Dear All SAISD Staff: 
 
Next week we will open our schools and our hearts to our students. I can’t wait to see our classrooms once again filled with excited and inquisitive children. Please join me in making them feel inspired and supported from day one. 
 
Our children want us to listen to their voices and learn their needs, hopes, and dreams. And they need us to mentor and teach them, so they achieve to their fullest potential. As I mentioned in my opinion column in the San Antonio Express-News earlier this week, we will begin this school year with a focus on our children, and we will operate within a culture that is affirming, welcoming, and safe. 
 
We recognize that anxiety is heightened with the rise in COVID cases in San Antonio and after the unthinkable tragedy that devastated the Uvalde community. Please know that the health and physical safety of our staff and students continues to be a priority. Our town hall on these topics shared our efforts to date and our commitment moving forward. We will continue to cultivate an open dialogue as the year progresses.
 
Let’s erase any nervousness our kids may have so that they attend school. We know that regular attendance is critical to deep learning and academic achievement, which is the foundation of a quality education. 
 
For many students, public education is their best chance to pursue a life with endless boundaries. Our children cannot wait another minute; they only have one chance at third grade or 10th grade. Therefore, let’s all agree, the ownership of enrollment and attendance belongs to all of us.
 
Earlier today, the SAISD Foundation announced an attendance incentive in collaboration with Cavender Toyota and Frost Bank. Through their initiative and with regular attendance, students from all our campuses will have the opportunity to earn prizes each nine-week grading period, leading up to one grand prize incentive of a family car at the end of the school year. The foundation’s program is to encourage daily attendance this year. Please help the SAISD Foundation – and our kids and families – by helping spread the word about this amazing and generous program. 
 
I also want to take a moment to welcome 19 new principals. These newly named campus leaders join our current and highly skilled principal cohort. The new principals represent a mix of exceptional talent from within SAISD, as well as accomplished individuals from outside of the district. All our principals are proven leaders who will help lead us into our next phase of growth and success, and I am excited to work with them.
 
Here in SAISD, we are on an amazing journey to create the best urban school model. Our theme this year, as laid out during our August Leadership Summit and our Convocation video, is to dream big. I want us to make the impossible a reality for our kids – to make miracles happen. Our kids are worth it.
 
In service to the SAISD familia,
Jaime