‘Bikes for Angels’ Program a Record-Breaking Success

The annual ‘Bikes for Angels’ program came to a close this week and the results were fantastic. After about six weeks of fundraising, $26,400 was used to purchase bikes for needy children in the metroplex.

The Auto-Tech students at Ben Barber Career Tech Academy worked diligently to build 603 bikes, which were delivered to thirty-five MISD campuses and fifteen additional organizations this week.

Not only was this year’s donation exceed the previous record by almost $5,000, it was enough to allow the program to fulfill each application received.

The students and staff involved have put a great deal of time and energy forth to make the 2010 ‘Bikes for Angels’ project such a huge success.

“We are so proud of these kids,” said Rick Curlee, Auto-Tech teacher from Ben Barber. “They have worked so hard to get this done and to help provide a better Christmas for hundreds of needy children.”

Reid 4th grade fills assisted living center with holiday joy

On the sunny morning of December 10, the fourth grade students and teachers from Martha Reid Elementary cheerfully dashed down Country Club Drive to the Walnut Creek Assisted Living Center nearby. The half-mile power walk was only just the beginning of what proved to be a spirited new holiday program.

Students entered Walnut Creek to a warm greeting from an audience of smiling residents, gathered around a beautifully decorated Christmas tree. Music teacher Bridgett Wigley took a seat at the piano and began playing holiday favorites as students sang for the residents.

“We really enjoyed the Martha Reid students singing carols and spreading cheer,” said Lisa Collins, Life Enrichment Director at Walnut Creek. “They enriched our residents’ lives in such a special way!”

In the true spirit of giving, students presented a generous donation of goodies (items ranging from decks of cards to scented hand lotion) for the residents to share. Special hand-made holiday cards were also given.

Updated December 17 for added MISD Short Cuts video:

The new program was warmly received by the staff and residents of Walnut Creek, and the students enjoyed fresh air, exercise and true holiday spirit!

Check out the online gallery:

Mansfield ISD among top-rated districts in new FAST report

Earlier this week the Texas Comptroller's Office released the Financial Allocation Study for Texas (FAST) report. The report grades districts on how well they spend money compared to student performance.

"The 2009 Legislature required the comptroller’s office to develop a way to determine how well districts were spending money compared to how well their students performed.

"Each campus and district were rated based on how well students performed on math and reading tests from year to year, whether it was a 'very low' to 'very high' spending district and compared to peer districts of similar size and student makeup." [SOURCE: Extra Credit]

The Mansfield ISD was among the top-rated districts, with 4.5 stars and a "very low" (which is good) spending index according to the report.

When asked by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram how MISD has such a good balance between spending and academic success, Dr. Jim Vaszauskas, Associate Superintendent for Curriculum, Instruction, and Accountabilitysay said it was because of two things:

"First, we give our principals a great deal of latitude on how they spend their professional development campus funds, and they do a very good job of spending those monies on trainings that focus on instructional improvement.

"Second, we try to closely align our professional development with our district curriculum. Some of the best and least expensive professional development we have is simply giving our teachers time to talk with each other and time to collaboratively produce quality lessons for our students. It’s a really exciting time to be a part of Mansfield ISD."

Since the study is still so new, we will need more time to closely analyze it. However, we are encouraged by seeing these types of results.

Read more about the Financial Allocation Study for Texas (FAST) report or read the study.

Ben Barber's 'Bikes for Angels' campaign featured on local news station

The annual Bikes for Angels campaign at Ben Barber Career Tech Academy was featured earlier today during a segment entitled 'Our Neighbors' on WFAA News 8.

The 2010 goal is to purchase 600 bikes to give away to needy children who would otherwise not get bikes for Christmas.

This is just one of the many holiday charity drives in the District. We are working on putting a list together and posting it to the District website of as many as we can share in the next few days.

Our Neighbor: [Ben] Barber Career Tech Academy

If you have any questions about this campaign or would like to support, contact Mr. Rick Curlee at Ben Barber Career Tech Academy via e-mail RickCurlee [at] misdmail.org or by phone at 817-299-1939. If you help the campaign via a check, please make it out to: MISD Auto Tech and put "Bikes for Angels" in the memo of the check. All monies raised during this campaign go to bicycles.

Related: 2009 Bikes for Angels campaign

Basketball teams tip off for Kay Yow Cancer Fund

The Mansfield ISD high school basketball programs are raising money for the Kay Yow Cancer Fund on Tuesday, November 30 and Tuesday, December 7.

The Kay Yow/WBCA Cancer Fund™ is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization committed to being a part of finding an answer in the fight against women's cancers through raising money for scientific research, assisting the underserved and unifying people for a common cause.

"The late Kay Yow, the Fund's namesake and former North Carolina State University head women's basketball coach, was a past president and founding member of the WBCA, and a galvanizing voice for the Association.Yow was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 1987, and passed away on January 24, 2009, after facing her third bout with the disease."
[Women's Basketball Coaches Association] 

"In her 38 years as a head coach at the college-level, Yow is one of only six Division I head women's basketball mentors to achieve 700 career victories. Yow was also the head coach of the 1988 US Olympic Team that won the gold medal in Seoul."
[The V Foundation]

Local Connection
This year the Texas Girls’ Coaches Association has chosen the Kay Yow Cancer Fund as their charity of choice. The girls’ basketball coaches in Mansfield ISD, all members of TGCA, decided it would be a great cause to bring awareness to as well as raise money.

According to Tammy Lusinger, Summit High School Athletic Coordinator and Girls' Basketball Head Coach, the MISD basketball teams will have pink t-shirts for sale for $5.00. They will also pass around buckets for fans to donate. All proceeds will go to the cancer fund.

Details:
Tuesday, November 30 – Mansfield girls play Arlington at Mansfield High School, Timberview girls play Crowley at Timberview High School, Summit boys and girls play Legacy boys and girls at Summit High School.

