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Dear Aldine Community,

We strive to always do what’s best for the Aldine community and are unyielding in our commitment to our students so that they can thrive to their fullest potential. I am incredibly proud of our staff’s dedication and teamwork, especially these past weeks during the Omicron surge. I am also proud of our parents’ partnership and support in working with us by monitoring their children, reporting symptoms and cases, and ensuring we’re all working together for our students and teachers.

Our teachers and staff have met challenges head-on, experiencing increased workloads, teacher shortages due to COVID, and more. During these challenging times, we want to ensure that our teachers have the necessary time to be fully prepared so they can provide our students with the best learning experience possible.

With the Board’s approval, the district has adjusted the 2021-2022 academic calendar. We changed three Fridays to Student Holidays/Staff Planning Days. Students will not be required to make up the three days. All campus-based staff will report to their school.

Please update your calendars to include these Student Holidays/Staff Planning Days:

• Friday, January 28
• Friday, February 4
• Friday, February 11

Last week, you received an email about the American Rescue Plan Survey regarding Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funding. Your feedback in four areas is vital to planning and implementation efforts as we move forward, recovering from COVID-19 and utilizing the funding to make the most significant impact for our students. To take the survey, please click here.

Today, we opened the survey for the 2022-2023 academic school year calendar. I encourage you to take the survey and provide as many details as possible. Your feedback will be reviewed and used to make a recommendation to the Board of Trustees. The survey will remain open until Friday, January 28. The final calendar for the 2022-2023 school year will be announced in February. Click here to take the survey.

Earlier this month, the district and community honored our Board Trustees during the board meeting to celebrate School Board Recognition Month. It is fitting that the featured guest on the most recent episode of All The Things: The Aldine ISD Podcast is one of our Board of Trustees, Mr. Paul Shanklin. I encourage you to click here to listen as he talks about making a difference as a school board member and providing choices and opportunities for students.

Lastly, I hope to see many of you at the 63rd Annual Aldine ISD FFA Livestock Show set this week, Wednesday, January 26 through Friday, January 28. Our Future Farmers of America students put in many hours of work year after year — let’s go out to support them as a community!

With Aldine Pride,

Dr. LaTonya M. Goffney
Superintendent

UPCOMING EVENTS

• Jan. 24 – Feb. 17: Black History Oratory Campus Competition 
• Jan. 25: Aldine ISD has partnered with the University of Houston-College of Education in the Community Teacher Equity Development (CTED) program. The CTED program is now recruiting community teachers of color, especially male teachers of color. Interested individuals can RSVP to join an information session on Tuesday, Jan. 25, at 4 p.m. Click here for details about the CTED program, how to apply, and how to RSVP for the session.
• Jan. 26-28: The 63rd Annual Aldine ISD FFA Livestock Show will be held at the M.O. Campbell Educational Center, 1865 Aldine Bender Rd. (Houston, TX 77032). Click here for details including, the Buyers’ Luncheon, the Sale of Champions, and how to view the Show online.

OBSERVATIONS
January
School Board Recognition Month
New! All The Things: The Aldine ISD Podcast episode with Aldine ISD Trustee Paul Shanklin

February
Black History Month

• Feb. 7-11: National School Counseling Week
• Feb. 18: Student Holiday/Staff Development Day
• Feb. 21: Presidents Day (Traditional Calendar-Student Holiday)
• Feb. 21: ADSY Schools — Ermel and Vines — Regular Day for Students
• Feb. 22: School Bus Drivers Appreciation Day
• Feb. 25: Wellness Day — Theme is Love Your Heart Month

Aldine ISD COVID-19 UPDATES
The district leadership team is committed to doing all we can to increase the safety and health of our students, staff, and families while implementing measures to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 in our community. We want all our students healthy, learning, and thriving in our classrooms. I ask for your continued support as we prioritize safety without sacrificing learning.

• Face Masks: As we have done throughout the pandemic, we continue implementing COVID mitigation protocols. While we had hoped to lift the mask requirement after the midwinter break, we decided to maintain the mask requirement until further notice with rising numbers of COVID-19 cases in the Houston area. The district requires students, staff, and visitors to wear face masks at all district facilities — schools, buildings, facilities, school buses — and events.
• Symptoms: We strongly encourage you to please keep your child home if they have COVID or any other communicable disease (.e.g. flu, whooping cough, measles, chickenpox) symptoms. Have your child tested if you suspect it is COVID-19. Here is a link to our Health Alerts web page regarding keeping your student/child home.
• Reduce Spread of Any Communicable Disease: Please continue to protect yourself and others by taking precautionary measures to prevent infection of all viruses, including COVID-19: wash your hands often, cover your coughs and sneezes and keep a safe distance from others.
• Protocols: Our district administrative leadership team has been, and is, in constant communication. Based on CDC recommendations, we updated our protocols and guidelines. Our COVID reporting procedures have not changed. We will continue to monitor local and school cases to further adjust health and safety protocols as appropriate.
• District Dashboard: Families can always check the COVID-19 dashboard for an overview of the active cases by school. 
• Testing Sites: Please get tested if you exhibit symptoms, have been exposed to someone with the virus, have been with groups of people, or travel. Click here for a list of testing sites and to register online. Additionally, each campus has a testing opportunity weekly or biweekly. A parent/guardian must consent for testing.
• Vaccinations: The district continues to work with local officials, including Harris County Public Health (HCPH), to communicate the availability of the COVID-19 vaccine. The COVID-19 vaccine is available to individuals five and older. On January 3, 2022, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) expanded the emergency use authorization for Pfizer’s COVID-19 booster vaccine in adolescents from 12 to 15 years. Booster doses are now available to everyone over the age of 12. The FDA also shortened the time to receive the booster after completing the two-dose schedule. It went from six months to five months. The FDA also authorized the third dose as part of the primary series for certain immunosuppressed children between 5 and 11. The CDC announced on January 10 that at-risk Americans (immunocompromised) are eligible for the fourth COVID dose.

REMINDERS

• Aldine’s Family and Community Engagement Department launched the Family and Community University. It provides education and resources to empower families to support students academically, socially, and emotionally. Programming is free and open to all Aldine families. Register today.
• The state requires high school seniors to apply for financial aid to graduate. The FAFSA application opened on October 1.
• Aldine ISD’s top priorities continue to be all students’ safety and academic success. The district will post all information related to operations along with any updates at www.aldineisd.org/healthalerts.
• Please stay connected by visiting the District News and District Podcast pages to stay up to date on all the great things happening in our district. You can also connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.