RESCHEDULED Town Hall Meeting

In order to have time to gather more information and explore additional options, the BISD Board of Trustees decided to reschedule the Town Hall Meeting on boundaries which was set for Wednesday, January 9, 2019 at 6:00 pm at Manzano Middle School. BISD regrets any inconvenience this may cause. Additional time may provide opportunities for everyone involved to reach successful results. The town hall meeting will be rescheduled for May 2019.

2018 - 2019 Middle School District Science Fair Winners

The C&I department would like to congratulate all the students and sponsors that participated at the 2018 - 2019 Middle School District Science Fair. We had 305 projects with a total of 343 students competing in 22 categories. Attached is the list of the students that placed first through fifth in their respective categories. The top three projects in each category advance to the Regional competition on Feb. 01 - 02, 2019 at the UTRGV Brownsville Campus pending IRB/SRC approval.

A special thank you to Mr. Joel Wood, Principal at Vela MS, for allowing us to use his campus for this event.

We would like to recognize Ms. Cynthia Castro, Hosting Principal at Oliveira MS, Administrative Team, Science Dept., and staff for a phenomenal job. View the list of winners.

Middle School Bands Shine at All-Region Auditions

The BISD middle school bands recently competed for a spot in the Texas Music Educators Association - Region 28 All-Region Bands and we are delighted to recognize their success! BISD Band Directors have coached students in anticipation of this event since the beginning of summer. The students, some of which have only been playing for one year, must be able to play through three etudes for a blind panel of judges to determine who is the “best of the best” among the 32 middle schools!

Vela Middle School surpassed its own record for BISD and Region 28. Previously held at 40 musicians, the school set a new record of 41 students selected for this important honor! Also, Manzano Middle School garnered SIX first chairs (tying the school’s own previous record) and Vela, FOUR! Amazing!

The TMEA Region 28 Middle School All-Region Bands will perform at the Donna CISD Performing Arts Center on January 19, 2019.

Congratulations to these young, amazing musicians and their fantastic directors! When it comes to music, Brownsville ISD is the place to be! View the results.

Project Rise:

Project Rise: The signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between Region One and UTRGV took place this morning for the establishment of a Masters in Teacher Leadership degree. This development falls under Region One's initiative known as Project Rise. BISD is proud to announce that Porter ECHS and Faulk Middle School are part of the program's first cohort. Attending this morning's event were Dr. Esperanza Zendejas and Porter ECHS principal Mary Solis. With them is Project Rise specialist Felicia Salinas.

Achievement in STAAR - Science at Canales Elementary

J.T. Canales Elementary was among several BISD schools recognized recently by the Chief Executive Officer of Summit K12, Mr. John Kresky. The recognition was earned due to the campus having the highest gains last year in 5th grade STAAR Science - not only among BISD schools but among the more than 100 elementary schools across the Rio Grande Valley that use Summit K12. Principal Dr. Edward Ude stated that Mr. Jose Peña and Ms. Enelda Brown, 5th Grade Science Teachers, as well as the rest of the 5th Grade Team of Ms. Michelle Gardner-Vidal, Ms. Elsa Gonzalez and former 5th Grade Teacher from last school year, Ms. Elizabeth Lopez all had roles in the gain. He also acknowledged Mr. Roman Gomez, Elementary Science Specialist, for his support of the school’s instructional program.

CEO Kresky said that he views the relationship with the BISD schools as a partnership.  He added that “We will continue to work with the administrators and teachers to align our support of the campus with their goals – to make sure the training goes well, and that teachers use best practices as they implement the Summit K12 program to improve their scores.”

BISD Selected as Finalist for Holdsworth Center - Leadership Development Cohort

The Holdsworth Center recently announced the selection of 14 school districts as finalists for the second cohort of Holdsworth's 5-year program focused upon building a strong talent pipeline and leadership development system within each district.

Holdsworth staff will conduct site visits to each district in early 2019 and will announce the six districts selected to be part of the next cohort in April 2019.

The 14 districts are: Abilene ISD, Aldine ISD (Houston area), Brazosport ISD (Gulf Coast), Brownsville ISD, Harlingen ISD, Judson ISD (San Antonio), Lockhart ISD, Mesquite ISD (Dallas-Fort Worth area), Midland ISD, North East ISD (San Antonio), San Angelo ISD, San Antonio ISD, Spring ISD (Houston area) and Waco ISD.

The Holdsworth Center staff applauded every district who applied to be part of the program for their level of leadership and innovation that continues to direct their classroom achievements.

Schneider Electric and BISD Collaborate on a STEM-based Activity

Schneider Electric, an energy service company, was contracted by the BISD to address the lighting, air-conditioning, and related issues at the following schools: Porter ECHS, Besteiro MS, Garcia MS, Lucio MS, Aiken ES, Paredes ES, Southmost ES, and the Aquatic Center. The improvements are part of the district’s commitment to being an innovative, proactive, green district and making facilities safer and overall more conducive to learning. As Schneider Electric proceeds with these projects the company also makes an effort to collaborate with the district through its many student engagement initiatives.

The first of these initiatives was a tree-planting project carried out at Castañeda Elementary. The second took place during the month of October which was Energy Awareness Month. Company representatives met with district and campus personnel at Garcia Middle School to conduct a Solar Car Race. On the first day of the STEM-based learning activity Schneider Electric employees provided an introductory lesson to sixth grade students about renewable energy and its benefits. They then distributed solar car kits to teams of students so they could build their solar cars. On the second day the sixth grade teams went outside and with the help of a sunny morning competed against one another to determine which solar car would go the farthest. A reflective discussion was held after the racing to review and summarize what the students had learned from their activity.

The Garcia Middle School administration and sixth grade teachers were especially grateful to Schneider Electric for not only providing all of the materials for the event but guiding the instruction as well. The company has already made plans for additional collaboration with BISD through Science Fairs that will take place in December and January. View the event photos and videos. View the event photos.