October 19, 2022 edition

The Apple will go out on Thursday next week (a day late). Please send submissions to [email protected] by end of day 10/25. Thank you!

Share appreciation and gratitude for a fellow CIS employee. Giving a shout out is a great way to recognize an individual or group for their extra effort and talent, and to contribute to a culture of appreciation, community, and kindness.  

Organizational Goals for 22-23 & Next Steps



Our organizational goals are set by the Executive Team based on the priorities from the Strategic Plan and what we want to accomplish this year in order to achieve those strategic goals. Organizational goals are goals we achieve together. Whatever your role is at CIS of Central Texas, your work is important and contributes to our success. And when we meet our goals, more students will meet their goals we well.

• The Goals Worksheet template with the Organizational Goals for this year is available in Members Only/Human Resources/GoalsWorksheets_22-23
• Department and Position Goals are being finalized by department leaders this week. We will be sharing these as soon as they are final.
• During the Fall 2022 Quarterly Pulse process, supervisors will work with individual team members to create Individual Goals and timelines
• The Quarterly Pulse worksheet and a “user’s guide” is available in Members Only/Human Resources/Quarterly Pulse_22-23
• The first Quarterly Pulse for 22-23 and Goals Worksheets with Department, Position and Individual goals are due to HR by Nov. 15

Please direct questions about the QP document or process or Goals Worksheets for 22-23 to [email protected].  

Message from Mental Health & Wellness

Field Instructor Office Hours

An optional support for field instructors will be held on

Thursday 10/27 from 9:30am-10:30am. A link will be available in Auzmor.

Want to sign up your students? Please complete the following steps:

• Complete our 2023 School Registration Form, by October 31, 2022 at 5:00pm
• For our new staff who may not have had a CIS field trip: You will need to check-in with your Principal to receive approval about attending this event first before sharing with your students. Once approval is given, please fill out Field Trip Plan and submit that to your supervisor, and then provide field trip consent forms. 
• Please then share that you have signed up with Jami Herrera, PD of College and Career Success Dept. at [email protected]

Campus Based Services staff, please provide feedback on how the CIS AmeriCorps program can support you! As we get ready to apply for our continuation grant (due Nov 3), we need to determine what type/how many AmeriCorps slots to request. Please take 10-15 minutes to complete this survey by Friday, October 21. This survey is open to all Elementary and Middle School PMs, PDs, and Senior PDs on the Campus Based Services team. 

Austin Hispanic Heritage Youth Awards

The applications for the 24th Annual Hispanic Heritage Youth Awards are open online and must be submitted no later than November 13, 2022: hhfyouthawards.com The HHF Youth Awards are for the graduating Class of 2023 - $4000 in educational grants. They will be selected for their accomplishments in the classroom, community, and for excellence in other areas. Read more: https://hhf.page.link/8TPQ 

WEBINAR Improving Health Through Nature

November 2nd, 2022

This talk will examine the growing body of evidence examining the relationship between improved health and wellbeing and time spent in nature. Topics will include dose, measuring nature exposure, health benefits and potential pathways through which nature improves health. The development of evidence-based interventions to increase time in nature particularly those that address health disparities will also be covered. This webinar will be recorded and posted following the presentation. Click here to view past webinars. 

Don't miss out on the fun!

Our annual Food for Thought fundraising event will be on Wednesday, Nov. 9 at Austin City Limits!

Find out about Food for Thought

Volunteer Opportunities!

The winner in last week's Apple drawing for a CIS Hoodie was Kenia Ocegueda!  

WeWork in Austin held a donation drive to support CIS at Harris Elementary School. They supplied mindfulness tools and supplies that will fill the calming corner that is being created in the CIS room. We are so appreciative of this donation and the support received from WeWork!

Meet Tracy Cohen's baby Ezra

Sharon Vigil, Carmine Salvucci and Karen Gonzalez at CIS National Town Hall with CIS founder Bill Milliken

CIS at Camino Real ES hosted a Underage Drinking Prevention program to all 5^th graders. CIS co-facilitated with the SEL instructor to bring in the Texas National Guard Joint Counter Drug Task Force and all students at Camino Real ES were able to see the helicopter land and a DEA agent gave a presentation. CIS brought in the Fire Department and our SRO to the event for emergency and security, as well as to show partnership between parties. The fire department did an amazing presentation to all grade levels. CIS had a site visit from a representative of our HR department who treated us to lunch. Thank you Tonnyna Henderson!

Spooky season has commenced at Bluebonnet ES in Bastrop! 

Renelle Cruz, PM at Bowie Elementary with Ralph Gonzales (her Tío) founder of Nosotros la Gente, a nonprofit in San Marcos that provides shoes to the students of SMCISD. Thank you Nosotros la Gente for providing 21 pairs of shoes for our Bowie Champions! 

Communities In Schools of Central Texas surrounds students with a community of support, empowering them to stay in school and achieve in life.