January 24, 2019

PRINCIPALLY SPEAKING

A few weeks ago, I wrote to inform you of the District's response to mounting safety concerns about our afternoon dismissal and the road entering our campus. Today, I am asking that you please take note of the double yellow lines painted on the road. As you know, these lines occur where passing is prohibited. In the next few weeks, signage will also appear in efforts to make clear that passing in our queue is restricted. The recent accidents and many near accidents resulting from the frequent occurrence of car after car passing the line at speeds well over the posted 10 MPH speed limit have become a source of concern for our campus.

This is how our dismissal looks like a typical afternoon. Cars begin arriving for pick-up as early as 2:45. Students are released from class at 3:30. By 3:35 the queue is typically moving, but still wrapped around our playground. By 3:37 traffic is flowing more smoothly and the line is moving continually forward. At 3:42 the last car in line is at the marquee, and by 3:45 the last of our kids have been picked up. While there are always places to improve, a 15 minute dismissal process for approximately 250 car riders is viewed as pretty efficient. As we investigate other possible solutions, please take a moment to look at the following tips to help us help you get to your next stop.

1) Please talk to your car rider about looking for your vehicle. Those students who are actively looking for their ride home load faster than those whom teachers have to seek out.

2) Please pull forward as far as you can when you get to the awning. We should be able to fit four cars under the awning and four more cars in the adjacent pick-up lane. (2 before and 2 after the crosswalk in each lane)

3) Do not block crosswalks. We will not escort children to cars unless we can use the crosswalk. When they are blocked by a car, they cannot be utilized and that slows down our loading of children.

4) Do not pass in the queue. Aside from being unsafe, cars exiting that stop to allow for these oncoming cars are creating a ripple effect down to the pickup area, preventing students from accessing their vehicles and further slowing down the traffic flow.

Thank you for your cooperation in keeping our students, staff and families safe by anticipating the wait in the car line and planning accordingly.

Is there a FTE Staff Member You Would Like to Recognize...

Falcon Finest Acknowledgements

Please join me in spreading those feel good vibes around our campus. Everyday our bus drivers, custodians, office staff, and teachers are doing incredible things. If there is a FTE staff member you would like to recognize for their contributions, please let me know by clicking the link below.

Please Click Here

SCHOOL NEWS

Love is in the air- but so is the flu!

The influenza virus is a contagious respiratory illness that generally presents suddenly with high fevers, cough, body aches, fatigue, sore throat and sometimes stomach upset as well. It is typically passed through droplets in the air (or on hands) from coughing, sneezing or even talking, but can also be spread through surface contact. It can range from mild to severe, but is typically treated at home with rest, hydration and treating the symptoms with medication. The CDC is a reliable source on all things flu: https://www.cdc.gov/flu/weekly/fluactivitysurv.htm

Please be aware that flu cases have been on the rise, not only in our district, but also in Texas and the nation. We have had many cases in all grades. I know our wonderful teachers are helping remind kids to wash hands and are wiping down their classrooms like crazy! You can help, too!

Preventing the flu:

1.) Flu vaccine- it's not too late! https://youtu.be/K0HriqF9-E0

2.) Handwashing- please take time TODAY to watch your buddy wash their hands properly and reinforce that good habit as a way of preventing the spread of illness.

3.) Staying home when ill- not only fever, but also consider if the student can participate in the school day (did the student cough all night, is the student overly fatigued, is the https://youtu.be/K0HriqF9-E0student aching all over, is the student eating and drinking well, etc).

Feel free to email Nurse Gaither with any questions or concerns! AGaither@eanesisd.net

IMPORTANT REMINDERS

AUTHOR VISIT with Kat Kronenberg

On January 25th at 9:00 AM, the FTE K-2 students will host local Austin author, Kat Kronenberg. Her two children's books, Dream Big and Love Big, have won the Mom's Choice Gold Award.

If you would like to get one of her books, please return the book order form with payment to the FTE library by January 24th. Please click here to see the order form for more details.

Purchase Your FTE Yearbook Now

Purchase your yearbook online at: balfour.com

Yearbooks are a first come first basis and can ONLY be purchased online and no extras are ordered.

Additionally, the 5th grade pridelines are for sale! There is a hard deadline of February 15, 2019 and no exceptions will be made. Visit balfour.com and select "yearbook ads" and follow the instructions online.

If you have any questions please contact Kim Fromberg @ kfromberg@eanesisd.net

BOOSTER CLUB CORNER

It's Auction time!! Come support our school and mingle with other wonderful parents.

Tickets now on sale:
http://Fte.cbo.io/

FOREST TRAIL FIGHTS HUNGER! JOIN THE FUN!

Central Texas Food Bank feeds 46,000 Central Texans each week - and 1/3 of them are children! Let's help them do their thing!

Please send donations of non-perishable food and diapers and/or cash to Forest Trail before February 1st! FTE supplies Central Texas Food Bank with thousands of pounds of donations each year and they count on this kind of support from drives like our's!

Your child will be entered into a drawing to receive a photo with Forest the Falcon and they will get a signed photo of Forest if they bring in 5 food items or one package of diapers!

Which grade will bring in the most donations?! Our 5th grade helpers are collecting and tallying the donations each morning and will post the results in the hallway for all to see!

Join the fun & donate!!

Have a first-grader? Love to catch up with friends and eat great food?

Then block March 2nd on your calendar - the first grade parent social is coming soon!

We'll be having "a blind tasting of Texas Independence" at the home of Michelle & Kevin Brandl. What on earth does that mean?!? Stay tuned for further details and for ticket purchasing information - this is one you're not going to want to miss!

EISD NEWS

2019 Westies: Vote for your favorite finalist!

So many of our friends and partners are finalists for the Westlake Chamber of Commerce Westies, including Westlake High School students in the Young Citizen of the Year category, WHS teachers Ed Snouffer and Jocelyn Wright Bixler and Forest Trail Elementary's Jane Lewis up for Educator of the Year, as well as #EanesSupt Dr. Tom Leonard for Citizen of the Year. Vote by 2/1 at www.westlakechamber.com!