Keeping Up with Comm Arts
~ April 14, 2026 ~
Purple Up! Military Child Week
Let's Purple Up for Military Child Week. We're excited to celebrate together—join us by dressing in each day's theme. Let's show our support!
Quote of the Week with Isaiah Lockett
"Everything happens for you, not to you." - Jocelyn Mathews
Attendance Recovery
Email cahs.attendance@nisd.net if you have questions about attendance recovery. These are the mornings (8-8:50 am) when Ms. Lewis is available for AR.
- April 15- 16, 20-22, 27, 29-30th
- May 1, 4, 11, 14-15, 18-21
The only afternoon AR available will be on May 20th & 21st from 1-3 pm.
If you're planning to attend prom, make sure all AR is finished by April 23rd. If you don't, your prom ticket will be refunded.
Panoramic Pictures
Library Books
NISD Great Book Giveaway
It's School Library Month!
Varsity Tutors
Students, you can find a new tutoring support system in your NISD portal.
Varsity Tutoring offers:
- 24/7 On-Demand Chat Tutoring (including AP courses)
- On-Demand Essay Review
- Live Enrichment Classes
- Test Prep Classes (ACT, SAT, GED, etc), Academic Classes (study halls, algebra bootcamps, etc) and Enrichment Classes (languages, robotics, chess, etc)
Don't forget to check it out!
Testing is just around the corner for our students here at CAHS. High school testing can feel like a high-stakes game, but much of the "test anxiety" students feel actually comes from a lack of a plan for testing day. Mastering a few specific habits can turn a stressful exam into a manageable task.
1. The Pre-Game: Strategic Preparation
Studying hard is only half the battle; studying smart is what saves time.
- The "Leitner System": Use flashcards, but sort them. Move cards you know well into a "study less often" pile and keep the difficult ones in the "study daily" pile.
- Active Recall: Instead of re-reading notes (which creates an "illusion of competence"), close the book and try to write down everything you remember about a topic from scratch.
- Triage Your Subjects: Focus your heaviest energy on the concepts that are both high-importance (likely to be on the test) and low-confidence (things you don't understand yet).
2. During the Test: Execution Tactics
How you navigate the test determines how much of your knowledge actually makes it onto the page.
The First Five Minutes
- The Brain Dump: As soon as the timer starts, scribble down any formulas, dates, or mnemonic devices on the margin of the test or scratch paper so you don't have to hold them in your working memory.
- Survey the Land: Quickly skim the entire test. Note which sections have the highest point values. If a long essay is worth 40% of the grade, don't spend 30 minutes on a 5-point multiple-choice section.
The "Three-Pass" Method
- Pass One: Answer every question you know instantly. If a question takes more than 30 seconds to think about, mark the number and move on.
- Pass Two: Go back to the marked questions. Now that your brain is "warmed up," you might find that earlier questions gave you clues for these harder ones.
- Pass Three: Use the remaining time to check for "silly" mistakes—misreading "all" vs. "none," or selecting the wrong answer choice.
3. Multiple Choice Mastery
When you aren't 100% sure of the answer, use logic to narrow the field.
- Process of Elimination: Cross out the "distractors"—the answers that are obviously wrong. It is much easier to choose between two options than four.
- Avoid Extremes: Be wary of answers containing "always," "never," or "every." Real-world facts usually have exceptions, making more moderate language (like "often," "usually," or "tends to") more likely to be correct.
- The "Grammar Check": In some tests, the correct answer must grammatically match the question stem (e.g., if the question ends in "an," the answer must start with a vowel).
4. Managing Test Anxiety
If your heart starts racing or your mind goes blank, your "fight or flight" response is hijacking your logical brain.
- Box Breathing: Inhale for 4 seconds, hold for 4, exhale for 4, and hold for 4. This physically signals your nervous system to calm down.
- Reframe the Stress: Tell yourself, "My heart is beating fast because my body is powering up to give me energy for this test." Studies show that students who view stress as a "tool" perform better than those who try to suppress it.
Purple Up! For Military Kids Day
April is the month of the Military Child. During this time, we honor and recognize our military-connected students. The color purple is a combination of the colors of all the military branches: Air Force blue, Army green, Navy blue, Marine red, and Coast Guard blue.
BigFuture Ambassador
Here are their links:
- Jessai - BigFuture - JessaiAmbassadorLink
- Adrian - BigFuture - AdrianAmbassadorLink
You can use these links to explore post-secondary plans as well as other information related to college and scholarships.
Week 1
Week 2
School Safety Reminder
Personal Communication Device Policy
We would like to remind everyone of our No Personal Communication Device Policy during school hours. This includes cell phones, earbuds, smartwatches, and similar devices. This policy was implemented to comply with Texas House Bill 1481 and to support a focused and distraction-free learning environment.
However, we understand the importance of technology in education. Therefore, students are allowed to bring and use personal laptops for classwork, note-taking, and other academic activities as directed by their teachers. Content specific technology such as an Adobe equipped iPad for an Animation course will also be allowed while in that class. Like all other devices previously mentioned, they will not be allowed during passing periods, lunch periods or in non-applicable courses and academic activities.
Please ensure that laptops are used responsibly and only for educational purposes during school hours. Misuse will result in loss of this privilege. Devices including cell phones must be powered off and kept in student's backpacks.
Thank you for your cooperation in helping us maintain a productive and respectful learning environment.
Attendance Matters
The Texas Compulsory Attendance Law states that students between the ages of 6 and 19 are subject to the Texas Compulsory Attendance Laws.
Let's start with how it affects a student's academics. The Law states that a student must be in attendance 90% of the class time offered to receive credit for a course. In Northside, we have a calendar that shows 174 days of school for the 25/26 school year. This equates to 17 absences in a full-year course before attendance recovery is required or a student loses credit, regardless of their grade. For a semester course, we have 87 days in the fall, which allows for 9 absences, and 87 days in the spring, which allows 9 absences before attendance recovery is required or a student loses credit, regardless of their grade. Remember, when considering the 90% rule and its impact on gaining credit, both excused and unexcused absences count.
A student who is absent more than 75% of the class time will no longer be eligible for attendance recovery and will need to retake the course to earn the credit. This equates to 22 absences per semester.
If you have any questions or concerns, please email cahs.attendance@nisd.net.
Here Comes the Bus
Safety
As a safety reminder, NISD does not allow food deliveries for students or faculty/staff members. Additionally, all students, faculty, and staff must wear their school IDs on campus for safety.
Here is the link for more information: Safety First, 2025-2026
Additionally, any visitors to campus will need to apply and pass a background check. This does need to be completed every year. It will not roll over. Here is the link to the background check: https://www.nisd.net/community/volunteer-mentor
If you notice anything unusual or a potential safety concern throughout the school year, please contact the NISD Safeline. The Safeline is anonymous and available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Phone number: 210-397-7233
Email: safe@nisd.net
Off Campus Lunch 26-27 School Year
