Bulldog Bark Edition 4: Fall Is in the Air

By Brentwood PTA Communications CommitteeSep 8, 2024

Hello, Brentwood families!

Thank you to all who attended our PTA meeting this past week, and for the great conversation about exploring the Capitol, connecting with our representatives, and advocating for public schools. We will continue this conversation during our November PTA meeting as we learn about public school finance.

And we hope you’ll save the date for Rally Day at the Capitol , on Monday, February 24, 2025. This is an all-hands-on-deck event where students, parents, and teachers gather with PTAs from across the state to rally for public education and meet with policymakers to tell our stories.

Celebrate Diversity

Did you know? Brentwood PTA has a Diversity Committee! We aim to develop programs that celebrate diversity and inclusion for the Brentwood community. Keep an eye out for the Celebrate Diversity blurb—we'll be providing book recommendations and other resources throughout the school year. And we welcome new members: contact Shimona Thakrar at Shimona.Thakrar@gmail.com to join the team. Stay tuned for upcoming events in the Bark and on the Konstella calendar!

Principal Saenz-Hosack's Corner

Greetings, Brentwood Bulldog Families—I hope this message finds you well! I am thrilled to share that we’ve had an incredible start to the school year, filled with enthusiasm, learning, and community building.

Our students have been actively engaged in their learning from day one, thanks to our incredible staff. We are already seeing so much individual growth as they set academic and personal goals. It is inspiring to witness their commitment to being proactive and responsible for their own learning.

In addition to classroom learning, our students are stepping up as leaders in various ways, both inside and outside the classroom. Whether it’s through helping peers, taking initiative in classroom discussions, or participating in school-wide activities, they are showing what it means to be responsible, engaged members of our school community. As a Leader in Me School, we continue to focus on our 7 Habits in the classroom and throughout the building.

Our teachers have been working hard to create welcoming and supportive classroom environments where every student feels a sense of belonging. Strong classroom communities are forming, and it's wonderful to see students collaborating, supporting one another, and building lasting relationships.

In continued conversations with staff and PTA, we are always looking for needs on campus where we can ask for volunteer support. We will be communicating those areas of additional help soon. As always, teachers will reach out to families if they need specific support in their classrooms. If you plan to volunteer pretty regularly, please ensure you have gone through VOLY (our new district volunteer process) before signing up to be a Brentwood volunteer. It requires a background check that can take up to 5 days.

Austin ISD has implemented a new system for parents to send notes or messages regarding student absences or tardies. Please see the directions below:

Go to: https://www.austinisd.org/attendance/report-absence
Fill out the form and make sure to choose Brentwood ES
Please know that any documentation should be submitted as soon as possible (recommended within 48 hours after the absence has occurred).
Documentation must support the reason for the absence to be coded correctly.
Phone calls are not required to report an absence in advance; per policy we can’t address absences in advance. The campus CANNOT accept phone calls or voicemail messages as documentation for a student's absence.

Please know that attendance is crucial to student success. It is also directly tied to school funding as well.

Remember to call the front office if you are picking your child up early. Teachers are not required or expected to check their Konstella app during instructional time. Thank you for your understanding!

As we continue this school year, I’m excited to see how our students will thrive in their learning and leadership. Thank you for your ongoing support and partnership. Together, we are shaping a successful and meaningful school year!

Warm regards,

Jessica Saenz-Hosack, Brentwood School Principal

So Fresh and So Clean—New Bulldog Merch Is Here!

Place your pre-orders for brand-new Brentwood swag before September 25, the date of Picnic on the Playground—and our first 2024 Bulldog merch drop. Fresh T-shirt and Yard sign designs (see pic at the top of this blog post) are posted in the PTA store now. Pick-up instructions and timing in the Brentwood Community Room will be shared soon.

