With the Winter Break just days away, here is important information as we wrap up the fall semester and look forward to 2021!
Super School Visits
Thank you LISD Board President Trish Bode for experiencing campus life at River Ridge Elementary. Principal Shelley Roberts explained the school’s approach to a blended learning model that allows for a seamless transition for students.
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| Glenn High School On-campus one day, gone the next. GHS Principal Shawn Miller, Ph.D. shows Superintendent Gearing, Ed.D. the high school’s creative approach to learning no matter the venue. Watch GHS here. | CC Mason Elementary The “Story of Mason” comes to life with a cast of dedicated teachers. Their resilience shows in the bright and eager faces of the students who are writing the school’s next chapter. Watch Mason here. | Grandview Hills Elementary Superintendent Bruce Gearing, Ed.D. peeled back the layers to find the heart of the school, beating through the strength of its storied teachers and their innovation. Watch Grandview Hills here. |
Token of Gratitude for School Nurse, No Small Currency
A positive case of COVID-19 reported to the district triggers a health care response that has school nurses spending more time checking spreadsheets than checking students. A simple show of thanks revealed how much our health service professionals are doing to help keep schools open and safe.
Holiday Reminders
With the recent surge in COVID cases in Central Texas, we’re especially mindful of how the pandemic continues to affect our community and potentially our schools. Our goal is staying healthy so we can keep our campuses open. Staying open allows our students to learn and our families to thrive. We can’t do it alone. Please do your part to celebrate safely during the holidays so we can support and safeguard our students, teachers, and staff.
To minimize the spread of COVID-19 and ensure everyone has a safe and healthy holiday season, Austin Public Health is offering risk guidance for gatherings. En Espanol
Recommendations for out of country travel can be found in our COVID-19 Health Response Handbook.
LISD Update on CDC Quarantine Guidelines
Leander ISD is grateful for our community’s partnership in abiding by health and safety guidelines during the COVID-19 pandemic. In consultation with our local health departments and due to the increasing transmission rates, LISD will continue following the CDC “gold standard” of 14 days for quarantine, as this is the most evidence-based and safest option. For more information and details, please click here.
Child Nutrition Services offers FREE meals during winter break
Free breakfast and lunch will continue to be offered throughout the winter break and 7-days worth of meals will be available for curbside pickup. Pre-order 7-day meals NOW
Pick up dates and sites during winter break listed below:
Two Dates:
Monday, Dec. 21 | 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. and 4 – 6 p.m.
Monday, Dec. 28 | 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. and 4 – 6 p.m
Two Pick-Up Sites:
Cedar Park Middle School | 2100 Sun Chase Blvd, Cedar Park, TX 78613
Running Brushy Middle School | 2303 Lakeline Boulevard, Cedar Park, TX 78613
*All other sites will be closed during the winter break
Rank your favorites in our school calendar survey
After a three-month effort to collect feedback on our next school year calendar, we launched a rank-order survey and three options for our entire community to complete. We will present this data and a recommendation to our school Board on Jan. 14, with the Board approving the calendar as early as Jan. 28.
The three calendar options are:
- a standard calendar, similar to the adopted calendar in 2019-21 school years;
- a standard calendar with additional, 90-minute early release days on Wednesdays; and
- a standard calendar with two extra days off from school for staff and students.
We hosted a Thoughtexchange survey and listening sessions that identified the popular components to our calendar, which you’ll see in all three options:
- Start the year in mid-August in the middle of the week.
- Include days off for one week at Thanksgiving, two weeks in December, and one week at Spring Break.
- End the school year in late May, preferably by Memorial Day.
Our community did not agree on providing additional planning and training time for teachers during the school year. The district considered early release days in one of the calendar options, similar to the emergency action we took this year to support teachers during COVID-19. Due to the state’s funding formula, we did not provide a plan that replaced early releases with whole days off for planning and training or move early release dates from Wednesday to Friday.
The survey is open through Jan. 5. Please complete and share the link with our community.
Afterschool Enrichment in Leander ISD, coming this spring!
Classes are free to the student, however, students will provide their own supplies (scholarships are available). Students will receive one asynchronous class a week, taught by our very own Leander educators. Registration will begin on Jan. 13, 2021.
