Superintendent of Schools

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Celebrating successes, addressing challenges - Aug. 26, 2019

08/26/2019

Dear SAISD Staff,

This school year, I will be devoting one full day a week to visiting our campuses – up from half-days last year. On Tuesdays, I will be at schools spending time with principals and teachers, and my goal for the year is to visit every campus.

I enjoy my time in our schools, and I am constantly amazed by the passion and energy our staff bring to their work. Know that I acknowledge and appreciate the value you bring to the District and our students every day.

I am especially pleased when others outside of our District recognize your dedication and talents, too. This school year, the recognitions started early. We were only three days into our first week when the first award announcement came.

Please join me in congratulating Belinda Medellin, a technology teacher at CAST Tech High School, for being named the 2019 Secondary Teacher of the Year for Education Service Center, Region 20! I was honored to be on hand as she received the surprise announcement in front of her students.

This is the third year in a row that one of our outstanding teachers is being recognized at the regional level. Our teachers go above and beyond for their students on a daily basis, and it is moments like these that give our community insight into the quality of our classrooms.

Additional good news greeted us that first week of school. Forty-two of our schools have been recognized with one or more Distinction Designations from the Texas Education Agency based on student performance. This is up from 34 designations last year. Each of our high schools earned at least one distinction and five campuses earned all possible distinctions. This is a good representation of our District, and we should enjoy this moment as a celebration of our schools.

As you know, TEA Commissioner Mike Morath kicked off his accountability tour at Schenck Elementary School, during which he commended our District for achieving a B and Schenck for achieving an A. During his comments, the Commissioner stated that among the state’s largest school districts, SAISD ranked third highest in poverty, and gained the most in student achievement and second most in school progress and overall performance.

Twenty-seven campuses achieved an A or B rating across SAISD. In addition, 24 campuses improved by at least one letter grade and five campuses went up two letter grades.

The results we are seeing demonstrate the great work teachers are doing to help our students reach their potential. While there is still a way to go at some campuses, overall we are seeing much stronger academic performance.

Last week, I joined the SAISD Foundation at Gates Elementary School for the first of 56 surprise Innovation Grant announcements to our teachers. By the end of this month, the foundation will have handed out $213,000 in grant awards to educators who are transforming our District – in their classrooms and on their campuses through special projects and initiatives that pique student interest, increase engagement and improve academic performance.

I know our campuses are still experiencing issues with air conditioning, and the District is working hard to get these systems up and running. We are putting temporary solutions in place while we work toward long-term resolutions, and we are thankful for your patience.

We cannot assume that this year’s consistently high temperatures are an anomaly. Since summer temperatures are overtaxing air conditioning systems in our District and across the city, we are taking the current and future working condition of SAISD’s systems very seriously.

We are having a robust discussion with our Board about the capital needs for our schools, including our AC systems, and are looking at the possibility of our next bond program.

I appreciate how our team is coming together to tackle the AC issues we have today. Please know that long-term solutions are coming as well.

Sincerely,
Pedro