PfISD Employee Express

• Upcoming Events & Holidays
• Pflugerville ISD 2023-2028 Local Innovation Plan
  
• P-TECH Application Deadline Extended
  
• Stop the Bleed Training
• Grant Opportunity
• Employment Corner
• Benefits Brief
  
• Special Olympics Teams Achieve Great Success
  
• Staff Shout Outs
• CTE Corner
• Fine Arts
• Athletics

Women’s History Month

Music in Our Schools Month

Youth Art Month

Social Work Month

Mar. 6-10: National School Breakfast Week

Mar. 12: Daylight Saving Time Begins

Mar 13-17: Spring Break

Mar 23: Board of Trustee Regular Meeting

Mar 25: Pfamily Pfitness Pfair

Passed during the 84th Legislative Session, House Bill 1842 allows Texas school districts to pursue the designation of ‘District of Innovation,’ a provision that enables traditional independent school districts to access many of the flexibilities that are currently available to open-enrollment charter schools. House Bill 1842 was also intended to generate greater flexibility, local control, and innovation to better meet the needs of Texas students. Through the development and approval of a “Local Innovation Plan,” a district may obtain certain exemptions from the Texas Education Code to advance their local strategic priorities.

On March 1, 2018, the Pflugerville ISD Board of Trustees approved its first District of Innovation (DOI) Plan. The 2022-23 District Academic Advisory Council (DAAC) convened in January and February 2023 to consider renewal of the district’s five-year DOI plan as well as other areas of innovation. The 2023-2028 PfISD Local Innovation plan is currently in its final draft with the DAAC who determined on February 20, 2023 its approval for recommendation to the Superintendent and Board of Trustees for their possible approval.

The plan is publicly posted for review and input from February 21, 2023-March 21, 2023. To provide feedback or comments on the proposed 2023-2028 DOI plan, please respond to DOI@pfisd.net.

Pathways in Technology Early College High Schools (P-TECH) are innovative open-enrollment academies that allow students to receive both a high school diploma and an industry credential and/or an associate degree at no cost.

• Industry-based certifications
• Hands-on work-based learning experiences throughout your high school career

Learn more and apply at pfisd.net/ptech

Texas House Bill 496, Sec. 38.030 requires that each school district implements a Traumatic Injury Response Protocol for use in the event of traumatic injury involving blood loss. The bill requires that bleeding control stations are stored in easily accessible areas throughout the school, and that training is offered to all employees and students in grades 7-12.

No matter how rapid the arrival of emergency responders, bystanders will always be first on the scene of trauma. A person who is bleeding can die from blood loss in 3-5 minutes; therefore, it is important to quickly stop the blood loss.

"Stop the Bleed" is a nationwide campaign to empower individuals to act quickly and save lives. For more information, please visit BLEEDINGCONTROL.ORG.

This training is OPTIONAL. If you wish to view a video describing the general steps of the training, please complete the following survey. https://forms.gle/ksZ1JTjWiyj9bbPs8

The video is about 20 minutes long and will be added to your Canvas account and available to view when you are able to do so. Once again, this is NOT required and is optional.

If you have any questions, please reach out to Brittany Jones, BS, RN at Brittany.jones@pfisd.net

Teachers and Staff: The Foundation is seeking your grant applications to fund projects and/or programs that are innovative and stimulate students’ learning and creativity by enhancing the existing curriculum. Grants can be up to $2,000 for programs or projects initiated by an individual educator, and up to $5,000 for programs or projects initiated by teams or departments.

Deadline: March 31, 2023

Apply here:

https://docs.google.com/document/u/1/d/12ED3WCRy1mP5c64QIYjSVxbz6JXXOv9M/copy

Questions? Contact jennifer.fry@pfisd.net.

Did you know that Pflugerville ISD has great opportunities for Nurses (RNs) on campus and Licensed Electricians? If you or anyone you know is skilled in these areas please consider joining the PfISD Pfamily!

Check out our Careers page for details on the great benefits of working for PfISD and the Jobs Board for current opportunities.

• The Guardian high dental plan covers child and adult orthodontia up to a maximum of $1500.
• The Guardian high dental plan offers a Maximum Rollover Oral Health Rewards Program. This is an automatic rollover. When you submit a claim (without exceeding the $2,000 paid claims threshold of a benefit year), the Guardian will roll over a portion of your unused annual dental maximum.

The Falcon Special Olympics program has been extremely busy during the spring semester and are achieving great things!

Hendrickson Unified Champion ambassadors attended a Special Olympics Leadership Conference in Lakeway. They were able to share all the wonderful things that are happening at Hendrickson and help other schools implement this incredible “way of life.”

