April is a month full of celebrations, and I would like to highlight two important observances: Autism Awareness and Acceptance Month, and Arab American Heritage Month. Autism Awareness is a time to educate ourselves about autism and the diverse ways it manifests across the spectrum. However, awareness alone is not enough — true acceptance means embracing individuals with autism for who they are and recognizing their unique talents and contributions. Autism occurs on a spectrum, which means that every person with autism experiences the world differently, with varying strengths and challenges. Simple steps we can take to be more inclusive include offering patience and understanding in our interactions and creating spaces where everyone feels valued and supported. Let’s come together to celebrate the unique strengths and perspectives each individual brings to our school, fostering an environment that is both inclusive and accepting for all.

Additionally, this week marks National Assistant Principal Week, and I’d like to take a moment to shine a well-deserved spotlight on our incredible Assistant Principals; Gabriel Adame, Larry Featherstone, Teri Kirby and Sam Parrott. They are truly the unsung heroes of our campus, working tirelessly behind the scenes to ensure the success and well-being of every student and staff member. Their dedication and leadership make a profound difference in our school every day, and we are so fortunate to have such an amazing team. I encourage all of our parents to take a moment to send a note of appreciation to our Assistant Principals — a small gesture that can go a long way in showing how much we value their hard work and commitment.

Here are a few other items that came across my desk this week:

• The McCallum Choir recently competed at the UIL Concert and Sightreading Contest, and they did exceptionally well! The following groups earned a top score of 1 in both the concert and sightreading portions: Freshman Treble, Varsity Treble (Chamber Choir), Tenor Bass, and Mixed (Meistersingers). Congratulations to Mr. Thompson and all of our talented students for their hard work and impressive achievements!

• Congratulations to our UIL One Act Play cast and crew for advancing to the Area level competition with their moving and powerful rendition of Cicada! Your dedication and talent have truly shone through, and we couldn’t be prouder. Best of luck in the next round of competition — we’re cheering you on every step of the way!

• Congratulations to our Track team for a successful season, good luck to our athletes who are advancing to the next round!

• I would love to hear more about the teachers or staff members who make a difference in your child’s life. Please take a moment to recognize their contributions using this link; AISD RAVE. 

Friday A/B Rotation

• Friday, April 11th will be a B Day

• Friday, April 18th is a student holiday

Calendar Highlights

• Monday, April 7th, CAC and PTSA meeting in the school Library. CAC will start at 5:30 pm.

• Tuesday, April 15th, Campus Architectural Team Community Meeting, Time TBD (evening, virtual meeting), this will provide an update on the 2022 bond projects including timelines for completion and the latest architectural renderings.

• Friday, April 18th, Student Holiday/Staff Development, Front office will be open on an adjusted schedule.

• Tuesday, May 13th, Trustee Awards Knight in the MAC Theater

Round Table Preview (included as part of the 2nd block class [2/6]) Begins at 10:41 am

• Mon 4/7: Academic Advising

• Tue 4/8: NO ROUND TABLE LESSON

• Mon 4/14: Academic Advising

• Tue 4/15: NO ROUND TABLE LESSON

Flexible Instructional Time (FIT).

• Week of April 7-11

  • We will begin EOC testing this week, so we will not have FIT on Wednesday. We will have FIT sessions on Thursday and Friday

• Week of April 14-18

  • FIT sessions on Wednesday and Thursday.

For the third year in a row, McCallum won the District 24-5A Academic Meet, and 29 students qualified for the UIL Region 3-5A Meet April 26 in College Station. 

At the district competition held on Saturday March 29, McCallum students scored a total of 728 points to win the district title in decisive fashion ahead of second-place LASA (280) and third-place Bastrop (182). As part of the event, the speech and debate team defended its district title, easily outscoring second-place Bastrop and third-place LASA. The journalism team earned its fifth straight district title dating back to the pandemic, finishing ahead of second-place Bastrop and third-place Crockett. 

In addition to winning the meet, McCallum hosted it on campus for the first time in more than a decade. Congrats to meet director Vaughn Stockton for hosting a successful event and to the volunteer teachers and students without whom the academic meet could not have happened.