Tuesday, December 7 – Mansfield girls play North Crowley at Mansfield High School and Timberview boys and girls play Summit at Timberview High School.

Related information: Kay Yow biography

Happy Thanksgiving from Mansfield ISD

Happy Thanksgiving!

This is just a quick post from the Communications Department to share a few things for which we are thankful:

• We're thankful for the 32,223 students we serve in the District.
• We're thankful for the 3,900 teachers, staff, and administrators with whom we work.
• We're thankful for support (and patience) of the parents in the District community.

We hope you enjoy the Thanksgiving Break.

Mansfield ISD will be closed November 22-26. (Note: The MISD Police Department along with our Maintenance and Custodial staff will work through the break so save them some turkey.)

And just in case you were curious, here's some History on Thanksgiving Day:



What are you thankful for?

Peers Making Peace at Shepard Intermediate

Twenty-two fifth and sixth grade Donna Shepard Intermediate School students have completed nine hours of conflict resolution training to officially become drug-free role models and neutral third-parties through a program called Peers Making Peace. The program is designed to help students provide peer mediation services for their peers who lack the skills to successfully resolve their conflicts. The goal of the Peers Making Peace program is to improve the school environment by reducing violence, assaults, discipline referrals, and increasing academic performance.

The program was purchased through an innovative teaching grant awarded by the Mansfield ISD Education Foundation in the fall of 2009. The project title of the grant: Mustang/Colt Care Team - Mary Jo Sheppard Elementary (Colt Mascot) and Donna Shepard Intermediate School (Mustang Mascot) teamed up to submit this grant to address school leadership and character on both campuses.

On Friday, November 12, 2010, twenty-two students received their certificates of completion in a graduation ceremony in the Donna Shepard Intermediate School's library. Parents, teachers, and administrators were on hand to congratulate these students for successfully completing the Peer Mediation Training to become a Peer Mediators at Donna Shepard Intermediate School. (Photo: Jerry Cooper, Shepard Assistant Principal, shakes hands with a new Peer Mediator at the graduation ceremony.)

For more information about the Peers Making Peace program, visit paxUnited - The National Mediation Center website.

Help to reduce gangs and youth violence

Arlington and Mansfield area leaders launched a new collaboration called Our Community, Our Kids to support strategies that reduce gangs and youth violence.


Our Community, Our Kids is a newly formed collaboration that is working toward a coordinated and comprehensive plan for addressing the needs of youth. Its purpose is to address gangs and violence, and increase support for youth in southeast Tarrant County.


According to a release by the City of Arlington, the initiative grew out of a 2006 United Way Arlington study on child abuse and neglect. The effort was renewed when area leaders agreed to focus their collective strengths and resources on providing at-risk youth with alternatives to gangs as part of a Gang Summit and Gang Intervention Committee hosted by the Arlington school district in 2008.


The collaborative effort held a kick-off breakfast on September 30, 2010 at the Mac Bernd Professional Development Center in Arlington ISD. MISD Superintendent, Dr. Bob Morrison, was unable to attend the event, but sent the following supportive video message:

Our Community, Our Kids from MISDTV on Vimeo.

The partners in the effort include the City of Arlington, Arlington ISD, City of Mansfield, Mansfield ISD, Arlington Police Department, Arlington Chamber of Commerce, YMCA of Arlington, Arlington Alliance for Youth, Boys & Girls Clubs of Arlington, Cornerstone Baptist Church, United Way of Tarrant County, Tarrant County Juvenile Services and the University of Texas at Arlington.

In case you are wondering why MISD is involved in this effort since it seems primarily focused to our north, 40% of the students in the District come from the city of Arlington.

We'll provide more information as this initiative developes. Check out the program flyer (PDF) for more information.

Related: "Our Community, Our Kids" Launches to Support Youth

Superintendent Update - October 2010

District Superintendent Dr. Bob Morrison shares his monthly video series for the District community. This month he discusses our new phone notification system, health and fitness initiative with employees, and an update on the Center for the Performing Arts. in this October update.

(This video was shared on the District's YouTube channel earlier this month.)

Common Ground Network Holiday Assistance

Many families in the Mansfield community struggle throughout the year to meet their basic needs. For some of these families, the additional burden of providing Christmas gifts for their children is beyond their ability. Through Common Ground Network, these families can apply for Christmas gift assistance. Common Ground coordinates the application process, enabling our local churches, businesses and organizations to provide for these children.

The Common Ground Network is a group of churches and organizations who work together to help families in the Mansfield area. If you live in the Mansfield ISD and your family is not able to provide any Christmas gifts for your children, you may qualify for assistance through their Christmas program.

If your church or organization would like to participate as a sponsor for some of the children, please contact Pam Brady at Pamela.brady[at]ymail.com.

Also, if you know of a family who could benefit from this program, please download the Common Ground Christmas Assistance Flyer and share with them.

Mansfield ISD is a partner with the Common Ground Network.

District to Launch Phone Notification System

We are pleased to announce the selection and approval for something that quite frankly has been missing from our selection of communication tools: a district-wide phone notification system. We will soon be able to further our goal for more effective communication with families.

At the September 28, 2010 School Board meeting, Trustees approved the purchase of the Teleparent notification system. This approval paves the way for MISD to begin the implementation phase for what we believe will become a crucial communication asset. TeleParent is an automated system that can send a message by phone or email to parents in minutes.

TeleParent was selected by a district-wide committee after researching and reviewing a variety of notification systems available to meet our District’s needs.

Messages can be sent by teachers to their students’ parents, by campus administrators to all or a select group of parents at their schools, and by the MISD administration to all parents in the district for District-wide situations or issues.

Benefits and usage details

• Teachers and administrators can use the system to schedule and record messages. Teachers go online to select messages specific to each student while administrators use both the internet and the telephone to schedule and record new broadcasts.


• The student messaging system gives teachers the ability to send messages to the entire class, or even messages tailored to each student.


