October 16, 2017
Trustees Applaud High Performing Academic Students

Less than two months since the start of school, Belton ISD Board of Trustees had the opportunity to see and hear more about how the District has already made noteworthy progress in addressing one of its top priorities for the 2017-2018 school year.
 
Advancing the highest performing academic students was among the District's priorities adopted by the Board in August 2017 and tonight they honored five Belton High School seniors, including National Merit Semifinalist and Top ACT Score student, Serena Shedore, and received an update on the progress of their increased support for the Advanced Academics program.
National Merit Semifinalist

Serena Shedore, a senior at Belton High School, earned a perfect score on the ACT and has been selected as a semifinalist in the National Merit Scholarship Program for her performance on the Preliminary SAT (PSAT).
 
Shedore earned the highest possible ACT composite score of 36, an accomplishment that less than one-tenth of 1 percent of students who take the ACT achieve on average. In the U.S. high school graduating class of 2016, only 2,235 out of nearly 2.1 million graduates who took the ACT earned a composite score of 36.  To qualify as a National Merit Semifinalist, Shedore's high scores on the PSAT placed her in the top 1 percent of more than 1.6 million students who took the test last fall. As the next step in the scholarship competition, Shedore will submit essays, recommendations and additional test scores to the National Merit Scholarship Corporation. Finalists will be announced between April and June 2018. 
Advanced Academics Update

Overall Belton ISD's composite ACT and SAT scores continue to exceed both state and national averages and continued growth or expansion of advanced placement courses and dual credit offerings are just a few of the ways the District's Advanced Academics program shared their success. High school students enrolled in Belton ISD have their choice of taking all 24 advanced placement courses recognized by the College Board, along with 22 dual credit courses available through partnerships with Temple College, University of Mary Hardin-Baylor and the University of Texas at the Permian Basin.
National Merit Commended Students

The National Merit Program has recognized Belton High School seniors Madeline Finley, Jacob Kyle, Alec Ramba and Katherine Shelburne as commended students for 2018.  Each year more than 1.5 million high school students take the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholar Qualifying Test. Of those, just 50,000 qualify for the National Merit Program including 34,000 selected as Commended students. While Commended students do not continue on to compete for National Merit Scholarships, they are often candidates for special scholarships sponsored by other organizations.
Trustees Select 2nd Comprehensive High School Name, Mascot and Colors

With approximately 5 percent enrollment growth already noted this year in high school enrollment alone, the Board of Trustees made final decisions on the much anticipated name, mascot and colors for the second comprehensive high school opening in the fall of 2020. After a series of votes, the Board selected Lake Belton High School for the name, Broncos as the mascot and the colors of red and silver.
FFA State Convention Awards

At the Texas FFA State Convention held July 10-14 in Corpus Christi, the Belton chapter received the Golden Horizon Award for the multi-teacher division. The highest state rating given to a chapter, this award recognizes "exceptional chapter involvement and activities."  Eight students received the Lone Star FFA Degree, which is given to FFA members who have been active in the organization for at least two years, meet academic criteria and demonstrate leadership skills. The Belton students receiving the degree were Rachel Barnett, Joel Hardin Francesca Hardin-Landon, Kyle Hobbs, Rubin Latimer, Eric Martinez, Emily O'Braden, and Madi Sage.
Another Perfect Score on 2017 Schools Financial Accountability Rating System (FIRST)

For the sixth year in a row, Belton ISD received a perfect score on the 2017 Schools Financial Accountability Rating System (FIRST) and have been awarded an A for "Superior Achievement." This annual review, required by the state legislature, is overseen by the Texas Education Agency and requires that the District submit staff, student and financial data to assess quality performance in the management of school districts' financial resources.
Principal Appreciation Month

Governor Greg Abbott has proclaimed October as Principals Month. His proclamation reads, in part, "As school leaders, principals are entrusted with our most valuable resource - our next generation of leaders. These students are our promise for the future, and it is critical that they receive a rigorous and well-rounded education. ... At this time, I encourage all Texans to acknowledge the important role principals play in ensuring that every child has access to a high-quality education."
 
