Category: Education

Little Free Libraries / Libros-Libres 2023

“Building community, Sparking creativity, Inspiring readers”
“Construir la comunidad, Estallar la creatividad, Inspirar a los lectores”

October 2023
The North Lamar and Georgian Acres neighborhoods have nine active little free library locations:
Los vecindarios de North Lamar y Georgian Acres tienen nueve libros-libres:

  • Walnut Creek Elementary
  • 10510 Jean (also seeds and plants / también semillas y plantas)
  • 10303A Annie Oakley Trl (two! Here’s more about one of them. / ¡dos! Aquí hay más sobre uno de ellos).
  • 9708 Oriole (at the corner with Pheasant / en la esquina con Pheasant)
  • Barrington Elementary (two, one on the playground and one with young adult books by the outdoor classroom / dos, uno en el patio de recreo y otro con libros para adultos jóvenes junto al aula al aire libre)
  • 8833 East Dr
  • Georgian Manor (by the playground / por la estructura de sombra)
  • Jail to Jobs, 309 E Powell

There’s also one coming soon to Georgian Acres Neighborhood Park. / También habrá uno próximamente en el parque Georgian Acres.

More about our Little Free Libraries / Más sobre nuestros Libros-Libres from 2013-18 and 2019.

Want to volunteer to help support the existing little free libraries? Let the neighborhood team know. There are opportunities for artists, DIY-ers, and people who can pick up and deliver books.
¿Quieres ser voluntario para ayudar a apoyar los libros-libres existentes? Informe al equipo del vecindario. Hay oportunidades para artistas, carpinteros, y personas que pueden recoger y entregar libros.

Want to start a new little free library? Here’s videos, instructions and inspiring stories for how to do it.

Neighborhood Plan Objective Q.D39: All neighborhood residents are within a quarter mile safe route of a library.
Neighborhood Plan Objective Q.D40: Neighborhood children and youth have access to books and reading.
Recommendation D221 Develop 50 new Free Little Library sites, to include all apartment complexes.
Recommendation D224 Work with the Mexican consulate, textbook publishers, BookSpring and other sources to assure each neighborhood child receives a new book each year.

Our neighborhood schools / Nuestras escuelas vecinales 2023

AISD first day of classes is Monday, August 14.

Volunteer in our neighborhood / Ser voluntario en nuestro vecindario

Además de las actividades del equipo vecinal, existen muchas formas diferentes de conectarnos con nuestros vecinos y construir una comunidad local más sólida. ¡Involúcrate!

In addition to neighborhood team activities, there are many different ways to connect with our neighbors and build a stronger local community, including:
Además de las actividades del equipo del vecindario, hay muchas maneras de conectarnos con nuestros vecinos y construir una comunidad local más fuerte, incluyendo:

  • Austin Voices for Education and Youth has regular food distributions at Navarro HS and other local campuses, using volunteers to prepare, register, and load. They also sponsor the Youth Equity Summit (YES) each spring. Austin Voices for Education and Youth (“Voces de Austin para la Educación y la Juventud”) tiene distribuciones de alimentos regulares en la prepa Navarro y otros campus locales, utilizando voluntarios para preparar, registrar, y cargar. También patrocinan la “Cumbre Juvenil de Equidad” (“YES” por sus siglas en inglés) cada primavera.
  • Austin Humane Society volunteers socialize cats and dogs to prepare them for adoption. They also have pet foster opportunities.
  • Youth coaches, contact the North Austin Community Center (YMCA) (512) 973-9622 for details on seasons and sports, or get started online. Training provided.
  • Meals on Wheels volunteers deliver meals and other services to homebound neighbors from their site at 601 W. Braker. They have a virtual volunteer orientation.
  • Volunteer voter registrar training is online.

Our neighborhood schools / Nuestras escuelas vecinales 2022

AISD first day of classes is Monday, August 15.

A boy holds books about Selena in english and spanish. / Un niño tiene libros sobre Selena en inglés y español.

  • IDEA Rundberg Welcome new principals Stephen Foster and Meggie Summers! First day of school is Monday, August 8. July 29 orientation and mercado de Rundberg 9am-3pm. August 3 Meet the Teacher 3:45-5:45pm. Sept 6 Academy curriculum night, 5-6:30pm.
  • Cedars International Academy Back to School open house Thursday, August 11, 5-7pm.
  • Dobie Middle School Sixth grade transition camp August 4 9am-noon.
  • Webb Middle SchoolMeet and greet Thursday, Aug 11, 4-6pm. Back to School night Sept 1, 5:30-7pm.

Our neighborhood schools / Nuestras escuelas vecinales 2021

AISD first day of classes is Tuesday, August 17.
AISD Back-to-School nights Sept 7-8 (middle schools) and Sept 9 (high schools).

Equity GAP – Navarro HS self-defense classes

The Equity GAP reimagining public safety minigrant from the City of Austin Office of Equity included funding for self-defense classes for Navarro HS students. Special thanks to Liliana Mendoza and to AISD Senior Police Officer Stephanie Thompson for their leadership.

Executive Summary
Our kids are awesome! They are strong and caring and clear-eyed about their community. While they are ready to take action themselves, they also desire adult acknowledgement of their concerns and concrete action by adult institutions to increase safety in our neighborhoods.

The desire for self-defense classes students expressed in fall 2020 was prompted by experiences on the way to and from school, including harassment and even assaults. By spring 2021, Navarro students also expressed concern that gun violence in the North Lamar/Rundberg area may affect them directly, as well as their community. This violence increasingly involves teenagers as assailants, victims, and witnesses. Navarro students should be supported to also be peacemakers, intervenors, and restorers.

