Tomorrow is the last day for early voting! Find a location to vote close to you
Before we start next week, make sure to change your clocks this Sunday for Daylight saving time—your clocks will fall back one hour. ! 🕰️
🎉 Join the LBJ Early College High School Jaguars this Friday for a fantastic 50th-anniversary celebration! The celebration starts at 5:30 p.m., here is more info.
...and Let's find your seat! Early enrollment kicks off next Wednesday, Nov. 6. Check out a couple of special spooky friends who visited our admission-based programs around Austin ISD. đź‘»
Now, let's get started…
1 Big Thing: New Attendance Initiative: Supporting Our Schools
With the new district attendance initiative, your child’s attendance could mean extra money for their school.
Why it matters: Improved attendance is not only essential better academic outcomes, it’s also directly tied to how the state funds Austin ISD. If Austin ISD increases attendance by just 1%, the district would see $4.5 million in additional revenue.
By the numbers: In the 2022-23 school year the ADA percentage reported to the Texas Education Agency was 90.96. The district’s goal is to raise that percentage to 92.3 which means 737 additional students on campus each day.
How it works: The initiative aims to boost campus attendance through financial incentives that campuses can use for their campus.
Schools will receive funds if they meet specific attendance goals at the end of the first semester and the end of the year.
Money will be distributed based on overall increases in the district's Average Daily Attendance.
Each school will receive support tailored to its individual needs.
How you can support attendance goals:
Motivate your child to go to school every day to help meet attendance goals.
If your child feels sick but doesn’t have a temperature over 100.4 degrees, they’re generally fine to attend school.
If your child has a temperature over 100.4 degrees please don’t send them to school and fill out the school absence note.
If your child is running late, or has a doctor’s appointment, remind them that they
can still be marked present if they attend school.
If there are other reasons affecting attendance, reach out to campus administrators for assistance.
Go Deeper: Learn more about attendance and how you can better support your child.
The Austin Ed Fund raises $590K at 10th annual fundraiser
The Austin Ed Fund’s 10th annual Inspire the Future luncheon brought public education advocates across the city together this week in support of Austin ISD.
Why it matters: Strong Schools, Stronger Austin isn’t just a saying in Austin ISD. With the support of businesses, elected officials and community leaders, our students will continue thriving in our classrooms.
The details: The Austin Ed Fund is the district’s non-profit arm that raises funds to support education and educational projects within Austin ISD.
The luncheon has grown over the last 10 years from 200 guests and 30 sponsors to 740 guests and 142 sponsors.
The event showcased student performers from across the district including the Kealing Symphony Orchestra, Bowie High School Drumline, MAC Theatre and the Crockett Early College High School Ballet Folklorico and Mariachi.
Get involved: Donations can be made to the Austin Ed Fund throughout the year by visiting the Austin Ed Fund’s website.
This week in Austin ISD Athletics
Our Austin ISD student-athletes are in the middle of a competitive fall sports season. Here are some highlights from this week:
â—ŹThe LASA Tennis team qualified for the UIL Team Tennis State Tournament last week and earned a bronze state semifinalist award after facing off with the Frisco Centennial Tennis team in the first round of the tournament.
â—ŹAnderson, Austin and Bowie high schools and LASA qualified for the UIL Cross Country State Meet. Best wishes to the following student-athletes as they compete this weekend:
Lucy Gibson, Anderson
Leah Heckmann, Anderson
Ashley Marron-Rodriguez, Anderson
Faith Murphy, Anderson
Bojana Rutkousky, Anderson
Emily Scholtz, Anderson
Caroline Talarcek, Anderson
Eva Cragnolino, LASA
Colby Huntress, Anderson
Joaquin Gonzalez, LASA
Miah McAulay, Bowie
Griffin Hummel, Bowie
Luke Bone, Austin
â—Ź Our middle school football teams played their final games of the season. Congratulations to the following division winners and runners-up!
Division 1 7th Grade Champions: Gorzycki Middle School
Division 1 7th Grade Runner-up: Murchison Middle School
Division 1 8th Grade Champions: O. Henry Middle School
Division 1 8th Grade Runner-up: Bailey Middle School
Division 2 Champion: Garcia Young Men’s Leadership Academy
Division 2 Runner-up: Bedichek Middle School
Closing Out Cybersecurity Awareness Month
Before Cybersecurity Awareness Month comes to a close, we want to share what our district is doing to protect you, our families and how that complies with HB 18 also known as the Securing Children Online through Parental Empowerment Act (SCOPE).
Why it matters: The SCOPE Act is a new state law that is intended to protect minors from harmful content and data collection practices.
Go deeper… What else can you do to protect yourself online? We’ve put together some tips to help you and your family stay safe.
I’m excited for this three-day weekend. I plan to vote early tomorrow since I work on Tuesday. I’m also excited to have that “extra” hour of sleep on Sunday.
…...and if you celebrate DĂa de Muertos, it’s a way to honor the lives of those we've lost and invite their spirits to return. Here are some lovely photos of an ofrendas from Travis High School. They do an amazing job!
For languages other than English and Spanish, we use an AI-powered translation tool. As a result, there may be some contextual inaccuracies or other errors. We apologize for this. Please email translation@austinisd.org if you are in need of clarification. To change your preferred correspondence language, contact your school's front office.
