Good morning!  What a great week we had last week in Northside ISD.  First of all, our high school bands were outstanding in the Area Contest.  Thirty-six bands were in competition and ten bands were selected for finals competition.  Northside had two bands qualify for the finals competition of the Area Contest:  O'Connor High School and John Jay High School.  All of the Northside bands had performances ranging from "excellent" to "incredible."  At the conclusion of the Area finals, O'Connor placed fourth and qualified for the State Marching Contest which will take place tomorrow.  John Jay did not make it to the state contest, yet this is the first time in the history of Jay High School for them to advance to the finals of area competition.  Congratulations to all our bands for their great work.  I am so proud of all of them and especially proud of O'Connor and John Jay.  Good luck to O'Connor as they compete in the state competition!

Also, last Monday night Northside through its Counseling Department held College Night for our Northside high school students and their parents.  It was held in the Multi-Purpose Building and Cafeteria at O'Connor High School.  The crowd was unbelievable!  There was a tremendous turnout and I can say it was an excellent event.  Our Counseling Department and our high school counselors do such a great job with this event.  With this tremendous turnout I am concerned about where we can hold such an event in the future.  I talked with many parents who were present with their children and they expressed great appreciation for the attendance of the colleges and universities (over 80) and for the event.  Thanks to Debbie Healy and all of our counselors for the wonderful job in hosting this event!

Wednesday and Thursday were events encompassing the dedication of Louis D. Brandeis High School.  We were so honored to have three grandchildren of Justice Brandeis present for the dedication.  I enjoyed so much meeting and visiting with the Brandeis family members, and they were so appreciative and excited about the school being named after their grandfather.  On Wednesday evening a dinner/reception was held with the Brandeis faculty and staff and the Brandeis family members where Brandeis staff were able to visit with the family members and learn more about Justice Brandeis.  On Thursday the Brandeis family spent the day at the high school visiting the library, classrooms, fine arts programs, and ROTC.  Everyone was so impressed with the interaction with the students and seeing them demonstrate the things occurring at the school.  The students who showed the family what they were doing in their classes and performed were exceptional.  To have accomplished in eight weeks what they have is truly amazing.  Thursday evening the Brandeis family received a Texas Welcome and then was escorted to the auditorium for the dedication program.  Again, the performance by the students was outstanding and focusing on Justice Louis D. Brandeis was so interesting.  Thanks again to Pascual Gonzalez and his staff for the great job they do in planning all our dedications, but a big thank you and congratulations to Geri Berger for the tremendous job she has done in bringing the school together in its first year.  Also, thanks to the faculty and staff of Brandeis for the great job they are doing.  They have truly embraced the newness of the school and student body, and brought the community of the school together in a way that demonstrates excellence and pride.  I can truly tell you that the three Brandeis grandchildren and their spouses were so impressed and thankful.  They could just not believe Northside and how great everything they observed and participated in was.  They told me that their grandfather would have been so proud and appreciative of having a school - Louis D. Brandeis High School - named after him!

On Saturday we continued our dedications with the dedication of Peggy Carnahan Elementary School.  This school is dedicated to a beloved educator who has spent her career improving science education for Texas schoolchildren.  Peggy is a former science teacher at John Jay High School who later became the District's secondary science supervisor.  She now is the director of Our Lady of the Lake University's Center for Science and Mathematics Education.  Of special note is that Peggy is the first - and only - Northside teacher to be honored by the Texas Education Agency as a statewide Teacher of the Year.  I certainly want to say congratulations to Principal Lisa Jackson, Vice Principal Rachel Cornett, the faculty, and staff at Carnahan Elementary for the wonderful job they have done in opening the school and preparing everything for the first year.  The dedication program was excellent, and I continue to marvel at the exceptional ability of all our students and teachers.  At all of our new schools in just a few short weeks a wonderful dedication program is pulled together which highlights not only the namesake but the talent of our students.  Congratulations Carnahan Cardinals!  We are so proud of you!

Dedications are such an important part of the history of the beginning of a school.  This year we opened five new schools and are looking forward to the dedication of Evelyn Scarborough Elementary School this Saturday.  The openings and dedications of these schools have truly been a highlight for Northside this school year.

In closing I want to thank all the participants and especially the "school teams" who participated in the Northside Education Foundation 5K Walk/Run.  It was a fun event and I will share information about the number of participants and funds raised when I receive it.  The NEF just presented almost $200,000 in grants and I am thrilled with the success of all our fundraising events for the Foundation.

I told the Brandeis family that our theme this year is "We Believe."  They said before they left that there was no question that we believed in Northside, public education, and what we do everyday!

Have a great week, and thanks for all you do to help our students be successful!