December Construction Update

School Trustees get a monthly report that outlines the progress planned by the Construction Program Supervisor. The following items were included in the December 2011 report:

Lake Ridge High School 

The Lake Ridge High School sports facilities, including fields, will complete in January 2012 for early administrative staff move-in and use. The Complete Facility Substantial Completion Date for the campus is April 2012. The school is located at 101 N. Day Miar Road, Mansfield, TX.

December 1 aerial photo

Mansfield ISD Center for the Performing Arts 

The Substantial Completion Date for the Center for the Performing Arts is May 7, 2012, with MISD move-in date of May 1, 2012. The MISD Center for the Performing Arts is located at 1110 W. Debbie Lane, Mansfield, TX. 

As the first official use of the facility, all 2012 Mansfield ISD high school graduation ceremonies will be held at the Center for the Performing Arts. Get the graduations schedule.

December 1 aerial photo

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Note: The Executive Program Summaries are available through the School Board meeting agendas and minutes.

Timberview Football - A Season To Remember

The Mansfield Timberview High School varsity football team had the best season of any high school in Mansfield ISD history. Timberview battled their way through the playoffs before ultimately losing in the Class 5A Division II State Semifinals last weekend.

Congratulations, Wolves on your phenomenal season!

Video Tributes
Check out a couple of video tributes produced by Collin Tate, a senior at Frontier High School:

Intermediate School Renamed for NASA Event

For the month of January, 2012, Asa Low Intermediate School will be renamed NASA Low Intermediate School in preparation for a remarkable educational opportunity. The ceremonial renaming resolution was approved at the Mansfield ISD December School Board meeting.

Education Downlink

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) conducts educational opportunities called In-Flight Education Downlinks. In-Flight Education Downlinks allow educators and students to interact with crewmembers aboard the International Space Station (ISS).

Asa Low Intermediate teacher, Patricia Londono (pictured at right), worked over two years on the submission with NASA's Teaching from Space team. On July 1, 2011, NASA awarded Asa Low Intermediate School with an In-Flight Education Downlink to be held on Tuesday, January 31, 2012.

In honor of this unique opportunity (and because the school name, Asa Low, was one letter away from the space agency's name) Mansfield ISD administrators chose to ceremonially rename the campus NASA Low Intermediate School for the month of January 2012 with the school board's adoption of a resolution in December. (We're even going so far as to add a big letter 'N' next to the school name on the outside of the building.)

NASA Low Intermediate will conduct over 100 space-related lessons and projects, webcasts, and a Space Night event in January 2012.

Click graphic below to read the full school board resolution: 

'Read to Me' Book Drive

Help us collect books for newborns. Volunteers are needed for the Methodist Mansfield Read to Me book drive on Friday, December 9 from 5:00 PM to 8:00 PM and on Saturday December 10 from 12:00 PM to 3:00 PM at the Barnes & Noble store at The Parks Mall in Arlington. 

The book drive benefits the newest members in the community through the Read to Me infant book program. Newborns at Methodist Mansfield Medical Center receive a free book that can be read to and shared with siblings. The combined efforts of Mansfield ISD, Mansfield Sunrise Rotary Club, and Methodist Mansfield Medical Center was established in 2010 out of the hope to raise the number of children who become capable and enthusiastic lifelong readers.

“Reading to children is a great and easy way to build early literacy skills,” said Dr. Bob Morrison, MISD superintendent. “It lays the foundation for communication; builds listening, memory, and vocabulary skills; and introduces numbers, letters, colors, and shapes in a fun way.”

Please email angelbiasatti@mhd.com if you would like to volunteer for this weekend's Read to Me book drive. Help is needed during the book drive to stand beside collection boxes and make the customers aware of the book drive.

Superintendent Update - December 2011

Dr. Bob Morrison provides in-depth information regarding the proposed eight-period day schedule and the new attendance zone selection process.
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Survey: Please review and take the short Eight-period Schedule Survey.

Winter Weather Transportation and School-Closings

[updated December 4, 2013] What happens in Mansfield ISD when temperatures drop and our area has inclement winter weather?

I checked with our leadership team and the Transportation department to help explain some of the procedures, considerations, and decision-making during winter weather events. Here is what I found out:

1. At or before 4:00 a.m. a decision is made to deploy the Transportation weather team staff.
2. Before 4:30 a.m.., the weather team visually inspects various areas across the district of streets for icy, wet, or dry roads along with monitoring the weather information channels.
3. The weather team contacts the Director of Transportation with their road information.
4. Road conditions are analyzed along with other related information available from other school districts.
5. If roads are questionable, the Superintendent is contacted after 4:30 a.m. (but before 5:00 a.m.) to discuss findings and recommendations.
6. The Superintendent makes a decision by 5:00 a.m. whether or not to close schools.
7. We use our standard communication channels if any changes to the district schedule require adjustment including the District homepage, weather info webpage, our phone and e-mail notification system, DFW radio and TV news outlets, and via the district's Twitter profile, @mansfieldisd.

Other considerations and notable information

• Many area school districts' transportation directors have a local phone network so they can stay in communication and provide insight to what is happening road-wise with each other.

• How does weather forecasting play a part in the decision-making process? While the weather team reports actual conditions, what is expected to happen weather-wise is just as important to the decision process.

• What about early dismissals? If winter weather conditions worsen during the school day, we determine if an early release is needed to get the students home sooner and bus drivers back to the bus barn safely prior to darkness. We try to make that decision prior to 10:00 a.m. in order to adequately coordinate the dismissal process. As soon as it is determined to dismiss early, the dismissal times for each grade level will be posted immediately on the District's website.
• How many different bus routes run every day? Each of our MISD buses run three or four schools. We run 165 buses, including Special Needs, but with three bell schedules, that is approximately 660 individual bus trips each morning and then again each afternoon.

We hope this helps provide a little insight into this process.