• TeleParent supports over 20 different languages.


• Since teachers will be able to select from multiple message types, such as corrective, informational, rewarding, etc., TeleParent gives students another reason to perform their best in class. It is our hope that once students realize phone calls can be easily sent to their homes, they will be more likely to attend class, behave in class, complete assignments, study for tests, and improve their overall performance.


• TeleParent is tied into the district’s student information system and will be used to notify parents daily about student absences. (We have a few call-out systems currently being used in a few schools for attendance. TeleParent will replace those older systems.)


• TeleParent will be used when challenging situations develop to more effectively reach parents about bad weather closings, delays or dismissals as well as shelter-in-place announcements (commonly referred to as “school lockdowns”) or other emergencies.

The TeleParent notification system will be a valuable district communications tool. As with any new system, it will require training during the implementation phase. We appreciate your patience as we learn the system and maximize its usage.

Superintendent Update - September 2010

District Superintendent Dr. Bob Morrison, continues his monthly video series for updating the District community. He discusses Nancy Neal Elementary, Attendance Zoning, Frontier High School, and the latest educational accomplishments of Mansfield ISD in this September welcome back to school update.

(This video was shared on the District's YouTube channel earlier this month.)

Rumor Mill: Rezoning, Renaming, Rescheduling

It's been a while since we shared a post related to some of the rumors that float around the District community. Here are a few rumors that got our attention and are worth clearing up:


Rumor #1: Decisions have already been made for high school attendance zones and moving specific middle school zones around.

False - No process has started for High School rezoning. However, we will seek help from community for an Attendance Zone Committee in November/December for Nancy Neal Elementary that will open Fall 2011. (Dr. Morrison addresses the Neal Elementary attendance zone process in his September Superintendent Update video.)

We'll start the attendance zone process for High School #5 next year ahead of that school's 2012 opening.


Rumor #2: Ben Barber Career Tech Academy was renamed, "Frontier High School"

False - These are two different campus. Frontier HS was opened this fall as a school within a school located at Ben Barber Career Tech Academy. A little over 200 juniors are taking classes as Froniter HS students. Students from our four traditional high schools still benefit from taking career and technology courses at BBCTA going to and from their home campus.



Rumor #3: The middle school bell schedule is set to change next year.

Possibly True - This one was a bit premature. A proposed adjustment to the Master Schedule has been brought forth by the middle school principals. This could be a change to the block periods. However, the change has not been presented to the School Board. This will happen in October, and then they would have to accept the proposal before it could go in effect next year. Please note, the bell schedule start and end times would remain the same.

We hope this helps alleviate any concern that might exist. Send us your Rumor Mill items and we'll look into them here. You can send us one by commenting on this post or via email.

National Take-Back Day in MISD

On Saturday, September 25, 2010, the Mansfield ISD community is invited to join the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Mansfield Police Department, and Cook Children’s in a local and nationwide effort to halt the disturbing rise in addiction caused by the misuse and abuse of drugs.

Collection activities will take place from 10:00 AM - 2:00 PM at sites established throughout the country. The Mansfield drive-by drop off location will be at the Mansfield Public Safety Building located at 1305 E. Broad Street Mansfield, TX 76063.

The National Take-Back Day provides an opportunity for the public to surrender expired, unwanted, or unused pharmaceutical controlled substances and other medications for destruction. These drugs are a potential source of supply for illegal use, and present a poisoning danger to children as well as to public health and safety.

This one-day effort is intended to bring national focus to the issue of increasing pharmaceutical controlled substance abuse.

• Participants will be held anonymous and will not be subject to arrest.
• Prescription and over the counter solid dosage medications, i.e. tablets and capsules accepted.
• Intra-venous solutions, injectables, and needles will be accepted.
• Illicit substances such as marijuana or methamphetamine will be accepted.

Many Americans are not aware that medicines that languish in home cabinets are highly susceptible to diversion, misuse and abuse. Rates of prescription drug abuse in the United States are increasing at alarming rates, as are the number of accidental poisonings and overdoses due to these drugs. Studies show that a majority of abused prescription drugs are obtained from family and friends, including from the home medicine cabinet. In addition, many Americans do not know how to properly dispose of their unused medicine, often flushing them down the toilet or throwing them away – both potential safety and health hazards.

"With this National Prescription Drug Take-Back campaign, we are aggressively reaching out to individuals to encourage them to rid their households of unused prescription drugs that pose a safety hazard and can contribute to prescription drug abuse," said Acting Deputy Attorney General Gary G. Grindler. "The Department of Justice is committed to doing everything we can to make our communities safer, and this initiative represents a new front in our efforts."

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Please note: You can search other collection-sites for locations near you.

Budding Meteorologist Breaks in Boren Board

This is cross-posted from the Technology blog:

J.L. Boren Elementary first grade teacher Stephannie Waller forwarded this video about the first day that an ActivBoard was used in her class.

This is Mrs. Waller’s description of the video:

Just wanted to send you an email/video of my first grade class from this morning when we had all the right cables & electricity, etc. so that we could use our Promethean Board in my First Grade Classroom at JL Boren. I have a student meteorologist for the week & this bright student saw that what was on the promethean board was what he saw every morning on our computer when he checked the weather, so he asked, “Can I check the weather on that?” Seeing that it was a very teachable moment & that he could teach every other student how to be a meteorologist I said yes. So he clicked it on & then I asked him to click on the Doppler Radar (it was raining this morning & they would actually have something to watch) & then asked him to enlarge it & from there he went to town, like a natural.

Thanks so much, the kids LOVE this, I love this & the learning possibilities are limitless!

Scenes similar to this one were repeated at Phase I elementary schools across the District last week. It will be exciting to see how MISD teachers and students will use these tools throughout the year.

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(Note: This interactive white board demonstration video also got the attention of the American Meteorological Society and ended up being included on their blog last week.)

