Been to three of the community meetings thus far. At Austin High School's right now. Janet Mitchell, one of the chairs of the Task Force, just did a great job introducing the context and charge for the night. Thanks to everyone who's turning out for these meetings. They're really important in helping us better manage our facility needs and costs in the years ahead.
See an earlier post about the Facility Master Plan and how you can get involved. We need your input!
Thursday, September 30, 2010
McCallum — An Oldie but Certainly a Goodie!
Movie Music (and movie!) in the Park will be presented at the Mueller Lake Park Amphitheater at 7 p.m. on Saturday night (October 2). It's a free concert for families and, with the fall weather that's here now ... well, what a pleasant evening of movie music (and movie!) it will be!
The orchestra will perform music from movies accompanied by a backdrop montage prepared by the fantastic folks at Alamo Drafthouse Cinema. Yes! The Power of Us! Following the concert, stay to watch the classic movie, Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark. So bring your kids, friends, relatives, and neighbors and enjoy the show.
Although the performance is free, donations will gladly be accepted and will benefit the Orchestra's upcoming trip to Washington D.C. There are many sponsors for this event, and I want to thank them for putting The Power of Us to work for McCallum: Frost Bank, KMFA-FM, the Austin Chronicle, Texas Disposal Systems, Staples, Catellus, and Longoria Moving.
Now, back to my visit at Mac this morning ... McCallum is one of AISD's older campuses. It was built in 1953 — the same year as Travis High — and these two schools were built to accommodate growth north and south out of the central city. It may be an oldie, but the school is certainly a goodie! Today, McCallum has 1,810 students, and is also home to the dynamic Fine Arts Academy.
I heard about a REAL Oldie but Goodie — chemistry teacher Robert Lehman who has been at McCallum for 42 years, and teaching for a total of 54 years! (I didn't get to meet him but I certainly will next time I'm here.) I'm blown away just thinking about his level of expertise in this profession, and the thousands upon thousands of students he has impacted in their own careers and professions. This, folks, is what makes education the absolute best job there is, despite its trials, headaches, and heartaches. Being a teacher is simply the best.
After being greeted by Principal Mike Garrison and Science Department head Richard Whisennand, we enjoyed the Mac Gallery, beautiful student artwork on the display case in the front hallway. The halls sparkled, thanks to head custodian Herbert Clayton and his team.
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| Custodian Yolanda Zertuche |
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| Teacher of the Year Phillip Thomson with Principal Garrison |
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| Teacher of Promise Annette Cardona |
Teacher of Promise Annette Cardona teaches IPC, or Integrated Physics and Chemistry.
I had so much fun in the Media Tech Lab! Students were working on storyboards and learning how to transform drawings into computer animation. Teacher Ken Rogers teaches Animation and Audio-Video Production. His third-year students have opportunities for internships at professional studios, and they produce and sell dvd's of their work.
The McCallum Choir was magic! Under the direction of Malcolm Nelson, the students performed I Remember Spring, a piece with beautiful harmony and melody. The choir is preparing for its Fall Concert, The Envelope, Please, a showcase of Academy Award winning songs. I must find out the date and time. The Fine Arts music program will benefit from some additional funding, thanks to a Turnaround Grant freeing up some of the school's general budget. The funds will provide digital pianos, and also additional funding for teachers in dance and classical guitar.
Principal Garrison is very proud of The Apple At Work Bond Program work that has taken place, or is underway at the school. Sparkling new restrooms are a treat after ... ahem ... what was there before. And it doesn't look like much now, but the construction on Sunshine Drive is McCallum's new theatre! Thanks to voters in the 2008 Bond Election, the school is getting a new performance venue to showcase students' outstanding talents in music, dance, and drama. I'm sure there will be an extravaganza on opening night event! Let me know when, Knights.The school is named for A.N. McCallum who was superintendent of the Austin public schools for 39 years, from 1903 until 1942. During his tenure, the size of the district increased from 12 schools and 4,459 students, to 32 schools and 16,128 students! He believed that all children, regardless of race, should have an equal opportunity for education, and also established a night school for adults. You can learn more by clicking here. A.N. McCallum
That's all I have time for today. It was a whirlwind and I came away reeling from seeing all the talent, activities, and spirit at McCallum. Thanks for the great visit.
Anchors Away with the Burnet Sailors
Our morning started with a lively visit to Burnet Middle School. I have to admit that sometimes it's hard for me to remember that Burnet is not on Burnet Road. In fact, Lamar Middle School is on Burnet (or at least backs up to it). Anyway, today we're at Burnet, which is a few blocks east of the street with the same name.
Principal Cesar Martinez and the cheerful Burnet cheer squad greeted us. I love the enthusiasm of middle school students, and these girls were full of "Sailors Fight ... Blue and White" school spirit! Thanks for the warm welcome!
Burnet is up near Hwy. 183, and like the elementary schools in this part of Austin, is just packed with young people. With a capacity of 800, the school has 1,001 students (400 of them in portables!), and 60 percent of them are English Language Learners. Burnet is truly international in nature, as these students come from numerous countries throughout the world. Their 11 languages, historical heritages, and cultures enrich the school in unique ways, Mr. Martinez said.Naturally, Burnet is deeply focused on language development, and with such a large number of English Language Learners, Principal Martinez intends to apply to be the district's first Dual Language middle school. (In our first year of Dual Language implementation, we're still at the early elementary level, but we're working to expand each year.)
I enjoyed meeting Principal Martinez' team — Assistant Principals Irene Garcia and Rhonda Coleman, and one very special person, "the woman who runs the office," Carol Flores. (Ah, every office has one of these terrific admin assistants who are indispensable in keeping all things running smoothly.)
