Dear GISD Families and Staff,

Last week was a busy one as we welcomed more students into new routines for on-campus learning, adjusted class and transportation schedules to support that and continued to host student activities that allow students to showcase their skills.  In fact, students in our career and technical education programs played a big role in the Georgetown Education Foundation’s School House Rock fundraiser on Sunday night, by providing items for the silent auction. I hope you were able to tune in for that event. It was an entertaining evening for a good cause. If you missed it, you can still view the video, featuring some of your favorite teachers and campus administrators. Visit www.facebook.com/GISDEdFound. 

This morning, parents of students in grades K-8 received an email with instructions to view their child's NWEA MAP report in Skyward. This useful tool is aligned to the State standards and is administered to students three times annually to help teachers identify next steps in each individual student’s learning. We want you to understand this tool, how to read it and understand why we use it. To help with that, we are sharing a few resources including a live virtual session where you will have an opportunity to ask questions of our team.

Today, in ParentU, we launched a short video that provides insight on how to read the MAP report. Next week, we're hosting two virtual information sessions to address what the MAP assessment is, why GISD chooses to use it, and how we use the information we learn from it. I hope you'll join us for one of those sessions. Here's how:

Thursday, November 5 
6 pm (English)
You can use this link to access the session next week:
https://youtu.be/WIuqCzEToVU

Thursday, November 5 
7 pm (Spanish)
You can use this link to access the session next week:
https://youtu.be/us2BsDARokU

Each session will include time for Q&A.  

And speaking of ParentU, three new resources launched today, including:

• Using Sora to find and check out digital books
• Putting a book on hold at your campus library
• And the above mentioned resource on how to read your child’s MAP report 

I hope you’ll check them out. You can always share feedback on ParentU or suggest a topic by following the prompts on that page. 

Don’t forget that Monday, November 2 is a student holiday/teacher work day. The recently announced changes to the district academic calendar provides teachers with additional time to design engaging work for all students.  

These work days will allow teachers to focus on designing learning experiences that best engage students regardless of their learning environment and also more time to provide students with feedback on their progress in mastering State standards and Learner Profile attributes. 

It’s important to note that while these are student holidays, they are not days that students will need to make up, and the end of the 2020-2021 academic calendar remains May 28. You can view the full calendar on our website.

If you need help with child care on Monday, our partners at the YMCA are offering programming for families of students in grades K-5 on those dates. If your child is currently enrolled in the YMCA after-school program, this service is being offered for free at Mitchell and Frost elementary schools. If your child is not enrolled in the YMCA after-school program, you can call 512-612-5563 to inquire and enroll. 

I want to thank all of you for your continued efforts to keep our staff, students and community safe. Some news reports show spikes in COVID-19 cases in some areas, and I’m proud of our collective efforts to keep the virus at bay in our schools.  Continue to wear your mask and practice good hygiene.  These efforts are simple, and I believe, making a difference. I care about you all, and your safety is always a priority. 

As always, if you have questions or comments, we encourage you to send them to us via Let’s Talk.

With much appreciation,

Fred Brent
Georgetown ISD Superintendent