Lake Travis View » Schools

Lake Travis Latin Club excels at state convention

Special to the View — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 01:15:00 +0000

The Lake Travis High School Latin Club recently competed in the Texas State Junior Classical League Area F Convention, earning numerous individual awards and the second-place team sweepstakes trophy. Latin scholars are: (front row, from left) Grace Reckart, Sagar Dhana, Courtney Trammell, Katie Berry, Christine Taylor; (second row) Gage Krause, Sydney Yorke, Victoria Trappe, Morgan McMaster, Delaney Maberry, Caleb Oligney; (third row) Carly Calcote, Chrissie Chapman, Carlianne Hagye, Paul Braddock, Kyle Stanfield; and (back row) Marlon Haygood, Stephanie Cree, Paria Rahmani and Eric Wauer. Not pictured are Nick Shaffer, Erin Quigley and Allie Helms. The area competition is a warm-up for the state competition to be held in March. Students compete in levels Latin I through Latin V and in categories of reading comprehension, mythology, pentathlon, grammar, vocabulary, Roman history and costume.

We welcome your comments on our stories but will publish only those that do not violate our commenting guidelines

Former student to serve Himalayas

Special to the View — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 01:11:20 +0000

Student physician Amanda Atkins-Manceau, a Lakeway native and St. Michael’s Catholic Academy 2001 graduate, serves her medical rotation with the Himalayan Health Exchange this month.

The exchange is a health-care service program established by Himalayan Spirit Expeditions Inc. to provide medical and dental care to the underserved people living in remote regions of the Indian Himalayas and to uplift two orphanages in the North Indian state of Himachal Pradesh.

The team will be based at the lower altitude winter camp and will serve Himachal Pradesh villages.

Team members will provide care to approximately 2,400 patients in out-patient clinical settings. A three-day stay is scheduled at Dharamsala-home to exiled Tibetans and their religious leader Gyatso Tenzing, the 14th Dalai Lama.

The international medical team will meet in New Delhi and travel together to the Shivalik range, or the outer Himalayas. They will drive through the Shivalik Range serving villages along the way until they reach the Dhauladhar, or “White Mountain Range,” at its lower elevations.

Atkins-Manceau is set to graduate in May from NOVA Southeastern University College of Osteopathic Medicine.

We welcome your comments on our stories but will publish only those that do not violate our commenting guidelines

Lakeway native to serve North India

Special to the View — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 23:33:54 +0000

Student physician Amanda Atkins-Manceau, a Lakeway native and St. Michael’s Catholic Academy 2001 graduate, will serve her medical rotation with the Himalayan Health Exchange this month.

The team will be based at the lower altitude winter camp and will serve Himachal Pradesh villages.

Atkins-Manceau is set to graduate in May from NOVA Southeastern University College of Osteopathic Medicine.

We welcome your comments on our stories but will publish only those that do not violate our commenting guidelines

