Parents as Partners - Incarnate Word Academy

Volunteering at IWA

Parents are encouraged to provide service hours to support and enhance the school programs. When we work together, amazing things are accomplished that benefit all of our precious Angels and the entire IWA community.

Numerous opportunities are available to volunteer at IWA which enable parents with various interests and abilities to find meaningful ways to serve. Below is a summary of ways you can help.

· Administrative Support

· Alumni Engagement

· Booster Club Support

· Campus and Classroom Programs

· Event Support

· Facilities and Grounds Maintenance

· Fundraising Activities

· PTO Support

· Recruitment & Retention Initiatives

· School Board and School Board Committees

The IWA Hearts & Halos Volunteer Management System will allow volunteers to view all volunteer opportunities, create a profile, track their Safe Environment Training requirements, and sign up for service hours.

Volunteering

Giving at IWA

Philanthropy is essential to IWA because of the sizable gap between IWA revenue sources (tuition plus annual support from the IWA Foundation) and the cost of providing our students with the world class education for which IWA is known. Families including IWA in their personal annual giving plans, enable the school to make up the 20% of our operating budget that comes from philanthropy.

There are several ways to contribute to IWA and support the operation of the school:

· President’s Circle Membership – gifts of $1,000 or more annually

· Free Dress Incentive – automatic recurring monthly gifts of $25 or more

· Invest in Excellence – donate an amount of money that is meaningful to you

· IWA All School Raffle – purchase and sell raffle tickets

· IWA All In Gala Fundraiser - Sponsorships, Underwriting, Admission, Cash Donations

· IWA All In Gala Auction – purchase an auction item by being the highest bidder

Other important fundraising initiatives include:

· Adopt a Student – provides need based tuition assistance

· Booster Club Angelfest – Booster Club initiatives

· Go Green – energy saving initiative

· Golf Classic – supports athletics

· PTO Color Run – supports PTO initiatives

Parent Teacher Organization

The PTO is a volunteer group of parents that promotes activities and teamwork among students. PTO plays a significant role in organizing the activities and benefits that for students of Incarnate Word Academy. Officers of the organization are liaisons between the parents and the school.

2025-2026 PTO President: Amy Buck

Contact: amybuck02@gmail.com

For information regarding the PTO Color Run Fundraiser, click here:

PTO Color Run

Family Portal (FACTS SIS)

ParentsWeb provides easy to use navigation menus and event panels that include:

Current Announcements
Today’s / Tomorrow’s Events
School Calendar
And More!

About Family Portal (FACTS SIS)

Family Portal (FACTS SIS) is a private and secure portal for parents and students that provides academic information specific to each child, while protecting students and their family members' personal information. Family Portal gives busy parents an opportunity to be more involved in their child's academic progress and future success—all via the Internet!

Family Portal is one more tool to help ensure that the partnership between Incarnate Word Academy and parents is successful. Together, we can continue to improve our children's academic development as well as communication at school and at home.

To access Family Portal, all you need is to provide Incarnate Word Academy with a valid email address and an Internet-capable computer to view information, such as:

Attendance
Daily Grades
Progress Reports
Lesson Plans
Homework

Syllabus
School Announcements
Staff and School Directory
Teacher Websites
Other Useful Information

Missing Assignments
Documents, and Forms
Principal Newsletter

Login Instructions

If this is your first time logging in to the Family Portal:

Click the "Parents" button at the top of this page.
Click on the "Create new Family Portal (FACTS SIS) Account" link
Enter the email address that you submitted to the school office when you registered your child.
*If you have not provided Incarnate Word Academy with an email address, or you are not sure which email address IWA has on file, please contact your school secretary.
You will receive an email containing password instructions within 3 minutes to the email address you entered (which must be the same email address that you provided to the school).
Please check the email and click the link provided to gain access to a page where you can view/change your user name and change your password. For security purpose that link will only be active for 6 hours.
Once you click the Save User Name and/or Password button, follow steps 1 through 3 listed above.
A Family Portal login page will open.
Enter your new user name and password.
Click the Login button.

Click here to visit our Family Portal (FACTS SIS) FAQs webpage.

Family Portal (FACTS SIS) on the Go

The RenWeb Home App is available for both Android and iPhone users.

