EDUCATION BRIEFS
News from Round Rock ISD
QUOTEOFNOTE “WE THINKOUR TEACHERS DESERVE THEMILLION- DOLLARRETENTION BONUS. WE DON’T HAVE THAT KINDOF MONEYRIGHT NOW, BUTWE DOWANT TO HONOROUR STAFF.” ACTING SUPERINTENDENT DANIEL PRESLEY, ON THE BOARD’S APPROVAL OF A ONE-TIME $500 RETENTION BONUS FOR EMPLOYEES TOTALING $1 MILLION DISTRICT HIGHLIGHTS ROUNDROCK ISD Sixty-four district students have been named National Merit Scholarship finalists. They join a group of 15,000 students nationwide who were selected as finalists in the program. The pool will be further narrowed to 7,200 winners of the National Merit Scholarship between March and June, according to district information. ROUNDROCK ISD Masks are no longer required at district campuses as of Feb. 21. Officials shared the announcement with district parents Feb. 17 via email and cited falling local COVID-19 case rates as reasoning for the policy shift. Visitors are also allowed back on campuses at the discretion of each school’s respective principal. Other COVID-19 measures will remain in place in order to maintain low case counts. Round Rock ISD board of trustees March 24 at 5:30 p.m. 300 Lake Creek Drive, Round Rock 512-464-5000 www.roundrockisd.org MEETINGSWE COVER
Students to benefit from$1M in COVID-19 funding
BY BROOKE SJOBERG
three-hour after-school tutoring program that is expected to serve up to 300 students in third, fourth and fifth grades based on academic need, according to the district. Chief of Teaching and Learning Ryan Smith said students who did not take STAAR exams in 2021 took an exam developed by the district to determine eligibility for HB 4545. “I think we’ll be in a much better place to predict what we’re going to need as far as resources next year,” Smith said. “It’s a changing number. Students are passing the [end-of- course] exam, and then they’re no longer required to receive this intervention. We’re also continuing to assess students who are entering campuses.”
LEARNING ACCELERATION
ROUND ROCK ISD The district will receive just over $1 million in remaining COVID-19 relief funds given through a federal allocation. The $1.02 million infusion will come from Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funds via a Texas COVID Learning Acceleration grant, according to the district. The grant will fund learning intervention mandated by House Bill 4545, which went into effect June 18, 2021. The bill mandates supplemental instruction for students who did not pass the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness test. In the 2022-23 and 2023-24 school years, the TCLA ESSER grant will be used to provide a high-quality,
While the proportion of students in the district receiving learning acceleration in RRISD is around 17% of the total population, it is larger in the context of students about to undergo STAAR testing:
Total STAAR-eligible students
28,280
Percentage of STAAR- eligible students in learning acceleration Total students receiving learning acceleration under HB 4545
8,182
28.9%
SOURCE: ROUND ROCK ISD/ COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER
ADDITIONAL STUDENT HOLIDAYS
Some religious and cultural holidays were added to the 2022-23 and 2023-24 calendars, but there are additional student holidays throughout both years. Those include:
2022-23 Oct. 10, Dec. 16, Jan. 2-3, Feb. 20
2023-24 Oct. 9, Nov. 10, Dec. 15, Jan. 2-3, Feb. 19
SOURCE: ROUND ROCK ISD/COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER
Officials approve 2022-23, 2023-24 academic calendars
date of Aug. 15 and end date on May 23. District staff stated that community input through a sur- vey shared at the end of January shaped the alignment of staff development days with additional holidays celebrated by RRISD families. The board adapted the 2022-23 calendar to include a staff development day and student holiday that aligns with the Indian holiday Diwali on Oct. 24, 2022. According to the district, that was not an option for the 2023-24 calendar. Additionally, days off in September were shifted for the Jewish holidays of Rosh Hashanah in 2022 and Yom Kippur in 2023. Public commenters praised the modifications during the Feb. 17 board meeting.
BY BROOKE SJOBERG
ROUND ROCK ISD Officials approved an updated District of Innovation plan and calendars for the 2022-23 and 2023- 24 school years. Through the Feb. 17 approval of the DOI plan, the board of trustees modified the 2022-23 calendar with an earlier start date on Aug. 17 and an ending date on May 25. Similarly, the 2023-24 school year will have an early start
SCHEDULE FREE CONSULTATION! 1601 E. Pflugerville Pkwy., Building 2, Suite 2202, Pflugerville, TX (512) 640-9456 | atxbraces.com
Braces, Smile Aligners and Invisalign® for ALL ages
COMPREHENSIVE BRACES OR ALIGNER TREATMENT EXPIRES 4/1/22. CANNOT BE COMBINED WITH ANY OTHER OFFER. SOME EXCLUSIONS MAY APPLY. $500 DOWN PAYMENT MATCH TOWARD TREATMENT COSTS
Ross Brenner DDS, MSD Nikoleta Konstantoni DDS, MSD Board-Certified Orthodontists
19
ROUND ROCK EDITION • MARCH 2022
Powered by FlippingBook