Grant Pep Rally a great success!!!

The process of implementing all requirements for the TTIPS grant awarded to the high school has begun! It has been exciting to see the transformation at the Jr./Sr. High school. Parents are able to see student work displayed throughout the building and traffic flows much better now that the halls are striped and traffic signs are visible.

Our open house was a great success. Parents got to enjoy a performance by students to introduce them to the grant as well as see demonstrations of the use of smart board technology and science experiments.

The TTIPS (Texas Title I Priority Schools) grant in the amount of $960,000 was awarded to Hart Jr./Sr. High school this past August. Funds from this grant will be used to completely transform the way we do school. Some of the changes will not be seen by most. We will have job embedded professional development specific to the needs of our teachers. Two of our teachers will be trained to become leaders among their peers. An on-site instructional coach will be assisting the staff in improving student achievement. Some of the duties of the instructional coach will be to provide support to our classroom teachers. She will be doing what we see athletic coaches do for students. She will model lessons for classroom teachers, and she will guide discussions for teachers during regularly held meetings. In every aspect of her job she will advance the cause to win. Winning is to be intentional about the things we teach in the classroom, which will improve student achievement.

Another benefit we received from this grant is that it allows us to partner with Communities in Schools to provide extra supports to students. If the basic needs of students are met, we can concentrate on improving their academic achievement. Communities in Schools will help our students in this area. Another area of great need for our community is the need to learn English. Through this program, we will be able to offer English language classes during the day for anyone who wants to learn. We welcome our parents to come in and learn English as well as basic computer skills. A new computer lab will be purchased to allow access for parents without taking away from student instruction. We also anticipate the purchase of calculators for each of our secondary students. Students are required to learn mathematics through the use of specific calculators and we will be able to provide these to the students through the Communities in Schools program.

There are so many great things happening and we are excited for our students and our community as they are the recipients of this gift. Along with this grant, Hart Jr./Sr. High was also awarded the Algebra Readiness grant in the sum of $200,000. This grant will work hand in hand with the TTIPS grant. We will be able to put much needed technology in the hands of our students and their opportunities for success keep getting better and better!

We feel strongly that in order to catch the attention of the student, we must meet the students where they are. Technology is where the students are working and we need to catch up to them. These grants will help us reach our goals of making Hart ISD a premier school district in this region.

Hart ISD has additional fantastic news regarding the direction of our school district. We applied and received yet another grant. The Texas Cool Schools grant in the amount of $139,630 to replace old existing HVAC units. We are excited about this awarded grant as well.

Hart ISD has been blessed with many of the needed resources to support the programs that are essential to running an effective school system. Our teachers and staff at both of the campuses have been working diligently to provide our students with a great school. We are working to partner with our parents in making this the pride of the community. These grants are given without requirements. Our staff and leadership knew that in receiving these grants that we would be faced with burdensome paperwork and extra meetings and mandated requirements. They chose the kids. I am grateful to their commitment to the students at Hart ISD.

As you think about Hart ISD and where we are, know that we have a great leadership team and a great staff. They are committed to doing what is necessary to makes things better one student at a time.