Brentwood families,

Big news! We're moving our PTA website to a new platform to make serving our community even easier. Please "mind our dust" as we complete the transition. You may notice limited access to our website, and links not responding for a few days. Please reach out to hello@brentwoodpta.com for anything urgent.

Also, to preserve your inboxes and our volunteers' time, we're moving to a bi-weekly cadence for the Bulldog Bark newsletter. So, every other Sunday, you'll get an update related to important dates and information. More to come as we explore our new site's functionality!

Birthday Book Club is back!

How does the Brentwood Birthday Book Club work?

During their birthday month celebration, your child will come to the library and choose from a special batch of brand new books to become their Birthday Book.

August and September birthdays will be celebrated in October, and May birthdays will be celebrated in April. Summer birthdays will be celebrated on half-birthdays.

Your child's Birthday Book will receive a bookplate with their name and birthday, and they will be the first person to check it out from the library. The book will then become part of our library collection. A photo of your child and their Birthday Book will be shown in the library and emailed to you.

Questions? Call 512-414-2039 (ext. 52594) or email erin.tigelaar@austinisd.org and kate.slaten@austinisd.org.

To streamline the process, we would like to collect forms/payments for all 2023-24 birthday book club books by December 1, 2023. 

If you would like to participate, please follow the steps below:

1. Complete this form to let us know whose birthday you are celebrating (one form per student).
2. Pay $15 for your child's birthday book through SchoolCashOnline.

The library wants to thank our anonymous donor for the new library book truck! We are so excited to have to have an additional resource to move books around the library. Thanks for supporting the library.

Calling All Creators! PTA Reflections Contest

Brentwood PTA is participating in Reflections, a National PTA arts program and the theme this year is “I am hopeful because...”  We would love to know what makes our students hopeful! This year we will accept entries in 4 categories: photography, visual arts, literature, and film production.

Students can pick up an entry form from the community room or their art teachers, or download the entry form here. Click here for the rules and guidelines from the Texas PTA website. A PTA membership is required for participation.

Program timeline includes:

• October 28th: initial entries due to Brentwood PTA – WITH A COMPLETED ENTRY FORM, and student’s name on the art – 1 of 3 ways:
  1. Drop off in the Reflections box in the community room
  2. Turn in to art teachers
  3. Submit via email to hello@brentwoodpta.com, subject line “Reflections entry” 
• November 13-17:  volunteer judges grade final entries using rubric provided by national PTA
• November 29: winners per category are announced.
• November 30th:  top Brentwood entries per category advance to the Austin Council of PTAs, then to Texas PTA in January

Questions? Contact Meredith Boam - meredithboam@gmail.com or Kelli Knight - khk02b@gmail.com

The arts – and the National PTA Reflections program – support student success and serve as a valuable tool for building strong partnerships in our school community. Reflections is designed to help students personally connect to artistic expression, with support and mentorship from the community. Judging follows a formula from National PTA, with emphasis on expression and articulation of the theme – I am hopeful because – over skill with a medium.

Call for Donations:

Did you know that Brentwood has a long tradition of donating H-E-B gift cards to our Bulldog families that could use some extra support? Our caring counselor Ms. Mckenna will identify and distribute donated gift cards to families that need a little extra love and support. Any amount of donation is appreciated and these gift cards are especially helpful as the holiday season approaches. You can drop off physical gift cards for Ms. McKenna in the office or email electronic gift cards to tess.mckenna@austinisd.org. Bulldogs support Bulldogs! Thank you for caring for our Bulldog community!

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! All volunteers will need to register with Austin Partners In Education to undergo a background check.

Are you a musician who would like to play for our bulldogs during Music in the Mornings the first two weeks of October, or do you know of a musician who would like to play? Sign up to volunteer here: https://signup.com/go/WxJFNMV

Community Events

Looking for a night out on the town...without your child(ren)? Well, you're in luck! 5th Grade Troop 42625 is hosting a babysitting night on October 13th. Drop your kindergarten through fourth-grade students off from 6-8:30 p.m. at Brentwood Elementary for a spooktacular evening. Dinner will be provided. The night is capped at 30 kids. We look forward to seeing you there! Thank you for supporting Girl Scouts. Sign up here: Babysitting Night 10/13 6-8:30

Girl Scout Troop 42625 is collecting donations for Austin Pets Alive! Please consider donating the following supplies at the drop-off location in the Community Room on campus: Towels, blankets, flat sheets, washable pet beds (no holes/tears), crates and carriers of all sizes, pet or human medications (in the original packaging), 5-ft or 6-ft flat leashes, Martingale collars, any unopened dog or cat food (dry kibble or canned, prescription food included), opened bags of food and treats (as long as in original packaging), computers that can run Windows 10 and have at least 6 GB RAM, pet clothes (coats, costumes, or bandanas).