Monday, March 10th, 2014 Time: 9:00am to 5:00pm Location: 3801 Berkman Drive Suite A Austin Texas 78723 Wildflower Terrace Event Type: This is a Public Event Community: Mueller Community Hosted By: VANESSA HUFF City/Town: AUSTIN Description: Spring Break Art Camp for Ages 7-10 w/Teacher Andrea D’AvignonRegister for Art and Soul Classes 2pm-5pm everyday from 3/10/14 to 3/14/14 http://www.eventbrite.com/e/spring-break-art-camp-for-ages-7-10-wteacher-andrea-davignon-tickets-9986757661
NEW ART SCHOOL/Studio Opening! Friday, November 1, 2013
6:00pm until 11:00pm
Our NEW Art & Soul Studio is finished and we want to celebrate with YOU! Feel free to Bring any friends or family! We will be having live music, food, refreshments & more! Look forward to seeing you there!
SAVE TEXAS SCHOOLS The Eyes of Texas Are Upon You: We're Watching, We'll Remember & We Vote! Saturday, May 21 10am-4pm Inside the Texas Capitol http://www.savetxschools.org
With the legislative session nearing its final days, state legislators continue their unconscionable assault on public education. As currently drafted, funding bills would inflict crippling cuts on schools statewide, putting Texas in or near last place nationally in funding for education. Unbelievably, state leaders still refuse to use the state's Rainy Day Fund to provide even modest relief for Texas students - and time is running out!
Based on past schedules, the Texas Legislature will be in session this Saturday to work on funding bills. Our goal is to have 1,000 or more Save Texas Schools supporters flood the Capitol throughout the day with a clear message: We're Watching, We'll Remember and We VOTE!
Texas can and must do better by its kids. Stand with us this Saturday in the halls of the Texas Capitol - our future depends on it!
HOW TO PARTICIPATE:
Volunteers may choose the morning shift (10 am-1 pm), the afternoon shift (1pm-4 pm) or both.
1. E-mail us at info@savetxschools.org to let us know you're coming. If you're bringing a group, give us the approximate number. Also, please include which shift you prefer (10am-1pm or 1pm-4pm) or whether you will come for the full day. We'll be ready for folks who haven't RSVP'd, but it helps our planning.
2. When you arrive, go to the Family Life Center of First United Methodist Church, 1201 Lavaca St., on the west side of the Capitol. We'll have t-shirts, printed materials and group assignments. If you have Save Texas Schools shirts already, please bring them! We'll also have STS volunteers stationed at the Rotunda to work with volunteers who may arrive there.
3. Volunteers will go in groups to approximately 6 offices for 20 minute visits with staff. Our goal is to have each office visited by 8-10 groups. All volunteers will also have the chance to sit in the House or Senate galleries and be a silent witness (though your t-shirt will speak loud and clear). We will be able to be more vocal in the lobby by the entrance to the House Chamber.
4. We'll have snacks and drinks at 1201 Lavaca (FUMC Family Life Center). The Capitol Grille (cafeteria) will also be open. Parking is plentiful at the State Capitol Visitors parking garage or in nearby commercial garages.
We have done some great things, but have gotten somewhat sidetracked with MEAT also pursuing a school at Mueller. I feel it is important that Mueller residents continue to support and assist in ensuring the quality of the area schools. We are going to revive the Mueller Great Schools Task Force as a subcommittee of MEAT (Mueller Education Action Team).
We will be meeting every other month on the second Tuesday of the month, starting on February 8 from 8-10pm at a location TBA, depending on the estimated attendance. I intend to hand over the leadership role to someone else, so that I can focus on providing the community information regarding the schools situation.
If you are interested in being a part of this, please RSVP on the Event on the muellercommunity.com website... MEAT Subcommittee And if you know others who would be interested, please invite them!
We have done some great things, but have gotten somewhat sidetracked with MEAT also pursuing a school at Mueller. I feel it is important that Mueller residents continue to support and assist in ensuring the quality of the area schools. We are going to revive the Mueller Great Schools Task Force as a subcommittee of MEAT (Mueller Education Action Team).
We will be meeting every other month on the second Tuesday of the month, starting on February 8 from 8-10pm at a location TBA, depending on the estimated attendance. I intend to hand over the leadership role to someone else, so that I can focus on providing the community information regarding the schools situation.
If you are interested in being a part of this, please RSVP on the Event on the muellercommunity.com website... MEAT Subcommittee And if you know others who would be interested, please invite them!
due to the absence of the hostess and several other members, tonight's MEAT meeting has been postponed. the rescheduled meeting will be posted as soon as it is arranged. sorry for the inconvenience.
