Staying Connected
Join Dr. Muri on his 2016-17 Campus Visit Tour
Campus Highlights from October 2016 Staying Connected Visits
Connected @Thornwood (10/3)
Be Brave
- Thornwood faculty and administration are not afraid of trying new things. The campus is now investigating best practices on becoming a STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics) school. (Read more below.)
- The fifth-grade team has set out to implement blended learning this school year! In fifth grade, all students participate in language arts at the same time using a station rotation model. The first-grade team has also flipped some class lessons.
- In addition to implementing flexible groupings across classes, bilingual teachers in both third- and second-grade classrooms co-teach to ensure a strong foundation in English before students enter the third grade.
- Thornwood's school-produced newspaper highlights students through articles, interviews, poetry, sports and more. The librarian sponsors this publication.
- Thornwood’s student population represents 28 different countries. Its students and families speak 14 different languages.
- The campus is proud to have earned four separate distinctions on the 2015-2016 STAAR through the Texas Education Agency (TEA).
- Thornwood is viewed as a model school in balanced literacy practices. The campus has the highest percent of bi-literate students exiting from fifth to sixth grade, one district survey found. The school focuses on literacy being integrated across content areas. During the past two years, Thornwood has hosted school leaders and teachers from Hobbs, N.M., who observed how the local campus has implemented a balanced literacy model.
- Thornwood is supported by key community partners. Memorial Drive United Methodist Church supports the League for Extraordinary Gentlemen, which helps 15 fourth-graders improve manners and social skills and develop positive character traits. Conoco Phillips provides math tutors in fourth and fifth grades, and students from Spring Forest Middle and Stratford High mentor campus students, too.
- Several teachers have now visited STEAM schools in Las Vegas, Nev., and in nearby Brookshire. Last year, the teachers worked on four core soft skills – perseverance, communications, teamwork and respect – as necessary work skills. This year, teachers are preparing to include more project-based learning during classroom instruction.
- Last year, second- and third-grade teachers took part as a Consume, Critique and Produce (CCP) cohort to develop student advanced reading and writing skills. The school is considered a model in this area, too.
Connected @Spring Woods High (10/12)
Be Brave:
- More than a dozen students took part this year in The Woods Project, a Houston-based volunteer program that sponsors weekend trips near Houston and a two-week summer trip to a national park. The high school has been a project partner for eight years.
- The pilot project Tiger Hour gives students and teachers an opportunity at the regular lunch hour to conduct and attend teacher tutorials, club and organization meetings, or options often reserved for non-school hours. Improved academic outcome is a goal.
- Managed Learning, another pilot program, helps support students who are struggling due to behavior issues to be more successful in high school.
Be Proud:
- Food Truck Friday, supported and started by the Spring Woods High PTA, has grown from a single truck parked in front of the campus into a popular community wide lunchtime gathering. A dozen or more local food trucks now stake out parking spots.
- For the first time in five decades, Spring Woods High PTA was named by SBISD Council of PTAs as the PTA of the Year.
- The Safari Players presented the world premiere of What’s My Color?, with a special visit by foreign composer Yuval Halpern. He worked with students on the musical’s first shows.
- Spring Woods High’s Track Team went to state UIL competition last spring.
- State-level indexes measuring Student Progress (up 3 points), Closing Performance Gaps (up 6 points), and Post-Secondary Readiness (up 12 points) are at the highest levels since the STAAR program began.
- Among 40 comparable high schools, Spring Woods High has earned distinctions (top quartile) for 3 years in a row in four areas – English language arts, science, social studies, and post-secondary readiness.
- Among 40 comparable high schools, Spring Woods High students during the past three years have consistently performed in the top quartile in Advanced Placement performance in science and social studies, and in ACT performance in mathematics.
- In 2016, the high school was also in the top quartile for college ready graduates and for advanced/dual credit course completion in English language arts
- A majority of students who were first-year English language learners (ELLs) passed the Algebra I EOC (End of Course) exam; in U.S. history, the student passing rate on the EOC increased 11 percent
Be a Learner:
- For a third year, Spring Woods High plans to host a STEM conference for 150 or more students. Sessions will range from career talks to Maker Space hands-on projects. Science instructor Amanda Whaley and other faculty and staff organize this half-day event.
- Professional Learning Days are designed around teacher needs and growth areas.
- High school seniors focus on community service as Houston Food Bank volunteers
- Last year, juniors took field trips to 13 separate regional colleges and universities.
Connected @Memorial Middle (10/20)
Be Brave
- During September, a group of eighth-graders sponsored special events to support the Go Gold! Foundation focused on pediatric cancer research and awareness. Campus trees were wrapped in gold and a Turn It Gold! Football game was held. Students donated wristband sale profits to the foundation, created a “What does Bravery Mean to You?” signed banner, and sponsored a door-decorating contest with the same theme.
Be Proud
- Memorial Middle’s Fine Arts Dept. achieves continuous program excellence. Since August, the school has featured an outdoor band concert and a lip sync concert lead by theater and choir students. Memorial Middle Orchestra is celebrating 37 students who made Region Orchestra, as well as 15 students who were named to Top 10 chairs. Music to our ears!
Be a Leaner
- The library is encouraging students to be lifelong readers. A variety of special reading options help expand young minds – a September book sale, a visit by Tapestry series writer Henry Neff, and a Spooky Book Swap. Information literacy skills are also being evaluated.
Principal Daniel Bauer's reflections on the district’s Core Values:
Every Child
Parent-staff collaboration is an incredibly important aspect of the Memorial Middle campus. Because our staff works tirelessly with our community we are able to serve every child in a personalized manner.
Collective Greatness
Our school has great support from our community. Both the parents and staff have an incredible sense of school pride that is not paralleled in any other school in our nation. This sense of pride drives us to do work that goes above and beyond expectations.
Collaborative Spirit
Show me another staff that exemplifies the song, “We Are Family” better. The MMS staff collaborates at a high level whether that is to meet the academic or social-emotional needs of a child, if it’s to throw a baby shower for expecting parents, or if it is to work together to solve campus problems.
Limitless Curiosity
Our staff has incredibly high expectations for each other and the students. As a result, achievement and curiosity is pushed to unmatched levels within SBISD and even the state of Texas.
Moral Compass
The Memorial Middle campus is both compassionate and generous. These ideas inform our moral compass when making tough choices of what is best for kids even when it is inconvenient for the adult staff. Our moral compass also informs how we analyze multiple sets of data as we begin to dream of the next iteration of Memorial Middle.