Presidential Speech Decision-making

In response to questions being raised regarding President Obama's back-to-school speech to students on September 14, we wanted to provide some background on the chosen District procedure.

The Mansfield ISD administration made the choice to use permission slips to assist our campuses in preparing proper facilities and equipment to accommodate students who wish to view the speech live. The permission slips were not intended as a way to prohibit students from watching the speech. As we have stated in prior communications, we feel the speech can be used by our teachers in future classes as it fits with their lesson plans. This is the only event during the year where we attempt to show a live broadcast to a large group of students at the same time. We set the September 10 deadline to give our campus and district administrators a reasonable amount of time to adequately plan for this potentially large-scale live broadcast event in MISD.

In our discussions with parents this year and last, we realize this event carries a special emotional and/or political significance in our community. We are making every effort to be sensitive to the wishes of all parents in our decision-making, although we realize we cannot satisfy everyone’s specific wishes.

Thank you for your understanding, patience, and for being part of our school district.

(Updated: September 10) We learned on the afternoon of Thursday, September 9 that the speech will occur at 12 PM CST. Since this falls within the lunch times for schools, we are working through the realities of lunch logistics with our Student Nutrition Department and the campuses in preparation for Tuesday’s live broadcast.

Welcome fun for our new staff

Last week, new district employees attended the Mansfield Training of Professionals (M-TOP) two-day program. The program is designed to give incoming teachers the fundamentals and important information they need to start the year off right and be successful in the District.

M-TOP was held at two Mansfield ISD high schools. Mansfield High School was the location for sessions from Human Resources and Communications and Legacy High School was used for Curriculum and Instruction. Based on some early feedback, the sessions were pretty successful in helping new staff get a good start while having a little fun.

Check out the photo gallery from the two-day event.

To our new employees, welcome to Mansfield ISD.

Visit the Staff Homepage for more employee information.

(And yes, that was an inflatable slide inside Legacy High School. A special thanks to all who opted to jump in and join the fun.)

Cows and construction don't mix

"Oh didn't you hear? We have cows."

And that's how it started. Last week, new assistant superintendent for student services and support, Lamar Goree mentioned our little cattle issue at the construction site for the Mansfield ISD Center for the Performing Arts.

Construction workers from Thos. S. Byrne Construction Services tipped us off to the cattle problem at the site located behind Ben Barber Career Tech Academy. After some field investigation work and armed with a digital camera, Goree and Dr. Ed Foster, Director of Career and Technology, located the cattle as well as their owner. (See the photo evidence above.)

Approximately 30 head of cattle have been roaming the land between an area owned to the North and East of the MISD property and our construction site. We are having a fence built between the two properties and construction has commenced on the $40.4 million facility. Yep, the cows have to be moooooved. (Sorry, I couldn't help it.)

Mansfield ISD Center for the Performing Arts
The Mansfield ISD Center for the Performing Arts will be a 149,650-square-foot home of the Claude Cunningham Performance Hall and John Washington Professional Development Center.

The performance hall will accommodate 5500 people with an additional 500 on the stage. This would allow for a seating capacity of 6000 to accommodate our high school graduations and other large-scale events. The main feature of the professional development center's design is one large room that can accommodate up to 500, but can also be divided into six separate rooms for training. This large professional development room could host other events that are currently being housed outside the district. The MISD Center for the Performing Arts is scheduled to open in the spring of 2012.

School is just around the corner

It's that time of year again. No, not back to school...yet. It's the hot summer days and school district personnel are in and out on staggered vacation days. We've all been getting the last bit of time before another school year begins.

So if you've tried to contact someone in administration and it has taken some extra time to get a return call or e-mail you'll know why. Campus personnel will report back to work soon as well. Thanks for your patience.

But we are getting close
The school year is right around the corner. The first day of school is Monday, August 23, 2010. You still have time to squeeze in some summer fun. Also, be sure check the MISD website for back to school information in the coming days (with registration dates, school supply lists, and more). Don't wait to take care of any immunization needs and athletic physicals.

Enjoy what's left of the summer.

(Image: jaqsphotogarage)

In Memoriam: Annette Perry

We are saddened to learn of the passing of Annette Perry over the weekend.

Mrs. Perry, who was the namesake for Annette Perry Elementary School in south Mansfield, lost her battle with cancer.

"The Perry Elementary Campus Family is deeply saddened to learn of the loss of Mrs. Perry," said Sondra Thomas, Perry Elementary Principal.

"She was a remarkable lady, and I feel very blessed to have known Annette. She enjoyed visiting the campus, and the students loved Mrs. Perry's visits.

"As a campus we will do our best to carry on her legacy that all students are capable of making great strides and reaching to new heights."

Our thoughts are with the Perry family.

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Annette Perry began her education career in the Head Start program in Mansfield ISD in the summer of 1970 followed by seven years at Alice Ponder Elementary. While teaching, Annette married Gerald Perry in 1978. She left the district to teach in Bryan ISD for two years before returning to Mansfield ISD for 25 years. She spent five years teaching in a self contained class at Mansfield 6th Grade with students who had a wide range of disabilities. Perry finished her career at Erma Nash Elementary teaching resource, STAR, FALS, and PPCD. She served as the Special Education Team Leader for many years at Erma Nash as well as helped develop and implement a successful Inclusion Program.

Annette Perry retired from Mansfield ISD in 2008 after 34 years as a dedicated educator. Annette Perry Elementary School opened in January 2010.

Curriculum conference puts summer on hold for teachers

Today wraps up the Mansfield ISD annual Summer Conference for teachers. These dedicated teachers have put their summer plans on hold for a few extra days to prepare for next year.

Monica Gonzalez, Elementary Language Arts Coordinator, guest posts about the conference:
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This three-day event draws over 500 teachers each day to attend multiple sessions in every content area known to man...well that may be an exaggeration but we do have language arts, mathematics, science, social studies, health, art, GT, CPI, ESL, and even PE, 125 sessions total.

