March 25, 2019

Board Receives Update On Construction Of New Campuses Belton ISD’s Board of Trustees received an update on the construction of Charter Oak Elementary and Lake Belton High School, two new campuses voters approved as part of the May 2017 bond program, as demographer’s spring 2019 updates indicate continued growth across the district. The important finishing touches for Charter Oak Elementary are underway with the gym flooring installed, final touch-up paint being applied and graphics and signage being installed. Outside, three accessible playgrounds have been installed and landscaping is underway. Work at the Lake Belton High School site has progressed to include window installation in the auditorium and east educational neighborhood, along with exterior brick, and the mechanical and plumbing work is ongoing. Brick for the softball and baseball backstops has been completed, and perimeter fence posts and preparation for turf will begin soon. Charter Oak Elementary will open in the fall of 2019. Lake Belton High School will open the next year, in August 2020, beginning with students in grades nine and 10. At the same time, Bhs9 will be repurposed as Belton Middle School. The significance of the opening of these two new campuses and the Board’s ongoing efforts to plan and prepare for student growth was further underscored by Templeton Demographics’ annual spring demographic update. Templeton’s analysis indicated that Belton ISD will enroll more than 12,600 students by 2020 as the district continues to add approximately 400 students each year. The year following Charter Oak’s opening, Belton ISD could grow enrollment to nearly 6,000 elementary students; and currently, Lake Belton High School is projected to open with nearly 900 ninth and 10th grade students.

VASE Contest State Qualifiers:  Belton High School (BHS) art students Kaylee Combest and Halia Papion are advancing to the state Visual Art Scholastic Event (VASE) Contest in April. Kaylee is a double medalist advancing with two papercut pieces. Halia is advancing with her ceramic vase. Emily Simeroth is Kaylee and Halia’s art instructor at BHS.

History Fair State Qualifiers:  The 2019 Heart of Texas Regional History Fair was held in February at Baylor University. In total, 18 students and 10 projects placed 1st or 2nd in their respective categories, qualifying to participate in the Texas History Day in late April.   In the Junior Group Documentaries categories, North Belton Middle School (NBMS) students Kaleice Cain, Hannah Wood, Madison Flor, and Rebekah McGuire placed 1st for “Before Little Rock: Tragedy in a Small Texas Town.” South Belton Middle School (SBMS) students Giana Zecca and Ashu Ghamande achieved a 2nd place finish with their documentary “The Peloponnesian War.”   Matthew Farwell from SBMS is a dvancing to state in the Junior Individual Exhibits category. His “Union Pacific Railroad: Construction and Destruction of the West” exhibit earned a 1st place finish. SBMS student Emily Lanhman advances to state in the Junior Papers category with “Recovery through the Wreckage: The Oklahoma City Bombing.” With a 1st place finish in Junior Individual Website, Makenna Morrow from SBMS will be competing at state with her website, “Finding Family After Slavery.”   Belton New Tech High School @ Waskow’s (BNTHS@W) Emma-le Olsen, Gracie Krieg, Jayla Ward, Sylvia Asuncion-Crabb, and Thea Lancaster’s Senior Group Performance called “Josephine Baker: Jazz Cleopatra,” finished 1st to advance to state.  Caroline Moehlenbrock from BNTHS@W is a dvancing to state in the Senior Individual Exhibits category. Her “Sanctified: The Untold Triumph over Misogyny,” earned a 1st place finish as did the Senior Group Exhibit “VERBOTEN Concentrating on Love” created by BHS students Marcus and Vanessa Ake.   In Senior Individual Websites, BNTHS@W student Aditi Bhat’s “The Partition of India: Triumph of Independence; Tragedy of Division,” placed 1st at regional to advance. Krithika and Maheshwari Rajesh advance to state in the Senior Group Website category with “Alan Turing: The Father of Computer Science.”   Campus coordinators or teachers supporting these state qualifiers are from NBMS, Elizabeth Howson, Danielle Connor from SBMS and from BNTHS@W, Tim Potts, Matthew Mastrilli and Allison Bradburn.

Two Secondary School Principals Approved: Trustees approved the Superintendent’s recommendations to name Jennisty Thomason as principal of Belton New Tech High School @ Waskow and Michelle Tish as principal at North Belton Middle School. Thomason replaces Ben Smith, who will be the principal at Belton High School in the fall. Jennisty has a bachelor’s degree from Sam Houston State University and a master’s degree from Texas A&M University Central Texas. She has 12 years of experience in education, 11 of which are in Belton ISD. Jennisty has previously served as assistant principal at Lake Belton Middle School and has been the assistant principal at Belton New Tech High School @ Waskow for the last two years.  Tish is replacing Joe Brown who is retiring. Michelle has a bachelor’s degree from Texas A&M University and a master’s degree from Tarleton State University. She has 19 years of experience in education, 16 of which are in Belton ISD. Michelle has previously served as assistant principal at Southwest Elementary and principal at Leon Heights Elementary. For the past five years, she has been the principal at Tarver Elementary.

Orchestra UIL State Qualifiers: In a February regional competition, BHS Orchestra achieved a record number of students receiving Superior (1) rankings from the judges, taking home 28 solo and four ensemble medals. Of those, 11 soloists were certified to go to state contest in June, along with a quartet ensemble.  Advancing to state in violin will be Jackson Belobrajdic, Helen Brew, Elizabeth DeVault, Meghan Dunagan, Gwyneth Sachsenmaier and Kara Shin. For viola, Emily Hawkins and Julie Johnson will be competing, along with Sydney Fox on cello. On piano, two students who also qualified on violin will be competing, Kara Shin and Elizabeth DeVault. Both are also members of the state qualifying quartet that includes Emily Hawkins and Miranda Hickman. Under the direction of John Fairlie, both BHS Orchestras also won Sweepstakes earlier this month at a UIL Concert and Sight Reading Competition. This is the top honor an orchestra can receive from UIL.

