Bailey Parents:

Welcome back for the '21-'22 School Year. The faculty has been busy this last week in Professional Development in preparation for receiving our students this coming Tuesday, August 17th. Here are some important points to review as the year gets started. We encourage you to go over this information with your child.

School Start & Dismissal times:

School doors open at 7:55 AM. 

8:20AM - Schoolwide announcements and take attendance
8:25AM - First period classes begin
3:50PM - Dismissal bell for all students

We ask that all students be picked up promptly after school, by 4:05PM. We do not have outside supervision available after that. 

A/B Calendar

This year our block schedule will be following a rolling ABABAB pattern. There is nothing special about Fridays anymore, we simply follow the AB pattern daily. Remember, A days cover 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th periods, and B days cover 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th periods. The first day of school, Tuesday, August 17th, is an A day.

Parent Drop-off & Pick-up Procedures 

Parents will drop off and pick up car riders at the front of the school in the front driveway loop (where the Bailey Marquee sign is). For student safety, drop-off and pick-up happen from the curbside lane ONLY. The second lane is used by cars that are exiting or using the visitor parking lot. When parking, please use only the spaces marked for visitors. We must drive slowly at all times. The teacher parking lot is located to the right of the Drop-off/Pick-up lanes -- please allow teachers and staff to make a right turn into that parking lot from the passing lane.

Bus Loop - For Buses ONLY

The bus loop is located on the west side of the campus (far left side as you face the front of the school). No parent drop-off or pick up is allowed in the bus loop. This loop is designated for AM unloading and PM loading of buses only. 

Entering the Building - Where do I go?

Students gather in the following areas once inside the school and wait until dismissed to classrooms for 1st period (approx. 8:15). Adult supervision is always present in these gathering areas. 8th graders - Large Gym 7th Graders - Small Gym 6th graders - Cafeteria and adjacent hallway Students are not allowed to wander the halls or go to their first period classes until dismissed from their gathering areas.

What do I need to Bring?

Unlike elementary school, we do not typically share all our school supplies, so it is not necessary for students to bring all their supplies on the first day of school. They will have nowhere to store them since we are not using lockers this year. Students should come prepared with the following on the first day: 

• Fully charged Chromebook
• 2 pens and pencils
• 2 pocket folders with a few sheets of loose leaf paper
• Spiral notebook

Teachers will guide students on what supplies they will need to carry in their backpacks as the week begins, but this list will get them started.

Water bottles

Students are encouraged to bring a refillable water bottle to school. Because of Covid precautions, our drinking fountains are still not in service. However, we do have three touchless water bottle refilling stations on campus. Students are encouraged to use their water bottles to stay hydrated throughout the day. Research tells us hydrated brains learn more!

Lunches

Students attend either A, B, or C lunch. For the most part those lunches coincide with class schedules for 6th (A), 7th (B), or 8th graders (C). In some cases, 7th or 8th grade students may have to follow an opposing lunch schedule based on their class schedule.

Students may bring their own lunch from home. We encourage families to supply nutritious lunches for their children. Chips and a soda, over the long run, doesn't encourage healthy eating habits.

Free breakfast and lunch in the cafeteria

or this school year, ALL Bailey students may receive a hot breakfast and/or lunch, every day, for the entire school year. Unused funds from last year have made it possible for AISD to make free meals available to ALL students again this year.

No Lunch Deliveries

Deliveries of lunches for your child are not allowed. Any food service deliveries to the school will be turned away. Do not waste your money. Students who forget their lunch are encouraged to eat the free cafeteria meal available to them.

Food Sharing is prohibited

Please do not bring to school or send your child with "food to share with friends" for special occasions like birthdays. Food sharing is not allowed. Pizza's, cupcakes, cakes and brownies, etc., cannot be delivered to school or shared with friends.

Cell Phones

The Bailey cell phone policy is as follows: When entering the building in the morning students should turn off their cell phones and store the cell phone and their earbuds in their backpacks or keep them in their pockets. Cell phones should remain off and stored out of sight for the entire school day. Students may again use their cell phones after dismissal.

