This monthly newsletter is brought to you by the NISD MS Science C&I Team.

volume 9 issue 5

Thank you for your incredible focus this year on exploring and implementing all things new in science! Your dedication to refining your craft – whether deepening your knowledge of the new standards, integrating the transition standards, or designing phenomenal, engaging lessons – was no easy task and is truly appreciated. Thank you for all you do for the success of our students. There’s no doubt MS Science will continue to shine brighter than ever!

Enjoy your summer!

Thank you for your dedication and years of service to Middle School Science.

Please consider posting pictures, short videos, and experiences of how you and your students are connecting with science on X, the app formerly known as Twitter!

A huge THANK YOU to all teachers who gave their time as a sponsor for one of our many enrichment programs during the 2024-2025 school year.

We had another great year and thanks to all sponsors, several campuses were able to provide a variety of after school options with enriching STEM opportunities for students.

• Mr. Zachary Adair (Stinson MS) and Ms. Candace Schantz (Garcia MS) both received Outstanding Coach Awards at the NISD robotics events this year. These coaches receive these awards based on their robotics student team(s) nomination. Congratulations Coaches!

• Ross Middle School Oceans 5 won 1st Place Championship award on March 29th at the Middle School Teams Qualifier Event!

• Rawlinson Middle School, Team Red Power Patriots, for being the NISD FLL Challenge Robotics Champions!

• Hobby Middle School solar car teams for sweeping 1st, 2nd, and 3rd at the 28th Annual NISD Solar Car Race Day event!

Join us for the fourth annual Project ACORN Student Showcase! This is a free event at O’Connor High School on Saturday, May 17th. Please see the flyer for details.

A little sneak peek at next year’s EARLIER dates!

Robotics: Middle School Teams Qualifier Event

Saturday, February 7th

Robotics: Middle School Championship Event

Saturday, March 21st

Solar Car Race Day

Saturday, April 11th

Gus Stadium

Project ACORN Student Showcase

Saturday, May 2nd

If anyone on your campus has an interest in sponsoring any of these programs next year, but would like additional information, please feel free to reach out to K-8 Enrichment Programs Sponsor, Amalia Sollars (amalia.sollars@nisd.net).

The MS Science C&I department is excited to share with you the 2025 summer professional learning opportunities.

A variety of sessions are being offered and are all 3 hours in length. Session information can be found on the Summer 2025 NISD MS Science Professional Learning Flyer. Session numbers coming soon!

Registration for eNgagement Academy sessions open Thursday, May 22nd at 4:30pm!

PLEASE NOTE the location and participant limit for the zSpace session on July 23rd as it is not part of eNgagement Academy.

Do you know someone who will be new to teaching Middle School Science next year?

This includes teachers who are

• new to NISD

• returning to NISD

• currently in NISD, but moving to Middle School Science.

If so, please invite them to the MS Science New Teacher Academy session being held at Brandeis HS on Tuesday, July 29th.

Please see the 2025 MS Science New Teacher Academy flyer for additional information. While they will receive CPE and TC for attending, they are not able to register for this session in Unified Talent ahead of time.

Please let us know if you have any questions about any Professional Learning Resources.

Thank you for assisting with the completion of campus inventories. It is extremely important that these are complete and accurate! Please make sure all prep rooms are neat and organized before you leave for the summer. Check in with your coordinator for campus specifics.

Please see the MS Science Safety Guide for safety reminders and required training. Reminder that safety training is required and must be repeated by all teachers every school year. Stay tuned for an updated link to the 2025-2026 Science Safety Course.

As you know, implementing the new standards has been a huge undertaking as it affects so many different aspects of curriculum, instruction, and assessment. Thank you so much for your feedback during this process as it truly informs and guides the work.

We are THRILLED to have had such great interest from teachers to be part of the curriculum and assessment committees and are excited to work with this amazing group this summer!

What can you expect before the beginning of the school year?

• The Year at Glance (YAG) and Unit Overviews for all grades will be linked by Friday, June 9th on the Employee Connection: Middle School Science Curriculum page.

• The Unit Overviews provide not only sequence of the units, but the TEKS that will be included, so teachers have an idea of what is being covered prior to the curriculum guides being linked.

• The first curriculum guide for all grades will be linked by Friday, July 18th.

What can you expect from TEA?

• DRAFT will be removed from all 25-26 documents and All documents will now be titled Middle School Science instead of Grade 8 Science.

• This includes the STAAR Reference Materials, Blueprint and Assessed Curriculum documents.

The Texas Mobile STEM Lab application window opened on April 1st and will close on May 31st. The mobile lab is free and is expanding to include nine labs in the fleet. They will accept at least 270 campuses for a visit in the 2025-2026 school year.

Click the link to complete the application.

The application period closes at 4:59 PM on May 31, 2025.

SAWS is offering a session on Saturday, May 24th from 8:30am-12:00pm.

In this session participants will take an amazing journey into the mysterious world of data stories to discover how water use patterns can shape your student’s conservation processes and practices.

Please see the flyer for further information and if interested email Greg.Wukasch@saws.org as soon as possible as seats may be limited.

This group will be our main mode of communication throughout the year so please make sure you have joined and that you have turned on notifications. If you are not yet a member, please use the following code to join:

Schoology Group Access Code 4CP8-WZJG-6XH4M

In addition to Employee Connection, this group is how MS Science C&I shares resources and provides updates. To ensure that you are notified when updates are posted, please customize the notifications for this group by selecting Group Update Posted under Email Notifications Settings. For step-by-step instructions, please see the Schoology Notifications Clicksheet.

Please visit the Employee Connection: MS Science page - and make sure it is in your FAVORITES! Information has been updated for the 2024-2025 school year. Check out the CURRICULUM, INSTRUCTION, and ASSESSMENT pages - menu links are on the right hand side.

Elaine Estrada Instructional Specialist

Lisa Crawford IST

Connie Schaub IST

Lauren Stiles Academic Technology IST

Amalia Sollars K-8 Enrichment Programs Coordinator

Email: NISD.MS-Science@nisd.net
Website: https://nisd.net/employees/department/ms-science
Location: 5900 Evers Road, San Antonio, TX, USA
Phone: 210-397-8661