Eagle News

We’ve had another wonderful week of learning and growing at Houston Elementary! 🦅 Thank you for helping us start the year strong. Remember, this weekend is a three-day weekend—take time to rest, recharge, and enjoy it with your family.

We are so excited to welcome families back into the cafeteria to enjoy lunch with their Eagles, beginning Tuesday, September 2nd! Sharing this time together is such a special tradition, and we can’t wait to see you.

To make sure lunch remains safe, comfortable, and positive for all students, please help us by following these guidelines:

• Check in at the office first. Please arrive 5–10 minutes before your child’s lunch to allow time to sign in before heading to the cafeteria.

• If you are visiting multiple children, please wait outside the cafeteria between lunches so we can stay within our occupancy limits.

• While in the cafeteria, you must remain with your own child the entire time. We ask that you not visit with other students.

• At the end of your child's lunch, please exit the cafeteria promptly so we can prepare for the next group.

• For the safety of all students, wandering around the school beyond the cafeteria double doors or outside near the 3rd–5th grade buildings is not allowed.

Thank you for helping us keep this tradition safe, smooth, and joyful for our Eagles and their families! We’ll see our Eagles back on Tuesday, ready for another great week!

-Principal Tarpley

9/1-Labor Day/No School

9/8-CAC at 3:30, PTA Meeting @ 4:15 pm

9/11-Principal Coffee @ 8-9am

9/11- Back to School Night @4:30-6:30

9/15-9/18- Hispanic Heritage Spirit Week

9/16-PTA Meeting at 5:30 pm in cafeteria.

9/19-Spirit Day, wear BRIGHT colors day!

9/22-9/23- Staff Development Day and No School for students

9/22-9/26- TA Appreciation Week

9/24- Picture Day

9/29-10/3-Custodial Appreciation Week

To help us keep our campus safe and things running smoothly, please keep these in mind:

• Visitor ID: All visitors must show a Passport, Driver’s License, or Government-issued ID. For everyone’s safety, we can’t make exceptions—please be sure to bring your ID each time you visit.

• Early Dismissal: To allow dismissal to run safely, no early dismissals will be made after 2:45 p.m.

• Birthday Celebrations: We love celebrating our Eagles! 🎉 Please remember that parents may not join classroom celebrations. Only prepackaged cupcakes or cookies are allowed—no homemade items, whole cakes, flowers, food bouquets or balloons.

• Food Items: Please send only items that do not require heating or refrigeration.

Thank you for partnering with us to keep Houston Elementary a safe, happy place to learn and grow! 🦅💙

I want to introduce myself as the campus nurse at Houston Elementary this school year.

My name is Candace Nuñez, BSN, RN. I am also overseeing Rodriguez Elementary

and Uphaus Early Childhood Center this school year. I have been a registered nurse for

18 years, and for the past 9 years I have been with Austin ISD.

My goal is to ensure that students receive timely care for illness, injuries, and any

medical needs that may arise. I also support students with chronic conditions, manage

medication administration, and communicate with families regarding health-related

concerns. I encourage you to reach out to me if your child has any health conditions that

I should be aware of in the school setting, and if there are any changes to their health

status.

A reminder to keep your child at home if he/she is sick. There is a 24 hour stay home

rule if your child has fever, diarrhea, or vomiting after symptoms show up and without

the use of medications. This is to allow their body time to rest and fight what is making

them sick. This also helps prevent the spread of illness to others in the school setting.

Practice good handwashing. I will also be starting health screenings in September to

get them all done before the winter break. I will start with 5 th graders.

Please feel free to contact the Health Room at (512) 414-3568 or email me at

candace.nunez@austinisd.org for any questions, concerns, or to update us with

important health information.

Please see the attached letter.

Free meals for all students at our school!

Our school proudly provides free breakfast and lunch for all students each day through the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) program. Through this program, students automatically receive free meals without any application, documentation, or registration. We do not collect meal applications at our school.

What is the process to dine at school?

