Dear Hill Community,

Thank you all for an excellent first week at Hill School! It is wonderful to see our Dillos in classes learning again and doing their Dillo Best in all areas. Dillo Cheer!

We wanted to share our new Hill Agreement Posters that we created for our different spaces on campus. This is the language we will be using to teach your student(s), so we hope this can help a bit with alignment at home. Our assemblies have focused on different areas and expectations all week and will continue to. Thanks for your support!

Join the Hill PTA: Our Online Open House is still available! Get everything you need for the 2023-2024 school year by participating in Online Open House!  In just a few minutes you can join Hill’s PTA, order birthday books and posters, and learn about the various ways we can support our school. CLICK HERE to begin! 

Quick Update on Dismissal: This week, we will be working to send home a mirror tag you can hang up with your student(s) information so we can more easily dismiss our students in the car line. Write big! If you choose not to use these, we ask all families at least put a piece of paper on the dash each day with the names of your student(s), grade level, and teacher name. This will help our safety patrol and all of us to get things running even more efficiently. Thank you!

We want to give our parents/guardians a big Dillo Cheer for supporting safe arrival and dismissal practices each day. We’ll continue to give reminders and best practices these first few weeks. Here are a couple:

• The back parking lot is for staff only parking each day. Families should not park in back spaces in the bus loop. 
• In our Hill Car Line, please stay in your vehicle. A staff member or safety patrol member will work to support you if you need help.

Have a fantastic week, Friends!

Principal Drummond

Dear Hill Community,

We begin another exciting school year journey on Monday! Thank you to everyone who came by, said hello, and set a positive tone on Friday at our Meet the Teacher event. We hope this letter prepares you for a strong start on Monday.

Here are some basics for the first day of school tomorrow. Our doors will open Monday at 7:15 am and students will be walked straight to their classes. Staff will be stationed around the campus to support you. For our Kindergarten families, we invite you to our Tears and Cheers Parent Coffee in the library once your student is safely in their classroom. Beginning Tuesday, our morning assemblies will begin at 7:35 am in the cafeteria/small gym area. We will assist all students into assembly as parents/guardians will not walk students into the building beginning Tuesday. Our doors will start to open at 7:00 am for the rest of the school year. Again, we encourage all families to have their students attend assembly by 7:35. The official attendance bell will ring at 7:40. Please see the Arrival/Dismissal letter from Thursday for more information.

For student technology, please know that we are working with Austin ISD on the distribution plan for the first couple of weeks of school. Here is what each student will have for their device this school year:

• PreK – 1st grade: classroom sets of iPads with power strips; devices will NOT be taken home
• 2nd grade: classroom sets of Chromebooks with charging stations; devices will NOT be taken home
• 3rd grade – 5th grade students will have individually checked out Chromebooks that may be taken home

It is still very hot outside! Please know that we will monitor the heat closely and follow appropriate guidelines for exposure. But hydration begins in the morning at home! Please ensure your student drinks plenty of water in the mornings. Please also ensure beginning day one, they bring a labeled water bottle that is refillable each day. Hopefully we get a break from this soon!

For arrival and dismissal information, please refer back to our communication on Thursday with everything you need for tomorrow. Be safe and mindful of creating a safe route to school for our kids. We’ll see you tomorrow morning, Hill families!

Principal Drummond

Dear Hill Community,

We have welcomed our staff back to campus and are preparing for another amazing school year! Below there are some updates but mostly reminders of our upcoming events this week and beyond.

Here is a quick guide for upcoming dates and times for our back to school events:

• August 4th-9th: Staff returns for Professional Learning and Planning (all day)
• Wednesday, August 9th: Class lists posted at 4:00 pm on front windows by first name, last initial
• Thursday, August 10th: Teacher Planning and Preparation Day (Helper Day)
  • Virtual Pre-K and Kindergarten Back to School Night with Teachers at 5:30 pm via Zoom (not an in-person event); Zoom Links will be sent this week prior to the event
  • (First through Fifth Grade Back to School Nights will be in September)
• Friday, August 11th:  In-Person Meet the Teacher Event
  • For Meet the Teacher: We request Last Names A-M visit from 10:00-11:00; Last Names N-Z from 11:00-12:00 pm if possible
  • Staff Preparation Day all other times
• Monday, August 14th: First Day of School! (7:40 am-3:10 pm; our bell schedule)

You can click here to view our updated Student/Parent Handbook for the 23-24 School Year.