AISD Adds Two Additional Community Dialogue Sessions on Development of Facilities Master Plan
To ensure maximum public participation and convenience, the Austin Independent School District has added two additional Community Dialogue sessions to gather public input on its immediate and future facility needs. The two additional Community Dialogue sessions for the Facilities Master Plan are both scheduled for Tuesday, October 5, from 6-8 p.m., at Reagan High School and at Akins High School.
The Austin School District will host six Community Dialogue sessions Sept. 28, 29, and 30 to gather input from the public on facility options to address the immediate and future needs of the District and its students. ( I have posted the 3 with schools that we track to)
WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 29; 6–8 p.m. Central East Community Dialogue Where: Eastside Memorial High School Cafeteria Schools: Allan, Allison, Blackshear, Brooke, Govalle, Metz, Oak Springs, Ortega, Zavala, Kealing, Martin, Eastside Green, Eastside Global, Alternative Learning Center
Northeast Community Dialogue Where: Reagan High School Cafeteria Schools: Andrews, Blanton, Graham, Harris, Hart, Jordan, Norman, Overton, Pecan Springs, Pickle, Sims, Winn, Dobie, Garcia, Pearce, LASA, LBJ, Reagan, Clifton
THURSDAY, SEPT. 30; 6–8 p.m. Central West Community Dialogue Where: Austin High School Cafeteria Schools: Barton Hills, Brentwood, Bryker Woods, Campbell, Casis, Gullett, Highland Park, Lee, Maplewood, Mathews, Oak Hill, Patton, Pease, Lucy Read Early Childhood Ctr., Reilly, Ridgetop, Sanchez, Zilker, Lamar, O. Henry, Small, Webb, Austin, Garza, McCallum, Rosedale
At the Community Dialogue sessions, the public will be asked to give feedback on possible options being considered for the Facility Master Plan. The options, developed by the Facility Master Plan Task Force — a 70-member group of AISD staff and teachers, parents, and community members — will include recommendations for specific elementary, middle and high school campuses and will be posted on the Facility Master Plan website the week prior to the Community Dialogue sessions. For anyone not able to attend the Community Dialogues, the questionnaire that participants will be asked to complete will be available on the Facility Master Plan website for two weeks following the sessions.
The research, available this afternoon on the Facility Master Plan website, outlines Districtwide facility deficiencies as well as campus-by-campus Facility Condition Index and utilization numbers that will help the District determine what should be included in a plan to achieve educational adequacy across the District.
Looking for volunteers to attend this meeting: Austin Independent School District Use the Power of Your Voice to Create a New Generation of Schools Community Dialogue about Austin ISD School Facilities
Thursday, May 20, 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. Travis High School Cafeteria 1211 E. Oltorf St. Refreshments and child care provided
Discuss issues that directly impact our public school facilities with educators, parents, students, civic and business leaders, and other engaged community members.
Your insights and opinions will help shape the future of public education in Austin. Please attend, listen, and speak up. Bring your neighbors and friends.
Your voice will help guide the emerging Facilty Master Plan for Austin schools.
For more information, call AISD Facilities Management, 414-2667 or check http://www.austinisd.org
The first link, Smart Growth and Schools Report Card Website, seems like a good place to start in terms of determining criteria by which we design our "ideal" school. The charter schools article was interesting as well, though, the main obstacle in our way seems to be who would pay for the building. Most charter schools move into already established buildings. Would Catellus want to pony up the funds? A "build it and they will come" mentality? Something to think about. If people have time, I'd read the first link and the last one at least.
If anyone has an interest in the research and process that New Urbanist thinkers are bringing to the schools discussion, here are several good audio and visual presentations from the Congress for the New Urbanism. Feel free to sample one. If it piques your interest, keep clicking:
Smart Growth and Schools Report Card Website (Very relevant to Mueller School Discussion)
http://www.cnu.org/node/3058
CNU Past Presentation: K-12 Schools and Urban Living: Are They Compatible?* (Audio is rough at the beginning, but it improves greatl. The stories are great!)