High school, PTA addressing student drinking

Devin Monk — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 21:59:09 +0000

Lake Travis High School students stand out for their accomplishments, but the 2,200-plus student high school is no different than many others across the nation tackling the issue of underage drinking.
A series of incidents involving student drinking this school year bubbled over at the high school’s winter formal Jan. 14 at Hilton Austin. A student who reportedly had been drinking before the formal passed out and after the event school officials found two flasks that had contained alcohol, LTHS principal Kim Brents said.
As enrollment has surged at the high school, the attendance at winter formal has swollen to 1,000 students who bought tickets to this year’s dance.
“It is the shindig of the season next to prom,” Brents said.
The day before the winter formal, she sent a letter to parents that encouraged them to talk with their teens about after-party activities.
“I promise to ensure a memorable night of great fun for your student while at winter formal; I hope you will join me in creating an environment of absolute safety later in the evening that does not include drugs and alcohol,” she wrote.
Despite the principal’s warnings, some students reportedly started drinking on party buses before the dance, which also shocked some parents with the bumping and grinding style of dancing.
The school used 15 adult chaperones and 20 Hilton staff members to monitor students at the formal, Brents said.
“When kids come in, they are having conversations with us,” she explained. “We’re in their face. I know what kids to target. I know who I’m looking at, but I can’t tell if a kid has taken a hit of Ecstasy before they walk in the door. There’s no way I can police that.”
Responding to parent concerns, the school’s PTA hosted two question-and-answer coffee sessions with Brents to discuss the formal, and the school’s plans for future school-sponsored events.
Periodically over the last few years, a small number of high school students have arrived inebriated at school-sponsored activities both on- and off-campus, including football games, according to Brents.
“Ninety-five percent of our kids make really good decisions,” she said. “Unfortunately, [some of] our kids are going to make stupid choices. Of course, as the high school principal, I’m going to look to see what we can do differently to combat this. We want to create a safe environment, but I have to guard against punishing the whole for the actions of a few.”
Brents said the school would conduct coat checks at future dances, and she would review the music selection with disc jockeys to avoid a series of songs that might tempt students to bump and grind.
She told parents at the coffees that she could not control party bus activities, but charged them with the responsibility of monitoring what their children take onto the buses or to pre-event activities.
“In no way, shape or form are we turning a blind eye to these things, but I really put it back on them – this is your responsibility,” Brents told parents. “We are not going to be able to wave our magic wand, and all of this go away. It’s going to take everyone banding together to really educate our kids. My goal is to empower them to take this on.”
One LTHS mother, Gwendy Volpe, has formed Don’t Serve Teens Task Force Lake Travis after seeing the effects of underage drinking on her son.
The high school’s PTA will host a Feb. 23 coffee with TABC and MADD representatives as part of its Empower LT program to educate parents on high school related issues and how to talk to their children about them.
PTA president Kim Russell and Volpe are battling against parents providing alcohol for teenagers at parties in their houses.
“Parents don’t have that right to serve my child alcohol,” Russell declared. “A lot of these problems are kids going to these parties after winter formal or before winter formal, and the kids are binge drinking at that time. That’s the big problem that we are seeing.”
She said parents play a pivotal role in their children’s decisions, but some parents put the responsibility squarely on the school’s shoulders.
“We’ve got parents who want the school to take care of everything, but the school gets a lot of pushback for even pulling a kid off the dance floor and asking them a question,” she said.
Anyone with concerns or tips may call police or an anonymous Cavalier Hotline at 533-6135 that Brents checks personally.
For information, visit the Don’t Serve Teens Task Force Lake Travis website at dontserveteenslaketravis.org or its Facebook page.

We welcome your comments on our stories but will publish only those that do not violate our commenting guidelines

District to host fitness expo

Special to the View — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 23:38:10 +0000

Special to the View

From twisting and turning inside a life-size hamster ball to creating kid-friendly snacks, children and families will have an opportunity flex their minds and their muscles at Lake Travis school district’s third annual FitSmart Expo.

Sponsored by the district’s food and nutrition services department, the Healthy Lifestyles program and FANS Parent Advisory Committee, the free community event will be held from 1-4 p.m. Feb. 26 on the Lake Travis High School campus.

The Randy Saucedo Memorial Mile & 5K, named for the late Lakeway Elementary School coach and physical education teacher, will precede the expo at noon.

“We’ve added the Randy Saucedo Memorial Mile and 5K this year as a way to personalize our event, as well as honor the life of an incredible coach and friend of the LT community.”

Marathon Kids will credit one mile at this event for its annual campaign should a student not be able to attend the finale in downtown Austin. Marathon Kids medals will be available while supplies last.

The district also will continue to offer an anti-bullying awareness station sponsored by the district’s Healthy Lifestyles program and presented by school counselors.

