A Letter from Principal Drummond

Dear Hill Community,
We appreciate all of the support this week during a very difficult time in Austin. Due to the response and action taken by our school community, our on-campus student population was reduced by about 66%. This allowed us to have about 25-30 additional staff members work from home each day. Thank you all for continuing to pull together as we do our part to stop the surge of COVID-19 in our Austin community.

On Thursday, Dr. Elizalde messaged to the community that all families are still encouraged and being asked to keep their students learning virtually next week (January 19th-22nd) as we will likely remain in Stage 5. This is based on recommendations from Austin Public Health and Dr. Escott. We appreciate any families that can continue to do so, which allows more adults on campus to work virtually as well. We do understand that it may not be possible for your family and your circumstance, in which case, we appreciate your communication on that to your teacher. We will always welcome our Dillos on campus. We know there are varying thoughts and feelings on this situation. We appreciate everyone’s continued efforts next week.

We discussed the virtual recommendation and other topics this week in our Hill Principal Check-In on Wednesday linked here. Please also remember that for our current 5th grade families who will be moving students on to Murchison Middle School in the fall, we will be welcoming Principal Beth Newton for a Principal Coffee with her the morning of Tuesday, January 19, at 8:30 am. All parents/guardians are welcome to learn more about middle school and what to know for your future Matadors. Here is the Zoom information for this Principal Check-In:
Zoom Meeting Link
Meeting ID: 940 4544 6022
Passcode: MMS

The Parent Education Committee invites you to a virtual session on “Managing Stress: Strategies & Practices for Navigating COVID-19” with Karen Ranus from The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI Central Texas) on January 21st from 4:00pm. Check out this flyer for more information. We welcome our Hill community to this great opportunity. Here is the zoom information:
Zoom Meeting Link
Meeting ID: 936 2441 6044
Passcode: NAMI

Lastly, we want to wish everyone a restful three day weekend (no school Monday) as we honor and remember the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. His words and actions continue to be so relevant to us as a country during difficult times. I’ll leave you with one of my favorite quotes from Dr. King for you to reflect on: “Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that.” We appreciate you, Hill community!

Principal Drummond