What’s going on with Harris Elementary?

Harris Elementary is the construction zone where that adorable little school built in the 1950’s used to be at the corner of Wheeless & Berkman!

In summer 2024, students and faculty moved to the old AISD Sims school at Springdale & 12th, and that’s where the learning has been going on while construction under the 2022 bond gets underway at the original site. 

How is Harris doing?

The Bulldog spirit is alive & well, but students, families, and staff all miss their spot in the heart of Windsor Park, and the transition has not been easy! The physical move, the loss of faculty, and a drop in enrollment has been rough. Losing our principal in Spring 2024 during such a huge transition was also destabilizing. Currently, our PTA is without a treasurer and has been limited in what it can do.

We’re happy to report that our longtime Assistant Principal, Ms. Wyatt, is now officially our Principal! We’re grateful for her leadership and she is diving into the search for the right Assistant Principal. Please email Ms. Wyatt with words of encouragement, ideas or questions: sonya.wyatt@austinisd.org

How Windsor Park can help:

While students are able to catch a bus over to the temporary campus for the school day, family participation in after school activities and parent involvement in general has suffered. Thank you (x 1million!) to the United Methodist Church on Berkman for all your support: joining our CAC, offering soccer opportunities, always stepping in when we need help, and opening your doors for school events. 

Join UMC in supporting Harris with the following needs:

-Volunteer to be a Reading Buddy!

-Volunteer to be a tutor!

-Sponsor snacks for monthly teacher meetings

-Know a bilingual music teacher? we need one!

-Donate to the SEED Model socioemotional growth events and trainings (see below)

Email our counselor, nicole.adams@austinisd.org if you’re interested in volunteering. 

Harris Selected as a SEED Model Campus (How to donate)

The SEED committee at Harris has been organizing two teacher trainings and one parent event in order to meet our goal for culturally responsive socioemotional growth and learning on campus.

There will be 2 teacher trainings. One is this coming Tuesday, the second on March 4th (thank you members of the WPNA Schools Committee for sponsoring these teacher trainings!)

The parent event will be at the UMC church on April 5th and needs help from neighbors with the following items: 

-door prizes for any of the sessions (gift cards for groceries or area restaurants, actual gift items like candles, lotions, incense, etc.)  

-volunteering to help with child care for the parent event

-food contribution for parent event- Bill Miller is already donating sweet tea and 30 breakfast tacos. But perhaps fruit, cereal bars, juice, pastries would be helpful. 

Email alicegraulty@gmail.com (Harris parent, WPNA Schools Committee member) to donate

Email Ms. Romero, sierra.romero@austinisd.org for questions about the SEED initiative at Harris