Spread across the café, Cavalier Activity Center and varsity football field on the Lake Travis High School campus, the expo will feature other popular attractions including:

• A family obstacle course;

• A variety of interactive sports training stations conducted by LTHS athletic coaches and teams;

• An interactive display about growing healthy food titled How Does a Garden Grow?;

• A drug and alcohol awareness presentation by the LTISD Healthy Lifestyles Program, including an appearance by the Travis County Sheriff’s Office and drug dog Cora;

• A mobile blood donation station hosted by the Blood Bank of Austin;

• Various health education activities hosted by LTISD school nurses;

• A create-a-snack table for kids titled Healthy Snack Creation Station;

*Samples of tasty and healthy fare offered in all LTISD schools titled What’s for Lunch?;

• A display of education materials and related activities titled ‘The Nutrition Corner;

• A live demonstration of elements from the LTISD ROPES Challenge Course;

• The American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life station, presented by the LTHS Interact Club; and,

• The Ga-Ga Pit, an international game similar to dodge ball.

For information, contact the FANS Department at 533-6035 or visit www.ltisdschools.org/fitsmart.

A school full of heroes

Special to the View — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 22:32:01 +0000

Photo by Devin Monk
Lake Travis Elementary School fourth-graders Leah Boissevain, left, and Madison Dolmanet learn about the significance of coloring children’s pinkies purple in Rotary International’s fight to eradicate polio from Lakeway/Lake Travis Rotarian Mike Jansen on Jan. 27.Special to the View

A squad of heroes at Lake Travis Elementary School used nothing but their pinky fingers and awareness Friday to save 1,186 children half way around the world that they will probably never meet from suffering the ravages of polio.
This is the second year in a row the school has hosted The Purple Pinky Project during which Lakeway/Lake Travis Rotary Club members painted students’ pinky fingers purple.
In 1985 Rotary International declared war on polio. At that time, polio was still active on every continent except Antarctica, with thousands of cases in the developing countries.
The U.S. was not declared polio-free until 1994. Rotary teamed up with The World Health Assembly and other health organizations to begin vaccinating children against polio.
In 2005, only 42 cases were reported worldwide, and by 2010 less than 10 cases were reported in four countries.
India and Pakistan are the only two countries with reported polio cases.
Polio is a crippling disease that eventually causes death. Immunization is the only way to prevent it from spreading.
Once a person gets polio, there is no cure. Polio is a virus spread by unsanitary conditions. Volunteers travel all over the globe visiting city after city and going village to village systematically immunizing children with sweet drops of the medicine that children would line up for eagerly because it tasted sweet.
In order to make sure that each child received his or her dose, the volunteers painted each child’s pinky finger with a harmless purple dye who received the vaccine so the volunteers knew which children had and which had not been immunized and could ensure all children received a single dose. Each dose costs about $1 to manufacture and distribute.
Lake Travis Elementary School students got their pinkies painted purple by donating at least a dollar so that a child in Pakistan or India could receive a vaccine and got their pinkies painted just as their new friends will when they actually receive their dose. Rotarians have donated more than $1.2 billion to polio eradication since 1985.
“We salute the Lake Travis Elementary heroes who join more than 1.6 million Rotarians worldwide and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in making the dream of a polio-free world a reality,” Lakeway/Lake Travis Rotarian Jay Dolfuss said.

Pinky power: Lake Travis Elementary helps eradicate polio

Special to the View — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 03:22:42 +0000

LTISD to host annual community health, fitness expo

Devin Monk — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 03:18:15 +0000

The Randy Saucedo Memorial Mile & 5K, named for the late Lakeway Elementary School coach and physical education teacher, will precede the expo at noon.

“The FitSmart Expo will highlight the programs within the district that promote health education, nutrition, fitness and healthy lifestyles,” said Traci Miller, FANS director. “We had an incredible outpouring of community support at last year’s event, and we’re very excited to do it all over again. We’ve added the Randy Saucedo Memorial Mile and 5K this year as a way to personalize our event, as well as honor the life of an incredible coach and friend of the LT community.”

