Principal Sheridan Weekly Letter 3/6/23

Good morning Doss Families – 

Hope you all enjoyed the beautiful weather this weekend.  We have one week to go until Spring Break! Doss Student Leadership Team is hosting “Hats Off to Spring” spirit day this Friday, March 10th, wear your favorite hat to school. 

As a reminder, there will be no school from March 13-17.  With many Austin ISD students living in food-insecure households, accessing healthy food may be challenging when the district is closed for Spring Break.  Families can use the community resources below to find free meals in their area while Austin ISD offices and schools are closed for Spring Break.  

• Central Texas Food Bank (www.centraltexasfoodbank.org) 
• United Way for Greater Austin – ConnectATX (www.connectatx.org)
• Texas Health and Human Services – Call 2-1-1 or (877) 541-7905 to speak to a live operator. 

The City of Austin Parks and Recreation Department wanted to inform our community about opportunities to get active with Northwest Recreation Center. Click here for more information

During the Principal Coffee last Friday, I shared we are changing our policy on smartwatches/Apple watches. We have seen a rise in usage during class time and a rise in misuse therefore, we are asking students to keep their watches in their backpacks while at school.  Ms. Perez is facilitating preventative lessons on cyberbullying for the upper grades, as navigating social media and technology is new and evolving for all.  We are also looking into hosting a parent education session around the topic of social media.  

Soon we will begin the class placement process in preparation for the 2023-2024 school year.  Part of this process is giving parents and caregivers an opportunity to share any important information they believe should be considered in the placement of their child/children. This should be important information the school or current teacher may not be aware of. This is not mandatory, but we welcome any feedback you’d like to share. I will be accepting feedback until April 14th at 4pm.  Please use this 23-24 Parent Feedback for Class Placement form. 

Don’t forget to register your child(ren) for the 23-24 school year!  Our goal is to have all families registered by spring break(this Friday), which is important for us when staffing for the next school year.

The Online Registration and Transfer Request portal is now open for the 2023-24 school year. 

• New families will be able to continue registering online for the current school year throughout the spring semester.
• ALL returning families must re-register their students for the 2023-24 school year. Please provide patricia.minford@austinisd.org with a copy of your gas or light bill for proof of address. 
• Additional information related to enrollment, registration, and transfers is listed below.

Important links for families regarding enrollment, registration, and transfers: 

1. Enrollment landing page: https://www.austinisd.org/enroll
2. Important dates and deadlines: https://www.austinisd.org/transfer/dates-deadlines
3. For questions, please direct families to Let’s Talk https://www.austinisd.org/letstalk 

Have a wonderful week, 

Principal Sheridan