If you have any questions, please reach out to Megan Liles at [email protected]
Early Childhood Learning Opportunities Available to Families
We believe young children develop, learn, and thrive in a play-based environment rich in language, positive social interactions, and strong family partnerships. Leander ISD offers several opportunities for young children to learn, such as:
- Parents as Teachers
- Young Parent Services
- Free Full-Day Prekindergarten
- Early Childhood Special Education
- Child Find
Pre-AP Name Changing to Advanced
In the fall of 2021, Leander ISD will use the label Advanced instead of Pre-AP to identify courses that are designed to challenge as well as prepare students to be successful in future AP and/or IB courses.
The College Board is requiring the use of their national curriculum in order for courses to be labeled Pre-AP. Leander ISD is committed to differentiating and meeting the needs of each and every student as we currently do through the LISD established curriculum and instruction. Leander ISD will, therefore, not adopt the nationally standardized curriculum required by the College Board’s Pre-AP program. Furthermore, Leander ISD has demonstrated successful outcomes in both AP and IB programs and does not foresee any negative impact on student success as a result of not adopting the College Board Pre-AP program.
In order to simplify naming conventions of advanced course pathways leading into AP and IB, Leander ISD will use the label Advanced instead of Pre-AP/IB. This is only a name change of the label Pre-AP to Advanced. There will be no changes to the local Leander ISD curriculum or expectations for students in these courses.
SAT School Day March 3, 2021 for 11th-grade students
As a part of Leander ISD’s continuing commitment to helping all students become college-ready,eleventh-grade students will have an opportunity to take the SAT at school on March 3, 2021, during the regular school day. More information can be found here.
2021 Graduation set for May 27-29 at Gupton Stadium
We’re so proud of how our #1LISD family rallied around the Class of 2020. While we know it wasn’t what any of us had envisioned, graduation ceremonies in July went smoothly thanks to careful planning and the cooperation of our community.
Because we anticipate COVID 19 continuing to be a concern in the spring semester, we believe that holding graduation at Gupton Stadium is our best option for providing the Class of 2021 the memorable graduation experience it deserves.
If you have questions, please contact your campus directly. The full graduation schedule can be found here.
Seeking Feedback on Annual Review of Hazardous Bus Routes
LISD is seeking feedback from our community as the district begins its annual review of hazardous bus routes within two miles of a campus. We want to hear from families about concerns on current routing and bus services. The district will use this input in planning our hazardous route assessments. If you have a specific concern about your student’s walking route to school, please let us know about it via Let’s Talk.
The state provides funding for public schools to bus students to and from campuses that are two miles or more from their homes. In Leander ISD, families living closer than two miles from their assigned school are in the “Not Eligible for Transportation Zone,” or NETZone. Students in the NETZone are only provided bus service if their route to school is rated as hazardous.
Members of the transportation team annually review bus routes to schools of families receiving bus service and living inside the “Not Eligible for Transportation Zone” or NETZone. Reviewers also assess routes to schools of families in the NETZone with significant changes, such as new construction or changes to road conditions.
Leander ISD uses a matrix to assign route a score, which determines whether or not the student qualifies for bus service. A community committee regularly reviews and updates the matrix.
Board Briefs
The Board of Trustees met to review bond finances from past programs, discussing project savings and construction project management.
Watch the meeting.
Review the presentations and agenda
Read Board Briefs
The Board will hold its regular meeting Dec. 17. Click here to view the agenda.
Reminder: Complete Health Screener Each Morning (In-Person Only)
For the health and safety of our students and staff, parents are required to complete a campus health screener each morning for each student attending classes in-person. Every campus has a designated health form that needs to be filled out before the student arrives at school. Please check with your child’s campus for more information
Also, please remember the best practices during this time are to wear a mask, keep a safe social distance, and wash hands often.
“Drive-In” to the LEEF Gala 2021
It’s time for an incredible evening at Doc’s Drive-In Theatre to support our Leander ISD family! The LEEF 2021 Gala will be held Saturday, Jan. 30, and will offer a Drive-In Experience or an Online Experience! Reserve your car slot or register to attend from the comfort of your own home here: https://leeftx.org/gala/
Remind
Not receiving messages sent through Remind? Follow these steps:
- Log into Remind using the same email address on file in Home Access Center (HAC).
- 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) in which you’d like to receive messages. More information can be found here.
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. Additional information about merging profiles in Remind