The district also will also continue to offer an anti-bullying awareness station sponsored by the district’s Healthy Lifestyles program and presented by school counselors.

Spread across the café, Cavalier Activity Center and varsity football field on the Lake Travis High School campus, the expo will feature other popular attractions including:

A family obstacle course;
A variety of interactive sports training stations conducted by LTHS athletic coaches and teams;
An interactive display about growing healthy food titled How Does a Garden Grow?;
A drug and alcohol awareness presentations by the LTISD Healthy Lifestyles Program, including an appearance by the Travis County Sheriff’s Office and drug dog Cora;
A mobile blood donation station hosted by the Blood Bank of Austin;
Various health education activities hosted by LTISD school nurses;
A create-a-snack table for kids titled Healthy Snack Creation Station;
Samples of tasty and healthy fare offered in all LTISD schools titled What’s for Lunch?;
A display of education materials and related activities titled ‘The Nutrition Corner;
A live demonstration of elements from the LTISD ROPES Challenge Course;
The American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life station, presented by the LTHS Interact Club; and,
The Ga-Ga Pit, an international game similar to dodge ball.

For information, contact the FANS Department at 533-6035 or visit www.ltisdschools.org/fitsmart.

Fitch: AA+ rating for district

Special to the View — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 00:39:49 +0000

Fitch Ratings has affirmed Lake Travis school district’s $167.2 million outstanding unlimited tax bonds at AA+.

The rating is the highest level Fitch gives to public school districts.

“This rating is a direct result of the district’s sound financial management and investment of taxpayer dollars associated with our 2004 and 2006 bonds,” said Brad Lancaster, district superintendent. “Our board of trustees continues to raise the bar on fiscal accountability and integrity by making prudent decisions that positively impact our financial performance and position.”

According to Fitch, the rationale for the rating includes steady growth exhibited in both the district’s tax base and total student enrollment and a strong financial profile characterized by large reserve levels and a consistent record of conservative budget practices.

Other factors in the agency’s rating were the district’s stable and diverse economy demonstrated by low unemployment and healthy local housing markets despite the national recession and a manageable debt burden as a result of its high-wealth levels and the prospects for continued growth of its tax base.

A recent demographic study projects that the district’s enrollment growth will continue at an annual rate of 6 percent, which is consistent with historical growth.

Three new residential developments are in progress within the district, each expected to add between 1,200 to 1,500 rooftops at final completion in the next few years.

“Healthy reserves and conservative budgeting will be important as the district navigates the 2012-13 state funding biennium,” said Matt Dustin, analyst with Fitch Inc.

The Texas legislature trimmed kindergarten-12th-grade funding levels statewide in 2011 for this two-year period, and Lake Travis school district faces funding reductions totaling $8 million during the next two fiscal years.

“The district’s overall financial outlook is stable, with an audited 2011 unreserved general fund balance level of $27 million. Fund balances have exceeded 20 percent of spending for each of the past 10 audited years, maintaining a high degree of financial flexibility through two national recessions,” Dustin said.

The district absorbed the cuts in the fiscal 2012 district through spending reductions in various departments, primarily maintenance, transportation, and athletic department budgets, said Johnny Hill, district assistant superintendent for business, financial and auxiliary services.

“We will continue to do everything possible to keep our operating expenses in check while preserving the integrity of our instructional programs and services,” Hill said.

Fitch adds that taxpayers continue to show public support for the district’s capital improvement plan, as evidenced by the successful authorization in November 2011 of $158.5 million for two new campus facilities along with various campus expansions and upgrades.

“Preliminary estimates indicate that the new authorization will put only moderate upward pressure on the district’s debt service tax rate,” Dustin said. “This potential increase would maintain a comfortable gap below the 50-cent statutory debt service tax rate ceiling for approval of new Texas school district issuances.”

