Dear Hill Community,

We are excited to kick off an amazing school year this Tuesday! As a reminder, there is no school this Monday, August 18th as our staff prepare to welcome our Dillos. Meet the Teacher is an hour away! We hope this letter prepares you with everything you need for next week.

Here are some basics for the first day of school Tuesday. Our doors will open Tuesday at 7:15 am and students will be walked straight to their classes. Parents/Guardians will not be able to enter the school past the yellow brick wall (hug zone if needed). Parents can certainly walk their older students to the portables, 5th grade commons exterior door, and 4th grade exterior door. Staff will be stationed around the campus to support you, including up front to walk students who need help to class. Labeling your student’s backpack if they are unfamiliar with their teacher’s name and our school is also appreciated for additional support. Kindergarten students were offered colored tags for ease at Meet the Teacher. We will have these the first day as well for Kinder students without them to support getting to class safely and efficiently with a staff member. For our Kindergarten families, we invite you to our Tears and Cheers Parent Coffee in the library once you drop off your student at the front door. Please ask and check into the front office to get a badge and show your ID. You can be directed from there.

Beginning Wednesday, our morning assemblies will begin at 7:35 am in the cafeteria/small gym area. We will continue to assist all students who need support into assembly. Our doors will start to open at 7:00 am for the rest of the school year on Wednesday. Again, we encourage all families to have their students attend assembly by 7:35. The official attendance bell will ring at 7:40. Please see the Arrival/Dismissal letter from this past Wednesday for more information (also added again below). Will your student be buying breakfast or lunch at school this year?  Visit the AISD SchoolCafe page and log in to your account to make payments, schedule automatic payments, set purchase restrictions, request low balance alerts, submit meal applications, view purchases, and check out the menus.  If you need to apply for Free or Reduced-Price meals you may complete this step on SchoolCafe as well.

Families with Bus Riders: If you have a student riding the bus this year, we wanted to ensure you had the corresponding animals that go with the bus numbers which have not changed based on our current information:

• 2012- Bee Bus

• 2302- Butterfly Bus

• 2301- Fish Bus

• 2300- Lion Bus

For student technology, please know that we are working with Austin ISD on the distribution plan for the first couple of weeks of school. Here is what each student will have for their device this school year:

• Kindergarten-4th Grade: classroom sets of Chromebooks with charging stations; devices will NOT be taken home

• 5th grade students will have individually checked out Chromebooks; teachers will support on if these will go home or not

While summer has been mild, it is still very hot outside! Please know that we will monitor the heat closely and follow appropriate guidelines for exposure. But hydration begins in the morning at home! Please ensure your student drinks plenty of water in the mornings. Please also ensure beginning day one, they bring a labeled water bottle that is refillable each day. Our teachers will ensure they have access throughout the day.

Austin ISD is updating their personal device policy: During the most recent legislative session, Texas lawmakers passed, and Gov. Greg Abbott signed into law, House Bill 1481, which prohibits students from using personal devices on district premises during school hours. Effective this school year, House Bill 1481 requires all Texas school districts to prohibit the use of “personal wireless communication devices”—defined as any wireless electronic communication device, other than one issued by the school for instructional purposes, that is capable of transmitting or receiving data. Items that must now be turned off and put away on Austin ISD campuses from bell to bell:

• Personal cell phones

• Tablets

• Gaming devices

• Smart watches

• Bluetooth headphones or earbuds

• Fitness trackers that can send or receive messages

• Personal (non-district-issued) computers (laptops and Chromebooks) 

• Two-way radios

• Pagers

• Any other device capable of digital communication

What this means for Austin ISD: Devices must be turned off, stored out of sight, and not used during school hours. Exceptions will be made for documented medical needs and special education accommodations. Violations will result in the confiscation of the item. The law aims to enhance student learning, minimize distractions, and reduce the risk of cyberbullying. We know this change will be most successful when families partner with us—your conversations with your students about the importance of being device-free during school will make all the difference. To help them adjust, you might also consider practicing device-free time at home. (Note: this policy does not differ greatly from the previous policy at Hill) 

From AISD: “This is Our Austin ISD. Our kids. Our schools. Our future.” We’re inviting our Austin community to join in by volunteering, donating to the Austin Ed Fund, sharing Austin ISD stories, and showing public support with t-shirts, social media posts and more. Most of all, we’re inviting them to listen to your stories, your voices and your experiences. You can help by:

• Visiting OurAustinISD.org.

• Sharing what makes your school or classroom special.

• Spreading the word in your community and on social media about OurAustinISD.org.

• Post a video or photo carousel on social media using the hashtag #OurAustinISD and/or #NuestroAustinISD and tagging @AustinISD and @AustinEdFund. Here’s the graphic!

