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May 17, 2021
Dear KIPP Texas Families,
Happy Mother’s Day to all of the moms, mom-figures, aunties, grandmothers, friends, and teachers who support and love on our KIPPsters every day!
This week, all the KIPP regions around the country are celebrating the Operations Team. At KIPP Texas, these are the teams that make sure our schools and our organization run smoothly and safely. This year, I have been incredibly thankful for the excellent work the Operations Team has led, particularly around winter Storm Uri recovery and COVID-response. While Texas has an average positivity rate of 3.3% in COVID testing, KIPP Texas is seeing a positivity rate of less than 1% among those we test.
Our KIPPsters experience fewer learning interruptions in our schools due in large part to the Operations team’s work to implement health and safety protocols, acquire and distribute PPE, clean and disinfect our classrooms and buildings, and implement our contact tracing protocols. In addition, they have purchased, distributed, and supported Chromebooks and hotspots so every KIPPster who needed a device to learn had them and secured and packaged enough meals to safely distribute 1.3 million healthy meals to in-person and virtual Little KIPPsters!
We are so thankful for the incredible teams that support and lead operations at KIPP Texas. Little and Big KIPPsters are able to learn safely virtually and in-person every day because of their work. This week, you’ll find multiple links on our social media pages (follow KIPP Texas on Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | YouTube) where you can express gratitude for these amazing members of the KIPP Texas Team & Family.
Please take a couple of minutes to review the update below:
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Academic Calendars Update
As a follow up to my message from a couple of weeks ago, I want to let you know that the Academic Calendar for the 2021-22 school year was approved by the KIPP Texas Board of Directors on April 27. The calendars below have been posted to our website. We anticipate one additional update – a minor change and we will provide updates once finalized and approved by the Board.
KIPP Texas-Austin KIPP Texas-Dallas-Fort Worth KIPP Texas-Houston KIPP Texas-San Antonio
As you saw in my communication two weeks ago, there are several important dates to note:
First day of school for students: August 9
Last day of school for students: June 2 (San Antonio will be June 3)
Early release for students on Fridays: Approximately 2:00 pm*
Spring Break (Austin/Dallas Fort-Worth/Houston): March 14-18, 2022
Spring Break (San Antonio): March 7-11, 2022
* The specific weekly early release time will be communicated by your school and will allow us to provide ongoing professional development throughout the year.
Advocacy Corner
This week is National Charter School Week and one way you can support all public charter schools in Texas, our students, their families and our entire Team and Family is by asking your legislators to support charter school bills this Legislative Session.
The Texas Public Charter Schools Association has provided this simple and easy to use portal where you can contact your legislators with a draft letter you can customize with your personal story. Once you enter your personal information (name and address), you’ll automatically be matched with your legislators. Customize the letter or simply hit “take action” and you’ll be done. It took me less than 5 minutes!
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I’m glad for the opportunities the month of May gives us to celebrate our teachers, mothers, mother- figures, the AAPI and Haitian communities, nurses, public charter schools and so many more members of the Team & Family! Eid-al-Fitr Mubarak to our Muslim Team and Family who will celebrate the end of the month of Ramadan this week.
We are looking forward to another great week of joyful and academically excellent learning with your KIPPsters as so many of our KIPPsters show what they know on STAAR tests, AP exams, and other end-of-year assessments. Have a great week!
With gratitude,
Sehba Ali
Important Links:
Follow KIPP Texas on Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | YouTube
