August 7, 2024
Alamo Heights ISD staff and families -
Welcome to the 2024-25 school year! I can't believe it’s already time to welcome our students back home to AHISD on Monday! We have certainly been working hard to be ready for an incredible year of learning and growth.
Last week we welcomed our new employees at New Employee Orientation and this Tuesday afternoon we held our annual district Convocation for all staff at THE Junior School. Our theme this year is
“I Love AH” and this celebration always fills my heart with so much love and gratitude for everyone who works in AHISD and for the talented Fine Arts students who perform for us and remind us of the important mission we have as educators to focus on the whole-child.
At Convocation, we surprised our staff with the announcement that
Kevin Criss, 2024 AHISD Teacher of the Year, is the Region 20 Elementary Teacher of the Year! Kevin now moves on for consideration as Texas Teacher of the Year which is a huge accomplishment and we could not be more proud.
There is so much work that goes into starting the school year and I hope you’ll join me in showing appreciation to our teachers, support staff, and administrative teams for their dedicated efforts preparing for a successful back to school season.
I’m beginning my seventh year as Superintendent of this incredible district. Each year we celebrate continued success in our outcomes for our students. Take a moment to review the many points of pride from our last year
HERE. I invite you to follow me on X (Twitter) and Instagram at the accounts listed below to see the many snapshots of the amazing things taking place all across our district.
Bond Update
Anyone driving down Broadway can see the transformation happening at Alamo Heights High School. We are excited about the future of AHHS thanks to the community support of School Bond 2023. Construction challenges us to adapt and there are some major changes since we were last together.
Modular classrooms -“The Mods”- have been set up on the practice field and the parking lot at the corner of Vanderhoven and Castano is now the location for the AHHS office. One temporary parking lot is complete at Broadway and Castano and another one is underway on the site of the former Colony House apartments across Broadway from AHHS.
I hope you’ll watch our
first On Location video of the school year as AHHS Principal Cory Smith and I show you the new layout of some of our academic wings and office areas. High school parents will also receive detailed information in Monday Mail.
We strive to keep the community informed with Bond 2023 construction, and in addition to my monthly messages, social media posts, and updates at Board Meetings, we also have the
Bond 2023 Construction Updates website.
Community Based Accountability System (CBAS)
I am really proud of our commitment for the seventh year in a row to launch our own local
community based accountability system that measures robust outcomes for our students and the overarching hopes and dreams we have for their futures. Please take some time to review this year’s report that details our accomplishments as well as signals areas for attention and focus as we embark on this next year.
Next week, the Texas Education Agency will release our A-F rankings that are based primarily on the STAAR assessment. In AHISD, we expect much more of our district and the outcomes for our students. We are so much more than one test on one day. Our CBAS holds us accountable to seven pillars that include:
-Student Learning and Progress
-Student Readiness
-Student Wellbeing and Safety
-Engaged, Well-rounded Students
-Community Engagement
-Professional Learning and Quality Staff
-Fiscal and Operational Systems
Attendance
We need to improve our attendance rates this year and I ask for your support in doing this! As you plan for trips and schedule medical appointments in the coming months, please use the
2024-25 school year calendar to help avoid conflicts.
For state funding, the state requires that attendance be taken at a particular time each day: 9 a.m. for Howard; 9:30 a.m. for Cambridge and Woodridge; and 9:35 a.m. (2nd period) for AHJS and 9:55 a.m. (2nd and 6th period) for AHHS. Appointments/Absences after this time do not negatively impact funding, although they do interrupt learning time. This is also important information when you choose to sign your child out for the day. As long as they are present when attendance is taken, we maintain our funding.
Every day a student is absent it has a cost to learning, to the school environment, and to the district. (On average, a student absence costs the district $43.87) Please download a copy of our
AHISD 2024-2025 District Calendar to make plans for appointments and travel so these do not conflict with our attendance rates.
Back to School
We’ve compiled
Back to School information on our website and we hope that it helps answer many questions that arise this time of year around registration, bus service, calendar, school supply lists, before and after school care, and more.
Fall Mule Markets are open for Howard, Cambridge, Woodridge, the Junior School, and AHHS.
Visit your campus PTO websites for more information.
You can also learn more about the tremendous work of our campus PTOs on their websites. You’ll find information on the events, activities, and fundraisers they organize each year to support students and staff. As we start a new school year, I also hope you will consider joining PTO at your campus if you haven’t already.