http://www.cnu.org/node/1284
Here's more info: AGENDA 5:45 Light Dinner 6:00 Welcome and Purpose of Meeting a. Review New Items in Vertical Team Plans b. Continue Development of Vertical Team Plans 6:05 Comments from Dr. Carstarphen, Superintendent a. Recap of Previous East Austin Schools Plan Meetings b. Review New Items in Vertical Team Plans 6:20 Vertical Team Work Groups – Guiding Questions a. Are these action steps enough to address the 5 major areas and to ensure that all Eastside schools reach district goals? b. Which two action steps per each major area are critical and must be implemented next school year? c. What are you willing to do to support the vertical team plan? 7:30 Conclude Vertical Team Work and Return to Cafeteria 7:40 Specific Direction on Multi-Year AU Schools - Reagan, Pearce, Garcia, and LBJ
Eastside Vertical Team Mission (What We Do) In partnership with parents and our community, AISD exists to provide a comprehensive educational experience that is high quality, challenging, and inspires all students to make a positive contribution to society. Vision (Where We Want to Be) AISD will be nationally recognized as an outstanding school district, instilling a passion for life-long learning in all students. Goals (What We Want to Accomplish) Goal 1: All Students will perform at or above grade level. Goal 2: Achievement gaps among all student groups will be eliminated. Goal 3: All students will graduate ready for college, career, and life in a globally competitive economy. Goal 4: All schools will meet or exceed state accountability standards, and the district will meet federal standards and exceed state standards. Major Areas: How will we achieve our goals? 1. Teacher Quality 2. Educational Program Quality 3. Academic Supports for Students and Schools 4. Literacy and Numeracy 5. Attendance DRAFT: 4/19/2010
I am overbooked, so if anyone would like to attend a meeting tomorrow night regarding East Austin schools, I would appreciate it! Here's the 411: Dear Campus Advisory Council and PTA leaders: As you may know, on April 6 at p.m., AISD is having its regularly scheduled East Austin Schools Plan meeting, which will be held at Pearce Middle School, located at 6401 N. Hampton. District 1 Trustee Cheryl Bradley and I would like to invite you to attend that meeting, as well as a conversation about the possibilities for LBJ and Reagan high schools, as part of or following the East Austin Schools Plan meeting. If you are interested in the discussion about the East Austin Schools Plan, please join us in the Pearce cafeteria at 6 p.m. We anticipate having the specific conversation starting at 7:15 p.m. about LBJ and Reagan high schools. (For your information, a light dinner will be served at 5:45 p.m.) Please RSVP to rjevans@austinisd.org or call 414-0024. We look forward to seeing you. Thank you. Sincerely,
it is time for us to start planning the second event supporting Pearce Middle School staff. we are thinking of an afterschool ice cream social type event. i will contact the Principal to arrange a date an time, then we'll get organized!
Hey Gail- we live right next to Mueller and are districted to the same schools which is why I am in this group. Our kids are 4 and under, so we are hoping that time, activism, and parental involvement will create an outstanding middle school in the future. In the mean time, I go to the school every week to mentor. We have a comprehensive section on our website all about Austin schools along with a complete list of magnet schools. We are realtots and help people move from California to Austin and navigate through these "city issues". Check it out and let me know if we can help! http://www.jhresidential.com/austin/austin-schools/aisd-magnet-schools-and-focus-academies
We are moving from Los Angeles. I know there are anti CA people all over especially what I see online from Austin. Forgive us:) I digress.... We fought the good fight for our first daughter with public elementary school.We were very involved and active parents and made a huge difference in her elementary school. I am a firm believer that if our generation gives up on public school and all go the way of private school that the gap widens between the haves and have nots to an unrecoverable point. We only could continue to support that until it came at expense of our daughters learning. So in middle school in LA it is dismal everywhere and we choose to move both kids to private school that is PK - 12. Tuition is tough but worth it in my eyes. I am an activist at heart but also a realist. So I am more interested in what the current day options both private and public, magnet etc are vs what the future could hold for middle school. Our son will be in 4th grade if we come to Austin and could really benefit from the K-8th school being proposed. We really love the Mueller concept but quality public education is one of the main reasons we are considering Austin at this time so it is playing a huge part of our neighborhood decision making. Our daugther will begin 9th grade and is a very talented dancer so we hope we have our decision set on her attending McCallum Fine Arts Academy. Thanks for all that you are doing to make Mueller a great place. I already feel my jump in and fix it! spirit at work when I consider Mueller. So many battles to fight so little time:) thanks
Gail, and anyone else wondering the same thing.... right now we are at a crossroads on the middle school and high school issue. I think everyone in Austin (the US?) is unhappy with the middle school situation. But here, in Mueller, it is really an issue. Our committee has been working on a proposal to present to AISD about having a school located at Mueller that is elementary through grade 8. If you are interested in working on that effort, let me know. In the next few months, we will know more about the fate of Pearce Middle School and Reagan High School. What happens at those schools will strongly inform what happens, and we ask for here at Mueller. Not every child can get into a magnet program. We need to ensure that every middle school in Austin has a strong program that educates our students to their best abilities. Then we could all get back to walking or riding bikes to the school we live closest to. At this point, parent involvement with AISD is the best recommendation I can give. AISD Superintendent Dr. Carstarphen has really opened up to hear the voices of the community, so we must speak up together. Here is the AISD webpage regarding their current efforts to improve middle schools: [url]http://www.austinisd.org/schools/ms/index.phtml[\url]
Hi I am thinking of relocating to Austin and love the idea of Mueller, and want to better understand the academic rating system. It seems so difficult to put your elementary aged child in a school rated Exem or Recog and then see that the middle schools are academically rated AA or A unacceptable. Any input on how other parents are handing the middle school situation at Mueller?