Belton ISD's principals are Sue Banfield, Belton Early Childhood School; Elizabeth McMurtry, Chisholm Trail Elementary; Amy Armstrong, High Point Elementary; Tiffany Weiss, Leon Heights Elementary; Judy Schiller, Lakewood Elementary; Jennifer Conner, Miller Heights Elementary; Becky Vaughn, Pirtle Elementary; Stacy Cox, Southwest Elementary; Julee Manley, Sparta Elementary; Michelle Tish, Tarver Elementary; Kris Hobson, Lake Belton Middle School; Joe Brown, North Belton Middle School; Kevin Taylor, South Belton Middle School; Chris duBois and Jill Ross, Belton High School; and Ben Smith, Belton New Tech High School @ Waskow. The coordinator of the District Alternative Education Program is Emilio Olivares.
Trustees Approve CFO and BHS Assistant Principal

During the meeting, trustees also approved the superintendent's selection of Jennifer Land to be the District's new chief financial officer (CFO) and Timothy Goodridge as assistant principal at Belton High School. 

Land brings more than 16 years of public school district finance experience to Belton ISD, most recently serving as Manor ISD CFO. A frequent speaker or presenter for the Texas Association of School Board Officials, Land spent 14 years working for Round Rock ISD where she was the Director of Internal Audits. Land completed both a bachelors and master's degree in Business Administration from the University of Texas at Austin and Texas State University. She is a licensed Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and a Registered Texas School Business Administrator (RTSBA).

Goodridge served as a science teacher at Belton High School for the past five years. He has eight years of experience in education having previously taught high school in McGregor. During his time at Belton High School, Goodridge was promoted from Physics Team Leader to Science Department Content Lead and achieved recognition as Belton High School's Teacher of the Year in 2016. He has a bachelor's degree from Baylor University and a master's degree in education technology leadership from Lamar University.
Big Red Community Partner - Temple College

Temple College has been an integral part of Belton ISD's dual credit offerings. BISD students participating in Temple College offerings have the benefit of a great support system that meets monthly to see how the district and Temple College can better serve our students.  This hands-on approach to supporting our students allows for long term impacts, such as: minimizing the duplication of courses taken in high school and college, understanding the need for a variety of course offerings, shortening the time required to complete an undergraduate degree and reduces the cost of higher education. They have also provided parent training sessions to help support parents as their child begins taking college courses.
 
This year alone, Temple College has connected BISD students with 529 three-hour credits. These college credit opportunities have taken the support of many at Temple College including their Board of Trustees, Administration and faculty.  Dr. Dan Spencer, Associate Vice President, and Kristen Griffith, Director of Dual Credit, accepted the recognition of Temple College as this month's Big Red Community Partner.
Superintendent's Report

Enrollment & Demographic Update
Next Friday, October 27, is our official snapshot day. C urrently, there are 11,547 students enrolled. That's an increase of 431 students over last year and represents a 3.7% increase in total enrollment. Our growth has been the greatest at the high school level where we currently have 3,382 students.
 
PSAT/Superintendent Scholars
Last Wednesday, students in grades 8-11 took the PSAT.  The PSAT is taken to provide students the opportunity to practice for the SAT college entrance examination.  At the 11th grade, it is the National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (NMSQ). Students who score at the highest level are named as national merit semifinalists and are able to apply for recognition as finalists.

In Belton ISD, students who score at the highest levels on the PSAT as 10th graders are recognized as Superintendent Scholars.  These students have the opportunity to participate in an incentive program whereby they earn special rewards for taking practice exams and completing skill building activities in Khan Academy.
More photos of students and staff members recognized at this month's board meeting can be found on Belton ISD's Google+ page.