A Comal school district student was recently recognized for his artistic and creative talent after his illustration was chosen for the cover of an educational catalog. Jake Marks, 20, could barely contain his excitement when he learned last month that his artwork would be featured on the cover of the Attainment Company 2020 catalog, but that excitement carried over when he was recognized by the school district's board of trustees. view article

Tuesday night, A&M Consolidated High School and College Station High School marching bands will get the chance to share their performances outside of a football game or competition during the first CSISD Marching Band Showcase. “They’re always doing this at a halftime show, so this is something new,” Eric Eaks, director of fine arts at the College Station school district, said. “This is something special. This is really something that is just for them.” view article

Santa Fe Independent School District's Kubacak Elementary School will host a kick-off pizza party for the WATCH D.O.G.S. (Dads Of Great Students) program from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. Oct. 24 at 4131 Warpath Ave. in Santa Fe. WATCH D.O.G.S. are fathers, grandfathers, uncles and other father figures who volunteer for at least one day each year at an official WATCH D.O.G.S. school.  view article

The young women on a high school drill team in Frisco are using their passions for dance for something good. The Independence High School Royals Drill/Dance team is teaching dance steps to children at the Boys and Girls Club of Collin County. view article

The Texas Education Agency (TEA) is asking high school principals to submit student nominations to the United States Presidential Scholars Program and the United States Senate Youth Program.  Established in 1964, the U.S. Presidential Scholars Program honors graduating seniors for their outstanding scholarship, achievement and promise of future success. In 2015, the Presidential Scholars Program extended their recognition of students who demonstrate ability and accomplishment in career and technical education fields. The Commission on Presidential Scholars selects deserving seniors. These youth will receive an all-expense paid trip to Washington, D.C., where the Scholars program will present them with a medallion at a ceremony in their honor. While there, the students will engage in conversations and events over issues that concern America and the world. view article

Several Hudson High School students helped run the Flying Vikings event at the Angelina County Airport on Saturday that enabled mentally and physically disabled children to fly in small craft airplanes for free.  The students are part of an aviation program at the school that provides a career pathway into robotics and aviation. On Saturday, attendees of the event were aided by the students who volunteered their time to help the kids into airplanes, facilitate crafts and learn about the airplanes.  The aviation program has run for a few years now and is helping students engage in math, science and engineering in a new way. Many of them balance advanced school courses, extra-curricular activities and the aviation program. Most are only freshmen and sophomores, but there are a few older students as well, they said. view article

“School safety is a constantly evolving goal,” said Assistant Superintendent of Administrative and Pupil Services Dennis Williams. “It’s a process of always seeking to improve our safety and security, while knowing that we will never arrive at perfection.” Campus safety at Longview Independent School District is not “perfect,” Williams admits, “but I’m proud that we’ve come a very long way in a short amount of time.” view article

The cost of college continues to increase, but too often, financial aid officials say, students fail to tap into existing resources, resulting in “money left on the table.” A new state law could help. Included in House Bill 3, which focused on school finance reform, is a requirement that all high school students fill out and submit a free application for federal student aid, or FAFSA, prior to graduating. Current high school sophomores who graduate in 2022 will be the first class to fall under the new law. view article

One of the tough aspects of reading research is challenging your own past assumptions. I'd like to think that all the ideas I held to be true remain so today. But research reveals our misconceptions and misunderstandings of the facts. Like others, I am frightened that ideas I've long held dear must be set aside. That certain ways of using technology are not as valuable as once thought. The truth, though, can also redeem us. It can remind us that what we held to was not what the truth, but our fallible facsimile of it. view article

Walk into composer Graham Reynolds’ East Austin studio, and the first thing you’ll notice, perhaps surprisingly, is the books. There are two whole walls of them: floor-to-ceiling shelves filled with hundreds of music books, naturally, but also cookbooks and novels, comics and zines, science fiction and history. On the stifling July afternoon when I visited, a coffee table was crowded with the work of Maria Sibylla Merian, a German entomologist and illustrator who lived during the late 1600s. Merian, one of the first scientists to directly observe and document butterfly metamorphosis, was a pioneer in an era when insects were commonly described as “beasts of the devil.” Reynolds is reading everything he can find about her, he says, as part of his research for a potential new project, something he’s calling “an insect opera.” view article