We also have 17 vendors in attendance, providing teachers with a look at available technology and new instructional materials. The conference provides a way for teachers to expand their teaching repertoire and to learn about new instructional materials for the 2010-2011 school year. Teachers are saying: "Great workshop; they did a great job!" "Will definitely use in my classroom." "I got some great ideas and am excited about using them next year." "Loved It!! Best and most effective workshop I have attended in my three years in MISD."


Thanks to the staff at Legacy HS for hosting the summer conference. Thanks to all the presenters! Thanks to MISD Curriculum and Instruction Department for all of the hard work and effort that goes into planning, organizing, and conducting the conference each year!

Special education students open cafe inside Legacy High School

Earlier this week, I had the pleasure of dining at the Cowbell Café inside Mansfield Legacy High School. The restaurant is the product of an innovative teaching grant written by teachers, Michelle Lutes and Jayme Schroeder. They received the $2,700 grant from the Mansfield ISD Education Foundation. The grant provided funds to purchase equipment and supplies to run a restaurant/café inside the high school.

That in and of itself is a pretty interesting thing for a school. (Just ask the Culinary Arts team at Ben Barber Career Tech that run Savvy's Bistro which opened in 2006.)

However, what makes this dining experience so unique is that it is through the combined efforts of Legacy special needs students.

According to the grant, students benefit by "gaining food service experience and skills that will lead to future job placement, as well as, reinforce their every day living skills."

Michelle Lutes said they held Cowbell Café job interviews to determine functions from the hosts, servers, kitchen staff, napkin rollers and more all the way through the mini-restaurant roles, each student had a part.

The food was tasty (we had salad, lasagna, plus dessert) and the service was exceptional. The plan is to have seatings on a regular basis each month during the school year.

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The name, Cowbell Café, is a Texas-sized hat tip to the Kowbell Arena which was the world's first indoor rodeo arena. The Kowbell Arena, which is where the Legacy band hall, performing arts center and journalism room are now located, was demolished to make way for the high school.

Changes for intermediate schools bell schedule

Updated April 29, 2011 - If you are looking for information on the new bell schedule for intermediate schools and middle schools for the 2011-12 school year, please visit the update page.

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At the Tuesday, May 25 school board meeting, the administration presented information on a change to the intermediate school bell schedule for the 2010-11 school year.

Next year, the bell schedules for our intermediate schools will be pushed back 15 minutes to help alleviate transportation issues. The intermediate schools bell schedule will shift to an 8:15 am start time and a 3:30 pm afternoon dismissal.

Background
Dr. Morrison had the administrative support division look into ways to resolve as many of the late issues for buses as possible. Late issues have included buses that were 20, 30, and sometimes 40 minutes, late after last dismissal bell. These problems resulted from our second bell at the elementary and intermediate schools who currently share the same start/end times.

A traditional method that was considered to solve this problem included purchasing more buses and adding drivers. This idea proved to be cost-prohibitive. (For reference, the last buses we bought for general routes cost about $100,000. To get to every campus within a 15 minute window, we would need to add 24 new regular route buses, drivers for 11 special education buses, and the required 22 special education drivers and attendants .) This solution would have required an investment of several million dollars. With this information, it was time to go back to the drawing board for a more creative approach which concentrated on the routes.

Currently, we are carrying 4,700 passengers after the second bell. (Our other bells at the middle and high schools are just about half of that number.)

We utilize all 99 general route buses to get to that second bell. Since elementary and intermediate schools are on the same bell schedule, it's just impossible to be at two places at one time. We utilize the buses that we have as effectively as possible, so we like to pick up the elementary school kids that are in the same attendance zones as the intermediate schools. We pick up both the elementary and intermediate school students, then take them to their neighborhoods. So it made sense to continue that process and transport those kids one time rather then running an elementary school route and then turning around and running a separate intermediate school route.

Our solution
In researching this situation and through some careful consideration on our routes, we found that by moving the intermediate school bell schedule up by 15 minutes, we could alleviate the majority of this transportation issue. This 15 minute difference will give us the time it will take to meet the transportation needs at elementary and intermediate schools. Additionally, we determined that if families had students at both the elementary and intermediate levels this would be a benefit from a parent's driving perspective. There is also a benefit for families who have both intermediate and middle school age children because the new bell schedule closes the gap between those two levels by 15 minutes.

By moving intermediate schools to the 8:15 am - 3:30 pm bell schedule, we can best utilize our resources to get the students to their next stop.

Additional InformationWe've also had some specific questions and concerns from parents:

Q: Will the intermediate students not ride the bus with the elementary students anymore?

A: We are in the process of re-routing the majority of our routes now with the additional 15 minute window. In some limited cases because of capacity, some intermediate school buses will not have elementary students on board as well as some elementary school buses will not have intermediate students on board. This occurs under the current routing schedule. Our goal is to continue co-mingling the students in there attendance zones. Where buses are used to run both intermediate and elementary school students the bus will stop first at the elementary school.

Q: What happens with the transfer bus going from Donna Shepard Intermediate and Tarver Rendon Elementary?

A: We are working to eliminate the Tarver Rendon and Donna Shepard shuttle and instead provide direct service for Rendon students and Shepard students. This route is our toughest to cover because of the distance; therefore, we are working towards a direct service for these campuses rather than a shared solution. Additionally, the construction project planned for 1187 will cause additional time delays between the two sites.

Q: Are you changing the schedules at Tarver-Rendon and Perry Elementary?

A: There is no change to elementary school bell schedules. This option was discussed at the two campuses with the PTA, but it was later determined to not be necessary with the intermediate school bell schedule change.

Thanks for coming to our party

"What if we throw a party and nobody shows up?!"
That was the thought I had over the weekend before the Centennial Celebration at Newsom Stadium on Monday, May 10.

