Spring Branch ISD Featured News

(Spanish)

Dear SBISD Parents and Students,

Over the past two weeks, parents, students and teachers have learned a great deal about how to “attend” school from home, navigate new technology tools, and structure learning time. By now you should have heard from your child’s teachers, and you likely are making daily adjustments to schedules that work best for your family. 

Going into our third week of staying home, there may be moments of stress for parents or children. The Family Character Workouts posted in the Digital Backpack’s Social Emotional Learning Support tab offer fun ways to engage as a family. We thank our partners at Character Strong for making these available.  

This week, more of our teachers, especially at the secondary level, are moving assignments and courses to itsLearning (ITSL) our learning management system. For these courses, the Digital Backpack continues to serve as another layer of instructional support. 

Thanks for working with us as we continue learning together.

Important Reminders

Contact Information
It’s really important for us to have your accurate email addresses, phone numbers and mailing addresses. If your information has changed, please update today in Skyward Family Access (Link). Read on for important communications coming soon:

High School and Middle School Families:

• College Board AP Communications
  • Students should have a working email address they monitor regularly. The College Board is sending all communications via the registration email address your child used to register for an AP exam.  Students also will receive their AP exam "join code" at this email address.
• Course Verification Letters
  • Soon, Course Verification letters will be uploaded to Skyward Family Access. These are individualized for each student going into 6th through 12th grade next year and show the courses each student chose for next year during the course selection process.
  • Once Course Verification letters are available, you will receive an email from your student’s school with specific instructions about how to communicate any desired changes.
  • Students and parents should review the course selections and follow guidance from your school should you need to make any changes for the year ahead.
• PK/Elementary Families
  • Beginning the week of April 20, self-study paper packets will be mailed to your home address for each child in grades PK-5, as we discontinue our drive-thru packet pickup process. (Note the self-study guides distributed this past Friday included instructional material for week 3 and 4.)  
• Grading Guidelines for all Grade-Levels
  • Our principals and district staff have been reviewing options for grading guidelines, in light of our extended and unforeseen closure. Our priority focus has been to ensure no student is disadvantaged as a result of Covid-19.
  • Please look for adjusted grading guidelines for the remainder of the year to be announced in the coming days.
• District Holidays - April 10 and 13
  • The upcoming district student and staff holidays on Friday, April 10, and Monday, April 13, will be observed. Please do not expect teacher outreach during this time.
  • Due to the upcoming long weekend, Week 4 Digital Backpack content (April 14-17) will go live on Thursday, April 9.

Thank you

Please join me in thanking our teachers, many of whom are managing their own families at home while continuing to do their very best to differentiate learning and supports for your children and keep them connected to their learning and to each other.

Thanks also to you and your children! Last week children submitted many great pieces of art through our Art Challenge. FlipGrids and Zooming taking places across our system has been amazing!

It was so rewarding to witness the Collective Greatness of our families at Friday’s packet pick-up as parents, in car after car, collected packets for neighbors and relatives.

District eBook usage has skyrocketed! Check out this chart comparing the last week of March last year to this week. Way to read!!

Thanks again for everything.  Have a great week and, please take the time to enjoy the upcoming 4-day weekend!

Kristin Craft, Ed.D.
Associate Superintendent for Academics