Launch to Learning 2020–21 updates are ongoing and subject to change as we continue to prepare for the school year. Please visit this article for the latest FAQs and information.

Just two weeks from the start of the school year, we’re here to answer questions and offer support! In this update, you’ll find information on:

  • Open House dates
  • Free and Reduced Lunch applications
  • Helping LISD plan for September by choosing virtual or in-person for your student(s)
  • Need-based laptop distribution for elementary school students
  • Supporting your teacher(s)/campus by becoming a substitute teacher
  • Launch to Learning guides and FAQs

Open House Dates

As we approach the new school year, one thing is certain: we cannot wait to see our kids! Please join us for our virtual open house events, where our students will get to meet and interact with their new teachers. 

  • Elementary New Family Orientation – 6:30 p.m., Tuesday, August 4 
  • PreK Open House – 5 p.m., Monday, August 10
  • Elementary Meet the Teacher – 5 and 5:45 p.m., Tuesday, August 11 
  • 6th Grade – 6:45 p.m., Tuesday, August 11 
  • 7th and 8th Grade – 6:30 p.m., Tuesday, August 18 @ 6:30 p.m. *Please note change from original date of Aug. 20
  • High School – Monday, August 24 – start time determined by campus

Each campus will be sharing details about these events with our families through email and/or on their campus websites. We look forward to seeing familiar faces and meeting new ones! 

Free and Reduced Meal Applications 

Leander ISD strongly believes that great learning requires well-fed students. In that spirit, we provide free and reduced-price meals for the children in our district who qualify. Beginning Aug. 13, 2020, LISD will send letters regarding free and reduced lunch eligibility benefits to families throughout the district. This letter will include simple instructions for parents and guardians to apply for these benefits. Click here for eligibility and program details. 

Two ways to apply:

Applications for these benefits are also available at any school campus or at the Child Nutrition Services office (1900 Cougar Country Dr, Cedar Park).

Virtual Empowered Learning or in-person instruction? Help LISD plan for September! 

The first three weeks of the 2020–21 school year (Aug. 13–Sept. 7) will be entirely online, with all students in Virtual Empowered Learning. Starting Sept. 8, students can choose between in-person and virtual learning, and we are asking families to tell us their preference so that we can efficiently prepare our campuses. In order to assign teachers and students into classrooms and minimize change, we need parents and guardians to select their choice by Aug. 6. 

We are asking students to stick with their selection through the first grading period, six weeks at middle and high school and nine weeks at elementary school.

We are also asking families without access to technology to please call your student’s campus, where a receptionist can help you complete the form over the phone. 

Need-based Laptop Distribution for Elementary School Students 

On Tuesday, August 4, we will begin loaning Chromebook laptops to elementary students (grades PreK–5) who:

  • have limited or no access to a device at their homes, AND
  • do not have a device from our deployment this past spring (includes all new PreK and Kindergarten students for the upcoming year)

Any elementary school student can receive a Chromebook at any of the deployment sites. Please visit the LISD Knowledge Base for device distribution dates, times and procedures. 

If your child already has an LISD Chromebook, please continue to use the device for remote learning until onsite instruction returns.  

If your child is withdrawing from the district or if they would like to return the district device and use a device available at home for remote learning, please contact the Help Desk at (512) 570-0566 to make arrangements to return the device

Secondary campuses will be following a similar process which will be communicated by the campuses. Please note that outgoing 5th graders will be returning their Chromebooks during the mLISD laptop deployments at their middle school campuses. 

Support teachers! Substitutes needed for the 2020–21 school year

Do you or someone you know want to support your favorite teachers or campus? Our teachers have never needed the support of our community more than the upcoming school year. It takes all of us to make a great year happen, and we are actively recruiting substitute teachers ahead of the start of school. 

As a substitute teacher for LISD you may:

  • select the campuses you want to serve, 
  • choose your preferred grade levels and teachers, and 
  • fulfill assignments as little or as much as you can under the circumstances.

Extensive safety measures are in place at each campus, and details about our safety measures and plan for learning during the 2020–21 school year can be found on our Launch to Learning 2020–21 webpage.

For more information about our substitute teaching program or to apply to become a substitute teacher, visit our website at www.leanderisd.org/substitutes.

Launch to Learning Guides and FAQs

As the upcoming school year takes shape, we want to ensure the information families need to make important decisions is easy to access in our Launch to Learning 2020–21 format.

Our frequently asked questions have been combined and transferred to the topic-appropriate handbook listed above. Answers not found in the handbook are formatted at the bottom of each section listed as ADDITIONAL FAQs.

We know that our community will still have questions; if you are unable to locate your answer, please feel free to submit your question using the Let’s Talk button on our Launch to Learning site.