On Monday, January 23, Trustees approved changes to local board policies that impact the GCISD student transfer process for residents and nonresidents. In previous years, families interested in applying for a transfer were admitted based on the order in which the application was received and if they met specific board criteria for the transfer.

Beginning with the 2017-2018 school year, families that reside within GCISD boundaries or live in the cities of Colleyville and Grapevine but are zoned for another school district, may apply for the transfer lottery.

"By moving to a lottery system, we are making the process more equitable for families that wish to have their student transfer to another campus," said Deputy Superintendent Dr. Rick Westfall. "Our goal with this adjustment to the transfer process is to create a system that simplifies the process for our families and removes the ambiguity from the transfer process."

From March 20 - April 21, families may submit their transfer application for the lottery. While the district will accept all transfer applications, students will only be granted transfers to campuses and grade-levels that can accept more students without going over capacity. Decisions about capacity will be made later in the semester and throughout summer depending on student registration and enrollment projections. In order to apply for the lottery, the student requesting the transfer must meet the following criteria:

Another benefit to the newly revised policies is that nonresident transfers no longer have to reapply every school year. Instead, both residents and nonresidents will only need to reapply when they are changing a level (i.e. from elementary to middle school or middle school to high school).

For more information about the GCISD transfer lottery, please visit the  district website.

In 2014-2015, Trustees reinstated the alternating block schedule, which increased the number of courses a student could take from seven to eight; however, there were still students who were only able to enroll in seven courses because one was double blocked. 

"Our campus administrators are always looking for ways to improve the educational experience for all students," said Conrad Streeter, Executive Director of Instructional Leadership. "This new modified block schedule will allow our students to enroll in one additional course, while also helping campus administrators reduce class size and have flexibility when developing the master schedule."

Administrators for both high schools spent the past several months examining the current bell schedule to determine what improvements could be made. After a proposal was developed, administrators met with parent groups, staff members and student representatives from both campuses. Additionally each campus hosted a feedback session in January to hear directly from parents and students. Once gathering feedback, the item was presented to the Board for the next step in the approval process. 

For more information and to see the modified block schedule, click here. 

Superfoodie Thursdays continue throughout GCISD with January's food, the carrot. Nutrition services team members like GCISD Dietician Laura Brookover-Ybarra aim to educate GCISD families and staff members about the superfoods and their health benefits.

 

"Through Superfoodie Thursdays, we hope to increase the fruit and vegetable consumption among our students while here with us and at home with family," said Brookover-Ybarra.

 

Superfoods for the remainder of the semester include avocados (February 16), eggs (March 23), quinoa (April 20) and blackberries (May 11). Check out GCISD's Nutrition Services Facebook page for more information and pictures from each Superfoodie Thursday!

January 16 - February 24 : Click here to view the proposed District of Innovation plan during the public review.

February 2-4 & 6: GHS Theatre presents Beauty and the Beast. All shows will be at 7 p.m. and tickets will go on say on January 19 on the GHS Theatre website. 

February 16: GCISD Kindness Day. Students, staff and parents are encouraged to wear a Rachel's Challenge t-shirt and jeans and join us in celebrating kindness and compassion on GCISD Kindness Day. 

February 28: Soaring Valor Send-Off Event at 7 p.m. at Grapevine High School. 

Click here to check out more upcoming events.