The district’s bonds are secured by the Texas Permanent School Fund, which Fitch rates at AAA under its guarantee program.

Water shortage could dampen bright economic outlook

Devin Monk — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 04:27:57 +0000

Lake Travis school district’s new superintendent, Brad Lancaster, addresses approximately 200 business people during the Lake Travis Chamber of Commerce’s Economic Forecast Luncheon on Jan. 18 at Lakeway Resort and Spa.

By Devin Monk

reporter@ltview.com

The economic engine that is south Lake Travis is still chugging ahead, but will grind to a halt without water resources to serve more residents and businesses on track to move into the area this year.

That message drove the presentations and conversations at Lake Travis Chamber of Commerce’s Economic Forecast Luncheon on Jan. 18 at Lakeway Resort and Spa.

Lakeway officials expect to approve 160 or more residential permits and 10 commercial permits in 2012, and the city’s sales tax revenue has increased by an average of 10 percent each year over the last five years.

“It’s one of the best indicators for me to see how healthy our local economy is,” Lakeway city manager Steve Jones said.

Jones churned out a list of residential and commercial developments under construction or picking up steam that included a Holiday Inn Express at Ranch Road 620 and Oak Grove Boulevard with an accompanying restaurant, 22,000 square feet of office space at Discovery Point near Mizu Restaurant, a 70-lot Serene Hills residential development and a HEB grocery store at Serene Hills Drive and Texas Highway 71.

Highland Village Amenity Center in Rough Hollow will boast a water park, active adult housing development Tuscan Village is gaining momentum and improvements are in store for Highlands Boulevard and Bee Creek Road.

Lakeway Regional Medical Center is set to open this spring, and Phin-Ker Ventures is planning a mixed-use development that could feature a hotel, two restaurants, retail space, assisted living care, senior housing, apartments and more.

“While little of this will probably be completed this year, it does bode well for this area – especially the employment that will be generated from this project as it’s built and starts going,” Jones said.

Bee Cave Councilman Mike Murphy said the city’s sales tax revenues grew by about 6 percent-9 percent from 2010 to 2011.

“Even though it’s good news, I don’t think it’s anything spectacular,” Murphy said. “We totally rely on sales tax, so we are a lot more sensitive to what it’s doing.”

Having only the Whole Foods Market opening on the horizon, Bee Cave’s commercial growth has evened out for the near future, he said, but residential development will lead Bee Cave’s growth in 2012 with a kick-started Spanish Oaks and revived Ladera Ranch heading the list.

Morningside appears to have broken free from its shackles to move forward on a development of 50 single-family houses and 300 condominiums between Home Depot and Falconhead subdivision.

Although Hill Country Galleria is near capacity in retail and office space, a developer plans to build 40 single-family townhomes at two to three stories each.

Masonwood 71 Ltd. has plans to build a 300-home project in the city’s extraterritorial jurisdiction on the former Grumbles tract near the Lake Travis school district’s Transportation and Distribution Center.

“The housing market is very good here,” Murphy said. “We continue to attract successful, self-disciplined people with initiative who want to move out here and be in a nice neighborhood.”

Karen Huber, Travis County Precinct 3 commissioner, offset the positive residential news with a sobering reminder to bear natural resources in mind when planning for the area’s future.

Huber steered clear of transportation projects because road improvements such as Flintrock and Bee Creek are already under way, but no new thoroughfare plans are set for 2012.

“We’re going into a really dire stretch on transportation funding,” she warned.

She noted that the Texas Water Development Board released a state water plan with recommendations that would cost an estimated $53 billion to implement.

The state population is about 28 million and is expected to double in the next 50 years, Huber said

The water plan’s forecast is for a 22 percent increase in demand for water by 2060 and 10 percent less water supply.

Partnerships and adaptability, she said, would be critical to clearing the hurdles the year could bring.