RenWeb Home provides always-logged-in instant access to Family Portal information along with the conveniences of a Smartphone App for an annual subscription of $4.99 per household.

Features include:

Always-logged-in instant access to ParentsWeb information anytime, anywhere via iPhones and Android devices.
Smartphone integration with the School Directory, allowing you to Tap & Send emails or place phone calls instantly to School Directory listings for parents and faculty.
Ability to import homework assignments, school calendar events, and directory listing to Smartphone calendars and contacts.

PTO Roll Up

PTO Meeting Roll Ups

August PTO Roll Up 2025

Subject: PTO Rollup – Even before the first bell rang, we were hard a work!

✅ Budget & Bylaws Approved Thanks to everyone's collaboration and thoughtful input, as of 01 AUG 2025 we successfully finalized and approved both the PTO budget and updated bylaws.

👼 Angel Check-In Our Angel Check-in was a resounding success! We had over 35 interested families sign up to participate.

🎁 Teacher & Staff Appreciation

Back-to-School Teacher Gifts – Each teacher received $100 total $5,500 distributed.
Sympathy Flowers and Card were sent to Claudia Rybalka on behalf of the PTO to express our heartfelt condolences.
Birthday Cards and Gifts were delivered to teachers celebrating in June, July, and August, ensuring no summer birthday went unnoticed. Thank You Ashleigh!

🎉 Middle Level Back-to-School Social – A Hit! The Middle Level Back-to-School Social was a fantastic success! Major thanks to Peggy McDavid and other volunteers that made this event a success.

📝 Parent Social Planning-is in full swing! A special shout-out to the volunteers who added a personal touch by including handwritten notes on the invitations.

🧩 Committee Chair Recruitment - CiCi Wang volunteered to be the Elementary level first Friday lunch committee chair. Mari Masur volunteered to be the HRP liaison. Lily Bagala volunteered to help with Angel Lights. Lauren Cabello volunteered to assist with Elementary field day and TAW.

📱 PTO GroupMe Organized

💼 Treasurer Financial Meeting with IWA CFO

🤝 Initial Meetings with Principal & PTO Liaison-Kathryn Saenz is the IWA staff PTO liaison.

🍽️ First Friday Lunch-worked on concept of execution. How will we do this at larger scale. Working with committee chairs for solutions.

Electronic voting minutes format adopted.
New IWA PTO email iwapto@iwacc.org
Confirmed approval of $10,897.99 for elementary level parking lot repair and $1,500 for elementary level signage. Both approved by elementary level PTO in May 2025.
Confirmed approval of Lenovo laptop and TV for 2^nd Montessori.
Received Middle Level PTO continuity book.

📌 What’s Next

Looking ahead, we’ll be focusing on:

13 August 2025 Back to School Parent Social
19 August 2025 First PTO meeting
Finalizing committee assignments and roles
Stock the Teachers Lounges
Preparing for our upcoming Back-to-School Nights
05 September 2025 First Friday Lunch

Please feel free to reach out if you have any questions or suggestions. I’m grateful for the momentum we’re building together and excited for what’s ahead!

Warm regards,

Amy Buck

Incarnate Word Academy PTO President

September PTO Roll Up 2025

Subject: PTO August 9, 2025-September 19, 2025 Rollup

We held our September PTO meeting in the HS library. This is a better venue and enabled video conferencing by way of Google Meet to include more IWA families. A PTO Executive Board meeting was conducted directly following the September 16, 2025 PTO meeting.

Angel Hospitality

August 13, 2025 Back-to-School Parent Social. See attached Angel After Action.
August 14, 2025 Salsa/Queso Bar provided for Middle Level and High School Level students/teachers/staff.
August 26-28, 2025 Meet the Teacher/Follow the Schedule, At Large teammates provided dinner for teachers across the Academy. See attached Angel After Action.
August 2025 Stocked Teachers lounges across the Academy.
September 05, 2025 First Friday Lunch. Carve-It Nutrition catered lunch for IWA teachers and staff. See attached Angel After Action.
Birthday Cards and Gifts were delivered to teachers/staff celebrating September Birthdays.
22-19 September Celebrated Security Officer recognition week. Thank you, Officer Mike Mendez and Officer Isaac Ochoa, for keeping our school safe!!