Calling All Math Volunteers

We're excited to get Math Pentathlon going for Divisions 2 (2nd–3rd grade) and 3 (4th–5th grade), and we need your help to make it a success. The group will meet from 3:15 to 4:15 every other week, on a day that works best for our volunteers. Whether you're a math whiz or just eager to support our students, your assistance will make a huge difference. No prior experience is necessary—just bring your enthusiasm. Once we have our volunteers, we'll hold an info. session to go over everything. For more information or to sign up, please contact Jairy Grisaffe at jairyg@gmail.com, or sign up on the Math Pentathlon/Committee page in Konstella. Let's work together to inspire a love for math in our students!

The Carnival Is Coming!

We’re excited to share that one of our biggest fundraisers, the Brentwood Halloween Carnival, is slated for Saturday, October 19 from 3–6 p.m. As always, there will be something for everyone: a haunted house, a flashlight box maze, bounce houses, games with prizes, and delicious treats and food trucks. We’ll also have all sorts of performers, including the Lamar Dance Company, Lamar Choir, Lamar Band, Lamar Theatre, Lamar Orchestra, and the McCallum BlueBrigade Dance team. Check the performance schedule here. And of course, costumes are welcome! In an effort to reduce, reuse, and recycle, we are collecting gently used stuffed animals and small toys to use for our carnival game prizes. Please drop off any donations between Sept. 30 and October 11 in the Community Room. Join us for a great time and support our school!

Our Amazing Community

Join us on Sept. 25, 5–7 p.m., for Picnic on the Playground, an evening of community gathering and kids going nuts on the playground. Bring your dinner or buy from the food trucks parked in the drop off/pick-up area, and don’t forget a blanket or some lawn chairs. Watch Konstella for updates on specific food truck vendors in the days to come.

Scout It Out

Pack 49 is holding their annual Join Scouting Night on Thursday, Sept. 12 at 6:30 p.m. at Brentwood Park. Join Scouting Night is an event hosted by Cub Scout Pack 49 each year to recruit new scouts to the Pack. Pack 49 is a family pack, welcoming all K-5 boys and girls, most from the Brentwood/Crestview neighborhood—but Scouts from all over are welcome to join! Contact hindymo@gmail.com with any questions.

Check the Calendar

Follow along on Konstella or subscribe to our Brentwood Elementary Google Calendar to stay up-to-date on upcoming school events, holidays, and PTA activities. Please note:

Sept. 9–12: Book Fair (8 a.m.–6 p.m. Mon. & Tues., 8 a.m.–4 p.m. Wed. & Thur.)
Sept. 12: Join Scouting Night (6:30 p.m.)
Sept. 23–27: Tie-Dyeing Week
Sept. 24 (6 p.m.) & 25 (12 p.m.): GT Family Info Session (virtual)
Sept. 25: Picnic on the Playground (5–7 p.m.)
Sept. 25: Deadline for new Brentwood merchandise pre-orders
Sept. 30–Oct. 11: Gently used toy donation dropoff for Halloween Carnival
Oct. 3–4: Student Holidays (no school)
Oct. 10: Middle School Panel @ PTA (6:30-7:30 p.m. in the Library)
Oct. 19: Halloween Carnival (3–6 p.m.)

The Bulldog Fund

Brentwood PTA runs an annual, one-time per year, no-hassle fundraiser we call the Bulldog Fund. The donations collected in the fund are used for essential programming like literacy and math software, library books, music, art, and more. Donate HERE!