Choir UIL State Qualifiers: Thirty-five members of the BHS Choir, 16 soloists and 19 members of three ensemble groups, achieved a rating of 1 (Superior) on the hardest level performance, Class 1, at regional competition to advance to the Texas State Solo & Ensemble Competition to be held in Austin on June 1. Within this group of students from both BHS and BNTHS@W, there are eight vocalists who will be competing both as a soloist and as a part of one of the state qualifying ensembles. Of these members, 16 students achieved a Superior rating and will be competing as soloists on June 3, 2019. The BHS Choir is directed by Tonya Lovorn and Travis Campbell. The three Ensembles that achieved a Superior rating and will be competing at state are the Tenor/Bass Small Ensemble and two groups from the Madrigal Ensemble. Vocalists qualified for state include: Anabel Avila, Sasha Bernal, Mackenzie Bramlett, Robert Brown, Corban Burstedt, Kaylee Buuck, Jose Cabrera, Hayley Cavazos, Ian Farrell, Kara Fish, Madalyn Harris, Andrew Holcomb, Kaitlynn Kempf, Gracie Krieg, Ethan Matous, Sarah Millington, Ryan Peterson, Jackson Reasoner, Kate Salters, Austin Sandefur, Jehovah-Jireh Seo, Rachel Schiller, Rachel Shed, Sidney Sherwood, Megan Sloane, Carley Taylor and Mason Warren.

Special Olympics:  This spring, the Belton ISD Special Programs Department expanded the Special Olympics programs our students are competing in to include both basketball and track and field. At the area Special Olympics Basketball competition held in Waco last month, Belton ISD was represented by 12 athletes and eight student volunteers.   Competing in individual skill competitions, Kandis Brashear achieved an impressive 6th place finish. Josh Barney, Madeline Dollar, Kelsie Olson and Tristian Villarreal all earned silver medals. Athletes Devlyn Fox-Hawkins and Tre Hearne each earned individual gold medals. The Belton 3 vs 3 Basketball Team of Hunter Busby, Devon McLoyd, Mario Ortega, Matthew Ortega and Travis Towne won gold. With the support of many of her Special Programs team members, Belton ISD’s Special Olympics participation is led by Adapted Physical Education Coach Lauren Marx.

Big Red Community Partner - Bell County Office of Emergency Management: Over the last decade, Belton ISD has maintained a steadfast commitment to addressing student safety and well-being in a comprehensive way that integrates several important elements. Every year, at both the District and campus levels, staff build upon previously implemented tools, techniques, and procedures. Alongside important partners, the District seeks continuous improvement for its emergency preparedness to ensure that students attend school in a safe, secure and inclusive learning environment. Over the last year, the Bell County Office of Emergency Management (OEM) has played an important role in these efforts. As a member of the District’s safety committee, staff from the Bell County OEM serve as an important resource in training and planning for our staff and students, at the same time ensuring important coordination exists between the District and first response dispatch resources. In recognition of this important ongoing partnership, Bell County Office of Emergency Management is the Big Red Community Partner for March.

Superintendent's Report STAAR Testing The State required State Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR) begin the second week of April, with STAAR Alt 2 running April 1 to 23. The schedule of STAAR and End-of-Course (EOC) dates are:  April 9 – Grade 4 & 7 Writing; Grade 5 Math, Grade 8 Reading, English I EOC April 10 – Grade 5 Reading; Grade 8 Math April 11 – English II EOC May 6-10 – Alg I, Bio, & US History May 13 – Grade 3-4 Math, Grades 6-7 Math, Grades 5&8 Math Retest May 14 – Grade 3, 4, 6, 7 Reading; Grade 5 & 8 Reading Retest May 15 – Grades 5 & 8 Science May 16 – 8 th Grade Social Studies Choir Trip to New York In April, the Belton High School Choir will create moments and make lasting memories as they travel to New York City to participate in the Choirs of America Nationals. Approximately 85 students will be traveling as a part of the trip, which will include workshops, a full clinic and a performance in the Prism Concert at the world-famous Stern Auditorium at Carnegie Hall. They have been invited to sing a spotlight performance during the concert, performing two pieces by famous composer Z. Randall Stroope, including one he wrote especially for the concert.  Campus and Department Teachers of the Year Congratulations to our campus and departments Teachers of the Year! One elementary and one secondary teacher will be selected as Teacher of the Year for the District at the Teacher of the Year Luncheon on May 22, 2019.

Board Meeting Location to Move to the Pittenger Fine Arts Center   Beginning with next month, the Belton ISD Board of Trustees meetings will be held in the Pittenger Fine Arts Center. The April Board meeting is scheduled for Monday, April 15. Legislative Update It is encouraging to see the priority that the Texas Legislature has placed on supporting Texas public schools. Teachers are the heart of the public school system and are deserving of additional compensation. The Senate is to be commended for their efforts to increase teacher pay in Senate Bill 3 and the House is to be commended for their work to address school finance more comprehensively with House Bill 3. Provisions of House Bill 3 change current calculations to our school finance formulas in such a way that it appears that the bill has the potential to increase Belton ISD's funding by approximately $5 million. We are hopeful that the Legislature will come together to fulfill their priority of supporting public schools this session. Due to the impact these bills will have on the district's budget planning process, salary recommendations to the board may be delayed the July regular meeting. Once the session ends, it will take some time to receive information from the state and accurately develop budget scenarios to make fiscally-responsible recommendations. The district will work to keep staff and the board updated as the legislative session continues.

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