An Update from Principal Drummond

Dear Hill Community,
We had a wonderful week of learning as we welcomed back our entire staff for the 2020-2021 school year. It was powerful to see all of our dedicated educators together and passionate to create amazing learning experiences for our students this year. They are anxious to get back to work with your Dillos!

As always, we want to ensure that anyone who missed our Thursday Principal Check-In can watch and receive the important updates on sharing our class rosters, our Virtual Meet the Teacher event, and more. We appreciate the thoughtful questions that helped guide this session as well. Many of the notes are below.

Austin ISD has renamed our weekly email updates “Open for Learning”. These have been so thorough and a great support if you have questions on district updates. They automatically go to the emails of enrolled student parents/guardians. Please also be aware of the updated Open for Learning website that you may want to bookmark. It will have COVID-19 updates and also has a calendar link as I know a few people asked about that.

Probably the biggest updates we gave during our Principal Check-In were some more concrete dates for our upcoming events leading up to our September 8th start.

Class Rosters and Placements Announced (Tuesday, August 25th):  At 9:00 am, homeroom teachers will email out to all parents/guardians to let them know that they will be your students’ teacher this year. We will also include a roster so families can see first name, last initial of students in their class as well.

Following the welcome email, our teachers will also be following up with a welcome phone call either this Tuesday or Wednesday. This will be brief, saying hello, asking about how your student is doing, and then ensuring that your family has what you need or has requested it to begin successfully on the first day of school from home. Thank you for understanding that these may not last more than 5 minutes or so per call. We will ensure more individual time in the coming weeks to connect further with your teacher.

Next Principal Check-In (Thursday, August 27th, at 11:00a)
Ask your questions here using the Google Form
Join Zoom Meeting
Meeting ID: 834 6969 9313
Passcode: dillos

Virtual Meet the Teacher Event (Tuesday, September 1st):  All of our grade level teachers will be hosting a virtual Meet the Teacher event during the times listed below on September 1st. Teachers will be saying hello to your available students, then transitioning to an adult-focused portion where you will get a better understanding of navigating the online platform, specifics on schedules, and other information you need to be successful supports at home.

Pre-K 9:00-10:00
Kinder 10:00-11:00
1st 11:00-12:00
2nd 12:00-1:00
3rd 1:00-2:00
4th 2:00-3:00
5th 3:00-4:00

Grade Level Belonging/Handout Pick-Up Days (Tuesday and Wednesday, 9/2-9/3):  We want to invite all of our families back to the Hill car line to drive thru and pick up left behind belongings from the spring that our teachers bagged up. Teachers may want to handout materials to support virtual learning at home if applicable.
And please bring back those library books! Ms. Pustka and Ms. Banda thank you in advance.

Come during your 2020-2021 grade level time to see your new teacher:
Wednesday, September 2nd

• 9:00-10:30 3rd Grade
• 11:00-12:30 5th Grade
• 1:00-2:30 Kindergarten

Thursday, September 3rd

• 9:00-10:30 1st Grade
• 11:00-12:30 4th Grade
• 1:00-2:30 2nd Grade
  *Please note: if you are unable to pickup items on these days, you can do so in the days following by calling ahead to school and requesting a pickup we can prepare.

Though it was also in the Open for Learning newsletter this week, we wanted to publish the dates and information here for technology distribution from the district:
Ipad Distribution for Pre-K through 2nd Grade Students:  All families are encouraged to request a district-provided Ipad to utilize during virtual learning this fall, as it will be setup to support our platforms (any Ipad or laptop will still be able to access the learning still). You must request this technology prior to going for pickup! This Technology Request Flyer can support you. Once requested, you can take the given QR code or your student’s ID to Anderson High School at these three dates/times:

7:30 a.m.–1:30 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 28
2:00 p.m.–7:00 p.m. on Monday, Aug. 31
7:30 a.m.–1:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 1

Chromebook Distribution for Grades 3-5:  Families who need a Chromebook can now go to one of the Computer Curbside locations to pick up a device still. A large shipment of Chromebooks is expected next week. Any laptop or PC will be able to access the online curriculum for these grades. Like Ipads, you need to request online prior to pickup! Use this flyer for curbside support.

Pick up: Monday- Friday 9:30-3:30 Crockett High School (5601 Menchaca Rd) or the Performing Arts Center (1500 Barbara Jordan Blvd.)

We will plan to release our finalized schedules by the end of the upcoming week as our teams are busy finalizing those to ensure they meet our staff and student needs. These will also be shared and walked through during our virtual Meet the Teacher event. Have a phenomenal weekend with your families! We look forward to connecting much more in the upcoming weeks.

Principal Drummond