Congratulations to our exceptional Scholastic National Award Recipients!

• Conor Coco Gray – Gold Medal and American Visions Award (only 150 students in the nation received the American Visions Award with a scholarship) for "Don't Touch My Hair," Linoleum Print.

• Ruijia Xiong – Gold Medal for "A Day of Confusion," Watercolor and Colored Pencil.

• Stella Proctor – Honorable Mention Portfolio for "I Dream in Technicolor," Mixed Media.

These remarkable works were reviewed at the national level in New York City by panels of creative professionals. National medalists will be honored at an award ceremony at Carnegie Hall in June. We are incredibly proud of their achievements and wish them the best in the upcoming celebration!

This month marks the beginning of the STAAR End of Course (EOC) exams for our students. Over the next month, we will administer five important exams:

• English I on April 8th, with make-up tests on April 10th.

• English II on April 9th, with make-up tests on April 10th.

• Biology & US History on April 15th, with make-up tests on April 16th.

• Algebra I on April 22nd, with make-up tests on April 23rd.

Students will need to bring their charged Chromebooks with them on the day of their EOC exams.

Please take a moment to talk to your students about the importance of giving their best effort on these exams. Passing these tests is not only a graduation requirement, but student performance also plays a key role in our school’s accountability rating. We know McCallum is a special place, and I want our test results to reflect the incredible potential of our students and the hard work of our amazing staff.

Let’s show everyone what we’re capable of!

The School Health Advisory Committee (SHAC) is a school board appointed advisory group of individuals who represent different segments of the community. By law, a majority of the members must be persons who are parents of students enrolled in the district and who are not employed by the district. The AISD SHAC is made up of parents, community members, students, and school staff working together to improve the health of all students and families through coordinated school health programs. Texas law requires all school districts to have a SHAC. The SHAC holds monthly meetings on the third Wednesday of every month with the exception of December and July. The meetings are from 6:00PM to 7:30PM. The meetings are held either on the 2nd floor of the AISD Headquarters Building located at 4000 S. I-H 35 Frontage Rd. Austin, TX 78704 or virtually.  

SHAC Meeting Dates and Locations

We are excited to invite everyone to the Blue Brigade’s highly anticipated Spring Show, "Embrace", on April 11th and April 12th! This is a fantastic opportunity to experience the incredible talent and hard work of our students as they showcase their passion, creativity, and dedication.

Don’t miss out on this unforgettable performance! Come out and support our talented Blue Brigade dancers as they bring their vision to life. We look forward to seeing you there!

Thank you for taking the time to read the weekend update! At McCallum, we are always striving to improve, and I truly value the input of our parents and students. If you have any concerns or suggestions on how we can make McCallum an even better place, I encourage you to reach out. Your feedback is invaluable! Together, we can continue to make McCallum a place where every student thrives.

On Friday March 21, the Columbia Scholastic Press Association announced that the Shield was one of 15 newspaper programs nationwide to win a CSPA Gold Crown Award in the hybrid news category. The Crown Awards are the highest recognition given by the CSPA to a student print or digital medium for overall excellence.The hybrid news category includes a school’s print and online newspaper.

It is the third straight year that the Shield has earned a hybrid news Gold Crown. The Shield earned Silver Crown Awards from 2016 through 2022 then earned the first Gold Crown in school history in 2023.

Other recent good news:

On Sunday, March 9, the Southern Interscholastic Press Association announced that the Shield had won a 2025 Scroggins Award for its print newspaper. The Scroggins Award is SIPA’s highest honor. The Shield print newspaper has won a Scroggins Award the past three years. In 2022, the Shield won the first Scroggins Award in program history for its online newspaper. The Shield also earned a total of 65 SIPA individual awards in the association’s Best Writing and Best Media contests.

On Friday, March 28, the Texas Association of Journalism Educators announced that Shield journalists had earned a total of 137 individual awards in the TAJE Best in Texas News and Broadcast Awards.

