The Serene Scoop

We did it! We rocked the first full week of the 2026-2027 school year! Let's take a moment to appreciate everyone involved in this victory, because we know that getting out of bed and out the door on time each morning can feel like an Olympic sport. The administration team spent the week popping into classrooms, and honestly, our hearts are full. Watching the learning already happening and the relationships already forming between teachers and students has been the best part of our week. This week each of you helped us not only meet our target daily attendance rate of 96.5% but exceed our target with a whopping 98.5% average daily attendance for the first eight days of the year. Wow! With that kind of wind in our sails, we will go far this year!

As the state accountability results were released this week, we are celebrating one of our core values-never settle! Serene Hills Elementary earned an A rating this year, and not just one, but TWO distinctions, in Academic Achievement in Science and Top 25% Comparative Academic Growth! While we are so proud of this recognition, if you know our Sailor crew, you know we never settle for "good enough." This A rating and these distinctions aren't a finish line. They're proof of what happens when a whole community of teachers, students, and families commits to striving for better every single day. We will keep celebrating every win along the way, big or small, while always asking "what's next?" and pushing ourselves to grow even further. Thank you for being part of a school that refuses to settle and never stops striving to be its best. So proud of our Sailors!

Kara Reeh

Principal

Serene Hills Elementary School

Assistant Principal DeLong serves as the point of contact for our third through fifth grade families! Although this is her first year as an Assistant Principal, Serene Hills has been lucky to call her part of the family for the past three years already. Outside of school, you'll likely find her outdoors with her Australian Shepherd, Bexar, hiking, camping, and exploring state parks, or relaxing near the water with a good book. What she loves most about education is the joy and wonder students bring each day. Each student's grit, resilience, and ability to exceed expectations inspire her to reach her own goal: for every student to feel seen, loved, and supported so they can become the very best version of themselves.

• To ensure you receive time-sensitive calls about your student's health, please save the nurse's phone line in your phone so it is not directed to spam. Nurse Taylor can be reached at 512.533.7402.
• Items dropped off for students should be placed on the white shelves in the foyer by grade level and labeled with the necessary information. Deliveries will be made once daily at approximately 10:00am.
• To prioritize the nutrition of our youngest learners, ice cream will be available for purchase on Fridays only for Pre-K and Kindergarten. If it is your child's birthday, they will be able to redeem their birthday ice cream coupon from their teacher any day of the week!
• The ice cream purchase availability for other grade levels remains unchanged at this time. If you wish to place restrictions on your child's account, you can complete that request through the FANS website.

Thank you for your patience and cooperation with our car line procedures. They help us keep every child safe during arrival and dismissal!

• Pull all the way forward to the furthest staff member before stopping. This keeps the line moving smoothly and prevents backups onto the road
• Walking your student in? Please park in the side lot and use the sidewalk to approach campus. This will decrease the need for cross traffic in front of the school to be stopped.
• Crosswalk: Please wait for a staff member to signal that it's safe to cross, as car line traffic will be given priority flow during this time
• Front car lane: Please form two lanes until reaching the upper "deck," then merge into a single lane. This keeps traffic moving efficiently and off the road.

We're grateful for your flexibility and teamwork as we all work together to keep arrival and dismissal safe and stress-free for everyone!

Aug. 21st: TONIGHT! SHE Spirit Night at Bricks & Minifigs hosted by PTO 4:30-6:30

(A portion of the proceeds will be donated to SHE PTO.)

Aug. 27th: PTO Back to School Bash

Sept. 1st: Campus open for lunch visitors.

Sept. 1st: All students arriving after 7:40 must be escorted and checked in at the front

desk to ensure the safety of all learners.

Sept. 2nd: SHE Spirit Night All Star Burger hosted by PTO 4:30-6:30

(A portion of the proceeds will be donated to SHE PTO.)

Sept. 7th: Student and Staff Holiday

Sept. 8th: Curriculum Night

Sept. 9th: School Pictures

Sept. 9th-18th: Sailor Sprint

Sept. 21st-Student Holiday

Ms. Stella, our amazing librarian, will share a fun book with you each week. Check out this week's read!

100 Things to Love About School by Amy Schwartz; illustrated by Dasha Tolstikova

A new book in the 100 Things series, this rhyming book celebrates the joy of school and how many things about school we love!

IMPORTANT ATTENDANCE INFORMATION

Official attendance is taken at 10 a.m.!!