Falcon Athletes participated in Special Olympics State Winter Games. Athlete Maddy Schmeidel and Unified partner, Madison Sanders as well as Elena Chacon participated in FUNdamental Sports. This is the first time that we have had Falcon athletes participate in FUNdamental Sports at the State level. All three brought home GOLD medals.

The Falcons had 2-team skills teams, 2-3 on 3 teams and 1-5 on 5 team competing. Our team skills teams brought home 1 gold medal and 1 Silver. Both of our 3 on 3 teams brought home Gold and the 5 on 5 team earned a Silver.

Team skills athletes: Abigail Fulmore, Kayden Kauff, Rory Mayer, Viggo Tovar, Cole Young; Marissa Critendon, Mason Decker, Joshua Sullivan, Layla Van Allen, Mia Yarbrough. 3 on 3 athletes: Javien Anderson, Ronnie Brown, Mariana Perez, Connor Pilkington, Isaac James, Isaac Nichols; Hudsyn Allen, Brandon Figueroa, Hiro Jones, Dylan Mast, Chappy Ross, Angie Selestino. 5 on 5 athletes: Joseph Chambers, Cameron Cooley, Benji Garcia, Trey Green, Illijah Ramos, Daulton Swenson, Nathan Thomas, Zach Wilkinson.

We love our PfISD staff members and we know our parents do too! We want to provide an opportunity for our parents to publicly recognize and thank our staff members who serve our students, staff and the community. We have created a Google Form to provide information directly to us to share with our staff as a whole and let you see the difference you are making in a student's life every single day. Please click here for the Google Form.

These Shout Outs will be included in upcoming issues of the Parent and Staff Newsletters. If a Shout Out directly references a student, we will not include the parent name to protect the child's anonymity. If you are recognized in an anonymous Shout Out and want to learn the parent's name, please contact Tamra Spence at tamra.spence@pfisd.net.

THANK YOU TO OUR AMAZING PFISD STAFF MEMBERS FOR EVERYTHING THEY DO FOR OUR STUDENTS AND COMMUNITY!

Faiq El-Amin of Windermere Elementary (via S.S.): Mr. El is a gem of a social skills educator. He has been able to turn my kiddo’s school experience into a positive, understanding, and trustworthy place. Even if you are not in his class, I’ve seen kids walking by the halls perk up and greet him as if he was one of their best friends. Mr. El courages kiddos to take ownership and maintaining their honor even if it’s a hard learning opportunity. I express my gratitude for your support in helping my kiddo grow.

Melissa Lorch of Park Crest Middle School (via 7th grade parent): Ms. Lorch builds amazing relationships with her students. My daughter is not a confident reader and processes information very linear which can be frustrating in an ELA class. My daughter has done so well in Ms. Lorch's class this year because she feels comfortable asking her teacher for help and in turn, Ms. Lorch understands my daughter's strengths and weaknesses. PCMS is fortunate to have such a dedicated educator on campus!

Ms. Erica and the Mott EDP Team of Mott (via Chris and Sarah G.): Ms. Erica and her team do a terrific job taking care of so many Owls every day. They are always so friendly, kind, and welcoming to students and parents. Thank you!

Mrs. Wright, Mrs. Alvarez, Ms. Kerley of Copperfield Elementary (via Anonymous): These teachers and staff members go above and beyond supporting my daughter at a very tough time in her life. They have provided guidance, emotional support, and cheerleading for my daughter. We are moving out of the district and we really want them to know how welcome and safe they made Camryn feel this year. We will miss the Copperfield family.

Nicole Fish of Murchison Elementary (via Lewis): We appreciate Mrs. Fish so much as our daughter's Kinder teacher. She's had such a wonderful experience in class, and we've experienced excellent and thorough information about class all year long. She is so kind, and our child has never bragged about school/class/learning as much as she does now.

Mrs Tana Rackel of Northwest elementary school (via Hind): Mrs. Tana Rakel as principle she is doing really good job, since she came to northwest elementary school we saw a lot improvement, discipline. She is very nice friendly. I just want to say thank you so much for taking care of our kids.

Mrs Macke of Northwest elementary school (via Hind): Thank you so much Mrs Macke for all the work you did with my kid. You did go above and beyond, he learn a lot from you in just short term. I can see the difference, you are so nice friendly and very patient with the kids. Thank you again.

Mrs Rodriguez of Northwest elementary school (via Hind): Thank you so much Mrs Rodriguez for all the work you did with my kid you did go above and beyond. She learn a lot from you in just short term. I can see the difference. You bring out all the skills she was hiding inside her, you are so nice friendly and very patient with the kids. Thank you again.