As part of our ongoing efforts to evaluate and improve the academic experience at McCallum, we are exploring the possibility of adjusting the way we rank our students. Specifically, we are considering a move to only rank students who fall in the top 10% of their graduating class, with students outside of that range not receiving an official class rank.

This potential shift follows the example set by four other AISD campuses—Austin High, Anderson High, LASA, and Ann Richards—that have already made the transition to an unranked system. We believe this change could provide a more equitable approach to ranking and better reflect the diverse strengths of our students.

Importantly, students who would like to know their class rank will still have access to it, regardless of whether they fall within the top 10%. This ensures that students can still apply for awards, scholarships, or other opportunities that require the disclosure of class rank.

To ensure we make an informed decision, we want to hear from you, our McCallum families. I have included the impact study completed by our staff, which outlines the potential effects of this change on our students and the overall academic culture. Please take a moment to review this information and share your thoughts.

If you haven’t yet, we encourage you to complete our brief survey, and we want to thank those who have already shared their feedback. Your input is invaluable as we work together to make the best decision for our students.

We are excited to invite our McCallum community to support the AVID Seniors Care Package Drive, which gives back to Austin’s homeless community. The items we collect will go into care packages that will be distributed to those in need, providing much-needed aid and support.

Parents can send items to school with their students, or drop them off at the main office. Please refer to the graphic below for a list of the items we’re hoping to collect. Your generosity will make a big difference, both in helping those in our community who are experiencing homelessness.

Thank you for your kindness and continued support! Together, we can make a meaningful impact in our Austin community.

We are thrilled to announce the McCallum Fine Arts Academy has received 7 nominations for the Heller Awards for Young Artists for our outstanding performance of Tuck Everlasting!

Our nominations are:

• Best Choreography

• Lighting Design

• Best Technical Execution

• Best Scenic Design

• Best Featured Ensemble – Elora Clarke & Aydan Courtney

• Best Lead Female – Delilah Grad

The Heller Awards ceremony will be held at the Long Center on April 16th, and we couldn’t be more proud of our talented students and faculty. Best of luck to all of our nominees—your hard work and dedication have truly paid off!

Let's continue to support our amazing Fine Arts program as they shine!

Senior Parents! Donate NOW to Sponsor a Senior for Project Graduation!

The Sponsor a Senior Project Graduation Fundraiser is well under way, but we still need help to reach our goal of $25,000.00.

What is Project Graduation?

It is fully community funded and funds go to celebrate the Senior class of 2025! Things like a Senior Carnival and Breakfast, as well as providing UBER codes for a safe ride home after prom and graduation are funded through this group! The hope is that each family donates $125.00 for their senior, but ANY amount helps!  The new tally is 80 families donating so far, with donations ranging from $25 to $1,250!! If you haven't donated yet, here's the link. or you can drop off a check at the Mac office in an envelope marked "Project Graduation!" Help us reach the $20K mark this week!  

As promised, we will continue offering final exam waivers for this semester, but with a couple of important modifications. In order to qualify for the waiver program, students must now maintain 90% attendance in all of their classes. Additionally, students will need to have a minimum 80 average in any class for which they wish to use a waiver. These changes are aimed at encouraging consistent attendance and academic performance, ensuring that students are fully engaged in their learning throughout the semester. We appreciate your understanding and cooperation as we work to support student success!

We have a big update from the 2022 Bond for the future of athletics at our school! 

As you may know, Austin ISD comprehensive high schools will receive artificial turf and other athletic field improvements as part of the 2022 Bond. The design for our turf field has been submitted to the City of Austin for permitting, hiring of contractors is underway and we expect to start construction on the field in Summer 2025.

• In the meantime, we will be working with the district on accommodations for students while the athletic fields are under construction. Specific arrangements will be communicated as soon as they are finalized.

What’s next: We now anticipate our field to be complete by the end of 2025.

Go deeper: For the latest information on the projects, including the schedule for all projects and FAQs, please visit the Turf and Fields project website.

• You can also submit feedback through the Questions & Comments form.