Angel Experiences

August 19, 2025 Pop-Up Snack Bar provided for High School Level sweet/savory.
August 28, 2025 Approved $363.93 for EL book vending machine.
September 11, 2025 Chipotle Dinner Give back joint effort with Booster. Raised a total of $333.00, PTO will receive ~$166.00.
September 12, 2025 Elementary Level Kona Ice at the playground.
September 16, 2025 Received confirmation from the Athletic Cub that the Operation Graduation deposit was received.

Angel Funds:

Budget Revisions -ongoing. Examples are (but not limited to) add Dinner Givebacks, add Book Fair funds, add Angel Dads funds, add Special Recognition Day funds, add Run-a-thon incentives funds, etc.
- Purchased books for Elementary book vending machine. ~$365.00
- Confirmed approval of ~$16,000 for parking lot repair, signage, EL smartboard, EL AED wall mount/carry case and ML science items.
- Submitted Operation Graduation deposit to Athletic Club. ~$600.00.
- Processed several check requests.
August 27, 2025 Color Run planning meeting and continued coordination.
September 17, 2025 Angel Lights planning meeting.

📌 What’s Next

Looking ahead, we’ll be focusing on:

September 30, 2025 HS Level/ML Food for Finals and College Fair
October 2, 2025 Maintenance/Custodial Recognition Day
October 3, 2025 Half Day Teacher Luncheon
October 3, 2025 ML House Sorting
October 20-24 EL Book Fair
October 20-24 Homecoming Week
October 21 2025 PTO Meeting @ 8:15 HS Library
October 22, 2025 Unity Day
November 7, 2025 Half Day Teacher Luncheon
NOVEMBER 15, 2025 Color Run/Run-A-Thon

Please feel free to reach out if you have any questions or suggestions.

Warm regards,

Amy Buck

President, Incarnate Word Academy PTO

October PTO Roll Up 2025

Subject: PTO September 19, 2025- 22 October 2025 Rollup

The executive board conducted three electronic votes and two meetings. The
meetings were conducted on September 16th and October 16th. The October
16th meeting was a 90-day assessment of the Academy Wide PTO, strong
emphasis on budget and bylaws. Held the third Academy Wide PTO meeting on
October 21, 2025.

Angel Hospitality

 Continued to stocked the teachers lounges across the Academy.
 Birthday cards and gifts were delivered to teachers/staff celebrating October Birthdays.
 October 2, 2025 celebrated maintenance/custodial workers recognition Day. Provided BBQ lunch (per their request) for our outstanding team!
 October 03, 2025 First Friday Lunch. BBQ sandwiches from the beloved IWA Lopez family! Always a fan favorite!!
Teacher/Staff Christmas party planning is underway. Save the Date, December 19th 1-4. Location TBD.
 Planning and coordinating the November 7th first Friday lunch.
 Sympathy gift in memory of Sister Cathrine Brehony generously given on behalf of PTO and Booster.

Angel Experiences

 September 30, 2025 HS Level/ML Food for Finals and College Fair.
 October 1, 2025 Field Trip Committee originated. Wonderful momentum here! The committee is working on level specific field trip strategies and presenting options to level administrators for approval.
 October 3, 2025 ML House Sorting volunteers helped with setup/teardown and provided cookies in house colors.
 October 20-24 EL Book Fair celebrating the love of reading with our EL students. Tuesday: Donuts with Dudes, Wednesday: Croissants with Cowgirls, Thursday: Granola with Grands

Angel Funds:

 Budget modifications -most likely will be ongoing this year.
 Color Run planning meetings and continued coordination are ongoing. Decorated the school with color run streamers and posters. Registration, Fundhub and sponsorship opportunities are ongoing.
 October 2, 2025 Angel Lights planning meetings and coordination ongoing.
 Executive Board
- Conducted 2 Executive Board meetings.
  -  16 September 2025
  -  16 October 2025 (90 Day review)
Conducted 3 electronic votes:
-  Increased Food for Finals budget from $500 to $800 to include both ML and HS students.
-  ML House sorting budget line changed from ML House Championship to ML House Sorting and Championship and increased budget from $500 to $800 to include cookies for the House Sorting event.
Added a EL Book Fair budget of $300.

