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Greetings! I hope everyone had a great Spring Break.
Austin ISD’s Pride Week culminates Saturday with the Pride Y’all! celebration at the Performing 🎨 Arts Center. Also on Saturday, Austin ISD will be participating in the Annual ¡Sí Se Puede! César Chávez March & Day of Action at Parque Zaragoza.
📅 At noon on Saturday, the Board of Trustees will hold a special voting meeting to adopt a search profile for the new Austin ISD Superintendent. The public comment line will be open until 3:00 pm on Friday, March 24.
🎉 We also continue celebrating Women’s History Month with a profile of bilingual education pioneer and Latina trailblazer Hermelinda Rodriguez, who spent 25 years working at Austin ISD 🏫🍎.
⚠️ And remember to mark your calendars 🗓️ that Friday, March 31 and Friday, April 7 are both Austin ISD holidays. All campuses and district offices will be closed.
Alright, let’s jump in and see what’s going on around the district …
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Staff Weekly
By Paul Stinson ● Mar 22, 2023
Smart Brevity® count: 4.5 mins...1233 words
Greetings! I hope everyone had a great Spring Break.
Austin ISD’s Pride Week culminates Saturday with the Pride Y’all! celebration at the Performing 🎨 Arts Center. Also on Saturday, Austin ISD will be participating in the Annual ¡Sí Se Puede! César Chávez March & Day of Action at Parque Zaragoza.
📅 At noon on Saturday, the Board of Trustees will hold a special voting meeting to adopt a search profile for the new Austin ISD Superintendent. The public comment line will be open until 3:00 pm on Friday, March 24.
🎉 We also continue celebrating Women’s History Month with a profile of bilingual education pioneer and Latina trailblazer Hermelinda Rodriguez, who spent 25 years working at Austin ISD 🏫🍎.
⚠️ And remember to mark your calendars 🗓️ that Friday, March 31 and Friday, April 7 are both Austin ISD holidays. All campuses and district offices will be closed.
Alright, let’s jump in and see what’s going on around the district …
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1 big thing: Everyone gets two paychecks starting in July 📅
⚠️ Most importantly: This does not affect anyone’s annual pay.
📅We’ll get our paychecks on the 15th and the last business day of each month, which is 24 paychecks per school year for everyone.
💭 Think of it this way: Instead of having to wait till the end of each month to get our entire paycheck, we’ll now receive half of it two weeks earlier than we’re used to getting it.
❓ But why? This is a big change, and one that was carefully considered. The main goal is to provide consistency for employees. With everyone receiving paychecks at the same time, regardless of position or pay grade, that consistency is easier to maintain.
Dates to remember:
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July 14: All Central Office and year-around staff get their first semi-monthly paycheck.
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Aug. 15: All staff returning to campuses in August (teachers, teacher assistants, counselors, and librarians) get their first paycheck.
Go deeper.
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2. The ‘Let’s Talk’ portal 📶 is here for your stipend questions
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3. Celebrating 🎉 the life of bilingual education pioneer Hermelinda Rodriguez
This is the third in a month-long profile series spotlighting women leaders and trailblazers for whom Austin ISD schools are named.
🏫🍎 As Austin ISD continues its celebration of Women’s History Month, we profile bilingual education pioneer Hermelinda Rodriguez.
🎓 Educational legacy: At Zavala Elementary, Rodriguez became the district’s first Mexican-American principal in 1967 and implemented Austin’s first bilingual curriculum, 📚 earning national acclaim and the nickname “mother of bilingual education.” Working with faculty at UT Austin 🐂, Rodriguez’s curriculum became the standard for bilingual education.
📣 In her own words: “We've got to find our identity, find out who we are and where we come from," said Rodriguez. "We have two cultures to learn and profit from. It is not our job to eliminate one or the other.”
🎤 Indelible impact: “These were the happiest years of my childhood, I grew up proud of being Mexican,” former Zavala Elementary student Roy Soto said of Rodriguez’s early bilingual classes.
National model: Rodriguez’s contributions to bilingual education were recognized with a nomination to the White House Council on Education in the early 1970s.
⛏️ Go deeper: Rodriguez Elementary School in southeast Austin is named for this Mexican-American trailblazer. As befitting the mother of bilingual education, a majority of current students at Rodriguez Elementary are English language learners.
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4. Special Education Parent Power Hour coming up March 30
Families, community members, and staff are invited to attend the upcoming 🌼 Spring Parent and Community Engagement learning opportunities hosted by the Austin ISD 🍎🏫 Special Education Department.
The department is hosting a virtual Power Hour with national speaker, Dan St. Romain, on the topic of Avoiding Power Struggles. Also, the department has partnered with VELA to present a three-part series in April focused on Autism.
⚠️ If you’re planning on attending, please let us know with an RSVP by clicking here.
Questions? Please contact liena.deleon@austinisd.org for more information.
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5. Latino Awards Celebrate “Quinceañera”
Nominations are open until Friday, March 24 for this year’s Latino Academic Achievement Awards. This year’s award show will be held at the Austin ISD Performing Arts Center on April 21 at 6:30 p.m.
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6. 📅 Austin ISD honors César Chávez and Delores Huerta Day 🏫🍎
📅In honor of Chavez and Dolores Huerta Day, Friday, March 31 is a student and staff holiday.
Everyone is invited to join us for the Annual ¡Sí Se Puede! César Chávez March & Day of Action! Saturday, March 25 at Parque Zaragoza, 2608 Gonzales St., Austin, TX 78702.
🕤 The details: We’ll begin gathering at 9:30 a.m. The brief march will start at 10 a.m. and proceed along a short route around Parque Zaragoza.
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7. Pride Y’all! community event Saturday!
🏫🍎🏳️🌈 Austin ISD Pride Week is a time to highlight the district's commitment to creating a safe, supportive, and inclusive environment.
🏳️🌈 Pride Week activities wrap up with the districtwide "Pride Y’all!" community celebration.
All are welcome to enjoy exhibitors, performances, activities, books, swag and breakout sessions on Saturday, March 25, 5–9 p.m. at the Austin ISD 🏫🍎Performing Arts Center.
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Paul is grateful that his friend's dog 🐕 Theo returned home after going on an unsanctioned adventure earlier in the week. 🎵 Paul is also listening to Novelty by D.C. music legends Jawbox.
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