“We need to be thinking – this year, next year – what is our role in seeing that these plans that are on shelves and projections that are out there are addressed,” Huber said, “so that we can continue to enjoy the dynamic economies that we have right now and the potential that we are prepared to receive that includes population growth and increased water demand. I think we would be remiss if we didn’t address the challenges we face in 2012. We have some challenges we all need to rise to.”

Brad Lancaster, Lake Travis school district’s new superintendent, said that the district’s enrollment continues to grow by 6 percent to 7 percent annually, but it experienced unusual spikes at some of its campuses this fall.

Lake Travis High School enrollment grew by 7.5 percent from 2010-11 to 2011-12, Lake Travis Middle School swelled by 11.8 percent in the same timeframe and Bee Cave Elementary School nearly busted at the seams with 19.2 percent growth.

The district is not only bracing for more students but also readying for the Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness, or STAAR, which will replace the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills.

The standardized test will bring significant changes for primarily third- through eighth-graders, Lancaster said, but also present high school students with end-of-course exams.

As the district wades through the new material, it will retain its Exemplary rating with the state for another year, which the superintendent said would attract more homebuyers to the Lake Travis area.

“For Realtors and for home sales, having an Exemplary rating for your school district is critical,” Lancaster said.

More than 25 percent of registered voters cast ballots in the district’s November bond election that featured $158.45 million in school construction, remodeling, renovation and technology upgrades.

LTISD will expand Hudson Bend Middle School and convert Lake Travis Middle School into space for Lake Travis High School, begin construction on a new Lake Travis Middle School late this year on Bee Creek Road and sixth elementary school in West Cypress Hills in spring 2013 with the latter two campuses scheduled for completion in 2014.

“That will take us into the future for the foreseeable timeframe,” Lancaster said.

As it manages a $8 million cut to its state funding over the next two years, LTISD will continue its cost-saving measures that have included eliminating employee positions through attrition and reducing its transportation and extracurricular budgets, for example.

“We were able to maintain the programs we offer to our children, and we can still be successful in athletics, fine arts and academics,” Lancaster said.

David Kreye, Lakeway Regional Medical Center chief executive officer, is seeing success in the hospital’s construction that is scheduled for completion this spring.

So confident in its start date, the hospital has posted a countdown timer to its opening day, which as of today stated 80 days remained before it opens its doors.

The nine-story, full-service hospital will provide more than 67 services and expects to hire about 225 employees when it opens its first phase.

“We look forward to partnering with the school district and the rest of the community,” Kreye said.

Doug Land, real estate agent at Capital City Sothby’s International Realty, wore a Looney Tunes tie to symbolize what he said would be the mentality of anyone attempting to forecast the future , but the results of 2011 brought some peace of mind to his presentation.

“2011 was a great year here in the Lake Travis area,” Land said with more than 800 homes sold in Lake Travis ISD, up 5.1 percent from 2010. “We are certainly in the right place at the right time.”

The average sale price in LTISD for single-family houses was $454,000, an increase of $14,000, he said. Forty-four homes valued at more than $1 million sold last year.

“I’ve been out here 20 years, and certainly there was no such thing as a million-dollar house. No one even thought we would ever sell a house at that kind of price, but certainly it is more prevalent here,” Land said.

Rocky Creek and West Cypress Hills are taking off and rooftops will pop up at Canyons at Sweetwater along Texas Highway 71 this year.

One municipality that has not seen much activity should blossom as homebuilders find affordable lots, he predicted.

“Even Briarcliff, which has been there for many, many years, is going to see a little renaissance this year,” Land said.

Builders bought 250 lots last year, which was up from about 200 in 2010.

The Realtor said stories of difficult financing are mostly false and related jaw-dropping loan numbers from that morning of a 30-year fixed rate loan with zero points for 3.75 interest.

“I never thought in my real estate career that I’d see numbers like this,” Land declared. “These kind of numbers are unheard of.”