Blackshear Elementary

Blackshear Elementary is a special school with teachers and staff devoted to the students. They expect the best from the students, and do so in a respectful way.It is the cleanest school I have ever been in. And all of this creates a safe and welcoming environment that encourages the students to succeed.

Blackshear is a gem!

What makes this place great? The answer is easy--the people that make up the Blackshear community. We have a caring, smart and dedicated staff. Our leadership is focused and approachable. The building and cafeteria are all well maintained and literally shine. But what really makes our school sparkle are the students. They are respectful and equally dedicated to learning all they can from their teachers. The students are encouraged to balance their studies with extracurricular activities. All students participate in weekly enrichment classes. This gives students the opportunity to be exposed to a variety of engaging activities as well as shine beyond the classroom.

Thanks, Principal and staff members for embracing the Blackshear Bridge project for a sustainable campus and a sustainable community. We began in the school garden during enrichment time on Fridays. The children are growing their own food and taking it home to their families. Now we are bridging to the community surrounding the school and to resources in the broader Austin community to green the campus for more and more outdoor learning! Principal and the Campus Green Team are engaging fully. We're looking at the new AISD Sustainable Schools Best Practices Guide and beginning to implement the Eco Schools USA Eco Audit program. The children,staff, and parents are becoming involved in envisioning how we will work with our new partners at the University of Texas School of Architecture and Center for Sustainable Design, Huston-Tillotson University, the City of Austin's Office of Sustainability, Keep Austin Beautiful and the Austin Permaculture Guild, National Wildlife Federation, and most of all, AISD's own Environmental Stewardship Advisory Committee, and Health & Science Resource Center at Discovery Hill.

This school does a wonderful job really teaching the whole child. This year nearly all the teachers are teaching weekly social emotional learning lessons to prepare students to be calm and compassionate adults. The teachers and administration care deeply about the students and it shows in all there interactions. Last year the school had afternoon enrichment every Friday where the students got to pick a course such as gardening, dance, yoga, etc. What a wonderful idea!

I am truly amazed at the wonderful things I see happening at Blackshear Elementary. As a volunteer in one of the enrichment programs I have the opportunity to work with about 10% of the students and observe a large portion of the student body. I have also met with the principal and various faculty and staff and see in them a genuine concern and caring for the children they serve. The principal is to be commended for going above and beyond the minimum requirements of all those state mandated standardized tests. She involves her students in a great variety of fun activities that are teaching the children skills and knowledge they are unable to get at home or through extracurricular activities that many of the families cannot afford. I love seeing the excitement on the faces of these children when they realize they have just accomplished something special or new. I am proud to be associated with such a dedicated faculty and staff. They are an inspiration to the students as well as those of us who are there to teach through all these special additions to help round out the education of Blackshear children.