Another plus for Burnet is its active corps of parent volunteers who help out everywhere. The PTA wins state awards for its strong program, and Austin Partners in Education also provides tutors and mentors to the school.We also met Communities in Schools Director Jeff Smith, and Harold Howard, Burnet's Dropout Prevention Specialist.
The Fine Arts are a universal language, so it's no surprise that they're flourishing at Burnet. Band director Robert Cotter and students serenaded us with a selection by Handel, La Rejouissance. Mr. Cotter and Assistant Director Ann Leo are so proud of their young musicians and they performed this new piece of music with a lot of heart.
Eighth grade Social Studies teacher Andrea Ramos is the Teacher of the Year. This is her sixth year at Burnet and brings a multicultural perspective to her teaching with a background of study in Spain. In her class, we observed pairs of students discussing the development of the first North American colonies. Teamed with the Media Technology class, their discussions, in an interview format, were taped.
You'll notice these students are all wearing black polo shirts. This tells us that they're eighth graders. This year, Burnet implemented a standardized dress code. Seventh graders wear green and sixth graders, white. Numerous other AISD schools have similar dress codes, and principals report that, as part of a system such as our Positive Behavior Support, they enhance the school's atmosphere of respect, purpose, and orderliness. The change was implemented after meeting with parents in community forums. Parent support was strong for the dress code, Principal Martinez said.
Our next visit was with Read 180 teacher Vanessa Gallardo who was working with sixth grade students in small groups. Their lesson was on writing expository paragraphs using prompts. |
| I love Burnet's SAIL motto: BMS Sailors Strive for Successes Accept Responsibility Improve Each Day Lead with Respect |
Our time at Burnet has flown by. Everything is surely shipshape at the Sailors' school (arrgghhh ... tongue twister).Thanks for letting us visit. From Sailors to Knights ... McCallum High School is our next stop.
Your Voice Is Needed in Shaping the Facilities Master Plan
AISD has 120 schools and a dozen or so other facilities that serve the needs of our students and teachers. Some of these buildings are quite old, some brand new. Some schools are overflowing with students, some are seriously under-enrolled. All of them cost precious district financial resources to operate and maintain. It's way past time that we looked at our facilities from a districtwide perspective to determine if we're meeting students needs in the most cost-effective ways.
That's the reason we began the Facilities Master Plan last Spring. The plan is guided by a 70-member task force of citizens and staff which has visited and assessed each and every school and support facility in the district. It has also digested reams and reams of data about each campus, enrollment history, physical condition, repair/replacement prognosis, attendance boundaries, and area demographic predictions. This commitment of time has been phenomenal, and the process has been comprehensive and thorough — as it should be.
The task force will ultimately make recommendations to the Board of Trustees about where we need to grow — and where we need to adjust, and even downsize. But first, we need community input and that's where you have a powerful voice. Parents, AISD, staff, community member, we want to hear from you!
There are four more Community Dialogues coming up. Two will be held tonight (Sept. 30), 6-8 p.m., at Austin and Lanier high schools; and two more next Tuesday (Oct. 5), 6-8 p.m, at Akins and Reagan high schools. We wanted to make it as easy as possible for you to attend, so a light dinner and childcare are provided. Please plan to attend one of these sessions. Your ideas and input are so important to making the best decisions for our students!
We have tons of information (en español también) on our website about the Facilities Master Plan — including the facilities' options for each planning area — so please check it out. Go to the AISD website and click on "Facility Master Plan" right on the front page. If you can't attend a meeting, the questionnaire for each planning area is also available online. Either way, please learn about the process and issues, and give us your input! Thanks in advance.
That's the reason we began the Facilities Master Plan last Spring. The plan is guided by a 70-member task force of citizens and staff which has visited and assessed each and every school and support facility in the district. It has also digested reams and reams of data about each campus, enrollment history, physical condition, repair/replacement prognosis, attendance boundaries, and area demographic predictions. This commitment of time has been phenomenal, and the process has been comprehensive and thorough — as it should be.
The task force will ultimately make recommendations to the Board of Trustees about where we need to grow — and where we need to adjust, and even downsize. But first, we need community input and that's where you have a powerful voice. Parents, AISD, staff, community member, we want to hear from you!
The past two eveni
ngs I've attended Community Dialogue meetings at Crockett and Reagan high schools about the Facility Master Plan. It was exciting to see so many interested parents come out to learn about this process, and to give us their input about facility and enrollment issues. After a presentation about the planning process, we worked in small groups reviewing proposed options for each specific planning area — there are six and they all have different issues — and then we completed questionnaires about we thought were the best solutions to the planing areas' issues.
ngs I've attended Community Dialogue meetings at Crockett and Reagan high schools about the Facility Master Plan. It was exciting to see so many interested parents come out to learn about this process, and to give us their input about facility and enrollment issues. After a presentation about the planning process, we worked in small groups reviewing proposed options for each specific planning area — there are six and they all have different issues — and then we completed questionnaires about we thought were the best solutions to the planing areas' issues.There are four more Community Dialogues coming up. Two will be held tonight (Sept. 30), 6-8 p.m., at Austin and Lanier high schools; and two more next Tuesday (Oct. 5), 6-8 p.m, at Akins and Reagan high schools. We wanted to make it as easy as possible for you to attend, so a light dinner and childcare are provided. Please plan to attend one of these sessions. Your ideas and input are so important to making the best decisions for our students!
We have tons of information (en español también) on our website about the Facilities Master Plan — including the facilities' options for each planning area — so please check it out. Go to the AISD website and click on "Facility Master Plan" right on the front page. If you can't attend a meeting, the questionnaire for each planning area is also available online. Either way, please learn about the process and issues, and give us your input! Thanks in advance.
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