Happy New Year Newsletter
Sharing Best Wishes for 2024
From your Administration
Welcome back to a fabulous New Year 2024! We wish to thank our parents for great participation in the Winter Wonderland Celebration! Kudos to Ms. Cale, our music teacher for organizing the musical performances. A big thank you to our After School Club Coordinators, Ms. Meredith-Tate, Mr. Garza, and Ms. Cruz. Also a big shout out to our teachers who worked hard on the presentations: Ms. Mendieta, Ms. Jaimes, Mr. Dufrene, and Mr. Rios.
Before leaving for break, we took a Middle of the Year test to gauge student learning. While there are celebrations on growth, we still have work to do to ensure our students are prepared for the fast approaching TELPAS, STAAR, and End of Year testing. We need your help! Please make sure that your children are reading everyday, and working on developing number sense (counting with or without items, adding, subtracting, multiplying, dividing, reasonableness).
The next few months will fly by. We know that in order to accomplish something, we must plan for it. Please help your child set goals and create a plan for accomplishing that goal. We know you are working hard, and if we work together, we can close the pandemic gap. It can be done!
- Ms. Castillo & Ms. Martinez
Our Resolutions
Exercise Daily
Read More 📖
Break the Habit 😬
What Are Your Resolutions in 2024? Pick one from below:
Recent Celebrations
Our Leopard Soccer Club played in a tournament against seven other schools. We are so proud of them for putting us on the map by taking 1st place. There will be a Spring Tournament where they will compete again for 1st place. Kudos to their Coach, Mr. Hein and ACE coordinator, Ms.Meredith-Tate for coordinating this event. How 'bout them Leopards!?
Calendar of Events
School Board Recognition Month
Jan 12 Coffee Chat
Jan 12 Report Cards are Generated
Jan 15 MLK Staff/Student Holiday
Jan 16 CAT meeting @ 4 pm
Jan 16 Barn Hill Preserve (Photo option with Cute Animal) Permission slip required
Jan 22 Awards Assembly
- 8:00 am Kinder and 1st grades
- 9:30 am 2nd and 3rd grades
- 1:00 pm 4th and 5th grade
- 2:00 pm 6th grade
Jan 22-26 Holocaust Remembrance Week
Jan 30 CAT meeting 4 pm
February
Feb 2 Coffee Chat
Feb 5-9 Counselor Appreciation Week
Feb 9- Student Holiday/ Parent Conference Day
Feb 6 Priority Student Enrollment Deadline (This includes Magnet Applications)
Feb 15 Valentine's Dance (more information coming soon)
Feb 12-16 Spirit Week
Feb 19 Student/Staff Holiday (Bad Weather Make-up)
Feb 23 Class Photos
Feb 26-Mar 1 Food Service Appreciation
ENROLLMENT IS NOW OPEN 24-25
Priority Registration is now open!
The Enrollment team has worked hard over the last few months to build a unified enrollment system for our families. Our move to the new Enroll Austin system will make enrollment more accessible and equitable by providing a more streamlined platform.
Visit www.austinisd.org/enroll to access the enrollment application or go to portal.austinisd.org and find the “Enroll Austin” tile. If families have questions, please call Find Your Seat Call Center at (512) 414-SEAT (7328) between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. We have support teams ready to assist you with any issues that you may have during the day.
As a reminder: If you’re a staff member registering a student, you MUST use your parent portal account to access the system. Using your staff email will prevent you from completing the application.
Want to learn more? Please explore the Enroll Austin FAQs
Thank you,
Austin ISD Enrollment Support Services
Brighter Bites Distribution Dates
Jan 9th
Jan 23rd
Feb 6th
Feb 20th
Mar 5th
Mar 26th
Apr 9th
Apr 23rd
Help us reach our Reading Goal: Every Leopard will Become a Great Reader
Sight Word Challenge
Sight words are common words that kids recognize instantly without sounding them out. Recognizing words by sight helps kids become faster, more fluent readers. Many sight words are tricky to read and spell — they aren't spelled the way they sound. These sight words make up 75% of our reading. The only way to recognize these words is to practice them until the recognize them by sight.
800-word Challenge
Monday- Read one row of sight words (25 words) with your child. Make sure to pronounce each of the words so your child hears what they sound like. Have them repeat them back to you.
Tuesday- Practice the row of words you read out loud on Monday with your child. Have your child read them to you by themselves. Mark any of the words they missed and need to practice more. Have them practice reading them by themselves.
Wednesday- Practice the same row of words you read out loud together from Monday. Have your child read them by themselves. Mark any of the word they missed and have them practice those words. Notice to see if they got the ones they missed Tuesday correct. Let them practice the words by themselves.
Thursday- Practice the same row of words you read out loud together from Monday. Have your child read them by themselves. Mark any of the word they missed and need to practice more. Notice to see if they got the ones they missed from Tuesday/Wednesday correct. Let them practice the words by themselves.
Friday- Do not practice reading with your child this time. See if they can read the row of words by themselves this time.
**If your child gets 100% on a row, have them continue to the next row of words. Each row has 25 words. No more than 25 words should be practiced at a time.
** Once your child has mastered 100 words. You may quiz them on all 100 words until they get 100%.
One Million Minutes Reading Challenge
Students, did you know that each time you read your brain gets stronger? At Austin ISD, we are excited that you have joined the One Million Minutes Reading Challenge. Take a moment to log your minutes since the last time you read. Students will log in increments of 5 minutes to 60 minutes. Each time you log minutes, your school gets closer to winning the challenge. Currently Langford is at #20. Help us get to top 10 schools in Reading!
Keep Reading!
Attendance
A message from Jennifer Colocho, your Attendance Specialist
Please remember that the goal for every student is to be present at minimum 90% of the total number of School Days. In case your child has to be out of school, I'm attaching an excuse letter to help you. Feel free to use it, and email it to me at jennifer.colocho@austinisd.org
Join PTA
Help us reach our goal of 50 members this year! The first 10 will receive an animal huggable!
Reminders
To speed up Car Rider pick-up, please make sure to have your colorful dashboard tags with your children's names visible to the car rider crew.