Letter from the Principal

We are so excited to have your student with us at Clifton this year. One of my favorite feelings is to walk through classrooms and see students mastering a new skill or proudly showing off something they've learned or created. I have already seen amazing growth and learning happening on campus in the first six weeks of school and can't wait to see what else the year brings.

As we move into October, enrollment and schedule changes have slowed down across campuses, students have settled into their new schedules, and I think I've managed to learn all of our new students' names (at least until someone drastically changes their hairstyle or wardrobe). I want to take a moment to introduce families to our school leadership team and also to share our Clifton Policies & Procedures.

Our mission at Clifton is to ensure every student graduates with the skills and support they need to succeed in life after high school. That mission can only be met in partnership with students and families, so please don't hesitate to reach out with any questions, concerns, or celebrations.

Staff Spotlight: Admin

Sachi Edson, Principal

Ms. Edson earned her Bachelors in Psychology from the University of Virginia and began her career in social work before transitioning into education. She has worked as a teacher assistant, teacher, and campus leader in Austin ISD, supporting students from ages 3 to 22 across the Bowie, Crockett, Eastside, and Northeast Vertical Teams. She earned her Masters of Educational Leadership & Policy from the University of Texas at Austin and spent four-and-a-half years as Clifton's assistant principal before transitioning into the principal role in January 2025.

Eliseo Reyna, Assistant Principal

Clifton is thrilled to welcome Mr. Reyna as our new assistant principal this year. Mr. Reyna earned his Bachelors in Math from the University of Texas at Austin and began his career as a high school math teacher. Five years later, he earned his Masters of Education from the University of Texas Pan American and has spent the past 25 years supporting secondary schools across Central Texas as both a counselor and administrator. Within Austin ISD, Mr. Reyna worked at Northeast ECHS (formerly Reagan HS), Crockett ECHS, and Travis ECHS before opening Graduation Preparatory Academy at Travis in 2015 and serving as the director for 10 years.

Clifton Procedures & Policies

Attendance

Clifton monitors student attendance closely because we want to make sure students are building strong habits for future careers. When we talk with employers, they repeatedly tell us that they are looking for reliable employees. In order to receive credit for a class, students must attend at least 90% of the days that class is offered. That means no more than 3 absences per class for all of Semester 1, regardless of the reason. Students are considered absent at Clifton if they arrive after 10:30am in the morning or miss more than half the afternoon period (arriving after 2:15pm or arriving on time but leaving before 2:15pm). Please support your student in showing up to class on time.

If your student is absent, please make sure to report the absence by

• Sending a physical note/documentation to the Clifton Front Office. We will always offer to make a copy of the note if the student also needs to report the absence to their home campus.

• E-mailing clifton@austinisd.org

• Submitting an absence note online using the Austin ISD School Absence Form

If a student knows they will be absent, we also encourage them to contact their Clifton teacher directly. This does not excuse the absence, but it is another great habit to practice for life after high school.

Grades

As we approach the first report card, we want to make sure families are aware of our Clifton Grading Guidelines. Grades are closely tied to attendance. Since Clifton students are engaged in teamwork, hands-on learning, and internships, not all assignments can be made up at a later date.

Medication & Health Information

If your student take medication at their home campus, we encourage you to drop off additional medication at Clifton so that we have it on hand for emergencies, field trips, etc. Please also share any relevant medical alerts or health information with your student's Clifton teacher so that we make sure we are providing the best support for each student.

Personal Communication Devices

As families are already aware, House Bill 1481 requires all Texas school districts to prohibit the use of “personal wireless communication devices” that can send or receive data, including cell phones, wireless headphones, and smart watches. Devices should be turned off and stored out of sight while on school property during the school day. If a student violates this policy, the device will be collected by school staff. Repeated violations will lead to longer periods of collection and required pick up by parent/guardian (full details can be found HERE). Overall, students have done a great job following this policy, but we have had several students "forget" and take out devices because they happen to be in their pocket. Please remind your students to store their devices in their backpacks or some other location out of sight.

Field Trips

As part of their coursework at Clifton Career Development School, students participate in off-campus experiences to support learning.  These may include site visits, job shadowing/internships, attending job fairs, purchasing of supplies, end-of-year celebrations, etc.  Most, if not all, of these trips will take place during the Clifton class period with Clifton staff and vehicles. Please keep an eye out for permission forms so that your student can participate!

Bond Construction Update

Like many campuses in Austin ISD, Clifton received funding from the 2022 Bond. This year, our campus is undergoing construction to remodel our downstairs area in order to add a teaching kitchen, new cafe, and a cosmetology program. We are also seeing renovations to our former laundry space to convert it into a workshop for future programming. We are nearing the end of our demolition phase and look forward to seeing new spaces being built.