Attention families who plan to park and walk their students to school: We want to thank everyone for their continued partnership in ensuring that we create safe routes to school each day. This year, we have no big updates for arrival or dismissal around campus after big changes last year. We still ask that families avoid parking on Austin Woods or Amy Circle for arrival or dismissal. You can click here to see a map of the limitations in the mornings and afternoons. There is virtually no legal or available parking (6-7 total spaces) from the hours of 7:00a-9:00a, then 2:00p-4:00p. If you are driving your student to campus, please use our carline or a different area to park/walk. We will send those directions out this upcoming week as we do each year. If you would like to park and walk your student to school, there is parking on Robbie Lane or Hyridge, all with available sidewalks. 

Reminder to Support our Hill PTA: Get everything you need for the 2023-2024 school year by participating in Online Open House!  In just a few minutes you can join Hill’s PTA, order birthday books and posters, and learn about the various ways we can support our school. CLICK HERE to begin! Using the link, you can also view and purchase our amazing Hill Merchandise, including school shirts, for this year! Be sure to sign-up to receive the Dillo Details as well at the bottom-right corner of hillelementary.com. 

Bus Transportation Information from AISD: We recommend families whose students are eligible for General Education transportation to check their bus information by checking the district’s “Bus Stop Finder”. Families whose students have special needs will receive their information from their bus teams.  *Please keep in mind routes and stops may change periodically. AISD’s transportation team offers families the “WheresTheBus” app, which provides timely information about the location of their student’s assigned bus only, including when it will arrive at their stop. The free app is available on any device with internet access (smartphone, tablet, personal computer, iPad)—and takes less than five minutes to install. Instructions are available at https://www.austinisd.org/transportation.

ATX Ballers will again have their after school opportunities available this year. You can follow the link for more information.

We can’t wait to see our Hill families on campus and in our classrooms on Friday! Have a great last week of summer, everyone.

Principal Drummond

Dear Hill Community, 

We hope you have had a summer of fun and family time! There are only two weeks until our 2023-2024 school year begins on Monday, August 14th. We can’t wait to welcome our students to campus. The purpose of this letter is to give everyone a road map for our Back to School activities. More specificity will come soon as well.

Here are your reminders for upcoming dates and times for our back to school events. All are subject to change if needed. Some have been updated since our last communication: 

• August 4th-9th: Staff returns for Professional Learning and Planning (all day)
• Wednesday, August 9th: Class lists posted at 4:00 pm on front windows
• Thursday, August 10th: Teacher Planning and Preparation Day (Helper Day)
  • Virtual Pre-K and Kindergarten Back to School Night with Teachers at 5:30 pm via Zoom (not an in-person event) First through Fifth Grade Back to School Nights will be in September
• Friday, August 11th:  In-Person Meet the Teacher Event
  • For Meet the Teacher: We request Last Names A-M visit from 10:00-11:00; Last Names N-Z from 11:00-12:00 pm if possible
  • Staff Preparation Day all other times

• Monday, August 14th: First Day of School! (7:40 am-3:10 pm; our bell schedule)

Kindergarten Families: Use this link to access and share our Kindergarten Welcome Letter to your Hill Dillo! We hope to see everyone at our Back to School Night Virtual Event and Meet the Teacher In-Person Event on the dates/times above.

Support our Hill PTA: Get everything you need for the 2023-2024 school year by participating in Online Open House!  In just a few minutes you can join Hill’s PTA, order birthday books and posters, and learn about the various ways we can support our school. CLICK HERE to begin! Using the link, you can also view and purchase our amazing Hill Merchandise, including school shirts, for this year!

Austin ISD is looking for staff and community members to join the Calendar Task Force to support developing the 2024-2025 calendar. If interested, all information can be found at the link.

We will follow with more information prior to our events listed above. Have a great week of summer!

Principal Drummond

Dear Hill Community,

The last day of school is this Thursday! If you have not yet done so, please ensure you turn in your device and/or library books tomorrow to your teacher as the deadline is passed. We will have periodic emails over the summer, but this will be our last scheduled weekly communication for now. It has been an honor serving the Hill Community again this year as the principal. Please ensure your students do Dillo Best reading and outdoor play this summer as we encourage those healthy choices.

5th Grade Parents/Guardians: Look for the special emails to you from the 5th grade team that give details on the events for the last few days of school early this week. The week will end with our annual graduation walk that will take place around 2:15 on Thursday. Families can begin lining the front sidewalk in the carline drive at 2:00 if you are interested in seeing our 5th graders come by. Parents/guardians will not be able to view inside the building. Once the graduation walk is over, you can walk around to our 5th grade annex area to meet your student for pictures, etc. They can leave after the walk.