Lunch for Pearce staff will be set up in room 102. Please be sure to sign in at the front office. You will need a drivers license to be issued a visitor badge.
Thanks!
Pearce Staff Appreciation Lunch – Mueller residents will be hosting an Appreciation Luncheon for Pearce Middle School teachers and staff on Friday, December 4th from 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM. Please join in to support our education community by making a donation or contributing your time. You can make a salad, make a dessert, provide money for lasagna or help set up and serve. Please contact sfivecoat@weareteachers.com to participate in this important effort.
November 23 Regular Board Meeting would be a good one to attend:
•Strategic Planning/AU Schools/East Austin Focus Area
•2010-11 School Calendar (Action) (Moved Up From December 7)
•Update on Dual Language
•2004/2008 Community Bond Oversight Committee Report
(Postponed from November 9)
Educational Impact Statement: Staff will update subcommittee members on a six-month trial period for a new, more formal process for the City to get input from the District on major residential developments under review. Although the District currently receives notification of all development activity, and communicates to the City when the impact is significant, this input is provided on an informal basis. As part of this new process, the City will now request an Educational Impact Statement whenever a developer proposes a development exceeding thresholds of 100 single-family units, 200 multi-family units (100 if low-income or tax-credit housing).
The EIS describes the impact of the proposed development on the student population at each school to help decision-makers regarding City of Austin policy changes and development applications.
After the six-month period, ending in March 2010, an evaluation of the EIS form and process will be conducted to gauge whether the information provided aided the decision-making process and what changes could improve the product. This evaluation will include surveys of the members of the commissions and boards who receive the information and other interested parties. At that point, any proposed change to the EIS will be presented to the Board of Trustees and to the Joint Subcommittees for their consideration.
Agenda for Sept 22 meeting:
Pearce and community involvement updates:
I. Community Building ideas
II. other updates and next steps
Mueller Elementary action planning:
I. Strategic Plan for Community Conversations and Outcomes
II. Building a Team of Facilitators (10 would be ideal) (I will share what this would mean)
III. Timelines and Next Steps
Let's try a meeting on next Tuesday night (25th). I'm thinking at a local establishment. Speak up if you want to come and have a preference of time or locale.
We will be meeting on Friday, August 21st at 9:30pm, location TBA. We will continue our discussion about how to help Pearce, working with the Family Resource Center. Anyone interested should join us! (sorry for the crazy meeting time, but busy moms do what we can)
The event on the 15th is now a pot luck dinner:
Community Pot Luck
If you want to contribute to this event, here is what you can bring: If you have not already sign up for something please let us know what you can bring
Food Donations
If your last name ends with:
A - J - Meats (sandwiches, meat trays etc)
K – Q - Desserts & Chips (dips, etc)
R - Z - Breads & Drinks
Main Dish hot dogs and hamburgers
Other Items needed
Plates, utensils, napkins
Thanks
Betty (294-1478) or Charlotte (924-9537) Allen ( 653-4935)
Unfortunately, we will be out of town during this event! But I'm happy to donate school supplies, or provide some support to purchase hot dogs, etc. Just let me know what is needed in advance -- We leave on Friday (14th). I can be more engaged for the next one!
THANKS, Kim, for taking the lead on yesterday's meeting. IT was SO well attended -- and I'm impressed so many AISD trustees showed. It was also great to meet folks from the Pearce community. There is so much work to do -- but just our commitment to neighborhood school excellence will unfold lots of opportunities to engage, envision, and ultimately succeed in making E Austin the premier education center of our city.
From Dr. Carstarphen, AISD Superintendent:
Our challenges at Pearce are not isolated to that school—as Austinites, we all live in the Pearce community. Once this school year is underway, I commit to engaging in future conversations with the entire Austin community, so that we can discuss together how we can take all the schools and students of Austin to high levels of academic performance. We need to hold deep conversations about systemic academic improvements, working to make sure our chronically underperforming schools turn around, and that we support our successful schools too.
-- lets get ourselves ready to be a part of these conversations!
Saturday, Aug. 8 10am to noon at Mosaic apartments clubhouse
Mueller Neighborhood Association's meeting about schools. Get your FAQ's answered and learned how you can make a difference.
