Pony Express

Celebrating Excellence
We are thrilled to announce and congratulate Jan Loewe, our Teacher of the Year, and Tori Hinojosa, our Teacher of Promise! These outstanding educators exemplify dedication, passion, and innovation in the classroom, inspiring both students and colleagues every day. We are so proud to have them as part of our Mustang family!

Semester One Academic and Behavior Assembly Highlights
Our Semester One Academic and Behavior Assembly was a resounding success! Students were celebrated for their academic achievements and positive contributions to our school culture. If you missed it, we encourage you to check out the presentations and highlights on our website to see the amazing accomplishments of our Mustangs!

Band and Choir Success
Our Band and Choir programs have hit all the right notes this year! From stellar performances at competitions to show-stopping concerts, these talented students continue to make us proud. Visit our website or social media pages to see highlights and celebrate their incredible achievements.

Join the Campus Architecture Team
There’s still time to make a difference! We are seeking parents and students to serve on our Campus Architecture Team. This is an excellent opportunity to help shape the future of our school and ensure that every voice is represented. Applications are due soon—don’t miss this chance to get involved!

Planning for 2025-2026
Our counselors are busy helping students prepare for the upcoming school year! They’ve been visiting classrooms to present choice sheets for the 2025-2026 school year, ensuring that students have all the information they need to make informed decisions about their courses. Be sure to ask your child about their selections and discuss their plans for the next school year.

At O. Henry Middle School, we believe in the power of community and the strength of our Mustang spirit. Together, we can achieve greatness. "A strong school family lifts each other up and inspires greatness in every individual." Thank you for your continued support and dedication to making O. Henry Middle School the incredible place it is.

Let’s make it a great week to be an O. Henry Mustang!

☮️, ❤️, and 🐴’s,

Marlo Malott

• All Day- Austin High School Presenting Choice Sheets in Science Class to 8th Graders
• 8th period- Lockdown Drill
• 4:00 Boys C team Basketball Practice

Tuesday, 1/28 C Day

• 9:00 ECHS Choice Sheet Presentation to 8th Graders in Library
• 4:00 Mustang CAC Meeting
• 5:30-6:15 Mustang Dance Team Parent Meeting

Wednesday, 1/29 -NO SCHOOL

Lunar New Year

Staff Professional Learning Day

Thursday, 1/30-C Day

• 7:30 Student Led FCA in Big Gym
• 4:00 Boys C Team Basketball Practice
• 6:00 NEW Members NJHS Induction Ceremony in Cafe
• 6:00/7:00 Boys Basketball vs Murchison 7th @OHMS, 8th @MMS

Friday, 1/31- C Day

• 6th and 7th Choice Sheet Presentations in Social Studies Classes
• 5:30 7th and 8th Grade Band-O-Rama at Austin High

Saturday, 2/1

• 8:00-12:00 Saturday School
• 9:00/10:30 Girls Soccer vs Kealing at Yellow Jacket Field

A special shout out to our Teacher of the Year finalists: Scott Gray, Leslie Hibbard and Elliott Hilliard.

We are thrilled that Jan Loewe will be representing O. Henry as our 2024-2025 Teacher of the Year. Ms. Loewe is a member of the Math team at O. Henry, currently teaching 6th Grade Math, 6th Grade Algebra Track, and 7th Grade Math.

O. Henry is proud to announce 6th and 7th Grade Science Teacher Tori Hinojosa as our Teacher of Promise. Selected from first year educators, Tori will be representing our campus at the Salute Awards. Congratulations , s. Hinojosa!

Campus Architectural Team for O. Henry Middle

Austin ISD has so much to be proud of! With your help, Austin voters passed the largest and most equitable bond Austin ISD has ever seen in November 2022. We got here with the hard work of the community, teachers, staff, trustees and you by keeping our students at the center of the vision. This work and engagement will continue as we implement the Bond. We’re excited to share the full schedule for the modernization projects.

We are getting ready to hit the ground running on these projects, including the modernization of O. Henry Middle School! The first step in the process is the formation of Campus Architectural Teams (CATs). You might already be familiar with these, but they are a team of teachers, staff, parents and community members that meet with your campus’s architects to guide the design and make decisions for your school’s project.

CATs will work with the campus design team through every step of the process, from preliminary designs to move-in and grand openings. If you are interested in joining a CAT, please complete this form by Friday, January 31, 2025.

Once again, thank you for your tireless efforts on behalf of our students to make this vision a reality! We could not do any of this without your support.

Sincerely,

Marlo Malott

O. Henry Middle School Principal

Please fill out the form below if your student athlete is interested in participating in the O. Henry Golf Club.

The club is open to any student at O. Henry regardless of skill or grade level. The season typically starts right after Spring Break and goes on until early May.

We work closely with AHS Golf and Lions to create our season schedule. More information will go out as sessions are organized.

O. Henry Golf Sign Up 2025

Save the date!!!

O. Henry volleyball and girls basketball camp will be held June 2nd -5th, 2025

Registration will be open in February. Stay tuned!

Girls Athletics is in need of gently used sweatpants, leggings, shorts, and sports bras. We are in need of all sizes. Please bring donations to the front office. Thank you!

Check our our School Year 2025-2026 Transition Newsletter.

