From Mr. Drummond

Dear Hill Community, 

We appreciate your support this week as we successfully began a new semester. Obviously, we are beginning the spring during a challenging time. Thank you all for your clear messaging to your students on the importance of masking and handwashing throughout the day. We were so proud of our community this week. We will continue with the clearest messaging possible. Please remember, Austin ISD is offering free testing still throughout this time. 

We want to ensure you have the most up to date information on our district quarantine procedures currently. They are below and can be found at the district COVID-19 website:

Fully COVID-19-vaccinated people (two weeks after the second dose in a 2-dose series of Pfizer or Moderna or single dose of Johnson & Johnson) per CDC guidelines will not need to quarantine if they come in close contact with someone who tests positive.

There are now two options for unvaccinated or partially vaccinated people who are a close contact to a positive COVID case.

1. The close contact can “test to stay” at school, meaning they don’t have to quarantine, but they do have to test on day five after the exposure.  a) If it’s negative — Grab your backpack! We’re going back to school.  b) If it’s positive — Grab the Chromebook! The 5-day isolation starts.
2.  The close contact can quarantine for four days and return on day five with a negative rapid antigen or PCR test   result. For test-to-stay protocol, please visit one of our 11 testing hubs or any approved testing provider.
3. The close contact can quarantine for five days and return on day six if symptom-free.

We want to invite those interested to a special Principal Coffee this Wednesday (1/12) at 7:45 am in our Hill cafeteria. Principal Beth Newton and her team from Murchison Middle School will have a presentation for our outgoing 5th grade families. They will be able to answer questions you may have as well. All families are welcome. It is always fun to welcome back our former Head Dillo!

We also want to give everyone a heads up that soon in the coming weeks, construction is scheduled to begin on a sidewalk that will be on the north side of Austin Woods. Parking will be affected in that area if you have utilized the street or Amy Circle to walk your students to school. We encourage you to utilize Robbie Lane or Hyridge to keep this area as safe as possible during the construction period. More information will come as we receive it. And as a safety reminder: if parking and walking students up from Robbie Lane, please use crosswalks and our sidewalks as you avoid the bus loop itself. Drop off in the back of the school should be done by our cafeteria near our driveway for the main building.

Have a wonderful week, everyone. Please remember there is no school on Monday, January 17th in observance of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day holiday. We look forward to seeing everyone tomorrow.

Principal Drummond