January/February 2023 Edition |
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Monday, February 20:
Monday, February 27:
Thursday, March 2:
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Ted Talks: Shining a Spotlight on Three Strategic Priorities
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By Ted Graf, Head of School
It is easy to be anxious these days, very easy. This has been true many times in human history and it is especially true for those of us in care of children and students–both parents and educators. While it can feel counter-intuitive given the daily demands of the world, it is important for us to think ahead and do our best to imagine what our school could become for current and future students.
In an article from 2010 about the shift to digital publishing, the writer, Ken Auletta, elicited this quote from Markus Dohle, “If you want to make a decision for the future, fear is not a very good consultant.” In my work with you, faculty/staff, students, and the Board of Trustees, I am committed to leaving fear at the door and finding all the ways that a caring, connected, nimble, and vibrant learning community can move forward.
So in the spirit of a mid-year reflection, here’s an update. Since last fall, we have made significant progress in understanding our challenges around faculty compensation; designed a thoughtful way to study and consider school size; and have made progress in understanding both the challenges and opportunities that exist in our facilities. From all of this work and effort, three strategic priorities have come into sharper focus.
And, if you’re able, I hope you’ll join me at one of my upcoming sessions where I will share my thoughts about these priorities in more depth. I invite any parent to attend the event that fits their schedule best.
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Student Spotlights: Spring 2022 |
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College Accepts
Each year, Director of College Counseling & Senior Class Sponsor Lisa Dubuque Wood supports our high schoolers as they look toward the future after high school.
One of the most exciting parts is watching the list of College Accepts and Scholarship offers as soon as they start rolling in with Early Decision in the fall. And don’t miss the start of scholarship offers that already total $705,700! We are so proud of the Class of 2023!
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Sewing Machines for Afghan Refugees
By Avé Luke-Simpson, PhD, High School Director
I want to express particular pride in two students who are living the “A” in our PACT by being advocates for Afghan refugee families here in Texas. Yara Hussain (‘23) and Stewart Haas (‘24) were showcased on both Fox 7 and KXAN on December 11 for seeing their Community Leader's (CLs) project–fundraising to purchase sewing machines to help Afghan refugee women economically support their families and themselves–come to fruition. In Yara’s words, “there’s a lot of public awareness that needs to be done for what comes next and the challenges that come with entering a new culture while dealing with the traumas of resettlements… the least we could do is show our support, our social solidarity with people on the ground protesting against this and starting fundraisers.” Stewart shared, “Making sure people recognize that everything is connected is very important, so that they actually care. And when people care, they do something about it.” Through bake sales held here at Headwaters, Yara and Stewart were able to raise sufficient funds to be able to donate the machines, seen in the photo above, through Global Impact Initiative, a local non-profit that offers workplace and educational training for local refugees.
My sincere thanks to Stewart and Yara not only for their fundraising efforts, but also for educating our larger High School community about the current economic and social issues that Afghans face. Thank you for modeling for our community how to move from resolve to action!
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Staff Spotlight: Mary Irreno |
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Meet Mary Irreno, our Primary Bluebirds Assistant Guide! Mary started with us in the 2022-2023 school year and we are so fortunate to have her on our team.
Mary is from the beautiful city of Barranquilla, Colombia on the Magdalena River, close to the Caribbean Sea. Later, she moved to Northern Virginia where she found a home as a Montessori Primary Assistant. It was there she fell in love with the Montessori philosophy and pedagogy.
After recently moving to Austin with her fiancé, Mary found Headwaters School as the perfect fit to continue in a Montessori classroom. With her background in Montessori and love of children, the Primary Bluebirds are able to experience Mary’s skilled lesson delivery and loving approach.
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Announcing The PACT Challenge & Spirit Week |
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By Alex Penry, Jessica Gallagher, and Jeslyn Schuh
The Development Office is excited to announce our new take on Amplify Austin Day–the PACT Challenge! Mark your calendars for Thursday, March 2, when we will host a concert at Springdale Station to support financial aid at Headwaters! There will be talented musicians from across our community, delicious food, games and challenges, all in support of financial aid for Headwaters Families.
