Monday - August 24, 2009
Good morning!  Welcome back for the beginning of the 2009-10 school year.  I hope each of you enjoyed some time off this summer and got some rest.  Today we will welcome about 91,500 students to Northside.  The beginning of school is always an exciting time of the year for teachers, parents, and students.  Students will come to school with a lot of anticipation of what their school year will be like, who their teacher will be, and who will be in their class or classes.  Along with the excitement comes anxiety that confronts teachers, parents, and the students.  Yet it is a wonderful time for everyone as we begin this school year.

This week we welcome four new campuses, along with a new magnet program, to our district.  We welcome Hector Garcia Middle School, John Hoffmann Elementary School, Ralph Langley Elementary School, and Charles Kuentz, Jr. Elementary School.  Also we welcome the first freshman class to our new Construction Careers Academy located at Warren High School.  This now makes for us sixty-five elementary schools, seventeen middle schools, nine comprehensive high schools, five magnet high schools/academies, and nine special schools.  Our growth continues as we are the fourth largest district in Texas and the thirty-fourth largest in the nation in terms of student population.  We anticipate our growth will be between 2800 and 3200 students this year which is more than we originally projected.  We really thought our growth would be less based on the economy and a downturn in home sales.  Yet this will not happen and we will see continued growth in our district.  I want to thank the principals, faculties, and staff at our new schools for all their hard work and effort in getting the schools and classrooms ready as we greet the students to these new campuses.  A big thank you to Vernon Dunagin, Assistant Superintendent for Facilities and Operations, and his staff for the great job in overseeing the construction and completion of these facilities.  Thanks to Eric Walls, Director of Purchasing, and his staff for making sure the schools are furnished and equipped, and to Kelly Smith, Assistant Superintendent for Technology Services, and her staff in making sure these schools are equipped with the technology needed to operate as well as help in the instruction of our students.  Opening new schools is no easy task, but Northside has it down to a science, and I appreciate everyone for all they have done in getting these schools ready to start the year.

As we begin school today we will have almost 500 new teachers in Northside.  This is a lower number than we usually have, but we have had fewer numbers leave or retire than we have had in past years.  Thanks to Jim Miller, Assistant Superintendent for Human Resources, and his staff for the great job they do in assisting our principals in hiring the new staff for our schools.  I tell principals that the most important thing they do is hire teachers, because the most important thing in the education of a child is the teacher in the classroom.  Based on what I saw at our new teacher academies we have hired some great teachers!  I often say no one does a better job than Northside in handling growth, building schools and equipping them, and staffing our schools.

I certainly hope you enjoyed the convocations and other activities that preceded the start of school.  Summer is such a busy time with many activities taking place, as well as staff development meetings.  From our curriculum institutes to our administrator institute to new teacher academies and campus inservice activities, there is a lot of professional development that enhances our staff and prepares us for the start of school.  All of this culminated last week in our District Convocations and I thank each of you for your participation.  This year we had twelve convocations which included our Child Nutrition Department and our Transportation Department.  The energy and enthusiasm of these convocations are contagious, and it helps us understand the importance of what we do, no matter what our position or job in the district may be.  In a district as large as Northside it is important for everyone to realize that it is not just that you work in your department or on your campus that is the only thing, but that we all are a part of something much larger and that is the school district itself.  We are all a part of Northside!  The fact that we are all working together for the success of all of our students makes us the great district that we are!

I do want to thank Pascual Gonzalez and the staff in the Communications Department for the wonderful job they did in preparing the convocations and producing the videos and choreographing the event.  Also, thanks to our sound technicians and all the others that helped make these events so successful.  No one does convocations any better than Northside, and it is because of Pascual and his staff.  As I said we had twelve convocations this year, and I enjoy each one so much, because it is so great to see the fun, excitement, and enthusiasm for our district.  I want to especially thank James Miculka, Fine Arts Director, and all the fine arts teachers in the district who work with our students for the TASA/TASB performance.  The performances by the students at convocations were just a sample of the overall performance that will occur at the state convention.  I am so proud of these students and the hard work they have put in to prepare for convocations and their convention performance.  Also, thanks to Geri Berger, Principal of Brandeis High School, and all her staff that worked so hard hosting us.  And thanks to the Brandeis band and cheerleaders for all their work and support of the convocations.

As you saw at convocations our theme this year is "Deep in the Heart of Northside."  The heart of Northside lies in the people and their commitment to student excellence.  It is the relationships that employees, partners, parents, and students build together that make our district strong.  We know that deep in the heart of Northside is the belief that public education must and can give all our students the tools to achieve, create, and succeed.  Last year our theme was "We Believe" and we shared our belief in what we do by achieving the "Recognized" status as a school district for the second year in a row.  The achievement in our district of having 42 Exemplary campuses, 36 Recognized campuses, and 10 Academically Acceptable campuses is outstanding.  I truly believe there is not a district that is as large and diverse as Northside in which the students achieve at as high a level as ours do.  This happens because of the great work of our principals, teachers, instructional specialists, and all other staff that work so hard to help all of our students be successful.  Deep in the heart of Northside are committed people who will champion the needs of the more than 90,000 students we will have this year.

As we begin this year I want to again congratulate Karen Pumphrey, special education teacher at Clark High School, on being selected as the Trinity Prize teacher last year.  I want to also congratulate Gretchen Catron, social studies teacher at John Jay/Science and Engineering Academy, who was named the H-E-B winner of the Rising Star-Secondary Teacher category.  And, to Brenda Farias, principal at Langley Elementary School, who was principal at Cable Elementary School last year, congratulations on being the winner of the H-E-B award for the Outstanding Elementary Principal in Texas.  This summer we also received notice that Maricela Alarcon, teacher at Burke Elementary, was named the Region 20 Elementary Teacher of the Year.  I am so proud of these individuals and their accomplishments.  It speaks to the greatness of so many people in Northside who work to achieve excellence for all students.

As we begin this 2009-10 school year, let all of us not forget that we became educators because we wanted to make a positive difference in children's lives.  No matter what our job is in Northside, it is to help and support the belief that as a school district we will help all students achieve success.  Also that we will keep the hope and dreams of our children alive as they attend our schools this year.  We are the "Heart of Northside!"

Have a great week!