Save the date for a Parent BLEND/Seesaw Training to be held this Tuesday, August 11 at 4:30pm. We are excited to offer all of our Hill parents and guardians the opportunity to have our district technology department lead you through the basics of BLEND and Seesaw, the two learning platforms we will be primarily using this year. The goal is to support our parents so they can best support their learners.
Join Zoom Meeting
Meeting ID: 896 2991 8080
Passcode: dillos
New Parent Night/ Pre-k & Kindergarten Back to School Night will be held this Thursday, August 13th, at 5:00 pm. We want to welcome all of our new Hill families to learn more about Hill, our staff, and our traditions. The first 30 minutes or so will be for all new Hill families. After this introduction, we will have all of our incoming Pre-K and Kindergarten families stay on for introductions and information pertinent to those grade levels. We encourage you to bring your questions as well so everyone feels ready for the first day of school!
Join Zoom Meeting
Meeting ID: 830 0630 0645
Passcode: dillos
Due to current circumstances, we will be doing a drive-thru DILLO PICKUP DAY in front of the school THIS FRIDAY, AUGUST 14th in order for you to pick up the typical items we would offer during Open House. Please note, no items will be for sale during this drive-thru.
DID YOU PRE-PURCHASE ANY OF THE FOLLOWING? If so, Friday is the day to grab your goods!
Also plan to bring your Library Books to return!
In order to respect our neighbors and to better control traffic, we ask that you plan on attending during one of your student’s time slots. If you cannot arrive during your given slot, that’s ok – come any time between 10:00am – 4:00pm THIS Friday, August 14th!
Suggested time slots:
PreK, K, & 1st: 10am – 12pm
2nd & 3rd: 12pm – 2pm
4th & 5th: 2pm – 4pm
*or any of those time slots if it better suits your schedule
MAKE A SIGN TO HELP THE LINE! In order to help the flow of traffic, please plan to make a sign like the one below to place on the windshield of your vehicle.
Dear Hill Community,
Welcome to our weekly update as we say goodbye to July! Our staff is excited for a new year and is ready to connect with your students again soon.
We have received further guidance from the Texas Education Agency that gives us information to continue building our schedules. We look forward to sharing those in the next few weeks as we finalize them with the latest information. The first day of school is still August 18th and our first 3 weeks of classes will be all remote learning from home. As we have seen this entire month, information and guidance can change daily. We will keep you updated if we learn more or plans change.
Like last week, I really want to highlight the excellent information available in this week’s Summer Vision newsletter from AISD. There, they have great updates on staff learning and telemedicine services available to families this year. Please check out the section on “Technology Updates”. They describe the different ways all of our families who need technology support can work towards securing it. For new to AISD families, please know that we were told you should be able to request technology in the parent cloud beginning August 3rd, if you have finished registration. As stated, thank you for your patience as a national shortage of technology is putting availability behind in some cases. We appreciate anyone who is willing to turn in Chromebooks they will not be using that were borrowed to make them available for other families in need. If you have other questions, our assistant principal Myra Josey can support you at myra.josey@austinisd.org.
If you have not done so already, please take the time to complete the latest Family Pulse Survey 2 that was sent out this last week. Each family should have received an individualized link for their student(s). If for some reason you did not receive a personalized link, you can still use this Reopening Family Pulse Survey 2 link that is more generic. Please only complete once per family. This is due TOMORROW according to the newsletter, so thank you again for giving us this crucial information!
We want to invite everyone to our upcoming Principal Check-in (afternoon coffee) this Thursday, August 6th, at 4:00 pm. We will update everyone on the week leading up to the start of school and then plans for the week of. Here is the Zoom information:
Meeting ID: 852 7768 2861
Passcode: dillos
Join Zoom Meeting
To give our families a preview, I wanted to highlight some key events taking place the week of August 10th:
Parent BLEND/Seesaw Training (Tuesday, August 11th, at 4:30 pm)
We are excited to offer all of our Hill parents and guardians the opportunity to have our district technology department lead you through the basics of BLEND and Seesaw, the two learning platforms we will be primarily using this year. The goal is to support our parents so they can best support their learners.
New Parent Night/ Pre-k & Kindergarten Back to School Night (Thursday, August 13th, at 5:00 pm)
*We want to welcome all of our new Hill families to learn more about Hill, our staff, and our traditions. The first 30 minutes or so will be for all new Hill families. After this introduction, we will have all of our incoming Pre-K and Kindergarten families stay on for introductions and information pertinent to those grade levels. We encourage you to bring your questions as well so everyone feels ready for the first day of school!