Students who are not in the building by 7:40 a.m. must check in at the front office and will be considered tardy. Beginning September 1, students arriving after 7:40 am must be escorted into the building and checked in with Ms. Lei to ensure the safety of all students.

To receive a final grade in a class, a student in kindergarten-grade 12 must attend at least 90 percent of the days the class is offered.

Students may miss no more than 17 school days to meet the 90% attendance requirement.

Pre-K students are subject to compulsory attendance requirements as well as long as they are enrolled.

Walk-ups for student checkouts are not accepted 30 minutes before dismissal.

**Attendance affects our state accountability rating**

ENTERING ABSENCES

Absences should be reported in the district’s SMART Tag absence management system.

Notes from parents may be emailed from the parent’s email address to the school’s campus attendance office.

Notes signed by students, even with the parent’s permissions, will not be accepted unless the student is age 18 or older or is an emancipated minor under state law.

Acceptable documentation must be provided to the campus within 3 days after the absence.

7:20am: Doors open for students to arrive

7:35am: 5 minute warning bell rings

7:40am: School starts! Instruction begins!

An adult must walk in with any student who arrives after 7:40 and will enter through the front office to receive a tardy pass.

3:00pm: School ends

3:15pm: Students must be picked up by this time

This year we encourage all students, staff, and parents to join us in showing our pride in our school and our Lake Travis Community.

Mondays will be Serene Spirit Days. Wear your Serene shirts or any combination of red/white/blue to show your school spirit!

Fridays are for our LT Cavalier Pride! Wear your favorite LT gear or red/black to cheer on the best district in the state!

It is our priority to keep students and staff safe and focused on high quality education. Therefore, we respectfully request that all visitors sign-in at the office upon entering through the front doors and wear a visitor’s badge while in the building. The badge verifies that you have checked in the office, presented proper identification and made clear the purpose for your visit. In addition, you must have a pre-scheduled meeting with your child's teacher in order to have a parent-teacher conference.

For the first few weeks of school, we will not have visitors for lunch. This allows students time to adjust to school procedures as well as build relationships with classmates. The cafe will be open for visitor lunch guests on September 1.

Deliveries of forgotten items to students should be limited to emergencies only so that important instructional time is not interrupted. Parents needing to drop off a lunch or other school items to their child(ren) will be able to do so by dropping the labeled item(s) in the drop box located outside the office area.

Labels should include:

NAME:

GRADE:

TEACHER:

Items will be delivered to the students as soon as possible.

Discovery, otherwise known as Gifted and Talented, is the enrichment program provided for students who have been identified as intellectually gifted and talented. All students are eligible to be selected for the Discovery program at each campus. In order to be identified as gifted and talented, each student must undergo a screening and selection process. The Discovery Program is now accepting parent referrals for GT Screening via Google form.

Elementary Form - For Grades 1, 3, 4, 5

• Second Graders will not need a referral. The entire grade level will be screened in October. More information to come.

• Kindergarten students can be referred for GT testing beginning in January 2027. More details will be shared regarding this process at the end of the first semester.

Secondary Form

Transfer students, who were already identified as GT coming from their previous district, should submit the Google form as soon as possible, as the transfer student screening will be set within 30 days of the first day of school. Parents should send proof of their child's selection/participation in the previous GT program directly to the campus GT coordinator. (This applies to families that haven’t already been in touch with the GT coordinator.)

Parents can submit referrals for screening by October 15, 2026. Testing will occur during the 2nd 9 weeks of instruction. If the referral and permission forms are not submitted by the deadline, the next opportunity for the student to be screened will be the following academic year. Spring screening is reserved for students moving in new to the district after the fall testing window is closed and for kindergarten students.

The forms, program information and campus coordinator names can be found on the district Gifted and Talented page.

Once the request is submitted through the Google form, the campus GT coordinator will contact parents via email after October 15th to share pertinent information.

You are also welcome to contact our campus GT coordinator, Carrie Latimer, at any time with questions.

Serene Hills:

Serene Hills Elementary Homepage

Transportation:

LTISD Transportation

Transfinder

SmartTag

Food and Nutrition Services (FANS):

LTISD FANS

My School Bucks

Menus

Lake Travis ISD Mobile App

LTISD Extended Care Program

The Serene Hills Elementary community commits to engaging every student in innovative, collaborative learning focused on growth and to igniting a passion for learning in which everyone is valued.

Website: https://www.ltisdschools.org/SHE
Location: 3301 Serene Hills Drive, Lakeway, TX, United States
Phone: 512-533-7400
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/serenehillspto/
Twitter: @SHEsailors