If a student makes the choice to use their cell phone during the school day, they may have their phone taken up by a teacher or staff member and have it turned in to the main office where it will be held until they may collect it at the end of the day. If this happens more than once parents may be called to pick up the cell phone in the office and a fine may be assessed.

Parents are strongly encouraged not to call or send messages during the school day. This may bring unhelpful attention to your child. If you must get an urgent message to your child, please contact the main office and we can get the message to your child quickly. We want to keep their focus on their academics as much as possible.

Class schedules

Tentative class schedules are now available in the AISD Parent Portal. Please remember these are tentative class schedules as we may be making slight changes for some students through Monday. Students will receive their final schedules Tuesday morning at school.

On Tuesday morning as students arrive, they will be instructed as to how to use as system we call "Alpha Advisory". This is a simple grade level system where all students are separated alphabetically by last names to meet in different classrooms. Separation is alphabetical - like in the dictionary, by portions of last names. For example, A - Ben, then Bep - Dal, then Dam - Fre and so on. Your child must know how to figure out the section of our list where their last name falls. Again, as an example, if you are a 7th grader and your last name is Gonzalez, you might find our 7th grade Alpha list may show students with last names staring with the letters "Fre thru Hac" will go to room 309 (this is an example only). Gonzalez falls between last names starting with "Fre thru Hac", so Room 309 is where this child will pick up their schedule.

Please help your student understand they may not see their last name spelled out, but they must look at the alpha listings for where the beginning letters of their last name will fall. Don't worry, there will be plenty of people available to help them get to the right place. Once everyone has their class schedule we will release them to report to their first period class.

Parents, please allow your students to do this on their own. They can figure it out and we will have plenty of friendly faces to help them. As middle schoolers they are on their way to building independence and self-reliance. They can do it! This is a big first step to building their confidence to figure things out on their own!

Health and Safety protocols

AISD will be continuing to monitor all safety guideline updates coming from the CDC and Austin/Travis County Public Health officials, and will advise campuses and the community with ongoing updates.

Masks

Masks are now required to be worn at all times while on campus, even when outside and not involved in strenuous physical activity. This applies to Students, faculty and staff, parents and any visitors to campus. Masks are to be worn covering the entire nose and mouth area. Masks should be made of cloth or should be the commercially available disposable masks. Masks with filter vents or bandanas/neck gaiters are not allowed. Disposable masks will be available for anyone who needs one. Families and students are reminded that masks should be washed frequently.

Handwashing and sanitizing

We continue to encourage handwashing on a regular basis. 20 seconds with soap and water is still the CDC recommendation. Hand sanitizer will still be available in all classrooms and in the cafeteria.

Social Distancing

We will continue to practice social distancing whenever possible. With almost all students returning for in person instruction, we will do our best to keep students appropriately distanced whenever we can. We will utilize available desk shields and in the cafeteria we will be using new accordion shields for the tables.

New Air filters

Brand new air filters have been delivered and deployed in all of our classrooms at Bailey to help filter and circulate the air. AC filters continue to be changed on a regular basis.

Seating charts for contact tracing

In order to maintain safety and notify parents of potential exposure, AISD will continue to use seating charts in classrooms and the cafeteria. This way we can notify families as quickly as possible in case your child has been exposed to a confirm positive case of Covid 19.

At Home health screening recommended

AISD is recommending that families screen their children every morning before coming to school. Sick children should not be sent to school, especially if they are displaying any symptoms of Covid 19 or the common flu. Please keep sick children at home. Have them tested if you suspect they may have been exposed to Covid 19. Please report any positive cases with your children or with anyone in your home to the school and follow all quarantine guidelines. 

and finally... Chromebooks

Students should bring their AISD issued, fully charged Chromebook to school every day. We will not be using personal devices from home any longer. All students should be using AISD Chromebooks for all their schoolwork, both in school and at home whenever possible. If you do not have an AISD Chromebook, please make your teacher aware so we can get one issued to you as soon as possible. Damaged or non-working Chromebooks should be brought to the main office so we can determine next steps. That's a lot of information, but we hope it helps answer some of your most pressing questions. We will go over much of this information in our ZOOM calls scheduled for later today. The Zoom link information is on the Bailey website at Baileybears.org Both sessions will cover most of the same material, so you only need to attend one. John Rocha Principal