Students may simply walk through the cafeteria serving line on any day and select their meal components. Since meals are free, no money is needed for students to receive a breakfast and lunch meal. If a student would like to purchase a second meal, additional servings, or healthy snacks, they may use cash, or you may add funds online by creating an account at www.SchoolCafe.com/AustinISD. The cafeteria accepts cash daily from 7 a.m.-2 p.m.. Cafeteria staff and teachers are available to assist any new or returning students.

About school meals:

View menus for our school at www.SchoolCafe.com/AustinISD, or download the Schoolcafe mobile app. Breakfast and lunch are prepared daily by staff in our school kitchen. The healthy meals we serve meet or exceed the federal breakfast and lunch nutrition guidelines that schools are required to follow. Our kitchen offers a balance of healthy versions of student favorites mixed with scratch-prepared recipes, plant-based dishes, and global flavors. Our menus feature local, sustainably-sourced, and clean label foods. Our cafeteria can accommodate food allergies and special dietary needs with a completed Request for Dietary Accommodation Form.

Good to know:

While no application is needed for your student to eat for free, we may ask your family to complete an Income Verification Form to help maintain our campus demographic information used for various education funding sources and programs.

Help your family and our school with SNAP:

Need help buying food for your family? Apply today for the state funded benefits, such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) at www.yourtexasbenefits.com.

SNAP not only helps your family, but it also benefits your school. The more students who receive SNAP benefits, the more funds available to schools for education, meal programs, and more.

Questions about how these programs impact non-citizens or immigration status? Use this resource, Protecting Immigrant Families - Food Programs and Your Rights, to help answer commonly asked questions about how to make good decisions for your family and their health.

School meal resources:

• SchoolCafé - One app for all your school meal needs.

• View daily breakfast and lunch menus for our school.

• View nutritional information, ingredients, and allergens for each menu item.

• Make prepayments for additional servings of food or healthy a la carte snacks.

• Set a la carte restrictions.

• How to create a SchoolCafé account, add student(s), make payments, set up automatic payments, and low balance alerts - English / Spanish

• About Meals at AISD

• Request for Dietary Accommodation Form

• AISD Wellness Policy English / Spanish (Guidelines surrounding food and beverages provided on campus, celebrations, food for instructional purposes, rewarding with food, and fundraising)

• AISD Food Service Employment Opportunities

• Connect with AISD Food Service on Social Media: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter (X)

Are you interested in volunteering at Houston? We'd love to have you! Austin ISD uses Voly for all volunteers in our school and everyone is required to sign up through the system. Volunteers must be renewed each school year. Please see below for information on how to sign up to volunteer at our school:

Volunteer Requirements and Application Process

To ensure student safety and maintain a secure environment, all volunteers must meet the following requirements:

• Complete a Volunteer Application, which must be renewed each school year.
  • The application takes approximately five minutes to complete and should be submitted as early as possible.
  • Applications can take up to five business days to process.
• Pass a background check as part of the Volunteer Application process.
• Present your photo ID at the campus to be scanned into Raptor.
• Represent yourself and Austin ISD in a professional manner and treat students, staff, and other volunteers with respect.

Additional Information:

The Volunteer Application is separate from the campus Raptor check-in process, which ensures all names are screened for safety and security purposes. All campus visitors are required to sign in and print either a visitor or volunteer badge.

How to Become a Volunteer

1. Create an Account: Visit austinisd.voly.org to sign up.
2. Complete the Application: Fill out your profile, select the schools you’d like to volunteer with, and submit the required information, including:
   • Full name
   • Email address
   • Address
   • Confidentiality agreement
   • Volunteer guidelines acknowledgment
   • Background check consent form
3. Pass the Background Check: Background checks typically take 2 hours to 5 days to process.
   • You must wait until your background check is cleared before volunteering.
   • Once cleared, you will receive a notification email confirming your approval.
4. Find Opportunities: After receiving your clearance, explore and sign up for volunteer opportunities that match your interests.

AISD Weather Guidelines

• Temperature guidelines have been established in order to provide a safe and healthy environment for students participating in outdoor activities at Austin ISD.

• The listed temperatures, heat indexes, and wind-chill factors are designated figures for terminating and/or modifying outdoor activities including: Athletics, Fine Arts, PE, and recess.

• AISD_Temperature Weather Guidelines