We will keep this updated until August 2025. Linked here are copies of Course Sheets, Course videos, and more information about O. Henry.

https://secure.smore.com/n/ref0u

Congratulations to Sabine Andresen, Sabine Fernandez, Bolan Lossen, and Melody Serrano for being selected to the 2025 AISD All-City Middle School Band. These Musangs are under the direction of Band Director Mr. Sedric Pinkney.

This past Saturday we hosted over 460 students from around the region competing from 25 different schools. Our students were great hosts and monitors for this event.

Shout out to these students who earned a spot in the TMEA Region 18 Choir!

Sally Moore placed 6th Chair for Soprano 1 and earned a spot in the 8th grade SSA Choir

Alessandra Medina placed 22 out of over 70 singers in the Soprano 2 room and earned a spot in the 7th grade SSA Choir.

Hanna Coffman placed 17 out of 50 Altos to earn her spot in the 7th grade SSA Choir

Hank Finch placed 16 in his Bass/Bariton room to earn his spot in the 7th & 8th Grade Tenor/Bass choir - Hank was also competing with 8th grade students to earn his spot.

George Sylvane and Nathaniel Rendon auditioned but just missed making the cut in the Tenor 2 room - again auditioning with both 7th and 8th grade students.

We had fantastic room monitors and runners and without them this event would not have been possible.

Ellis Fraiser, also helped with clean up, she also got great comments from the judges.

Hanna Coffman, helped with set up, auditioned then helped running student and also serving as a monitor and then also helped with clean up

George Sylvane, helped set up and clean up, after auditioning he was a fantastic runner helping get the next round of students to their audition room

Aalyiah Ahmad - she did a great job monitoring her room and also helped with clean up.

Dahlia Helmers - she did a great job monitoring a room and the judges commented on what a great job she did

These students from Austin High School Choir also came over and lent a hand with registration and room monitoring. They were fabulous!

Jacob Baird

Della Wetherington,

Danielle Ramirez (recent OHMS alumni)

Leila Wilcoxson-Epps

Along with the Austin HS Director - Jackie Turner

Amazing Parent and Adult volunteers - this absolutely would not have happened without these volunteers.

Katherine Miles-Finch - who was our Team monitor in the cafeteria making sure the students were ready to go when their number was called.

Paula Cook - managed the directors/judges lounge activities (as well as helping me shop for their breakfast and lunch!)

Kristine Garana - was the flexible - where do you need me star, who monitored the cell phone station, concessions, helped set up rooms on Friday, and helped with clean up after the event, absolute gem!

Alicia Coffman - was there for set up, clean up - monitored the largest group of students that auditioned! It was amazing to watch her help every child before their audition have a great experience. I mean it when I say absolutely amazing!

Angelica Tagle and Teresa Zardiackas - for their support and help getting all of the things organized from door signs to a massive pizza order.

It took all of us to make this event successful!

I could not be prouder of the work that all of these students have put in over the past few weeks and days!

Congratulations to all who participated today - you reflected well on O. Henry and all of the directors from the other schools had nothing but kind words.

I'm looking forward to hearing you sing on February 8th at the AISD PAC with your TMEA All Region Choir.

Next Choir Events - Pre-UIL - March 13, 11:00 am at the PAC, UIL - April 3 or 4 time to be determined.

Thank you,

Ms. Jennifer Boltz, Ed.S.

.

Hey 8th grade Mustangs, if you would like your baby photos featured in this year's 2024 - 2025 yearbook, please send them to Mr. Castillo at gerard.castillo@austinisd.org by February 2nd!

Note: In order to meet out deadlines, we cannot accept any submissions after February 2nd.

Each week we will feature a member of our faculty and staff. Thank you for being a part of our Mustang Family!

OFFICE VOLUNTEERS - WE NEED YOU!

Parent involvement is what makes a school GREAT! A great way to help and get to know the staff is to volunteer in the front office. SIGN UP HERE TO VOLUNTEER IN THE OFFICE!

Mustang Mall

The Mustang Mall now has a dedicated square credit card reader, so the kids are able to use watches, Apple Pay and cards to pay!!

We are always looking for volunteers to work the store during the 2 hour lunch period. CLICK HERE to sign up for Mustang Mall!!

• January 28 - Mustang Council (CAC) Meeting - 4pm
• January 29 - STUDENT HOLIDAY

Dear Parent or Guardian,

We hope your child has had a fantastic year so far at O. Henry! We appreciate your partnership this year and are thrilled to begin preparing for the upcoming year.

We wanted to announce that our annual registration process is now open. To ensure your child is all set for next year, you will need to register your child using the AISD Portal by mid-May.

Registering online will only take a few minutes and ensures your child has a smooth transition into the following year. This process allows us to make sure all of your information is up to date.

If you have any questions about the registration process, please call 512-414-7328 or our front office at 512-414-3229.

Lizbeth Rodriguez-Loza

Registrar/ PEIMS Clerk

**90% rule what does it mean?**

If a student drops below 90% in a course, an "NC" is entered instead of a grade. The grade may be passing – but the student did not attend at least 90% of the time. Please contact your student’s Assistant Principal to see what corrective steps must be taken.

Notices are going out to families this week whose students are dropping below 90% attendance and we will be required to attend "Attendance Matters" workshop:

REGISTRATION LINK: https://www.hoopgeneration.org/spring-2025-tryouts

PROMO CODE: SCHOOLPROMO