TISD’s Future Discussed

TYLER — Tyler school trustees have continued their discussion on academic initiatives for the school district. Monday�s discussion was a continuation of the February board workshop where four initiatives were shared. They were:
*CTE Expansion and Enhancements
*High School STEM Academy
*Early College High School
*Non-Traditional High School Expansion and Enhancements

Monday�s discussion included a brief review of the first four initiatives as well as a look into the final two initiatives: a Freshman Academy and 5th and 6th Grade Centers.

According to school superintendent Dr. Randy Reid, statistically, the freshman year in high school has proven to be one of the largest stumbling blocks to students’ academic success. As a result, many districts have begun to focus significant attention on freshmen by isolating them either in separate campuses or in areas of their facilities. Additional resources are usually allocated in an attempt to help the students begin their high school careers on the right track.

He explained that currently, this school year, John Tyler High School began a pilot program by creating a Freshman Academy program. They identified the downstairs portion of their main building as the designated area for all freshman core classes. Additional staff and resources were focused on meeting the needs of these freshmen, and initial results are showing great promise.

He said a consideration about this program is the district could continue to support John Tyler’s efforts and begin to look at opportunities to expand the concept to Robert E. Lee High School. He also said the district could consider this concept when planning future facility enhancements with the goal of creating freshman-specific spaces within future high school facilities. Dr. Reid shared with the Board of Trustees how 9th grade academies can address academic and facility challenges.

The final academic program presented to the Board was the concept of 5th/6th grade centers. Dr. Reid explained how fifth and sixth grade students have very similar characteristics. He said this is a critical phase in their educational progress and by this age, they usually have enough data to identify strengths and weaknesses. Coupling these grades would allow strong interventions to help struggling students and bring greater rigor to the classroom. This could help to prevent the usual drop-off in performance for middle school.

He said considerations of this 5th/6th grade proposal are that fifth graders are currently housed at elementary campuses while 6th graders are in middle schools; projected growth at the elementary level will lead to a shortage of space at many of our campuses; and our middle school campuses are already overcrowded and in need of updating/replacing. He also said the district could seek opportunities to build new middle schools and remodel existing facilities to utilize for 5th/6th centers and the district could build new 5th/6th centers. Dr. Reid explained how 5th/6th centers can address academic and facility challenges.

Also at Monday�s meeting, Steve Hulsey with Corgan Associates, Inc. presented the District’s facility assessment to the board. He explained the assessment process and the results. The consultant interviewed all department leaders and looked for efficiencies as well as current and future needs of the facilities in the District. Hulsey explained that the future needs of the District will require more space. He also said that the reorganization of departments will make operations more efficient. Some of the older facilities have served the district beyond their useful life and repurposing these facilities would be cost prohibitive.

Dr. Reid suggested that at the April Board Workshop half of the meeting will be for the purpose to share the demographic report and half the meeting will be dedicated to conversations about these programs and facilities presented today. It was also discussed that it is important to involve the community, parents and students in the discussion process in the future.