Tuesday - September 8, 2009
Good morning! I hope you had a great Labor Day weekend and enjoyed the three days. I am sure everyone was ready for the three-day weekend after the first two weeks of school. Our enrollment continues to increase and we were very close to reaching projection at the end of the first week of school. As of Friday our enrollment had increased to 91,212 students which is 656 students over projection. There is no doubt our growth will continue. Our growth as of Friday compared to the same day last year was 3233 more students. Last week we recognized the student who was the 90,000th student to enroll in Northside. Michael Gallus, a first grade student at Mead Elementary, was the 90,000th student to enroll, and his sister who is a third grader at Mead Elementary was the 90,001st student to enroll. When I came to Northside seven years ago the enrollment was 65,717 students. We have now grown to over 91,000 students in this time period. Toward the end of last year I told Pascual Gonzalez, Communications Executive Director, that I would like to recognize the 90,000th student to enroll. We were able to identify the student and we recognized the student, his sister and family in a recognition ceremony held at the school. We talk a lot about numbers of students enrolled, or number of students by which we grow, but recognizing Michael and his sister, Victoria, reminds all of us as educators that every number we talk about is attached to a child. It is true that our growth does set us apart from other school districts, but I think what sets us apart more are what we are able to achieve in spite of our growth - a Recognized School District two years in a row, and the largest, most diverse Recognized District in Texas. It made me very proud that Mead Elementary was the school where Michael and Victoria enrolled, because it is one of the most diverse schools in the district and the campus was a Recognized campus this year. Thanks to Rebecca Barron-Flores, principal at Mead Elementary, and all the faculty and staff for the great job they do. We have many children of our refugee families enrolled at Mead and they do a great job serving the educational needs of these children. Mead Elementary, I am very proud of you, and it was an honor to be on your campus and recognize our 90,000th and 90,001st students! Also, last Tuesday night was our Northside Education Foundation Gala Event. This is a wonderful event at which we recognize our Pillars of Character for the year, and it is also one of the major fundraisers for the Foundation. As you know the individuals who are recognized as our Pillars of Character are graduates of Northside high schools. Six Pillars of Character are named representing the Pillars of Caring, Respect, Fairness, Responsibility, Trustworthiness, and Citizenship. The 2009 Pillars of Character are:
I would like to make a comment regarding the controversy over President Barack Obama's speech to school children. I think it is very unfortunate that we have become so politically divided in this country that a speech by our President to school children would embroil the nation's schools in controversy. When I first received the e-mail from Secretary of Education Arne Duncan about the President's speech, I sent it to principals telling them that I would not require that it be shown, but if the principal or teachers wanted to do so I had no problem. Little did I realize at that time the controversy this would become nationwide. As we began to get many e-mails and phone calls on both sides of the issue about the speech, most of the parents were saying that they wanted to be the ones to make the choice about whether their child watched the speech or not. At first we thought we would continue as we had planned, but then we began to get calls from our schools by both principals and teachers about what they should do. I did not want our campuses, principals, or teachers to become embroiled in this controversy so I made the decision that we would not air the broadcast at the time of the speech, but provide a link on our website, and parents could choose whether to have their children watch the speech or not. This was a difficult decision and one with which I personally do not agree, but one which I thought was in the best interests of our schools considering the controversy. From everything I have read or heard at this time, the speech was to be one in which students were encouraged to stay in school, work hard, set goals, and place a priority on their education. I do believe that some of the materials and worksheets provided by the U.S. Department of Education were at the heart of some of the controversy. I can tell you that I knew many would agree and like the decision, but many would disagree and dislike the decision I made. Again, I think it is very unfortunate that we have such political controversy in our country that this would even be an issue, no matter who the President might be. Maybe we can all learn some lessons from this situation, but hopefully we will not put schools and school children in the middle of such controversy. I do respect parental rights to a great degree and I did not want our local campuses affected by the controversy, so this is why I made the decision I did. I explain this and hope that you understand why I did what I did. Sometimes superintendents have to make decisions they believe are in the best interest of the schools, even though they themselves may or may not agree with the decision. We have a great school system, and we will continue to excel and provide for the success of all our students. Thanks for all you do, and have a great week! |
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