As students return to school this week, CodeNEXT and a solar eclipse are just some of the news Northwest Austin residents need to know about. See what else is making headlines below.
1. Most Northwest Austin students return to class this week
Austin ISD resumes classes Aug. 21 and Round Rock ISD returns on Aug. 22. Pflugerville ISD doesn’t resume class until next week, on Aug. 28. For a full list of important dates and times,
check out this list of back-to-school dates in the area.
2. Monday is National Senior Citizens Day
In honor of the holiday, the Austin Senior Resource Center hosts a luncheon to celebrate local seniors. The organization also features honorees from each of the six living communities around Austin as outstanding citizens in their areas.
The luncheon will be held at the Norris Conference Center at 11:30 a.m. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit
www.SeniorCitizensDay.com.
3. District 7 rolled out a new CodeNEXT webpage
City Council member Leslie Pool announced her staff rolled out a
new webpage dedicated to the city’s initiative to rewrite Austin’s Land Development Code. The new page includes information for everyone, including a guide to basic land use concepts, the CodeNEXT proposals and ways to get engaged.
4. There’s a solar eclipse on Monday
This is the first observable eclipse in a high population area since 1999, which occurred in Paris. The eclipse won’t be total in Texas, but Central Texans will still witness a partial eclipse, with the moon covering 65-67 percent of the sun. See which
locations in Central Texas plan to have an eclipse viewing party.
5. Course series for caregivers begins this Wednesday
St. Thomas More Catholic Church begins its six-week-long course on caregiving this week. The course intends to focus on the caregiver’s health and helping the attendees develop self-care tools. Pastor Dr. David Lutz and Linda Chambers, R.N., facilitate the course.
The course will run 10:30 a.m.-noon inside the Brennan Auditorium inside the church. To register, contact Jennifer Bibbo at 512-258-1161 or
[email protected].
6. Capital Metro and Project Connect hosts a Transit Game Night on Thursday
The game night encourages participants to put their transit ideas to the test with an app-based game developed by Greenhouse Policy. The game engages players with the same real-world dilemmas transit planners face. Players will compete to win prizes, including Capital Metro transit passes.
The game night runs 6-8 p.m. at Scholz Garten, 1607 San Jacinto Blvd., Austin. Participants can register
here.
7. Round Rock ISD made changes to its dual language Spanish program
Trustees announced Thursday the district has begun to implement changes to its dual language Spanish program. Pre-K and kindergarten students enrolled in the program will now spend 90 percent of their day in Spanish, to allow them to receive literacy in both English and Spanish. Read more about this
new change and other Round Rock ISD updates from the Aug. 17 meeting.