Our financial aid program has a major imPACT on our families and our school. It makes up 4% of our overall budget, which might not sound like much, but it is equivalent to over $350,000! And 10% of our students receive aid.
Want to help make sure we can continue to offer, and even expand this important program? The concert is free to attend, and we’d love to see a big crowd. Commit to showing up for our students–RSVP today! And if you want to do even more, we’d love to have those of you with musical talents perform! Can’t carry a tune in a bucket? We can always use extra hands to help set up, tear down, and make sure the event runs smoothly. If you are interested in performing or helping at the event, email us at development@headwaters.org!
We will also celebrate the entire week with Spirit Days on all three campuses leading up to spring conferences. Spread the word, and dress in your best (or worst!):
- Mismatch Monday on Monday, February 27, 2023
- Twin Tuesday on Tuesday, February 28, 2023
- Hawk Wednesday (Headwaters Gear) on Wednesday, March 1, 2023
We hope to see you on March 2 for the concert and look forward to sharing more challenges as it approaches!
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Hoodie Sweatshirt Presale |
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We’re hosting a special, limited-time hoodie sweatshirt presale until Monday, February 20, 2023. During this time, you will have a chance to order a limited edition hoodie in your size.
Presale hoodie sweatshirts are $35 each. After the presale, we will only order a few extra that will be on sale for $45 per hoodie, so be sure to order in advance! We have youth (XS-XL) and adult (XS-4XL) hooded sweatshirts in a soft, navy blue, midweight poly-cotton blend. Each hoodie has our logo on the front in white.
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2023-2024 At-A-Glance Calendar Is Live |
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See the 2023-2024 At-A-Glance Calendar for next year's major dates. Please note that there are some dates still to be determined and will be added to this and the website calendar as they are finalized. The most up-to-date calendar is always online at headwaters.org/calendar. Any calendar questions? Please email Director of Communications Cait Taylor.
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Save the Date: Parent Education Event on Executive Function on 3/2 |
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Paper explosion in the backpack? Outbursts when asked to do more than one thing at a time? Hundredth reminder about brushing teeth? Shoes gone missing again? These patterns may relate to Executive Function–the skills needed for planning, organizing, starting, and finishing a task.
In a virtual, interactive event led by our school Learning Specialists Alex Gantley and Carrie Casillias, find out how executive function impacts learning at school, and learn tools for home that can build children’s confidence and lessen parent frustration. This event will be held via Zoom on Tuesday, March 21, 2023 from 6:30-8 p.m. This event is great for parents of Elementary, Middle, and High School students.
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Check out this section for a featured term that we use at Headwaters and its definition.
Debrief noun
/dēˈbrēf/
Definition
On the River Campus, our students and staff members debrief at the end of every class period and meeting. We have also added it to other parent and staff meetings on the Springs and Creek Campuses. Debriefing provides an opportunity for community members to observe and communicate what aspects of the meeting worked well and/or what could be improved in the process, the classroom environment, or the lesson itself.
Learn more Headwaters terms in our A-Z Glossary at this link.
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Here is the latest visual trivia to familiarize you with new spots or share memorable places on our three campuses. Take a look and name where this spot appears—the answer will be in the next Current!
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Last time, we shared a photo from Building 8 on the River Campus.
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Shop at any of the places below and the companies will donate a portion of the sale to Headwaters! Need more details, click here. Please note, Amazon is ending AmazonSmile on February 20, 2023. But keep using the link until that date to help the school!
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Just search for Headwaters School in the charity list. *Please note, AmazonSmile is ending on 2/20/23.*
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Randall's
Head to customer service to complete a Good Neighbor card. Headwater's ID is #12529
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Before you checkout, be sure to click "Support a Fundraiser" and search Headwaters School.
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Office Depot
Mention the Back to Schools program and our ID# 70204864.
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No need to clip! Use the app to scan your receipt.
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Search and support by using Microsoft's Bing search engine.
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Headwaters Business Directory |
We also recommend checking out the Headwaters School Community Business Directory to shop within our community. See businesses organized by category and even add your own! Click here to visit the directory.
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