Awards and Honors

Awards & Honors

2012-13 Highlights

• Whittier MS was selected as a National AVID Demonstration School, one of only 135 in the nation.  Whittier will now serve as an exemplary model for schools interested in implementing the college-readiness system to visit and observe the very best of this system’s proven methodologies and strategies. Last year Jefferson HS and Longfellow MS were named AVID Demonstration schools and have hosted educators from across the country who come to learn more about the college readiness program.

• Two SAISD seniors are among 1,000 high school students in the nation named 2013 Gates Millennium Scholars, an honor that comes with a good-through-graduation scholarship to be used at any U.S. accredited college or university.  The students, from Fox Tech and Lanier, were selected based on their academic achievement, community service and leadership potential.

• Ten SAISD freshmen are among 20 citywide named 2013 Voelcker Scholars. Through this intensive three-year summer program at the University of Texas Health Science Center’s Voelcker Biomedical Research Academy, they will gain valuable learning experiences as well as financial awards ranging by year from $500 to $1,000.

• A Brackenridge HS senior has won the 2013 Congressional Art Competition for Congressman Lloyd Doggett’s district. The student’s art will hang at the U.S. capital for one year.

• A Smith Elementary School teacher was named as the National Scholastic System 44 Outstanding Educator of the Year. Additionally, a Beacon Hill ES 4th-grader was one of only 12 outstanding students in the nation to be named a 2013 Scholastic Reading All-Star winner.

• This summer four talented Jefferson HS cadets will join an elite cadre of teens to compete in a national contest designed to prepare them for the rigors of college. The JROTC team is among just 24 nationwide and one of only three from San Antonio advancing to the 2013 National Academic Bowl Championship.

• Two Lanier High School students will represent Texas this summer based upon their first-place performances at the state SkillsUSA competition.

• This spring teams from Burbank, Edison and Sam Houston high schools advanced to the Texas Academic Decathlon based upon their performances at regionals. At state, Sam Houston, competing in the small schools category, placed second in Super Quiz and also won two first- and three third-place medals in individual categories.

• Teams from District secondary schools took four of the five top prizes in the Team Up Challenge, receiving $20,000 by Silver & Black Give Back to fund service learning projects. Student groups from Brackenridge and Edison high schools and Lowell and Rhodes middle schools were selected based on their service throughout the year, online voting and the recommendations of a review committee that heard presentations from all the semifinalists.

• Fifteen students representing Harris and Longfellow middle schools and the Young Women's Leadership Academy advanced to the ExxonMobile Texas Science and Engineering Fair based upon their success at the qualifying competition. This round took place at the Alamo Regional Science and Engineering Fair.

• This year SAISD became the first District in the state to provide financial literacy lessons for all seniors. Four days of lessons are held during economics classes, helping students understand the college applications process and related financials, so they can make informed decisions regarding college packages.

• The U.S. Department of Education named Fox Tech High School a 2012 National Blue Ribbon School, the only school in San Antonio and one of just 18 in Texas and 269 nationwide. Recipients were honored in November at a ceremony in Washington, D.C. The award recognizes schools for academic excellence or significant progress in closing the achievement gap.

• Four SAISD high schools are ranked in the top 9 percent statewide for increasing the number of students taking the ACT and significantly raising test scores over the past five years. The distinction earned Burbank, Fox Tech, Sam Houston and Lanier the Texas ACT Council’s 2012 College Readiness Award.

• SAISD students from 28 schools were the only in Bexar County invited to contribute art for an exhibit in anticipation of the new Tobin Center for the Performing Arts. Their work is displayed in three dozen 4-by-4-foot panels that cover the fence surrounding the former Municipal Auditorium, and will remain throughout the facility’s transformation into a world-class venue.  

• SAISD has earned several honors for fiscal excellence, including the Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting and the Meritorious Budget Award, both from the Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada, and a rating of superior from the Financial Integrity Rating System of Texas.

• Implementation of the $515 million bond package voters approved in November 2010 continues to progress, with about 12,000 computers and related hardware delivered to schools, safety and security upgrades underway for 68 schools, playgrounds installed or upgraded at elementary schools, and construction underway or in preparation for major renovations at 22 schools and Alamo Stadium and the Convocation Center.

• The District has installed career exploration labs in seven of 11 middle schools to receive them under the bond, with work under way for the others. The labs are sophisticated educational settings designed to pique students’ interest in science, technology, engineering and math careers by providing them with engaging, hands-on projects.

Last updated May 1, 2013