Tomorrow we will have former Dillo graduating seniors return to Hill for a graduation walk of their own at 7:45 am. If you have or know an interested senior, they can wear their cap/gown or a college shirt and begin gathering in our Hill library at 7:30 am. We will also be announcing winners of the Suzanne and Vincent Torres Hill Elementary Alumni Scholarship following the walk. We look forward to celebrating the graduating class of 2023! Then, on Tuesday, our former Dillos now in 8th grade will return for their graduation walk that never happened due to COVID at 7:45 am. Dillo Cheer!

We want to recognize the 2022-2023 Volunteer of the Year at Hill: Kristen Trout! We want to thank her and all of our amazing volunteers who have supported us this year and do so much to make this the best possible community for our students and staff.

We wanted to share another staffing update with everyone prior to summer:

• We want to welcome our new 5th grade math/science teacher Christine Nguyen to Hill! Christine previously taught at Summitt Elementary for many years, mostly in 4th grade.
• We want to welcome our new art teacher Anna Kotecki to Hill! Anna is coming to us from Rawson Saunders where she was a 6th grade teacher. Previously, she taught art abroad.

Each year AISD participates in the 5 Book Dive. Information and resources can be found at https://tinyurl.com/5BookDive , including:

• Lists of recommended summer reads by level (K-2 English, K-2 Spanish, 3-5 English, 3-5 Spanish, Middle School, and High School). The 5 Book Dive program encourages students to read any five books they choose, but provides these librarian-curated lists for inspiration.
• Printable bookmarks which can serve as reading logs. Many campuses choose to recognize students who bring their summer reading logs to school in the fall; some suggestions for doing this are available on the website. Students can also receive a $5 gift certificate from BookPeople for completing the reading log.
• Additional materials including information and resources for students, parents, and educators. This information, along with the website should be shared with families through your campus newsletter.

Click here for more information on Summer Basketball programming from Austin Parks and Recreation Northwest.

Below this letter, we have also included some information on securing summer meals if your family experiences any food insecurity. Please reach out to us if you have any questions or need support. Have an amazing summer, Hill Community! We will see you August.

Principal Drummond

Who qualifies for free summer meals:

• Students participating in on-site summer programs at eligible schools.
• Any child in the community younger than 19.
• Enrolled students with disabilities up to 21 years old.

How to find free meals this summer:

• Families may use the following tools to find a meal site anywhere in Texas:
• Call 2-1-1 to speak to a live operator.
• Visit  www.SummerFood.org  for an interactive site locator map.
• Text FOOD or COMIDA to 304-304.
• All AISD meal sites will be listed on the district website at: www.austinisd.org/nutrition-food-services/meal-programs/summer

How it works:

Children in the community enjoy free summer meals regardless of household income and without any registration or identification. Children do not have to be enrolled in Austin ISD to receive free summer meals.  Summer meals are served in the cafeteria and must be enjoyed on campus during the designated service times.

Dear Hill Community, 

We have 9 days of school left! Be on the lookout next weekend for more detailed information on graduation walks that will take place throughout the week. For our 5th grade families, please know all the information you will need will be shared in an upcoming 5th grade newsletter.

Reminder: It is required that ALL students turn in any provided Austin ISD devices, hotspots, chargers, and/or cases or bags to their teacher by this Friday, May 19th. If you can bring them earlier to avoid a Friday rush, that is appreciated also as we will take them ASAP! All devices will be disabled as of Thursday, May 25, 2023, at 5 pm. If requested, a parent or guardian may complete an OPT-IN form via their Parent Portal account or at the school campus to request the pick-up of a device from the Technology Department at Gus Garcia YMLA, or at the Austin ISD Central Office. Devices will be available for pick-up on May 26, and May 30 through June 2, from 7:30 am to 5:00 pm. During device pickups, fee schedule forms and accountability acknowledgments will also be provided. Devices must be returned to the home campus at the start of the fall 2023 school year. These will not be the current devices you have. Again, all current devices will be returned prior to summer no matter what!

Hill is in need of several new members to join our Campus Advisory Council this upcoming fall. In working with this group, you have the opportunity to support our school in many ways. This is a two year commitment but such an important part of our community that helps guide our decision-making throughout the year. You can click here for the application. Please return completed applications to teresa.carroll@austinisd.org. 

Have an excellent week, everyone!

Principal Drummond

Dear Hill Community,

It is Teacher Appreciation Week! During this week, we recognize the excellence and care that our teaching staff brings to Hill each day. Thank you to our volunteers helping to provide an extended lunch to them on Wednesday. We appreciate all of your thoughtfulness this week in showing how much we care about our teaching staff!

It is also Nurse Appreciation Week! Thank you to Alexis and Carmen in our Hill Health Room who take amazing care of our students. We recognize how much they mean to our Hill Community as well.