• Letting families and neighbors know how they can get involved.

We are proud to stand with you and help tell the story of the incredible work happening across Austin ISD every day. Thank you for being the heart of Our Austin ISD.

Please ensure your student gets good sleep and eats a healthy breakfast to be ready for a great day of learning on Tuesday! We look forward to the sounds of school filling our hallways again. 

Principal Drummond

Arrival and Dismissal Information

As the start of school is just around the corner, we want to ensure you have the information you need for a smooth first arrival and dismissal at Hill School this fall. A separate letter is going out with more general information for the upcoming week. Please ensure you let your teachers know how your student will be getting home for the first week of school and beyond once you know who they are! The more consistent this can be, the better for student safety.

Update for First Day of School Arrival: For our returning families, please know that we will be doing arrival on the first day of school slightly differently than past years when parents could walk their students to class. Parents will not be allowed to walk their students to the classroom on the first day. Instead, we will have staff ready to assist students, especially our younger students, and get them to the correct teacher. We will provide a hug/drop off zone at the front door area where our staff will support. For students who need to be walked to class, we ask that you take them to the front doors on the first day of school instead of using our back entrance. We appreciate your understanding as we continue to prioritize safety and tighten up some of our past practices. On the 2nd day of school (8/20), we will begin our normal assemblies in the cafeteria space to begin the day.

Reminder to families who plan to park and walk their students to school: We want to thank everyone for their continued partnership in ensuring that we create safe routes to school each day. We continue to ask that families avoid parking on Austin Woods or Amy Circle for arrival or dismissal. You can click here to see a map of the limitations in the mornings and afternoons that continue. There is virtually no legal or available parking (6-7 total spaces) from the hours of 7:00a-9:00a, then 2:00p-4:00p. If you are driving your student to campus, please use our carline or a different area to park/walk. If you would like to park and walk your student to school, there is parking on Robbie Lane or Hyridge, all with available sidewalks. We had an excellent year last year with our procedures and cannot do it without you all!

Arrival

There are several options for you and your family to choose as you commute to Hill each day. As a reminder, families will not be walking students inside the building to assembly/their classes this year:

• Walking/Riding your Bike: This is a great option for families that live in the Hill neighborhood. We have added connected sidewalks these past few years, including the shared use path on Hyridge that connects to Tallwood. We also have ample bike rack space up front and on the south side of the school. If this is an option, it is highly encouraged!

• Buses: For families outside of our immediate neighborhood, the school bus will run to your location if you are in our Hill Zone. If you need more information, you can visit https://www.austinisd.org/transportation. 

• Car Line: If you will be commuting in a vehicle, we highly encourage the use of our Hill Car Line! We again have students and staff supporting us to ensure it runs smoothly. You can reference the picture below for where to enter and exit. It begins on Tallwood and the line wraps around to Cima Serena drive. Please do not turn left into the carline. All cars enter by turning right. You can join the queue on Tallwood or Cima Serena coming from Robbie Lane/Greenslope.

• Parking and Walking to the Front/Back Doors: For families that would like to park and walk, we highly encourage you to use Robbie Lane if there are no spots directly in front of the school on Tallwood. The shared use path on Hyridge is an option as well. Parents/guardians should park and walk with their students if using this option. Parents/guardians should not drop off students at the curb. As stated before, Austin Woods and Amy Circle are no longer a viable choice for parking. Thank you all for respecting our neighborhood community and obeying parking signs at all times.
   

Dismissal

• Caregiver Pickup can happen in several ways. Teachers may also work with you on more specifics: 

  • Carline: Please use the arrival map and description above for directions on entering and exiting our front carline. Staff and safety patrol members will be present to assist students to their vehicles. We will plan to use the traditional carline waiting area. This is toward the end of the carline, just before exiting, under our North Portico (blue) area. Pre-K and some kinder students may begin at the South Portico. 4th grade families: Your students will be waiting at the South Portico (Orange) so we can better space our students. This area is shortly after you enter the car line at the first set of double doors.

  • Parking and Walking Pickup: For caregivers who want to park and walk (reference best practices under the arrival section), you can begin waiting in our front door area by the flagpole at 3:00 to retrieve students in 1st and 2nd grade. Pre-K and Kinder students can be retrieved from their carline for walk-up parents as well. Staff will walk students out at 3:10 for a safe dismissal. Parents/guardians will not enter the building for pick-up. Parents of 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders can meet them outside their class areas for pickup beginning at 3:05.

  • Students walking home: Please ensure your student has a safe plan and is aware of best practices.

We will update everyone if our practices need to be altered so we have the safest plan for our students. It takes all of us working together! Thanks for ensuring you represent us by supporting the above plans.

Principal Drummond