Nine IISD Schools Earn Recognized Ratings

In the latest school accountability ratings released through the Texas Academic Excellence Indicator System, nine Irving ISD schools earned Recognized ratings. They are:

• Barton Elementary School

• Brandenburg Elementary School

• Brown Elementary School

• Gilbert Elementary School

• Good Elementary School

• John Haley Elementary School

• Hanes Elementary School

• Keyes Elementary School

• Lamar Middle School

Nine Recognized schools is an increase over last year when five IISD schools received the Recognized rating. Improvement in student scores for the Texas Assessment of Knowledge & Skills (TAKS) is a major reason for the overall improvement.
Twenty-three IISD schools were rated Acceptable and the Irving ISD received a district rating of Academically Acceptable.

See TEA Rating Chart

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New Principals for 2008-2009

Irving ISD Superintendent Jack Singley has announced new principal appointments for the 2008-2009 school year:

	Jacquelyn Gorena is the new principal at Stipes Elementary School, replacing Marty French. Gorena previously served as principal at Brown Elementary School.
	Adam Grinage, Ed.D., will replace Gorena at Brown and most recently has served as principal at Webb Elementary School in Arlington ISD. Grinage served previously with Irving ISD as assistant principal at Britain Elementary School.
	Lisa Molinar is the new principal at Thomas Haley Elementary School, replacing Hilda Rodriguez. Molinar previously served as vice principal at Farine Elementary School.
	Rick Nolly is the new principal at Nimitz High School, replacing Sam Bean. Nolly previously served as principal at Houston Middle School.
	Robert Abel has been named principal of Houston Middle School. Prior to his appointment as principal, Abel has served as a vice principal in Irving ISD at Crockett Middle School and most recently at de Zavala Middle School.

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ParentConnection to Provide Record Access

Irving ISD has implemented the ParentConnection program for all schools and it will be accessible by IISD parents through the district’s GradeSpeed system.

Using ParentConnection, parents can log-in through a secure Internet connection and view reports of their students’ status in class. Parents can either log into the system via their student’s account, or parents can set up their own account by completing an application for access and returning it to their student’s school for verification and approval.

www.irvingisd.net/ParentConnection.htm

Parents with students at multiple schools must seek verification and approval from each campus. However once the process is complete, parents will be able to monitor all of their children’s grades and attendance from a single ParentConnection account. Email notifications for parents are also available providing up-to-date information regarding a student’s grades and attendance in various classes.

According to Dr. Alice Owen, executive director for technology, parents have been asking for a system to access information about their students online. Four IISD schools – MacArthur High School, Lamar Middle School, Townsell Elementary School and Gilbert Elementary School – pilot-tested parent access to their students’ grades last spring. Parents said they appreciated the increased communication the system afforded, and principals relayed the positive feedback they had experienced to colleagues within the district.

Parents are encouraged to apply for access before the third week of school – prior to the issuing of progress reports – in order to stay informed.

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Scholarship Offers Total $31M

Scholarship offers for the IISD Class of 2008 totaled $30,653,888, which is the third largest total in district history. The record total was $39,886,730 set by the Class of 2006. The Class of 2007 earned $31,850,240, the second highest total.

For 2008, Irving High School graduates earned $6,362,304; MacArthur High School graduates earned $8,158,661; Nimitz High School graduates earned $12,070,744; and The Academy of Irving ISD graduates earned $4,062,179. IISD Superintendent of Schools Jack Singley announced the scholarship totals during graduation ceremonies June 6 and 7, during which IISD schools graduated approximately 1,500 seniors.

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Employee Benefits Enrollment Period

Irving ISD employees are reminded that the open enrollment period for benefits began August 1 and employees must make elections before August 15 in order to receive a Blue Cross ID Card in September. All employees must re-enroll for benefits for the 2008-2009 school year. For more information and to enroll, access http://www.irvingisd.net/ppage/munis.htm.

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