What is the objective of this project? - js - COLLEGE STATION — Last fall, employees in a Texas A&M University System office space were alerted that three parakeets had been placed in the building’s light-filled atrium, and that more were on the way.  They were to be greeted warmly: “The first word we would like to teach them is 'HOWDY!'" an employee for Chancellor John Sharp wrote in an October 2018 email. “Please help them learn by addressing them this way when you see them.”  But — for at least a few days — the birds prompted a different reaction from some employees, who said in emails that their winged guests took to “flying around like crazy” and “don’t understand why we are chasing them.” view article

In HR 4540, the rebate is a simple $150 per month for the public pensioner who is already impacted by the WEP. If you are a TRS Texas retiree and hit by the WEP, HR 4540 would provide you with a $150 per month, or $1,800 per year, more in Social Security. This benefit is indexed to cost-of-living adjustments provided to all Social Security recipients, so it will likely increase over time. The rebate is provided to the TRS retiree. view article

California is set to become the first state to require later start times for some public schools after Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) signed legislation into law Sunday.  The new law will be implemented over time and will eventually mandate middle schools to start no earlier than 8 a.m. and high schools to begin no earlier than 8:30 a.m., according to the Los Angeles Times. view article

Superintendent Search: Education Solutions and Services Announces Lone Finalist for Quanah ISD

October 1408:29 AM

 

Quanah ISD Board of Trustees has chosen Tom Johnson, Principal of Quanah ISD, as Lone Finalist for Quanah ISD. Click here for the announcement. Details and updates will continue to appear on our search page as things progress.  read more

After three of four planned town hall-style meetings about converting the rest of Longview ISD’s campuses to a private charter school system, two things have become clear: Longview ISD has learned parents and others still have confusion and concerns about the idea, and patrons have learned there are still questions the district can’t answer. view article

The community will have a chance to enjoy a shrimp dinner and help support the educational enrichment of students served by Lone Oak Independent School District at the Third Annual Eddie Payne & Friends’ Shrimp Boil Saturday, Oct. 19. The event, which will be at Innovation First in Greenville, is a fundraiser for the Lone Oak ISD Education Foundation, a nonprofit organization that provides teacher grants for educational equipment, technology, supplies or materials that aren’t otherwise funded by the state or the city. view article

The “Bat Man of Mexico” will be descending on this year’s Monarch Butterfly and Pollinator Festival.  Rodrigo Medellín, an ecologist at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), has spent decades working to protect bats, an animal that he says has been unfairly stigmatized but provides essential biological services for the world. His work earned him the “Bat Man” nickname from famed naturalist David Attenborough, who narrated a BBC documentary on Medellín and his work. view article

The Spirit of Waxahachie Indian Band, having long been a force in the state of Texas, has entered the top 30 bands in the nation in Hornrank.com’s weekly online listing. “We couldn’t be more proud of this recognition for our talented, dedicated band students and staff members,” Waxahachie Independent School District Superintendent Dr. Bonny Cain. “Mr. Armstrong and his fellow band directors have an outstanding program, and they are very deserving of the national spotlight. Their success wouldn’t be possible without the strong group of parents and other volunteers who work with them week in and week out, and we are extremely appreciative of their investments into our band program and our students.” view article

This year teens at Skidmore-Tynan High School are getting a very early and hands-on approach on what it takes to become an animal doctor. It's a new program where students can get their veterinarian assistant certificate before they even graduate high school. "This is my pilot year with the kids actually being out in the field, as I'd like to say," Ag Education Teacher Jolie Matthews said. view article

How many parents have kids who don't like doing math? That's not a problem for students in one Dallas elementary classroom where students learn math through rap. Colby Lewis is a teacher assistant at George W. Truett Elementary School, where he uses raps and songs to explain certain math methods and skills.  view article

The Austin Independent School District finished its third week of community meetings to get feedback on its plan to close and consolidate 12 schools. Now, district staff will revise the proposal before the school board votes in late November. view article

“Many of you may have heard of CEP, Community Eligibility Provision, which allows all students to eat free. Rivercrest ISD has been very close to qualifying for this program the past few years,” said Lisa Roach, Rivercrest director of child nutrition. In an effort to increase the possibility of qualifying for next year, letters were sent out with back-to-school packets this year, stating that anyone who returned a completed school meal application — regardless if they qualified or not — would be entered into a drawing for a $100 WalMart gift card. view article

