Brentwood families,

Congratulations on a stellar first week of classes, Bulldogs! We hope everyone had a great first week of school, and a restful weekend to recuperate. Want an easy way to stay in-the-know with all things Brentwood Elementary and PTA? Subscribe to our new Brentwood Elementary Google Calendar to stay up-to-date on upcoming school events, holidays, and PTA activities: http://bit.ly/Bulldog-calendar.

For the second edition of the Bulldog Bark for the 2023-2024 school year, we’re focusing on tie-dye! For those new to Brentwood Elementary, we have a long history of rockin’ tie-dye shirts as a campus to give students an identifiable shirt during field trips. The best part is, the students get to dye the shirts themselves during on-campus tie-dye events. To make this happen, it takes a lot of planning, coordination and parent volunteers.

We need volunteers to support tie-dye! Please use this link to sign-up to volunteer: bit.ly/m/tiedye. We especially need grade captains for PreK (1 adult), Kindergarten (2 adults), 2nd (1 adult), 3rd (1 adult), and 5th (1 adult). Grade captains participate in a training to learn how to lead a tie-dye event, and help to coordinate parent volunteers for each grade. It’s a great opportunity to learn a new skill, meet parents and teachers at Brentwood, and look like a hero to your kids on tie-dye day! Our tie-dye events will be during school days on September 26th through October 4th.

All tie-dye orders are due by Thursday, September 7th! Please use the same link as above (bit.ly/m/tiedye) to purchase. Did you know that adults can order shirts, too? Just select the sizes you would like in the order form and pay — your shirts will be dyed along with your child’s class. As a reminder, you must submit one form for EACH child.

Every child at Brentwood will receive a shirt, and we don’t want the purchase of these shirts to be a financial burden. For families needing assistance, Ms. McKenna has discount and free shirt codes. We also encourage families that can to donate a shirt when you place your order!

Did you know our students follow a colorful path with their tie-dye shirts to reach rainbow their 5th grade year? The colors for each grade are:

• turquoise and yellow in Pre-K
• fuchsia and orange crush in Kindergarten
• orange crush and lemon yellow in 1st
• emerald green and Granny Smith apple in 2nd
• royal blue and turquoise in 3rd
• plum and lavendar in 4th
• rainbow (turquoise, fuchsia, and lemon yellow) in 5th

Teachers and staff also have the ability to purchase a unique color each year, this year it’s Cayman Island green and hot pink!

School events and important dates:

Cheer on our McCallum Knights as they go head-to-head with the Anderson Trojans in the Taco Shack Bowl Thursday, August 24th at 7:30 p.m. at House Park! Buy tickets here.

Grab a sweet treat from Pflour Shop bakery all day on Saturday, August 26th (10 a.m. - 7 p.m.) and 10% of proceeds will go to our Bulldogs! Just mention Brentwood Elementary when you visit.

Save-the-date for our first Spirit Night at Fajita Pete’s on Wednesday, September 6th! When families dine-out for Brentwood, part of the proceeds go back to the PTA.

Back-to-School Night will be Thursday, September 7 from 5:15-6:30 p.m. Look for communication from your child’s teacher for how your grade level will orchestrate their informational session!

Literati Book Fair is Monday, September 11 to Friday, September 15. The book fair will host a Loved Ones Event on Saturday, September 9th from 1-5 p.m. Families are encouraged to bring their loved ones–grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins and special friends – to shop the book fair and enjoy some fun activities together.

Our Brentwood Halloween Carnival will be Saturday, October 28th from 3-6 p.m. Please mark your calendar so you don’t miss our fun annual event. We are still looking for event sponsors, so please fill out this form if your business would like to help support the carnival!

Call for Volunteers:

If you are interested in being a volunteer, please submit a volunteer interest survey and tell us about your talents and interests! The PTA will connect you with volunteer roles big or small. Thank you for supporting our Brentwood community.

All volunteers will need to register with Austin Partners In Education to undergo a background check. If you haven’t registered with APIE, and are interested in being a volunteer, please register with APIE now!

After-care Programs & Groups:

Sharing quick links for after-school programs for the coming school year.

• Extend-a-Care by YMCA - (5 day per week, on campus after care) learn more and register: https://www.austinymca.org/locations/extend-a-care/
• Mindfulness Club with Coach Hollander - (5 day per week, on campus after care) learn more and register: https://form.jotform.com/91297860521158
• Wonder Years Preschool - aftercare pick-up at Brentwood - learn more at http://wonderyearsprek.com
• ATX Ballers - (Tuesdays 3:15-4:15 p.m.) register at https://www.atxballers.com/register
• Chess Wizards - (Mondays 3:15-4:15 p.m.) learn more and register: www.chesswizards.com!
• Cooking & Baking Classes - (Fridays 3:15-4:15 p.m.; 1st-5th grade, two month-long sessions) learn more and register: https://cooklearngrow.com/austin-classes/
• Film Kids - (Thursdays 3:00 to 4:45 p.m.; 4th and 5th grade only) September 7th through December 14th. Call 512-567-0778 or e-mail Brian Cox at filmkids@filmkids.org with questions. Go to www.filmkids.org to register and see us in action!
• Ninja Nation: Ninja drop-off after school program (M-F 3:30-5:30 p.m.) https://www.austin.ninjanation.com/afterschool
• iPiano: 60-minute program where students can learn to play the piano. Wednesdays starting September 27. To learn more visit https://ipianolab.com
• Austin Youth Fitness is excited to continue running club and introduce a biking club at Brentwood! AYF has been making “fitness fun” for Austin kids and their families since 2009. Their play-based running, biking, and yoga programs help kids develop strong bodies, minds, and spirits. Teachers get a 50% discount! 

Call for Entries

Have a program, event, or volunteer need that you want published in the Bulldog Bark, PTA website or social channels? Email communications@brentwoodpta.com!