Antonio Cobb aka "Mr. T" of Rowe Lane ES - EDP Site Director (via Gaby M.): Mr. T personifies dedication and compassion every day! He constantly promotes EDP kids' social-emotional growth in an environment that enhances the school experience for all students. I am thankful and at ease knowing that my children are supported by Mr. T and his amazing EDP team!

Mrs.Carmen Reed of Cele Middle School (via Rima K.): I very much appreciate her effort with my children in helping them with the mathematics subject that she gives them during school hours and the very noticeable progress of my children in this subject. A very special thanks to her and I thank God that she is there for our children. Thank you, Mrs. Reed.

Delberta Smolinski of Timmerman (via Charla): Ms. Smolinski went above and beyond for Regional Science Fair this year. She took all the projects to the Fair, got them checked in and in place on her own time Friday afternoon. She returned Saturday to cheer on and take pictures of the students and their projects.

SHES Front Office, Registrar and Nurse of Spring Hill Elementary (via Alejandra R.): All of them have amazing attitudes and are always willing to help in a professional manner. They all make you feel welcome as soon as you walk in and they are proud and secure. They are the first face we see as soon as we come into the building and they make our visit more comfortable!

Anna Rowell, Lindsey Reney, and Angie Andresen of 5th Grade Teachers at Windermere Elementary School (via Nikki M.): The WES 5th grade team goes above and beyond to ensure their students have the best final year of elementary school. These teachers have been patient, loving, and encouraging throughout my child's 5th-grade year. Not only do they help her succeed academically, they support my daughter's social and emotional well-being. Thank you, WES 5th-grade teachers for all that you do. We see you!

The Dessau Middle School Art and Career/Technical Education Gateway (pre-engineering) students teamed up to create an Art Parade! The art students created shoebox style parade floats and the Gateway students engineered robotic remote-controlled “cars” to drive the floats down the main hall for the parade. What a great cross-curricular project, way to go DMS! Students in the Gateway courses learn engineering design, modeling, automation and robotics through hands-on experiences, and earn 0.5 high school credit too. Students can start PLTW Gateway courses in 7th grade.

Congratulations to all four of our high school choir programs for earning excellent and superior ratings at the UIL Concert & Sight Reading Evaluation. Especially notable, we’d like to recognize the programs who earned Sweepstakes trophies for getting the highest ratings possible in both the concert and sight reading portions: Hendrickson High School varsity mixed, varsity treble, and non-varsity treble choirs; Pflugerville High School non-varsity tenor-bass choir; and Weiss High School varsity mixed and non-varsity treble choirs.

(All schedules can be found on rankonesports.com)

Boy’s Soccer:

Cougars clinched the district title!!! Congratulations!!!

Tennis:

Ethan To-Pham and Hoai Le 1st place boys singles

Thinh Le and Linda Vu 1st place mix doubles

Baseball:

Varsity went 3-0 in the AISD Tournament. Varsity pitcher, Cesar Arizpe threw a 1-hitter and Kenny Labrada Cabrera threw a no-hitter in the JV tournament

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Power Lifting:

3 boys qualify for Regionals – Joseph Brown, Asher Kamenicky, Reginald Ward!

Baseball:

Baseball went 4-0-1 in the Round Rock “Legends” Tournament to improve their overall record to 8-1-1 and are now ranked #8 in 5A

Track:

Sebastian De Lara Serna has set personal records every meet this season. His 800m time is just 1 second off the HHS record of 1:57.1

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Track:

PHS track put on one of the best meets in Central Texas ( Panther Relays) The Boys got 6th.

Power Lifting:

3 medaled at the regional meet:

Ava Roberts- 2nd place (state qualifier) Good luck Ava! Raise The Bar!!

Francis Lavea- 3rd place

Sophia Macias- 3rd place

Baseball:

PHS baseball beat Killeen Chaparral 9-7

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Tennis:

Han Nguyen and Fabiana Requena earned 2nd Place in Girls Doubles at the Connally Tournament with a close loss to powerhouse LASA in the finals.

Swim:

The Lady’s Team was First in the 200 Medley Relay and Second in the 400 Freestyle Relay For the first time in Pflugerville ISD history We have participants at 6A State Championship! The results can be found in the attachment and if you are interested, you can check the list of all the qualifiers

https://www.uiltexas.org/swimming-diving/state

Girls’s Basketball:

2023 126A DISTRICT CHAMPS! Congrats!!!

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High School:

PHS 672

HHS 605

CHS 449

WHS 278