Thankfully a good number of people in the MISD community decided to show up, approximately 2,300 of you actually. The event was a great success from our perspective: we were able to provide a free event for the Mansfield ISD community that included family-friendly activities and games as well as food and live entertainment.

Best laid plans
Of course, no special event goes according to plans. We had a few issues to overcome including the weather. No rain, but the evening was very windy. Very windy. There was so much wind that we were only able to safely use three of the planned six inflatable attractions. The other issue was food lines, apparently free food is a major draw. Our team of cooks, and food prep did a tremendous job of feeding the masses in a timely manner, but we know the lines were long at times during the event.

Overall we were highly pleased with how the event turned out and hope attendees appreciate the effort, planning and work that went into it. We weren't really sure how many people might come out to the event so the numbers were a pleasant surprise.

Thank you to the sponsors, workers, volunteers and vendors for providing the support for the 100th Anniversary wrap-up party.

Lastly, be sure to check out the photo gallery from the Centennial Celebration. We've included some photos from attendees. (If you have photos from the event that you'd like to share, please send them to mansfieldisd[at]gmail.com.)

Now it's your turn
If you joined us at the event, please share your thoughts in the comments below. What did you think of our anniversary party? The comments are yours.

Superintendent Update - May 2010

In our continuing video series with District Superintendent Dr. Bob Morrison, we have some information to share on high school #5, the attendance zoning process, the District's centennial celebration, and end-of-year parent involvement...

Happy Earth Day

Every so often we receive some unique bit of information, story or classroom work that seem like they would be good to share with the community. Today marks the 40th Anniversary of Earth Day and we heard from a few campuses that celebrated with Earth-friendly activities.

Here's one that was especially creative:

Wester Middle School students are studying Shakespeare and his sonnets. One class wrote a class sonnet titled Sonnet 155 to mark Earth Day. (Shakespeare wrote 154 sonnets.)

Sonnet 155

Our tortured Earth, we will give what is due
And make sure nature is still blooming bright
We pick up trash and oft’ recycle too
Thus keep enjoying wonderful our sight

Clean salt waters into a sparkle new
Keep pure the air while song birds live flying
And underground, fish swim in oceans blue
Repay, return, or Earth will keep dying

Now picking up pieces of our planet
Earth’s creatures deserve beauty as a home
As does Michael Jackson’s sister, Janet
Lest we all leave this breath-taking, blue dome

Tis not fair why Mother Earth must suffer
Our life’s not fair, She has it twice tougher

Written by Mrs. McKinzey’s students
Wester Middle School
Earth Day, April 22, 2010

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Students from the Wester campus also did their part for Earth Day by picking up trash:
You can see a few other Earth Day photos from campuses on our Facebook photo album.

Superintendent Update - April 2010

We've started a new video feature: Superintendent Update. Mansfield ISD Superintendent, Dr. Bob Morrison, discusses some of the latest developments and events taking place in MISD in a new video offering...

Inclement Weather Procedures

In keeping with our desire to keep the community informed of some of the behind-the-scenes procedures of general interest, the Administration would like you to be aware of our procedures and preparations relating to weather-related issues.


When bad weather is predicted, administrators pay close attention to forecasts, stay in close contact with neighboring district administrators, and work in coordination with transportation to keep bus drivers on standby in case of early school closings or bus route delays.

During a typical springtime-like weather event (i.e. tornado or severe thunderstorms), Mansfield ISD will take measures to keep students and staff safe:

• MISD will keep students safely in the building until inclement weather passes;
• Safe places have been established for each MISD campus and building, students and staff will gather in these safe places;
• MISD Police stays in constant communication with local emergency services and advises campus administrators when the need arises to implement school procedures such as duck and cover, red alert, and shelter in place (lockdown);
• Any buses in the immediate area of inclement weather will be stopped at the nearest school, and the students will be kept in that campus until the danger passes;
• Since the district covers 94.5 square miles, measures will be taken based on the needs of only the affected campus(es).

Before the school day: The decision to cancel a school day will be made by the district administration as early as possible and the radio and TV stations listed on the weather information page will be notified. They, in turn, will help us announce the closure along with the rest of our communication efforts.

During the school day: If a significant weather event occurs while school is in session, campus administrators are the assigned decision-makers for appropriate action as need to ensure the safety of students and staff. Campus administrators stay in contact with MISD Police and District Administrators to help make the best informed decisions for their school.

Please do NOT call school offices or teachers for such information. Weather and road conditions can vary greatly from area to area. As a result, parents are the decision-makers on whether or not their students will attend school. Parents need to notify the school office if student will not be in school or if they should be dismissed early due to weather conditions.

Mansfield ISD conducts routine drills to reinforce proper weather procedures. Just like when inclement winter conditions occur, weather severity and road conditions can vary greatly from area to area so we plan and adjust accordingly.


As always, your patience is greatly appreciated during these times as we work to keep students and staff safe.

(Image credit: pixelroiber)

Celebrate Texas Public Schools

Like our students, the Mansfield ISD is a work in progress. However, just as we like to celebrate the scholastic, athletic, and artistic successes of our students, we also have have reasons to celebrate Texas public schools.

Good things are happening in our Texas public schools and each year school districts throughout Texas open their doors and invite their local communities to take a first-hand look at the educational programs and opportunities occurring on their campuses. Traditionally this occurs in March during Texas Public Schools Week (TPSW). But in recent years TPSW has expanded into a yearlong campaign called Celebrate Texas Public Schools (CTPS).

Building Leaders. Today They Learn. Tomorrow They Lead. is the 2010 CTPS theme developed by the Texas School Public Relations Association (TSPRA). The focus is on building up and equipping students today, so that tomorrow they will have the tools necessary to lead in an ever-changing world. Engaging and exciting activities that educate students about new opportunities will start students thinking about “what do I want to be when I grow up?” Providing these opportunities to consider their future careers will assist students in choosing educational paths that will lead them into these fields of study and work. And it’s never too early to start them thinking about these important life decisions.