If you have not done so, we need you to register for 23-24 school year this week! All families must follow the registration procedure online each year. It is crucial to us knowing who will be attending and allows us to be ready with staffing. All the information you need can be found at https://www.austinisd.org/enroll. Our wonderful PTA also has more helpful information for our new incoming families at https://www.hillelementary.com/parents/new-parents/. Again, if your student will attend in the fall, this is a mandatory requirement. Thank you all!

Prior to the summer, please be aware that families will be turning in all their devices, chargers, hotspots, and accessories from the district back to Hill. This is for inventory purposes. If needed, there will be an opportunity to borrow a device for the summer. The original device and equipment will still be checked in to Hill, though. No student will keep their current device. More detailed information will come in my next letter as we are still learning about the process. There is nothing needed right now. Just know we will begin collecting soon.

We have three weeks of school left. Turn in your library books by Friday, please! More end of year reminders will come your way in the next couple of weeks.

Principal Drummond

Dear Hill Community,

This week is Office Staff and After School Childcare Appreciation Week! Please join us in thanking these two amazing groups for all they do. Our office staff is the heart of our school and the first faces that greet you. Our Childcare Workers go above and beyond to do so many different tasks for our students each day. Dillo Cheer for these ladies!

Our older students made us proud this past week as they worked so hard on their Reading Language Arts STAAR. As a reminder, here is our remaining schedule for this week and next:

– This Wednesday, April 26th: 5th Grade STAAR Science Exam (Make-Ups the Following Day)
– Wednesday, May 3rd: 3rd, 4th, 5th STAAR Math Exam (Make-Ups the Following Day)

A reminder that volunteers should not be on campus during STAAR testing days. Thank you all for ensuring your 5th grade Dillos get good sleep on Tuesday night and a healthy breakfast the morning of. We hope they can be at school those days at 7:30 am.

Order Your Hill School Supplies: Our online school supply store is officially open for the 2023-2024 school year.  Skip the trip to the store and get your teacher requested supplies delivered directly to the classroom.  Ordering couldn’t be easier.  Just go to www.sproutsupplies.com and enter school code HES003.

We will work to provide a staffing update in an upcoming letter to give everyone a good picture for next year so far. If you are interested in possible free or discounted internet if you qualify, check the message at the end of this letter. Lastly, someone asked this week how big the Drummond boys were getting. Here is picture evidence they are too big. Take care, everyone!

Principal Drummond

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Do you have students and families who need support paying their internet bills?
Austin Free-Net is partnering with Austin ISD to offer free or discounted internet service to families who qualify through the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) Affordable Connectivity Program.

What is the Affordable Connectivity Program?
The Affordable Connectivity Program allows qualifying (income-based) households to choose the internet service provider of their choice and receive a significant discount to their internet bill (with current service packages in place, this is resulting in FREE internet).

Who is eligible?
Households who participate in free/reduced school meal programs are eligible to participate. If the entire school receives free meals, all households are eligible. The FCC estimates that 150,000 residents in Travis, Hays and Williamson counties are eligible but not enrolled.

How can my students and families enroll?
Austin Free-Net is dedicated to assisting all eligible Austin ISD students and families in enrolling in the Affordable Connectivity Program and can provide individualized support throughout the entire process. There is no expiration date, but take advantage of this great opportunity and current funding is still available. Please refer to these flyers and reach out to Austin Free-Net with any questions.

– Website: austinfree.net
– Phone: 512-236-8225
– Email: access@austinfree.net
– Address: 2209 Rosewood Ave., Austin, TX 78702

About Austin Free-Net
Austin FreeAustin Free-Net is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that assists community members with technology resources and has been boots on the ground in Austin for over 28 years. Austin Free-Net specializes in basic digital inclusion and is a “one stop shop” for affordable devices, internet, training and support, especially focusing on marginalized communities including people of color, low income, veterans, seniors, immigrants and people experiencing homelessness, but their services are available to all. All public services are free and available in both English and Spanish.

Dear Hill Community,

This week is School Lunch Heroes Week. Let’s give a big Dillo Cheer to our lunch staff who show up and support our students every day!

As we are now in the last month of school, we wanted to give our community a staffing update for the fall:

–  Counselor Sarah Kelton is leaving Hill to expand her private practice. We wish her well and thank her for her time at Hill! We are excited to announce that Hanna Curran will transition from 3rd grade into the Counselor role.

–  In 1st grade, Morgan McClellan will be transitioning to our 3rd grade team. 3rd grade teacher Emily Nieto will move to 1st grade for the fall.