Let Us Know

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

PTA Website: http://brentwoodpta.com PTA Facebook: Brentwood Elementary PTA
Twitter: @BrentwoodAISD
Instagram/Threads: @BrentwoodBulldogs_AISD Brentwood Website: http://brentwood.austinschools.org/

Dear Brentwood families,

Can you believe it? Tuesday is the first day of school, and our community is R-E-A-D-Y ready for a wonderful year! Campus opens at 7:10 a.m. and the final bell rings at 7:40 a.m. Dismissal is at 3:10 p.m. A few other important reminders:

All grades are using Konstella for class and community communication. Please refer to your student’s welcome email from their teacher for instructions, or email hello@brentwoodpta.com for any help setting up or navigating Konstella.
Need to know when and where to drop off and pick up your kiddo on campus? (Spoiler alert: no more cars allowed at the front entrance on Yates!) Check out our Arrivals & Dismissals guide.
It’s tie-dye season at Brentwood Elementary! Visit the PTA Store to place tie-dye t-shirt orders by Friday, September 6, and keep an eye out on Konstella for volunteer opportunities to help your student’s class with their tie-dyes.
Be sure to purchase your 2024–2025 PTA membership—each one is good for one year and must be renewed annually. PTA Membership is a great way to stay up to date on the happenings of our community, and ALSO an excellent opportunity to support our students, the staff, and public education.

Use Your Voice

Advocacy is the central role of the PTA and we believe that PTAs, families, students, principals, and school campuses all have powerful roles to play in providing environments in which every single student can reach their full potential.

We are gearing up for the 89th Legislative session this winter and the Austin Council of PTAs (ACPTA) has created a list of legislative priorities that we should all advocate for:
-Keeping teachers
-Increasing funding
-Saying no to vouchers and charter expansion
-Funding more mental health services
-Increasing support for Special Education
-Addressing school safety
-Reducing number of STAAR assessments, eliminating high stakes
-Ensuring the dignity and safety of our LGBTQ+ students
-Disrupting the school-to-prison pipeline
-Re-evaluating the Recapture formula

Do you feel confused or overwhelmed by the Legislative session? Wondering where to begin? You are not alone! Come to the first General Body Meeting of the year (after Back-to-School night on September 5 at 6:30 p.m.) where we will hear from Joe Morris, a lifelong Austin resident, McCallum grad, and former lobbyist. He will help us understand the ins and outs of life at the Capitol and how to best use our voices to advocate for all students.

Can’t make the meeting but still want to be informed? Sign up to receive the Texas PTA's Under the Dome newsletter, full of great information about advocacy efforts at the state level and ways to get involved.

Save the date for Rally Day at the Capitol, Monday, February 24, 2025, an inspiring, all-hands-on-deck event where students, parents, and teachers gather with PTAs from across the state to rally for public education and meet with policymakers to tell our stories.

Next Up...

Our Boo-hoo/Woo-hoo Breakfast for first-time kinder families will be hosted after drop-off on our first day of school, Tuesday, August 20, in the Community Room on campus.

We hope that everyone spent all that free time reading this summer... The deadline to submit the Summer Reading Challenge form is Friday, August 23. Students who complete the Challenge by the deadline will have lemonade during recess. Happy reading, Bulldogs!

Back-to-School Night will be Thursday, September 5 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.

Our first PTA General Body meeting will take place immediately after Back-to-School Night, from 6:30–7:30 p.m. on Sept 5. Again, our speaker, Joe Morris, is a former lobbyist who began in the Texas Senate in 1991, working in 10 legislative sessions before retiring. Morris is a native Austinite, McCallum graduate, and Allandale resident. Come learn how to best use our voices to advocate for all public schools!

Our Brentwood Halloween Carnival will be Saturday, October 19 from 3–6 p.m. Mark your calendars for this fun annual event.

Donate Today

We will keep accepting donations for the Bulldog Fund as our school year gets started… Don’t miss out on contributing to our goal of giving each teacher $300 to spend as they see fit for their classroom. Please help us knock this $15,000 goal out of the park—no amount is too small!

After-School Activities

Our list has been updated but is still in progress, so continue to check back as needed in the next few weeks. Note that we only include programs that are located at Brentwood or provide transportation from the school.

Call for Entries

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

Our Amazing Sponsors

Students aren’t the only ones back at Brentwood... PTA Sponsors—both new and returning—are also back to kick off the new school year. It takes a village and we are grateful for ours. Thank you, sponsors!