Dear ISA Families,

Last week was a good one at ISA, faculty and staff joined together in multiple contexts (i.e. teams, departments, committees, and as a whole group) building the bonds of our professional community. As we welcomed new faculty members to ISA, we retraced our evolutionary steps beginning with ISA’s origins to today. We committed time to refining structures for interacting with students, and we recommitted to holding ourselves accountable for being present in service of the ISA Community. We are all excited about the 2022-2023 school year and cannot wait to welcome your students back to ISA on Wednesday, August 10!

With August 10 a little less than two weeks away, we look forward to seeing many students tomorrow when they check out lockers in the ISA office. We also look forward to seeing families for our annual back to school event, Hot Diggity Doo Dah on Saturday, August 13, 2022.  Information about this fun family event, requested donations, and locker check out was sent last week and can be read HERE. Student and family spirit wear,  and a hot dog lunch will be available at Hot Diggity along with the start of the school year grade level meetings.  

With the arrival of this school year, we are excited to welcome nine new members to the ISA faculty.

• Jennifer Aranda joins the ISA world languages department teaching Spanish I, Spanish III, and AP Spanish Language & Culture. Mrs. Aranda previously taught at Claudia Taylor “Lady Bird” Johnson High School in NEISD!

• Eric Cruz joins the ISA 11th grade team teaching AP English Language & Composition. Mr. Cruz previously taught in the Alamo Heights ISD and Austin ISD!

• Ashley Gans joins the ISA 10th grade team teaching Geometry - Honors and Algebra II - Honors. Ms. Gans recently completed a Trinity MAT Teaching Internship at Jackson Middle School and ISA in NEISD!

• Elizabeth Gorski joins the ISA 12th grade team teaching AP English Literature & Composition.  Mrs. Gorski previously taught at Ronald Reagan High School in  NEISD as well as schools in Arizona, South Dakota, and Minnesota!

• Jenita Kurian joins the ISA 9th grade team teaching English I - Honors. Ms. Kurian previously taught social studies and English in the West Windsor-Plainsboro Regional School District in New Jersey!

• Aaron Perk joins the 10th grade team teaching AP World History. Mr. Perk previously taught social studies in Austin ISD and Pleasanton ISD!

• Suzeth Ramirez joins the 9th grade team teaching Biology - Honors. Ms. Ramirez recently served the ISA community as our biology teacher during the 2021-2022 school year!

• Willa Rubin joins the 11th grade team teaching AP United States History. Ms. Rubin recently completed a MAT Teaching Internship at Legacy of Educational Excellence High School and ISA in NEISD!

• Emily Wilen joins the 9th grade team teaching Algebra I and Geometry - Honors. Mrs. Wilen previously taught in the Alamo Heights ISD, Ector County ISD, and Northside ISD! 

 

We are also excited to share that you will see three new faces in the ISA Main Office when you visit this year:

• Cristina Beach joins the ISA office staff as Bookkeeper. Mrs. Beach recently served as a Teacher’s Assistant at Roan Forest Elementary School in NEISD!

• Jennifer Brooks joins the ISA leadership team supporting students in the counseling and guidance department. Ms. Brooks previously served as a counselor at Thousand Oaks Elementary School in NEISD!

• Romelle Carraway joins the ISA leadership team supporting students in the counseling and guidance department. Ms. Carraway previously served as counselor at Nimitz Middle School in NEISD!

 

Additionally, we are excited to announce that three familiar faces in the ISA Community will be taking on new roles:

• Grayson Bull will continue to serve the ISA 9th grade team teaching Digital Media. Mr. Bull previously served as the 9th grade Algebra I and Geometry - Honors teacher!

• Yvette Peña joins the ISA Center-Team teaching English and Social Studies electives. Ms. Peña will also serve alongside Mrs. Polk as ISA’s Model United Nations Co-sponsor. Ms. Peña previously served as the 9th grade English I - Honors teacher!

• Khoa Tran joins the ISA 12th grade team teaching AP Statistics and Probability. Mr. Tran previously served as the 10th grade Geometry - Honors and Algebra II - Honors teacher!

 

Please help us welcome each of our new community members as we learn together this year!

 

We encourage each of you to become familiar with the ISA website! Please browse our site at www.neisd.net/isa. We would also like to highlight four communication tools that we have in place at ISA to provide students and families with the most accurate and timely information possible.

 

• ISA Calendar: The calendar offers families and students one central location to view upcoming events. You can access the ISA calendar by navigating to the ISA homepage at www.neisd.net/isa. When you click on any event, additional information will pop up on your screen including times, dates, and in some cases attachments to additional information, forms that need to be returned to the school, or sponsors to contact for additional information.
   

• Weekly Community Update: Each Sunday, you will receive an email highlighting important upcoming school information and events. These updates will also be posted on Mr. Magadance’s Blog, giving families access to all past updates in one location.  

 

• Skyward Family Access: Family Access is where parents can receive information about grades, attendance, and account balances. We encourage families to login to Skyward to update contact information such as phone numbers, email addresses, and emergency contacts!
  
  
• ISA Student Bulletin: The student bulletin is a great place to get a week-at-a-glance view of club and organization meetings, tutoring times for teachers, service and internship opportunities, and other information about the ISA Community. We encourage students and families to bookmark this page and visit regularly!

 

Have a great week and welcome back!

Sincerely,

Steve Magadance and the ISA Faculty