Texas communities have reasons to be proud of their public schools. During the past few years Texas educators have worked hard to improve the post-secondary readiness of our students. In collaboration with Texas colleges and universities, educators have implemented early college high school programs; science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) programs and articulated career and technical programs. Districts have added dual credit classes, expanded Advanced Placement (AP) offerings and increased the rigors of high school classes.

An October 2009 report from the National Governors Association, provides evidence that Texas is making significant progress to reduce the dropout rate by implementing four significant strategies: promoting high school graduation for all; targeting youth at risk of dropping out; reengaging youth who have dropped out of school; and providing rigorous and relevant options for earning a high school diploma.

But educators cannot do it alone. Parent involvement and community support are critical for the success of young people. Volunteer to serve as a mentor or tutor. Visit classrooms to discuss your career, what led you to choose this field and the school subjects you pursued to get where you are today. Encourage elementary students to begin thinking early about post-secondary training and education. Help high school students work toward more clearly defining their career pathways with post-secondary education and careers.

You may be surprised to know that often the majority of people in a community or school district may not have children in public schools. If you are one of these people, take the time to visit a local school, especially during Texas Public Schools Week. We hope you'll be amazed at the exciting and important work students are doing to prepare themselves for their present and future lives as productive citizens. If you cannot visit one of our schools, write a note or send an email to a principal or teacher letting them know you appreciate their efforts to educate all students and prepare them for life.

MISD Research, Assessment, and Accountability Web site Launched

The Mansfield ISD has recently launched a comprehensive Web site dedicated to research, assessment, and accountability data. The primary purpose of this site is to provide the community a “one stop shop” for all data related to student performance.

What do we hope to achieve by providing access to this type of data/research?
Providing performance data will support the district’s efforts of identifying strengths, weaknesses, and any achievement gaps that may exist between groups. With this insight, we will be able to set goals, develop strategies, and plan more effectively, taking into account the unique needs of each student.

Site visitors will have access to all accountability summaries at the district and campus level so progress on state and national standards can be assessed.

Information on this site includes the following:

• Evaluation and research reports
• Relevant links to external Web sites
• Manuals and guides for administering the different assessments
• School and district level reports (and ratings) – both state and federal
• Information for parents
• State mandated test dates
• Three to six years of test results for each school
• State and National Accountability Reports
• College Board results and links on how to register for College Board and ACT exams

Why are we providing this Web site?
While it is great to praise progress, it is counter-productive to avoid accepting and dealing with academic short-comings. Therefore, all data are made available publicly so we can see where the district’s been, where it is currently, and can plan for where it wants to go in the future. The goal is to be pro-active and not ignore those areas where improvement is needed.

Staff Benefits
The old phrase knowledge is power is relevant when one considers the fact that with knowledge comes an increase in one’s ability to utilize resources including time, personnel, and funding in a way that positively affects our students. By having access to current and trend level data, district educators are empowered. Our capacity to more effectively plan begins with being able to identify what’s working and what’s not. By having access to up-to-date data, action plans that are meaningful, measurable, and on target can be developed and implemented. Lastly, and more importantly, providing teachers with easy access to student level data will hopefully prevent any student from falling between the cracks and will enable teachers to identify areas that need attention before a pattern of failure develops.

Benefits for Parents
Parents will have easy access to how their child’s campus is performing on state and national tests and will be able to determine where their support can be most beneficial and effective to the campus. Additionally, in a later phase of the site’s development we will provide parents with access to their child’s test performance. This will enhance their ability to make informed decisions and to monitor their child’s academic progress.

What’s next for the site?
The MISD Research, Assessment and Accountability Department has several online projects currently in development.

• Phase I, just completed, provides readers with campus and district level summary reports, research studies and other articles, and links to external sites. Most of the reports presented at this time are in PDF and easily downloaded.
  
• Phase II of the Web site’s development focuses on a “query-based” system that extracts data from a centrally-maintained database. This phase will be available to the user via the “Report Builder” tab. Access to this function will be available on a limited basis to campus level teachers and administrators. With the implementation of this interactive feature, campus personnel will be able to access student level test data including TAKS and norm-referenced results so instructional strategies can be planned based on the unique needs of each student.
  
• Phase III will expand the “Report Builder” functionality to include campus summary reports based on a series of selection criteria designated by the user.
  
• Phase IV of this project is focused on the development of a portal that will provide parents with the means to access their child’s test performance via a login and password. The goal for providing this access is to empower parents in a way that helps them more fully understand their child’s academic needs so they can be better informed advocates.

Please visit the Mansfield ISD Research, Assessment, and Accountability site and let us know what you think.

Parenting with Love and Logic Free Training Seminar

Both educators and the general public often view disciplining of students to be one of the most challenging issues in schools today. From minor disruptions to major emotional issues that can affect the learning, appropriate discipline is an important discussion topic.

On Saturday, March 6, 2010 Mansfield ISD parents and teachers are invited to attend a free Parenting with Love and Logic® training seminar at Willie Pigg Auditorium, 8:30 am - 3:00 pm.

This free training seminar is provided through a LOVE CONNECTION grant through the MISD Education Foundation written for parents and teachers in the district by Mary Jo Sheppard Elementary staff.

The grant provides for a speaker from Love and Logic as well as a Parenting Curriculum kit to educate parents on some strategies that have proven to be successful. Join Jedd Hafer for plenty of laughs and lots of practical solutions to some of the most common challenges facing parents, teachers, and anybody who cares for kids. You will hear easy-to-learn strategies, for children of any age, that:

• Help them feel great about themselves
  
• Up the odds of them making wise decisions and resisting peer pressure
  
• Put an end to arguing, back talk, and power struggles
  
• Gain cooperation through the use of choices within limits
  
• Guide kids to own and solve their own problems

According to the Sheppard Elementary counselor, Teresa Franklin, the seminar is "a way to put all the adults in a child’s life on the same page and provide support for the child as well as each other. This program will benefit children all over the district as the most important people in their lives work together to help them develop into responsible citizens in society."

