in traveling all around the world. One of my favorite places that I have traveled to is Southeast Asia. During downtime, I enjoy reading, painting, writing, learning and spending quality time with my family in The Woodlands, Texas.
I am excited to be serving in AISD for the 2018-2019 school year.
Mr. Diaz
Mr. Gonzales
Mr. Ortmann
Mr. Moreno
Ms. Demaris
Martin Partners
Communities in School (CIS)
Communities in Schools has had an office at Martin for about 16 years! Our campus based program provides a variety of support for students, including individual/ group mentoring and counseling, lunch bunches, field trips and service learning projects. We partner with other organizations such as Safe Alliance and Girls Empowerment Network to offer more services. We also offer an after school program (at the Santa Rita apartments) for elementary, middle and high school students who live in public housing. Lastly, we offer intensive case management and in depth support for five Martin families through the CIS Care Coordination program. We are currently enrolling students for all three programs, and we will continue enrolling students until we are full!
Family Resource Center
The Martin Family Resource Center (FRC) personnel want to welcome everyone this new school year. We are happy to announce that the center has two bilingual social workers on staff. This team is available to provide case management services to evaluate families, determine their needs for assistance, and to link them to internal and external services. The services in the FRC includes: Students uniforms, (as needed basis, and emergencies), parent academy, assistance with Medicaid/CHIP/SNAP (twice a month), and assistance with electric bill through Plus One. The FRC is located in room 110. Please used the attached form for referrals and email them to blanca.herrera@austinsid.org or you may drop it off at the center.
September Events
Back to School / Night Family Fun Night
Martin 2018 Football Schedule
Martin 2018 Volleyball Schedule
GEAR UP Kick Off Event
Friday, Sep 21, 2018, 09:00 AM
Gregory Gymnasium, Speedway, Austin, TX, USA
Coffee with the Principal / Community Alliance Meeting
Thursday, Sep 13, 2018, 08:30 AM
Martin Middle School, Haskell Street, Austin, TX, USA
RSVPs are enabled for this event.
Campus Advisory Council
Campus Advisory Councils are committees of parents, students, business and community representatives, teachers, principals, and other campus staff. The formation of CACs is required by state law (Texas Education Code, §11.251). Specific functions of CACs include providing review and comment on:
- Campus Educational Program
- Campus Performance
- Campus Improvement Plan
- Campus Staff Development Plan
- Campus-Level Waiver Requests to the State
- Campus Budget
Monday, Sep 24, 2018, 05:00 PM
Martin Middle School, Haskell Street, Austin, TX, USA
RSVPs are enabled for this event.
Attendance Matters!
Mentoring students is a huge part of their daily success on campus! When a student has a strong connection to an adult on campus they feel valued and important and are 10 times more likely to be present on a daily basis despite any personal issues going on in their life. This month try reaching out to a student in your life, we could all use some encouragement!
Statistics show that if a student is present the first 20 days of school they are less likely to become chronically absent. The Martin Attendance Pillar is hosting an "Attend-DANCE" for students who have high attendance the first 20 days of school. The dance will be held on September 14th and students who have had perfect attendance will have access to a "VIP" lounge with prizes! Keep up the great job EAGLES!
We have many great Attendance incentives planned for this new school year and are extremely excited to see our students succeed!
Remember if you Miss School you Miss Out!