Area education officials congregated on Wednesday, Sept. 25, during the annual Texas Public Schools Legislative Summit at the Hilton Garden Inn in Longview. From state representatives to education lobbyists, a variety of speakers were on hand to talk about the 86th Legislative Summit that took place earlier this year. Organized by Longview ISD in partnership with local businesses and civic groups, it is part of an ongoing effort by the district to raise awareness for education issues that impact all Texans, and the entire nation. “Dr. Wilcox does a great job of putting it on and it has some great speakers, so I look forward to a great day today,” said Texarkana ISD Superintendent Paul Norton. “It’s always good to have events like this to make sure everybody is on the same page with the requirements and see what other school districts are doing.” view article

Cursive has always been a part of the school curriculum, but after technology became more prevalent, the amount that cursive was taught drastically decreased. Now, cursive has been implemented in all Texas schools. Teachers are finding that reading and writing in cursive is helping students with learning disabilities. “For our students with dyslexia, if they have difficulty with reversals, cursive letter shapes are not easily reversed. They begin at the baseline, and it eliminates that difficulty for them,” said Kris Smith, the director of dyslexia at the Turn Center. view article

Marble Falls Independent School District is educating local businesses and residents about questionable fundraisers claiming to be on behalf of the schools. “They’re just scams, some of them,” said Pam Parkman, executive director of the Marble Falls Education Foundation, which partners with the district in fundraising endeavors. view article

District officials said storms knocked out power at Milano ISD. School is officially canceled for the day but the football game against Hearne is still scheduled. view article

‘It’s going to grow – just more modest than it has in the past,’ Hegar, a rice farmer-turned-politician, said of Texas’ economy over the next two years.  Comptroller Glenn Hegar issued a fairly upbeat report on Texas’ finances and economy Thursday.  While officially assuring state GOP leaders there will be enough money to pay for spending in the two-year budget that lawmakers passed last spring, Hegar added to his previous revenue estimate for 2020-2021. Some highlights from his “certification revenue estimate” for the new budget cycle, which began last month: view article

The Nacogdoches Independent School District is holding a workshop to better help parents build a sense of structure that can benefit their child when they’re away from the classroom. Organizers believe structure is immensely important when it comes to home life, and that structure carries over in the behavior of children when they go to school. With that in mind, Nacogdoches ISD will hold a series of workshops on various campuses to empower parents. “What we wanted to do was to develop a program that would help the families work with their own children in the home,” said Eddie Harwell, a social worker for NISD.  view article

Joshua Brown was just helping a fellow human being. Little did the 12-year-old sixth-grader at Arlington’s Hill Elementary School and Arlington police officer Jerrick Wilson know that a photo of the good deed would go viral. Now, thousands of folks around the world have had their hearts touched as a result.Josh was attending the July 4th Parade in Arlington when he noticed that Wilson’s shoelace had come untied. Wilson, a part of the Honor Guard carrying the United States flag in the parade, could not bend over to tie it. view article

Henderson students can now report bullying anonymously through a new online tool. The school board got its first look at the website during their regular monthly meeting Tuesday evening. Assistant Superintendent of Student Operations Shannon Bennett said the website is an attempt to simplify the process of receiving reports of bullying in the district. “That’s the purpose of us putting this together,” said Bennett, “to make it really, really easy for students. It allows students to report incidents quickly and confidentially.” view article

Garland ISD is officially the largest school district in the United States to be named a Google for Education Reference District. view article

An elementary school in Harlingen provided free haircuts for their students with the help of a local hair salon on Wednesday. A teacher from from Travis Elementary reached out to New Image and Gifted Hands to ask if they could provide free haircuts for students that weren't able to go to a salon or couldn't afford to get one. view article

Athletes at a North Texas high school are taking their talents beyond the field and giving back to children in their community, and it’s something good. The varsity football and volleyball teams at Boles High School in Quinlan wanted to honor children fighting the battle against childhood cancer. The athletes surprised four very deserving kids with a goodie basket filled with Boles High spirit to make them feel special. Landrie Lay, Zachary Madden, Jordan Reeves and Alyssa Daggs were all surprised by the Boles athletes. view article

Millsap ISD is in the beginning stages of updating its strategic plan. This process has included meetings this week to gather input from parents, students and school board members, Superintendent Deann Lee said. The plan is to gather information from a variety of stakeholders, including district staff and community members, over the course of the next few months. Next month, common themes from the feedback will be established, and then committees will be formed to give more detailed input. view article

Cy-Fair ISD is looking to discipline students without taking away from class time by implementing Positive Behavioral Interventions and Support processes across the district. During the CFISD board of trustees work session, held on Oct. 3 at the Instructional Support Center, the board received a presentation on ways the district is working toward more positive, productive disciplinary actions from Ify Ogwumike, assistant superintendent for student services. view article