�� What’s Next
Looking ahead, we’ll be focusing on:

 October 20-24 EL Book Fair
 October 20-24 Homecoming Week
 November 7, 2025 First Friday Luncheon
 NOVEMBER 15, 2025 Color Run/Run-A-Thon
 November 18, 2025 PTO Meeting
 November 20, 2025 Catholic School Principal Appreciation Day
 December 5, 2025 Half Day Teacher Luncheon
 December 11, 2025 Angel Lights
 Advent Angel Offering
 December 19, 2025 Teacher/Staff Christmas Party
 EL Donuts with Santa date TBD.

Please feel free to reach out if you have any questions or suggestions.

Warm regards,
Amy Buck
President, Incarnate Word Academy PTO

November PTO Roll Up 2025

Subject: PTO October 22, 2025- November 30, 2025 Rollup

On November 15, we held our one big PTO fundraiser of the year — The COLOR RUN/RUN-A-THON it was a massive success! The event was filled with fun and laughter for all our IWA families. A heartfelt thank you goes out to our amazing committee members and to everyone who donated their time, energy and resources to make the Color Run & Run-a-thon possible. Your efforts truly made this event unforgettable! We would also to thank the IWA Academy for supporting this event — from marketing efforts to the Brave Bunch at every level, and to the teachers who are ready to race in inflatables!

Angel Hospitality

· Continued to stocked the teachers lounges across the Academy.

· Birthday cards and gifts were delivered to teachers/staff celebrating November Birthdays.

· November 7, 2025 First Friday Lunch. We treated our amazing teachers to a visit from a taco truck — and it was a hit! They absolutely loved the delicious street tacos, refreshing drinks, and sweet treats.

· Planning the Teacher/Staff Christmas party for December 19^th at Texas State Aquarium (TSA) received 76 positive RSVPs. Looking forward to the ornament exchange and fun games!

· Coordinating with the school board on the December 5th first Friday lunch. The school board members are providing chili and tamales, and PTO will provide a fun Christmas dessert!

· November 3, 2025 sympathy gift to Mrs. Ramirez. Sending lots of prayers and love from her IWA family.

· November 17, 2025 sympathy gift to Mrs. Woods. Sending lots of prayers and love from her IWA family.

· November 17, 2025 sympathy gift to Mrs. Barker. Sending lots of prayers and love from her IWA family.

Angel Experiences

· October 20-24 2025 the Elementary Level Book Fair was held throughout the week — a wonderful celebration of reading and discovery for our students! Over $13,000 worth of books sold a the book fair!

· October 29, 2025 our 12th Grade Retreat was a wonderful day! We provided breakfast and lunch with Raising Cane’s — the students loved it!

· November 15, 2025 The Color Run & Run-a-thon was a huge success — what an unforgettable memory for our IWA families! Thank you to everyone who participated and helped make this event so special.

· Angel Lights planning continues, we’re excited about the incredible efforts of the Angel Lights Committee this year, including the beautiful new addition — the Guardian Angel Garden. We can’t wait to see everyone on December 11, 2025.

Angel Funds:

· Color Run & Run-a-thon - We’re still waiting on the final numbers, but it looks like we’ve exceeded our stretch goal of $75,000!

· While Angel Lights is first and foremost a community celebration, it also raises funds through our wonderful market vendors. This year, we expect to receive $5,000.

Executive Board Updates

· A 90-day assessment meeting of the Academy-Wide PTO was held with Sammie Grunwald to review Academy PTO progress and next steps.

· An executive board member successfully secured a proposal from the Texas State Aquarium for the upcoming IWA Teacher/Staff Christmas Party.

· New processes and procedures were identified to better support committee chairs and strengthen overall operations.

· Executive Committee’s last meeting was held on October 16, 2025.

· No electronic votes were conducted during this time period.

📌 What’s Next

Looking ahead, we’ll be focusing on:

· December 5, 2025 Half Day Teacher Luncheon

· December 11, 2025 Angel Lights

· December 1 -12, 2025 Advent Angel Offering

· Donuts with Santa Elementary Level date TBD

· December 19, 2025 Teacher/Staff Christmas Party

· December 19, 2025 ML Popcorn Party

· January 20, 2026 PTO Meeting @ 8:15 HS Library

· January 25-31 National Catholic Schools Week

· January 27, 2026 Grandparents Day Elementary Level

Please feel free to reach out if you have any questions or suggestions.

Warm regards,

Amy Buck

President, Incarnate Word Academy PTO