Good morning!  Last week was a great week in Northside with many exciting things going on.  We honored the Elementary Educators of the Year on Wednesday night and the Secondary Educators of the Year on Thursday night.  Both evenings were huge successes! Congratulations to all the winners and especially to Karen Pumphrey from Clark High School who was named the District's nominee for the Trinity Prize. This is a great and fun event for all of us and especially for those teachers who are recognized.

Here are the District-wide winners:

In addition to receiving their official District awards, the first year teachers received checks for $250 and the veteran teachers, as well as the Trinity Prize nominee, received $500 checks.  We are so proud of these teachers who exemplify and represent all the great teaching going on in our district by all of our teachers.  Educators of the Year, we are very proud of you.

On Monday the San Antonio Math and Science Coalition recognized six outstanding math and science educators in the San Antonio area.  Of the six recognized, three were Northside teachers.  Congratulations to Cristina McGowen of Powell Elementary School for outstanding teaching in mathematics, Daniel Applegate of Rayburn Middle School for outstanding teaching in mathematics, and Brandon Grell of Warren High School for outstanding teaching in mathematics.  I know that each of these individuals does an outstanding job in the classroom and I commend them on receiving these awards.  As shown by all our First Year Educator of the Year recipients, Educator of the Year recipients, and the SAMSEC awardees, there is truly outstanding teaching happening in Northside!

I want to congratulate Northside Special Olympics on the 40^th anniversary of serving our special student athletes.  This past week Tuesday-Friday at Gustafson Stadium over 1200 special athletes participated in various activities.  Thanks to all of the coaches and staff that helped prepare the students for the competition.  Each day the ceremony was opened with a parade of schools and athletes followed by the individual competitions.  The athletes were supported by buddy clubs, ROTC, cheerleaders, NHS, NJHS and mascots from our secondary schools and the Cougar Band on the first day.  Nancy Smith, Coordinator of Adaptive PE and Special Olympics, and the rest of the APE staff organized this wonderful event for our special students.  Our teachers do such a great job with our special needs students and it is so inspiring to watch these students as they participate in the events.  Special Olympics is really a special event for many of our children and I want to express my appreciation and thanks to Don Schmidt, Assistant Superintendent for Family, Student, and Community Services, Nancy Smith, and all those who work so hard to make our Special Olympics so successful.

As you know the week before Spring Break we administered the TAKS reading to third, fourth, and eighth graders.  Last week we received the results of this testing.  I am thrilled with the results and I congratulate our principals, teachers, students, and all instructional specialists and support teachers on the great job they did.  In third grade we had a 93% pass rate, fifth grade a 90% pass rate, and eighth grade a 96% pass rate.  Those who did not pass will get a second chance to take the test so we know that our results will improve with the second testing.  Yet to be at or above the 90% pass rate level at all three of these grade levels on the first administration of the test is wonderful.  Also that week of testing we tested in fourth grade writing, seventh grade writing, and ninth and tenth grade reading and English/Language Arts.  We will not receive those results until later, but we are certainly off to a great start!

On Tuesday I testified before the House Public Education Committee and the Senate Education Committee on the introduced versions of SB 3/HB 3.  These are identical bills that address proposed changes in the state accountability system and the requirements for a high school diploma.  I have to say I was somewhat amazed at the lack of understanding of some of the committee members of the current accountability system and diploma requirements, and certainly their lack of understanding of what is being proposed in the introduced legislation.  For instance, the proposed version of the bill introduces three high school diplomas which do parallel in some way the current diploma system of a Minimum Diploma, Recommended Diploma, and Distinguished Diploma.  Under the new bill they are called the Standard Diploma, Texas Diploma, and Advanced Diploma.  Some of the legislators on the committee were questioning the three diploma system proposed in the bill and felt that was a method of putting students in a certain "track."  They did not realize that we currently have a three diploma system which does the very thing they were concerned about.  Even though the default diploma program for all students is the Recommended Diploma, we have students revert to the Minimum Diploma with parental permission, and the current Minimum Diploma requires more credits for graduation than the proposed standard diploma.  The requirements for the various diplomas under the proposed bill are somewhat different than the current requirements, but do provide more flexibility for the student in relationship to the 4x4 and the graduation requirements.

My biggest concern with the proposed system is that it still allows for a lower rating based on one cell and does not initiate a more fair and equitable system for large, diverse school districts or campuses.  In other words whatever the lowest performing subgroup in a particular subject is determines the district or campus rating when all other areas may be doing very well.  It is simply not fair and equitable for Northside to be evaluated on 35 cells and a smaller and less diverse district evaluated on fewer cells.  This is something which every one of the school personnel that testified saw as an important issue to be resolved.  There are several items in the proposed system that I like, but there are still many things that we have questions about.  I do know a Committee Substitute is being introduced and I hope it addresses some of the concerns of schools.  This is a major price of the work of the Legislature that will have an impact on schools for years to come, and they must be thorough, fair, and diligent in their considerations, and they must listen to those of us who work in the schools every day and understand the strengths and weaknesses of the current system.

As I close this Monday Message, I reiterate the great things that are occurring in Northside as exemplified by our Educators of the Year.  We know our profession; we know our kids; and we know how to help them be successful.  Give us the time and the tools, as well as the funding, and we know that Texas will have great schools, because "We Believe" in what we do!

Thanks for all you do and have a great week!