Happy Monday! Don’t forget, schools are closed for students until Wednesday as our staff participate in staff development days. Tomorrow is also Rosh Hashanah, so don’t forget to wish our Jewish friends and families a happy new year.
It’s also Teacher Assistant Appreciation Week! Stay tuned to our social media for special features on some of our hardworking TAs.
Tuesday night, we had our annual Band Jamboree, where hundreds of fine arts students took to the field to show off their half-time shows. This is always such a fun event where you see how special football season is for so many of our students. If you missed it, check out the video!
On Wednesday, I met with a few trustees and our academics leaders to discuss the progress of our academic vision and baseline. We will be scheduling a public Board Work Session in the coming weeks to progress this work so we are better able to share with families what they can expect from an Austin ISD education, no matter the school.
Our senior families got exciting news last week — 2026 graduation dates are out! We’ll be back at the Burger Athletic Complex this year to celebrate our graduates, which will include my oldest daughter! Make sure to mark your calendar for May 27–June 3 as we send off our graduates onto their next adventure.
Tonight, we’ll meet with our Ad Hoc Joint Community Budget Committee. We created this group last year as we worked to close our budget deficit. We’ve come a long way since starting these meetings, but there’s still work to do as we operate this year with a $19.7 million budget deficit. Tonight we’ll discuss accountability, the current consolidation and boundary change process and a general budget update.
Friday morning, I’ll join Austin ISD Police Chief Wayne Sneed and Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis at Barton Hills Elementary School to discuss the response to the police activity near the school a couple of weeks ago. We are working closely with the City of Austin and APD to improve communications, and it was important for us to create this opportunity for families to also give feedback as we create new protocols moving forward. The meeting is intended for Barton Hills families and Austin High School, O.Henry Middle School and Zilker Elementary School have been invited to send representatives from their CACs and PTAs.
On Saturday, our Special Education team will host the annual Special Education Transition Fair. Did you know that we serve some Special Education students until age 21? Transition Services helps our students make a plan for their life after their time in Austin ISD, including employment, continued education, training and independent living. This is an essential support for our families as students move beyond our district. Don’t forget this is a four-day weekend for our students in observance of Rosh Hashanah. For all families who celebrate, I wish you a good year.
Before we go: We understand that the amount of information coming from the district, as well as the news in general is a lot to keep up with. To help make it easier, we’ve created weekly audio news briefs to wrap up the week and ensure the top news and celebrations in Austin ISD are easy to digest.
Check out Austin ISD on Spotify each Friday for a 2-3 minute catch-up on what’s happening and the top stories you need to know.
I hope our students get a bit of rest today and tomorrow and come back ready to learn on Wednesday! As always, if there’s anything that needs to be on my radar, let me know!
Recognize our amazing staff each month by submitting a RAVE!
Follow me on Instagram @matias_aisd. #StrongSchoolsStrongerAustin
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