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Texas
Monthly Rates Public Schools
In
an effort to answer the question “How Good is Your Kid’s School?”,
Texas Monthly magazine rated nearly 5,400 schools in more than 1,000
Texas school districts. Published in the November 2001 issue, the
magazine’s editors asked a nonprofit organization called Just For The
Kids (JFTK) to analyze data from the Texas Assessment of Academic
Skills.
Two
major factors in the analysis were the percentage of students at each
school who scored at least 85 percent on the TAAS reading and math
tests, and the percentage of students at each school who were
economically disadvantaged, based on the number of students who qualify
for free or subsidized lunches. Schools were compared with other schools
that have similar student characteristics by dividing schools into four
economic groups: 0-25 percent economically disadvantaged, 25-50 percent,
50-75 percent, and 75-100 percent.
Schools
were given star ratings from one to five, with five being the highest.
Twelve Irving ISD schools received five stars: Brandenburg, Brown,
Elliott, Good, Keyes, Townley, Austin, Crockett, Travis, Irving High,
MacArthur and Nimitz. Ten IISD schools received four stars: Barton,
Farine, Gilbert, John Haley, Johnston, Lee, Lively, Bowie, Houston and
Lamar.
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Brown
Named Green School Finalist
Brown
is one of three finalists for the Texas PTA 2000-2001 Green School
Award.
Only one school in the state of Texas will receive this honor at
the Texas PTA State Convention November 17.
Brown
students and staff have participated in a school-wide recycling program,
school beautification, EPA/PTA Poster Contest, and an environmental
program. Students have collected more than 300 gently used stuffed
animals and presented them to the Irving
Police Department for children in
fearful situations. Various classrooms have collected soda tabs
for the Leukemia Society, and over 50 pounds of used greeting cards were
sent to St. Jude's Children’s Hospital.
An “Adopt-A-Spot” pilot program consisted of students
training classmates on the importance of a litter-free school.
Brown
was the winner of the 1999-2000 Green School Award and received an
Irving Celebration of Excellence Award in the Community Service
category.
Various grants received for environmental involvement totaling
$3,000 will fund Brown’s outdoor learning center during the current
school year.
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Kinkeade
Families Reading Together
Kinkeade
is sponsoring its first session of Families Reading Together during
Children’s Book Week. Susan Diaz and Darlene Headrick, bilingual
education teachers, led three sessions in Spanish November 13. Kristi
Betts, librarian, and Patty Notgrass, principal, will lead three
sessions in English November 15.
Parents attending the sessions will receive information on reading to
their children and free books to add to their home libraries. Kinkeade
will end the week with a parade. The students and teachers will dress as
their favorite storybook characters and parade through the halls of the
school.
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MacArthur
Choir Helps Student Get Piano
MacArthur
choir students have solicited funds to buy a fellow student, Brian Leal,
his very own piano.
Leal, a 16-year-old sophomore, is new to this country from Chile,
where he studied piano at a university for six years. A gifted pianist,
Leal did not have his own piano. After word got out to the community,
more than $400 was raised by the students and the realtors of ReMax–Las
Colinas also offered their assistance. Leal got his new piano November
10.
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Bands
Earn First Divisions
Irving
High Tiger Marching Band, MacArthur Cardinal Marching Band, and Nimitz
Viking Marching Band received First Division Awards at the Region 20 5A
High School Marching Band Contest at Panther Stadium in Duncanville
October 20.
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Four
Schools Win Area 10 Robotics Awards
Four
Irving ISD schools won awards at the Texas Computer Education
Association Area 10 Robotics Contest at the DeSoto Freshman Center
October 27.
IISD
schools placed in the following divisions: Academy, first, Division I;
Crockett, third, Division II; Gilbert, second, Division III; and
Brandenburg, third, Division III. Approximately 160 students
participated in the three divisions.
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CIS
Sponsors Essay Contest at Irving High
Communities
In Schools at Irving High sponsored an essay contest during Red Ribbon
Week that focused on drug-related issues. There were three topics the
students could choose from: “How would you deal with a friend
using drugs?”;
“How would you deal with being a parent of a teen who was using
drugs?”; and
“If you were a principal, how would you decrease drug abuse
among teens in school?”
Students
who wrote the winning essays are: Marshall Morton, first; Amanda
Dulworth, second; and Amanda Leal, third. All three students were from
Brian Massegee’s English class.
Students were awarded gift certificates to local
restaurants, free 24-Hour Fitness passes, Communities In Schools
backpacks, Dallas Mavericks T-shirts, telephones, and a CD player for
the first place prize.
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Thomas
Haley Receives $3,000 Grant From Boeing
Ida
Escobedo, assistant principal at Thomas Haley, was awarded $3,000 from
Boeing Defense & Space–Irving for the Exploring Through Math
Manipulatives
Program. With the support of Boeing, all new teachers will
receive math manipulatives for their students to use.
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