–  In 2nd grade, Clara Rivas will be transitioning to our 3rd grade team.

–  In 3rd grade, Michelle Grona is transferring to the new General Marshall Middle School where she will be the 504 Coordinator. We wish her well and thank her for her time at Hill!

–  In 5th grade, Bess Wirht is transferring to Davis Elementary where she will join their 5th grade team. We wish her well and thank her for her many years of service to Hill! We are happy she will still be in the vertical team.

–  In Essential Areas, Michelle Herb is leaving Hill and moving out of state. We wish her well and thank her for her many years of service to Hill! We are excited to announce that we have hired Nicholas Flott to be our new music teacher. Nicholas comes to us after spending two years in a graduate music program. He has prior elementary music teaching experience as well.

–  In Special Education, Luana Freitas Ikanovic is transferring to Pflugerville and opening a brand new ECSE unit closer to her home. We wish her well and thank her for her time at Hill! Marci Adkinson is coming back to Hill as a General Resource Special Education teacher! We are excited to have her back home after a year at Doss. She previously taught special education and Pre-K at Hill.

–  One of our reading interventionists, Erin Drew, will be moving on to continue work on her reading specialization. We thank her for her time at Hill!

Currently, we are in the interview process still for the following positions:
– Early Childhood Special Education (ECSE)
– French FLEX Teacher
– Part-Time Hourly Reading Interventionist

We will keep everyone updated in the coming months as we move into fall.

As a reminder, here is our remaining STAAR schedule:

–  This Wednesday, May 3rd: 3rd, 4th, 5th STAAR Math Exam (Make-Ups the Following Day)

A reminder that volunteers should not be on campus during STAAR testing days. Thank you all for ensuring your Dillos get good sleep on Tuesday night and a healthy breakfast the morning of. We hope they can be at school those days at 7:30 am.

We have 4 weeks of school left! Have a great start to your May.

Principal Drummond

Dear Hill Community,

Dillo Cheer to everyone who volunteered to help on Saturday at our Hill School Beautification Day! Our grounds are looking excellent and ready to welcome our families this spring.

STAAR testing begins this week for our 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders. We are so proud of the hard work our students have put in. We can’t thank our teachers enough for all the preparation they have done this year and before to ready them. Here is our schedule:

– Wednesday, April 19th: 3rd, 4th, 5th STAAR Reading Exam (Make-Ups the Following Day)
– Wednesday, April 26th: 5th Grade STAAR Science Exam (Make-Ups the Following Day)
– Wednesday, May 3rd: 3rd, 4th, 5th STAAR Math Exam (Make-Ups the Following Day)

We also want to give some reminders for our entire community as our tests are now spread out over three consecutive weeks. We will not be able to have adults/volunteers on campus during the three STAAR testing days. If you have a 3rd, 4th, or 5th grader, thank you for ensuring they arrive on time for testing days by 7:30 am if possible so they can be ready and prepared as we dismiss them from assembly. We also encourage a lot of sleep the night before and a healthy breakfast the morning of. Please ensure your student brings healthy snacks and a book to read each day. These things matter! Let’s give a big Dillo Cheer to our kids who are ready to show their Dillo Best. We know all of our students will make us very proud!

The Hill Dillo Dash and Health Fair is this Friday: Bring the whole family out to the 11th Annual Hill Health Fair and Dillo Dash! Run with your Dillo friends! Hang with your favorite Anderson Trojan athletes! Be a healthier Dillo! Volunteers are needed to make this special event happen. Please consider volunteering for this fun event!

Date: Friday, April 21st
Time: 4pm (Mini Run followed by Color Run)
Place: Hill Elementary School
Cost: FREE!
Registration Link: CLICK HERE!
*ALL PARTICIPANTS MUST REGISTER*
Volunteer Link: CLICK HERE!

Incoming Pre-K and Kindergarten Families: This Thursday is our special Principal Coffee for our parents/guardians. This event is not for students. We will give a presentation on Hill so you know more about us. Also, we will have a teacher from each grade level there to answer questions you may have. We hope to see you there! If you can’t make it, there will be more information in the fall at our Back to School Night event.

AISD would like your feedback on assessments: Beginning this summer and continuing through the 23-24 school year, we will engage in a transparent and inclusive process to develop a comprehensive student assessment framework for Austin ISD. This assessment planning survey is anonymous and can be accessed using this link: https://bit.ly/AISDAssessment2324 The survey will be open for responses through May 1st, 2023. Data from this survey will be used to inform decision making regarding assessments for SY 23-24 and there is also a link in the survey to express interest in participating in the previously mentioned process to develop a district assessment framework.

Enjoy the day, everyone!

Principal Drummond