Dillo Pickup Day (Friday, August 14th, from 10:00 am- 4:00 pm):
*This is an opportunity to pick up your Hill merchandise, 2019-20 yearbooks, purchased school supplies, and more. See below for more detailed information!
As I will keep saying, thank you all for your patience as information changes weekly. We will again record our Principal Check-In this week in case you can’t make it. We look forward to seeing many of you there! Have a great week.
Jack Drummond
Meeting ID: 852 7768 2861
Passcode: dillos
Join Zoom Meeting
Curbside Registration for Students New to Hill will be held on August 3–6 from 9–11 a.m. and 1–3 p.m.
Students new to Hill can register online at my.austinisd.org.
(See detailed instructions on how to register your new or returning student online.)
Once your online registration is complete, please send the following documents via email to hill@austinisd.org.
If you are unable to complete this process via email, Students new to AISD can register onsite at their campus, Aug. 3–6 from 9–11 a.m. and 1–3 p.m. You will simply pick up the forms needed and fill them out in your car or at home, then return them to the campus. You can text 512-856-1459 when you arrive to campus to let us know you are there. Please look for the blue banner on the building for more information.
In order to make the process as safe as possible for all involved, campus staff will make transfer of documents as contactless as possible. They will wear masks and gloves and transfer paperwork using baskets, trunks of vehicles and/or other ways to ensure maximum social distancing.We ask that families wear a mask and remain in their vehicles or six feet away from staff at all times. We also ask that families and staff stay at home if experiencing any illness.
Please email Christina.mcbride@austinisd.org if you have any questions.
Bring Your Own Device: Due to worldwide shortages, Austin ISD is seeing some delays in receiving Chromebooks and iPads for students. Families who would like to return their Austin ISD Chromebook or iPad and use a personal device instead can do so at our Computer Curbside locations. Doing so is entirely optional, but could help a fellow Austin ISD family that needs immediate access to technology. Please check this flyer for Computer Curbside dates, times and locations: bit.ly/aisdcomputercurbside. Families can also return computers at almost all Austin ISD campuses Aug. 3-6, from 9-11 a.m. and 1-3 p.m., during curbside registration.
Technology Requests – Parent Cloud: Families can now begin requesting technology needs using a new form in the Parent Cloud. After logging in to my.austinisd.org, search for “Technology Distribution,” and the link for the form will appear. My.austinisd.org also has a link and instructions in both English and Spanish for creating a Parent Cloud account.
Technology Requests – Paper Forms: Families can request technology using paper forms in person on almost all Austin ISD campuses on Aug. 3-6, from 9-11 a.m. and 1-3 p.m., during curbside registration. Families will not receive a WiFi hotspot that day if it is your first time requesting one.
Technology Requests – By Phone: Families can also request technology by calling their school or the Parent Support Line at 512-414-9187.
Dear Hill Community,
It was wonderful seeing many of you at our first Principal Coffee this week. Hopefully you have a better picture of what the school year will look like as we begin the year virtually. You can watch the Principal Coffee recording here in case you missed it. I highly recommend viewing as there is a lot of information that was covered with some great questions from our community. Topics included what school will look like, technology needs, and a look ahead to the weeks leading up to school.
This week’s Summer Vision newsletter from AISD is full of great information, including some definitions for common phrases like “synchronous” we will be using a lot this year. Registration information is listed to support our new Dillo families. Most importantly, notes on what school will look like, similar to what I shared in our Principal Coffee, are there for you from the district level.
You can also find a short bio of the lone finalist to become Austin ISD Superintendent, Dr. Stephanie Elizalde. We want to welcome Dr. Elizalde to Austin and look forward to partnering with her in our school community.
In the coming weeks, we will be sharing many dates to note including when/how families will learn who their teacher(s) is, possible parent/guardian training on BLEND/Seesaw, and other ways to prepare for our first day on August 18th. Please know that we will also be working with our PTA to share more information on our drive-thru pickup day on August 14th for merchandise, yearbooks, supplies, and more! Thank you for ensuring you are subscribed to the Dillo Details and checking hillelementary.com for these updates. I will announce our next Principal Coffee soon as our picture becomes even more clear this week.
Thank you for those of you who wished Baby James well after his tough morning from the Principal Coffee. It took some TLC, but he bounced back well. We’ll update you with more next week. Until then, enjoy a well-deserved weekend!
Jack Drummond
Get everything you need for the school year by completing Online Open House today! In just a few minutes you can get birthday books, birthday posters, and see various ways you can support our school. Click here to begin!
Hill Elementary is a blue ribbon school located in Northwest Hills in Austin, Texas. It serves the communities of Northwest Hills, Great Hills, Lakewood and Jester Estates, near the greenbelts of northwest Austin.
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