A Letter from Principal Drummond

Dear Hill Dillo Community,

The school year has flown by, and we have 3 weeks left to go! End of the year activities are in full swing with creative learning happening all over campus. There is just one week until our last round of STAAR tests as 3rd and 4th graders will take math and reading on May 13th and 14th. Our 5th grade Dillos are preparing for their science STAAR test on May 15th. Thank you for ensuring your student(s) get a great night’s sleep prior to testing and eat a healthy breakfast that morning!

We have received our overall STAAR scores for the first round of math and reading that our 5th graders took in April:

Reading 94% Approaches (passing); 78% met standard; 58% masters

Math 94% Approaches (passing); 85% met standard; 70% masters

Thank you to our dedicated teachers whose hard work increased our masters percentage by 9% in reading and 15% in math from last year! Their teaching goes way beyond a test in preparing our students as critical thinkers. We are so proud of our Dillos for their hard work and determination leading up to the exams.

It is with mixed emotions that I share with you some staff changes for next year:

Analisa Guevara will be retiring from teaching 3rd grade after 35 years in Austin ISD. We appreciate her many years of service to Hill School! We are excited to announce we have hired Kasi Moore to join our 3rd grade team. Kasi comes to us as a past Hill teacher in 2nd grade.

3rd grade teacher Anna Peterson will be leaving Hill and moving out of state. We thank Ms. Peterson for her dedication to the school community the last two years. We are excited to announce that we have hired Jason Eddleton to join our 3rd grade team as well. Jason is a past Hill 3rd grade teacher returning to the team.

Lindsay Cole will be leaving her 4th grade position at Hill and moving out of state. We wish her luck on her new adventures and thank her for her time at Hill. We are excited to announce that Naomi Haynes has been hired to join our 4th grade team. Naomi comes to us from Norman-Sims Elementary in Austin ISD, where she is an instructional coach. We will continue to update the community on other changes as we move into summer.

Thank you to all of our volunteers who are assisting with so many fun activities as we wrap up this school year. A special congratulations to Melinda Anderson, Hill Volunteer of the Year! She does so much for our campus and was honored at last week’s volunteer assembly.

We look forward to seeing everyone at end of the year activities and celebrations!

Jack Drummond

Interim Principal