September 6, 2023 edition

Shout Outs

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.  

Nominate someone for Employee Excellence. Click here for the form and here to learn about employee recognition & appreciation at CIS of Central Texas. 

Committee 2023-2024

Please use the online form to either submit a suggestion for a committee we should have this year, and/or to volunteer to Co-Chair a committee. Deadline for this step is Sept. 11^th

Our committee recruitment period when all staff will be invited to sign up for a committee will be from October 4-20^th. Please send any questions to April Clark, [email protected] or Debra Joiner, [email protected].  

AISD Deadline Extension for STAAR EOY Assessments

• AISD is currently updating eCST and remapping all of the data integrations; we've heard from the district that STAAR scores will not be accessible through eCST until the end of August. If you are a PM working in AISD, your deadline for entering EOY STAAR assessments on your final participant list is extended to Friday, September 8th. We are required to submit final outcome data to TEA by mid-September, so please be timely

Reminder: Sign up for an Apollo 102 Session (Logging Services)

• We have just two more Apollo 102 sessions remaining! You can sign up for Apollo 102 through Auzmor Events. Search by keyword 'Apollo', then click 'View All' to see all sessions available. If you can't see the sessions, please contact IT for support; you may need to switch to classic view to be able to see events. Thank you to those who have already attended a session!

Congrats to our PMD Closeout Feedback Raffle Winners!

• Thank you to everyone who submitted feedback regarding the 2022-2023 closeout process! Congratulations to Asia Eblen and Keren Hernandez - you both have won a Salesforce swag bag! PMD will follow up with you to coordinate receiving your swag bag 🙂 

PMD Supports Available

• PMD Office Hours will start the week of August 14th and will be Mondays 3-4pm and Fridays 8-9am via Teams.
• Email [email protected] if you need support, have questions, or have a feature request/suggestion.
• (NEW!) Apollo FAQs is a new document that contains answers to commonly asked questions. PMD will update this on a weekly basis.

MH & W Department Updates

Field instructors and Task supervisors: Here is a great series of presentations to help support your supervision of interns.

September 7, 12 – 1p

“Fostering Interprofessional Engagement and Communication with Students” with Professors

Joan Assef and Saran Sloan

Register here

October 4, 12 – 1p

“Supporting Structured and Robust Internships” with Professors Mary Beer and Robin Smith

Register here



November 6, 12 – 1p

“Self-Sustaining/Resiliency/Supporting Student Work/Life Balance” with Dr. Eboni Calbow and Anita Guajardo

Register here

Campus Visits 2023-24

Campus Visit Hosts 2023-24

CISCT hosts four Campus Visits during the school year to provide an immersive experience by connecting prospective and key stakeholders with the CIS mission through first-hand accounts of students, CIS staff, and administrators. Stakeholders include donors, advocates, and volunteers. The Campus Visit is NOT a fundraiser. 

This year we are introducing the opportunity for Program Managers to nominate themselves or Program Directors to nominate their Program Managers to host a Campus Visit. Click the link below to learn more about Campus Visit criteria, see the dates selected for 2023-24, and nominate a Program Manager.

“Our Campus Visit was exciting! I was a bit nervous at first. But the Development Team was always available for my questions and made it easier with their planning guidelines. And my students had a blast as panelists and greeters. Having lunch delivered to them on campus was a bonus!”-- Emelda Hinojosa Hays CISD

Campus Visit Host Nominations

SAFA & Plus 1 Updates

Plus 1 - CIS has been allotted an additional $13,900 in Plus 1 Funds that are available immediately and must be distributed by Friday, September 14th.  

• The eligibility, family requirements, how the payments work, and the CIS process are outlined in Plus 1 Guidance.docx  
• Use last year Travis County SAFA Request Form - Spring 2023 to request Plus 1 funds. This year’s SAFA Forms are not linked to Apollo yet. 
• This round of Plus 1 assistance will not be part of the 23-24 SAFA Financial Assistance tiers.  
• New PMs please reach out to your PD or me for additional support around Plus 1 and/or filling out the Travis County SAFA Request Form.  
• If we use all this funding by September 14th, we will be eligible for an additional round of funds. This is a unique opportunity to support our families, but we must act quickly. SAFA will be making pledges with the full amount past due on an account.   

Snack Packs have not shipped. An email update will be sent this week. Thanks for your patience as we work out our rhythm with our new vendor. 

Hygiene Items – We are waiting for the delivery of a couple of items. As soon as we have all the items a plan to pick them up at Central will be emailed.   

Financial Assistance – We are working to finalize details with Project Connect and incorporate the process into Apollo. The only financial assistance we can process at this time is Plus 1. 

Vision vouchers and bus passes – Until SAFA is fully incorporated into Apollo request via last year’s form depending on your ISD. 

• Rural ISD – Rural ISD SAFA Request Form 2022-23 
• AISD, CC, MISD, ASPIRE – Travis County SAFA Request Form - Spring 2023 

Special Thanks to Yoatzin Galvan for bringing this to the Communications Department. Click here for Attendance Matters Flyers!

HISTORY OF ATTENDANCE AWARENESS MONTH: September

Skipping school is a problem that exists across the globe and seems to be worsening in modern times. This may be because people would rather do something entertaining than go to school and get bored in a class. Did you know more than eight million students are missing school so much that their academic records have been affected? Many times, the students don’t even realize how bad the problem is till they are given a warning. By that time, it’s too late. Students are also falling into the phase of chronic absences. This means they are missing 10% or more of their school days.

According to another research, children living in poverty are two to three times more likely to be chronically absent. The worst part? School is the last chance for these individuals to make it and break the circle of poverty. Sadly, students at a young age often fail to realize the consequences of their actions and continue to make excuses to stay out of school. However, often school is missed due to illnesses and transport issues. Hence, it is up to the parents and guardians to ensure effective measures are taken to ensure there are no hurdles in the child’s path.

To spread awareness and build the future of numerous children, the Attendance Awareness Campaign was first celebrated in September 2013. The goal of the campaign is to reduce chronic absence and has over 97 national organizations working in partnership to spread the message. Click here for the rest of the article.

Congrats this weeks Winner of a Starbucks card is Julianne DeFillipis!

Program Manager Zaynab Adesokan at Bertha Sadler Means with a student who is part of the leadership circle of young women leaders at back to school night. 

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