Love and Logic®
According to Charles Fay Ph.D. of Love and Logic, "research has shown that punishment-based approaches actually increase disruptive behavior thus the Love and Logic techniques were established to provide practical ways of teaching pro-social behavior along with responsibility while preventing ever increasing discipline problems."

These techniques are based on five principles including:

1. preserving students self concept;
2. teaching students to solve problems that they have created;
3. ability to share decision-making along with control;
4. providing empathy and warmth along with consequences; and
5. build adult-child relationships.

There will be a morning session as well as an afternoon session on a variety of topics. The training is open to any MISD parent and teacher.

Orchestra Program Implementation Update

Last November, the initial plans to the community were announced along with a presentation to the School Board on a Proposed Orchestra Program for Mansfield ISD. We will not begin an orchestra program in the 2010-2011 school year.

Mansfield ISD is still very committed to the eventual addition of orchestra to the Fine Arts offerings. However, at this time we will continue to study the issue in order to have a successful implementation. Currently at issue are facility needs at a few campuses that are too great to overcome in a short amount of time.

Starting an orchestra program is no easy task and the administration believes that by taking a measured approach and delaying the program’s start is in the best interests of the District, students, and community.

(Photo credit: Michael @ NW Lens)

Dress For Success Day Promotes Professionalism for Students

On January 27, 2010 Della Icenhower Intermediate School held it's first Dress For Success Day. On this day boys wore a tie and slacks and girls wore dresses/skirts and a coordinating top. Reggie Rhines M.Ed., Icenhower School Counselor, gave some details on this day and the school's plan for more.

"I sponsor a club called Men In Training (MinT for short). This club has been in existence for over 4 years now and is for 6th grade boys only. The purpose of this club is to promote leadership, community responsibility, and professionalism. This year I decided to do things a little differently. I felt that there is a set of skills that every young man should know by the time they reach adulthood. One of the skills is how to tie a tie. After some discussion the boys of MinT wanted to pass this skill on to others in the school and it just kind of expanded from there.

"We are hoping to promote the value of professionalism to our students. It was amazing to see how many students put on a more serious face when they came to school in a professional manner. The students had a wonderful time dressing up and many commented on how nice their classmates looked. We did turn this into a competition of sorts as well. The team with the most students dressing out got a free recess. We had over 70% of students participate in this endeavor."

Dress For Success will occur on the last Wednesday of each month for the rest of this school year at Della Icenhower Intermediate School. [See the photo gallery from the day.]

We missed 'Love the Bus Day'

Thanks to last week's snow day, we had a variety of school and athletic events or activities that had to be rescheduled, moved, or otherwise altered in some way. We've made an adjustment to the calendar to make up the day at the end of the year. The flexibility from our District community has helped us get back to needs at hand.

However, there was one item that was overlooked from Friday, February 12 - Love the Bus Day.

The MISD Transportation Department team provided some great information about the work that they do in honor of Love the Bus Day:

• Annually, Mansfield ISD buses transport students 2,479,445 miles.
• Mansfield ISD has 210 buses within its fleet.
• It takes an average of 3 weeks of training before a driver can drive a bus by themselves.
• Each morning, we actually deliver students to campuses 430 times prior to the campus initial bell. During the day, we have nearly 100 buses shuttling students from campus to campus or from home to campus or campus to home. In the afternoon, we take all the students home again.
• With a fleet of 32 Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) buses, MISD is the largest district in the state to use CNG.
  
• We have received grants from Texas Emissions Reduction Plan, Department of Energy, North Central Texas Council of Governments, and the Texas Comptroller (State Energy Conservation Office) in addition to grant funding for emission reduction trap program and for seat back cover education program.
• A modern school bus has the structural strength to hold twice its weight on the roof to prevent a crushing effect if there is ever a rollover. The bus is designed to absorb a side impact in such a way as to channel the impacting car to the area below the floor of the bus, thus protecting the student riders. Our buses generally have 2 roof exits, 2 door exits and 4-6 window exits, should emergency occur.
• Our drivers have a combined 937 years of driving experience.
• All school buses must meet noise level requirements that prevent passenger compartment noise levels from exceeding 85 decibels, consistent with the advice of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health to prevent hearing loss.
• According to the Transportation Research Board, a part of the National Academy of Sciences, a child is 13 times safer in a school bus than in other modes of travel. Children driving to school or riding with other teenage drivers are 44 times more likely to be fatally injured than in a school bus. (“The Relative Risks of School Travel,” 2002).

What can parents do to help keep kids safe on and off the school bus?

• Walk your child to and from the bus stop. If possible, wait with him or her until the bus arrives.
• Be alert to traffic. Check both ways for cars before stepping off the bus.
• Wait for the bus driver’s signal before crossing the street.
• Walk in front of the bus; never walk behind the bus to cross the street.
• While waiting for the bus, stay in a safe place away from the street.
• Before leaving the sidewalk, look for the flashing lights.
• Never go under the bus to retrieve something you’ve dropped.
• Teach your child the importance of staying seated on the bus.
• Get to know your bus driver. He or she is a trained professional who sees your child every day; he or she would be happy to tell you about the safety features on the bus and the responsibility drivers have for keeping their young passengers safe.
• Get to know the parents of other riders. You will learn about the other children your riding along with your child.
• See the MISD Transportation bus safety page.
  

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The Love the Bus program, founded in 2007 and coordinated by the American School Bus Council (ASBC), is celebrated throughout February in school districts across the country as a way to raise awareness and appreciation for the hundreds of thousands of school bus drivers who safely transport more than 26 million school children to and from school each day. It is also an opportunity for parents and children to learn more about the safety and environmental benefits of school bus transportation.