Additional out-of school commitments are impractical for many students. In addition to their class work many Navarro students also carry significant childcare or work responsibilities. The self-defense class needs to be on-campus, ideally during school class time.

Students want girls and boys to both be included in self-defense classes and other activities related to safety in their school and community.

Complete narrative report, including full recommendations

Highlighted recommendations:

Rec EGAP.4: Adult civic decision makers such as school board trustees, city councilmembers, county commissioners, and members of relevant volunteer boards should actively seek youth perspectives on neighborhood and campus safety. Youth input should always be acknowledged and accepted as the young person’s sincere contribution, even if the adult disagrees with the description of the concern or with the recommended action.

Rec EGAP.5: The north Austin neighborhood hub(s) should have youth explicitly included in advisory roles.

Rec EGAP.6: Resume the North Lamar/Rundberg youth forum in spring 2022, with participation from district and charter high schools.

Rec EGAP.7: Immediately begin street-level peacemaking and violence prevention programs in the North Lamar/Rundberg area, including Northgate, Georgian/Powell, North Lamar bus stops, late night food vendors, and other locations or groups identified by Navarro students. Immediate programming could be as simple as regular street outreach to ask folks how they are and if they need anything. Report regularly on activities and outcomes to Navarro students and other young people, using culturally appropriate channels.

Rec EGAP.10: AISD’s restorative practices are being rolled out in elementary and middle schools, with the intent that these students will age up and bring them to high schools. For Navarro, move ahead and offer restorative theory and practices classes for Law and Public Service CTE credit.

Rec EGAP.11: Provide paid city internships, either over the summer or part-time during the school year, for students in the Law and Public Service CTE programs at Navarro, Northeast, Akins, and Travis high schools. Relevant city placements include Violence Prevention, Municipal Court, Downtown Austin Community Court, Park Rangers, and Police Oversight.

Rec EGAP.12: Include Navarro Law and Public Service students in Austin Police Department “Groundwater Analysis” workshops on systematic racism.

That Time the Fiskville School Burned Down…

Dora Dieterich Bonham grew up on a farm a little north of what is now Braker. She and her brother drove a buggy down each day to go to school at what is now Deen. She wrote:

About 1915 the old rock building and the added rooms of Fiskville School burned. After the fire, I recall seeing only the old rock walls still standing. The desks and the blackboards had burned to ashes… Many of us lost our books in the fire, but more books were borrowed and we finished the term by attending school in an old unused residence…

The walls of the old school had been built from native stone rocks, while the newer walls were made of blocks of limestone. They were torn down and a newer wood frame building, more modern in utility, was built at Fiskville School.

A hundred years ago, formal education was much less a part of children’s lives than it is today. The school year was only four or five months long. County school district records from the early 1900s show an absence rate around 50%, with close to a fifth of all school-aged children not enrolled at all.

Read more of Dieterich’s childhood memories

Do you have photos or documents about the history of our neighborhoods? Let us know.

Voting and Taxes in Fiskville 1867-1901

  • 1867 Travis County voter rolls show the names of the former enslaved people who would become large landowners in the Fiskville and Watters areas.
  • Texas began collecting a head tax in 1869. Every man 21-65 had to pay a state tax of a dollar a year. (Adjusting for inflation, this would be about $20 today.) A quarter of this tax went to fund a system of free public schools to provide four months of schooling each year for all children in the state. Men could also work on the county roads instead of paying cash. Up until 1902, this tax didn’t have anything to do with whether you could vote or not.
  • An 1888 American Daily Statesman article reports the results of the the Travis County School District #11 trustee elections – SD Hill, RS Shannon and W Younger were elected as the board of the (white) Fiskville school, and EJ Norwood, Joe Gibson, and Ned Cleveland as the board of the (black) St Paul school. These two boards were responsible for some $500 from the state head tax and the education of 120 children.

It’s My Park Day spring 2020

It’s My Brownie Park Day! March 7
Twenty neighbors, volunteers, and Dell Medical School students spent the morning improving our park. They planted trees and flowers, cleaned up the spillway trail and pond, and started preparing for the soccer play field.

Barrington Green School Park beautification, March 7
Barrington Elementary teachers and students took the lead in mulching the park trees and adding nectar flowers to their outdoor classroom.

Barrington Transformation Zone 2019-20

Our Barrington Elementary is one of eight Austin ISD “transformation zone” campuses. This program gives each school more resources, training, and budget flexibility to address their specific academic needs. With staff, students, and parents, Barrington identified three targeted strategies:

  • Teacher Capacity
  • Culture and Climate
  • Literacy

The teacher capacity strategy includes coaching on lesson planning and delivery based on student data. Staff already report that they “feel empowered to take on leadership responsibilities … and believe they have a voice in campus decision-making, with a “culture of collaboration … fostered by professional learning communities (PLCs), vertical meetings, and design teams”. The transformation zone flexibility allows more time for professional development and for aligning teaching approaches between grades.

For the 2019-20 school year, the culture and climate strategy is social and emotional learning (SEL) for positive student-student, student-adult, and school-family relationships. This will result in more instructional time, by addressing root causes of classroom behaviors. Communities in Schools (CIS) partners in providing support to individual students.

Consistent literacy instruction is a strategy for the 2019-20 school year. When Barrington applied for the transformation zone, they explained, “There is not yet a defined and commonly understood vision of what high-quality instruction should look like. … The extent to which all teachers provide rigorous instruction that meets needs of a student population that is predominately (70%) non-native English speakers, including many newcomers, varies. … Lessons at times are not relevant to the students’ culture.”

Challenges for Barrington continue to include a high mobility rate, the percentage of students who transfer in and out during a school year, and a high absence rate.

You can stay up-to-date on the Barrington Elementary Campus Improvement Plan.