David Matustik, deputy communications director for the city of Austin, has been a Austin Partners in Education Classroom Coach for the past seven years.
Each week, he spends 45 minutes reading with second-graders at St. Elmo Elementary School.
He said he has made a deep connection with his kids.
“We become, in a sense, another family to the children,” Matustik said as he talked about his experiences.
On Monday, Laura Bush will visit Blackshear Elementary Fine Arts Academy to announce the 2015 grants from the Laura Bush Foundation for America’s Libraries. Six schools in Austin ISD will receive grants up to $7,000 each, as part of more than $820,000 in grants being awarded to 123 schools in 35 states.
AISD recipients include: Blackshear Elementary Fine Arts Academy, Anita Uphaus Early Childhood Center, Dobie Pre-Kindergarten Center, Reilly Elementary School, Palm Elementary School and Travis High School.
What: School visit by Former First Lady Laura Bush
For the second consecutive year, the Bedichek Middle School Junior Marine Corps earned top national honors.
The National Middle School Drill Team Championship is the largest annual JROTC competition in the nation and draws thousands of students.
The Bedichek team received top awards in every competitive event, including:
Seven Austin ISD high schools are among the best in the nation, according to the 2015 U.S. News and World Report rankings.
Five schools—Anderson, Austin, Bowie, Liberal Arts Science Academy and McCallum high schools—reclaimed spots on the publication’s annual list of "Best High Schools." The Ann Richards School for Young Women Leaders and Akins High School were ranked for the first time.
After evaluating more than 21,000 high schools throughout the country, U.S. News and World Report ranked:
Austin ISD, in collaboration with Austin Partners in Education, will celebrate its best-of-the-best at Salute. The annual event recognizes some of the district’s outstanding team members for their continued dedication to student excellence and achievement in schools.
Who: Superintendent Paul Cruz and APIE Board Chairman Mark Curry will host the event. Mayor Steve Adler will co-present the Teacher of the Year award.
Two teams of Kealing Middle School students spent last weekend answering roughly 1,600 questions during 22 rounds of head-to-head competition.
Kealing qualified two teams during the season for the quiz bowl national championship tournament, which was held in Dallas.
Kealing A, The Squirrel Team, has been playing together for the past three years. Daniel Chan, Evan Hochstein, Ryan Russo and Anna Tutuianu won the title and were named national champions.
Austin ISD's first graduating classes of the Early College High School program are graduating from The Austin Community College District this week.
The Kellogg Foundation is awarding Austin ISD $330,000 for a nine-month planning initiative to build better communication with families whose children attend schools in the Rundberg area.
The project includes training school staff and parents on community engagement strategies at Hart, McBee, Padron and Wooldridge elementary schools and at the Lucy Read pre-K Demonstration School. Trained staff and volunteers will then conduct home visits, on-campus meetings and interviews of parents and families.
