On May 8, the Casis Elementary School community and Austin ISD celebrated the groundbreaking of the Casis modernization project. Below is a full recording of the virtual event and individual clips of Principal Samuel Tinnon breaking ground, Casis students singing the school song, and a tour of the current Casis campus.

While we wish we were able to hold this event in person, due to COVID-19 and campus closures, the district opted for a virtual event to ensure the school community was still able to celebrate the start of construction. The event was held virtually via Zoom webinar and featured remarks from Superintendent Dr. Paul Cruz, Board of Trustees President Geronimo Rodriguez, Board of Trustees Secretary Amber Elenz, Casis Principal Samuel Tinnon, and a special performance by Casis students.

The program for the event can be found here.

Follow along with the video using the closed captioning found here.

Watch the recording of the full event:

Without the opportunity for a physical groundbreaking event, Principal Tinnon visited the Casis campus and broke ground on the modernization project. Students joined in on the fun by digging a small hole in their own yard or by using household items (like crushed up Oreos) to simulate their own “groundbreaking.” Check it out:

We asked students to send us a video of them singing the school song from home. We then created a compilation of all the submissions and invited everyone to sing along during the event. Watch below:

We know how special Casis is to our community – from our current students and families to alumni who still live in the neighborhood and beyond. We originally planned to provide everyone with one last chance to walk the halls, but with our shift to a virtual event we instead had Principal Tinnon give us a virtual tour. Take a look!