The Compass

LISD Families,

Our publication schedule is changing. Due to timing, we felt it was in the best interest of our readers to publish during the week. Rather than every other Friday, we will now release our newsletter the Compass every other Wednesday. Enjoy!

Five weeks into the school year, the Leander ISD community has put its best foot forward to ensure a safe and healthy environment for in-person learning. Teachers and staff welcomed hundreds of students on Tuesday, September 8 as we launched our phase-in plan to open campuses. While it filled our hearts to see bright smiles and engaged students, we also recognize the hardship for our teachers and staff. We acknowledge that families and staff will continue to make tough choices. However, #1LISD is committed to reaching and inspiring each and every student in any and all learning environments.

Students in three additional grade-levels, those receiving dyslexia services, or children of substitute teachers will all have the opportunity to return to in-person learning Sept. 21 as the district enters Phase 2 of our Launch to Learning plan. Our approach has been to re-open slowly and steadily. Now that campuses are open, we want them to stay open. All students will continue to have the option to remain in Virtual Empowered Learning for the entire school year.

Thoughtful planning went into how we decided to re-open. Here are the details of the events and considerations.

Leander ISD has licensed the Frontline Health Portal to provide you with a convenient way to complete your child’s COVID-19 self-screen prior to arriving at school every day. This application will be phased-in over the next few weeks - starting with all secondary campuses (and a pilot group of elementary campuses) on Sept. 21 and then the remaining elementary campuses on Sept. 28. Instructions and additional details will be sent out by your individual campus.

Transparency is our focus as we remain open for in-person learning and experience students and staff members with positive cases of COVID-19. If there is a positive case on your campus, we will contact directly anyone who came into close contact with the infected person through our contact tracing protocols. We will also send a campus wide notification via Remind for each positive case. Every Friday since our buildings re-opened for in-person learning, we will update our Leander ISD COVID dashboard with positive cases and exposures for the preceding week.

Since the return of in-person learning, we have experienced six confirmed positive cases of COVID-19 leading to 121 exposures. These numbers will be reflected in our dashboard update on Friday, Sept. 18.

Student and staff safety and security is our primary priority. We recognize that there have been recent virtual classrooms that have been compromised in our district as well as school districts around the nation. Due to this threat, we are adding layers of security when our students enter the virtual classrooms through Zoom. We began implementing enhancements last Friday and will continue to add further enhancements in the coming weeks. Click here for additional information.

YMCA after-school care will begin on Monday, September 21st for students attending Phase 2, in-person learning. This program will be offered at their home campuses.

The YMCA will provide care for PreK-fifth grade for those campuses with PreK students. YMCA care will be available for K-5 students at all other campuses.

The on-campus Y Afterschool program provides kids with supervised fun as soon as the school bell rings until 6:30 p.m. They offer enrichments, crafts, snacks, STEM activities, and more! For more information, or to register online, visit www.ymcagwc.org.

New Hope High School is seeking applications for enrollment from current juniors and seniors attending one of Leander ISD’s high schools, who meet eligibility criteria and could benefit academically from an alternative learning environment. New Hope is the academic alternative high school in Leander ISD.

NHHS offers guided and assisted independent study in a self-paced and supportive learning environment for selected upper-level high school students of LISD who may be at risk of not graduating in four years and need additional academic support. NHHS selects eligible students for enrollment through an application and interview process. Interested LISD high school students may apply now and throughout the school year to enter New Hope High School.

For additional information and eligibility criteria, and to download NHHS’s application, please visit the Registration page on our website and discuss it with your campus counselor.

We know this year is different in so many ways for our students and families and this will also include how Central Texas schools offer college fairs. After discussing options with our university partners, taking into consideration the large number of individuals who attend college fairs and university travel restrictions, all Central Texas schools are working with the Texas Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (TACRAO) to host virtual college fairs. While Leander ISD will continually share up-to-date information regarding virtual college fairs, these events are planned, hosted and conducted by TACRAO. To help with your planning, the Central Texas schedule is listed here and students and family members may attend any virtual fair that works best for their schedule.

Bus route information for eligible 2020–21 bus transportation is now available in TransFinder. Please check this site routinely over the first few weeks of school for routing updates.

The Transportation Department is using the Remind platform to communicate delay notifications and other important updates. Bus riders and their guardians have been added to a Remind “class” for their assigned bus route. More info: https://support.leanderisd.org/support/bus-notifications/

M. Robinson Fine Jewelers, is donating a men's or women's Tocatta two-tone, stainless steel watch to one LEEF monthly donor who signs up during the month of September. The time is now to help put $1,000,000 back into LISD classrooms by signing up for the LEEF Classroom Impact Team at https://leeftx.org/donate. Watch our LEEF video to learn more.

The Leander ISD Board of Trustees convenes at 6:15 p.m. tomorrow at the LEO Conference Center for an agenda review meeting.

Due to health and safety concerns and boardroom capacity limits, seating for guests will be limited to 15. Doors will open at 5:30 p.m. and guests will be admitted on a first-come, first-served basis. Everyone will be required to complete and pass a health screening before entering the building, and a face covering over the nose and mouth is required. Members of the public may access this meeting via live stream at http://bit.ly//0917LISDmeeting. Please note, this link will not be active until approximately 5 minutes before the scheduled meeting time.

Citizens wishing to address the Board of Trustees may do so in-person at the meeting location noted on the agenda. In order to address the Board, individuals must sign up between 4:30 and 6:00 p.m. on the day of the meeting. Individuals are encouraged to sign up online; however, hardcopy sign up forms will be available between 5:30 and 6:00 p.m. at the meeting location. Due to capacity limits, individuals signed up to speak, who do not have seating in the Boardroom, will be allowed to line up in the hallway and will be admitted to the boardroom when it is their turn to speak.

To receive Board Briefs through Remind, please join the @LISDbriefs class for direct communication or text @LISDbriefs to 81010.

Not receiving messages sent through Remind? Follow these steps:

• Log into Remind using the same email address on file in Home Access Center.

• Once logged in, click on your name in the top left corner, and select Account Settings and then Notification Preferences.

• By default, your email address and the phone number on file in Home Access Center should both be listed.

• On this page, you can select which method(s) you’d like to receive messages on. More Info

Not seeing your cell phone on your profile?

A phone number can only be listed on one Remind profile at a time, so it’s possible your phone number is already linked to a Remind account with an email address different from the one listed in HAC. If you’d like to merge these two profiles together, select “Add Device” on the Notifications Preferences page and follow the confirmation prompts from Remind. More Info

Help Leander ISD and our commitment to serving all students by applying to be a substitute teacher in special education. Hear our special programs staff speak about the importance of substitute teachers in our program. Click here to apply for our special education substitute teacher positions.

Leander ISD teachers and support staff focus on engaging and inspiring students for achievement and lifelong success. We are a fast-growth district, adding more than 1,500 students every year, serving families in seven different municipalities. Our Guiding Documents — the Learning Model, 10 Ethical Principles, the Graduate Profile — are the foundation of who we are and ensure that we maintain an outstanding, inclusive learning environment for all students.

LISD educates more than 42,000 students at its 44 campuses. The district encompasses nearly 200 square miles.

Website: leanderisd.org
Location: 204 West South Street, Leander, TX, USA
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LeanderISD/