Hallettsville ISD

Brahma Newsletter

Islands of Excellence at HISD

The community of Hallettsville is well known for excellence inacademics, athletics, agriculture, band, as well as many other programs. Keeping with this tradition of excellence, students havemade significant gains in some areas and maintained exemplaryscores in others on the 2010 Texas Assessment of Knowledge andSkills. Overall the district was rated as Recognized by the TexasEducation Agency along with the Hallettsville High School andHallettsville Junior High campuses. The Hallettsville Elementarycampus has once again achieved an Exemplary rating, and plans are being made district-wide to continue on this path to excellence in the2010-2011 school year.

FALL 2010Inside this Issue

3 Catch the Wave of Success4 Oceans of Opportunities5 Fill Your Sails withKnowledge6 Surf the Net . . . Safely7 Dive into ProfessionalDevelopment8 HHS Renovation andConstruction

Homecoming

Sept. 17, 2010HB vs. Palacios, 7:30 p.m.

Public Schools Week

March 7-11, 2011

Developing a Culture of SuccessThrough Innovation, Service, and Teamwork

Save the Date!

Reading/ELA

Writing

SocialStudies

Mathematics

Science

2010 94 95 97 90 872009

2008

2007 95 91 91 83 79

ISSUE #3 FALL 2010During the past six months HISD hasexperienced a number of changes includingnew leadership in several departments and atthe high school. As many of you know, CoachTommy Psencik is now our athletic director.Dewayne Malina was hired as the maintenancedirector, and Donnie Steffek was hired as thetransportation director. Russell Kowalik wasalso selected as the principal for HallettsvilleHigh School. Some common attributes that allof our new leaders share with many of our existing and other new employees are small-town values, a hard work ethic, and dedicationto getting the job done. We look forward to agreat year of progress and innovation with their guidance and support.We also appreciate the patience andunderstanding of our community members aswe move forward with the high schoolrenovation project. We have been striving tocreate a safe, secure learning environment for all of our students and staff members. Thetemporary portable classrooms were in placeon the first day of school and provide ADAaccessibility as well as better air quality for students and staff. New parking areas have been developed north of the administrationoffice, and information regarding safewalkways through construction zones will beposted on the website and in the HallettsvilleTribune Herald.Another attempt at improving communicationwith our parents and staff is through theBlackboard Connect Mass Notification System.In the event of inclement weather or significantevents affecting an entire school or district,parents and staff members may be sent anautomated message giving them criticalinformation in a timely manner.In addition to the board priorities listed below,district administrators will be developing on-line applications for prospective employees anda survey for parents and other stakeholders inthe school community to offer us feedback onhow we can improve.HISD SuperintendentDr. Jo Ann Bludau

The HISD School Board of Trustees met in the summer to discuss goalsand priorities for the 2010-2011 school year, and decided to focus on thefollowing areas:

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Inform the community about HISD initiatives

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Review policies and procedures for effectiveness and consistency

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Prepare students for college and careers

ISSUE #3 FALL 2010

Catch the Wave of Success

Hallettsville Elementary kicks off the 2010-2011school year in a “Wave of Success” with anExemplary rating from the Texas EducationAgency. Our continuous goal is for each student toexperience success and reach his or her academicpotential.In an effort to continue to meet our goals, the HESstaff attended a variety of professional developmenttrainings this summer, which included SRA OpenCourt Reading, Sharon Wells Math Curriculum,English as A Second Language, The Texas PrimaryReading Inventory and Professional Learning andTeaching Strategies. Staff members are eager toengage children by implementing new strategiesand techniques in the classroom.As we embark upon a new year, assessment data and anew resource tool, AWARE, will be utilized toevaluate and provide small group tutorials. As a TEAExemplary campus, we strive to meet the needs of eachand every student, and parents are an integral part of our academic success. Therefore, teachers will schedulefall and spring parent conferences to discuss eachstudent’s strengths and weaknesses.HES intends for technology to play a large role instudent activities as teachers continue to integrate thelatest tools and software into daily instruction. Welook forward to a new and exciting school year as wecarry on the tradition of success.HES PrincipalTrina Patek