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Belton ISD Trustees Honor Pittenger
At their monthly meeting, current and former Trustees honored outgoing School Board President Randy Pittenger who ended his twenty-four years of service as Area 4 Trustee this month. Pittenger announced in January that he would not seek re-election for a ninth term and would retire, along with his wife, LaGay, a fifth grade teacher at Lakewood Elementary since 1993.
The Board took action to name the Wall Street Auditorium the "Pittenger Fine Arts Center," in honor of Pittenger's legacy of service and dedication to the community. Currently under renovation, the Pittenger Fine Arts Center was originally built in 1966. Voters approved plans to update the facility as a part of the May 2017 Bond Program and construction will be completed this summer.
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Duke TIP State and National Recognitions
Duke TIP is a nonprofit organization dedicated to serving academically gifted and talented students. It works with students, their families, and educators to identify, challenge, engage, and help students reach their highest potential. The organization's talent search program identifies students based on standardized test scores and invites them to take either the ACT or the SAT as seventh graders.
This year 19 Belton ISD students qualified for state recognition by scoring at or above the national average of recent high school graduates on at least one part of the ACT or the SAT. They are Corinne Finley, Kathryn Heitzenrater, Zakaya Longworth, Isidra Mendez and Christopher Scott from Lake Belton Middle School; Adam Ake, Miles Gaunt, Lauren Hale, Jackson Herzog, Duncan Lancaster, Kaden Lehrmann, Clayton Oaks, Kole Petersen, and Dominic Thomas from South Belton Middle School; and William Asuncion-Crabb, Tobbie Berrian, Douglas Brito, Jason Janczak, and Ezekiel Payne from North Belton Middle School.
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This year, three students qualified for grand recognition in which students must earn scores that are approximately equal to the 90th national percentile rank f
or college-bound seniors taking the tests. That includes about 4% of TIP students. Of 48,569 students who took the exams through Duke TIP only 2,611 were invited to the Grand Recognition Ceremony. These students are Jackson Herzog, Kaden Lehrmann, and Kole Petersen all from South Belton Middle School.
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Members of the Belton FFA chapter teams competed in Career Development Events held across the state. In addition to previous district and area contest achievements, Belton FFA teams earned the distinction of State Qualifier at each event.
On April 26, Belton FFA placed 2nd in the State Environmental and Natural Resource Contest held at Tarleton State University. This impressive team had previously qualified as 1st in District, 1st in Area. Team members included: Drew Cook, Holden Goldston, Kyle Hobbs, Cameron Parker, Payton Vybiral, and Tannor Fischer.
The Belton FFA Wildlife Team of Caitlyn Quigley, Kaden O'Brien, Amaris Reed, and Alex Sottosanti were 1st in District, 4th in Area and qualified for state after competing on April 24 at the Texas Tech campus in Junction.
At the Nursery/Landscape Career Development Event held at Sam Houston State University on April 27, a team of Belton FFA students also qualified for state. The team of Grace Green, Alexa Parr, Addi Ross, and Emily O'Braden had previously achieved 3rd in District and 4th in Area.
On April 28, the Belton FFA team of Francesca Landon, Amber Wilson, Celeste August, and Alissa Herring also earned the State Qualifier distinction at the Vet Science Career Development Event. This team had previously achieved a 1st in District and 4th in Area contests.
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Chris Flor
Sworn In & New Board Officers Selected
During the
me
eting, Chris Flor was sworn in as the new Area 4 Truste
e. Flor, who was unopposed as a ca
ndidate for the seat, joined the dais for the unanimous vo
te to select Board Officers for the next year.
Mike Cowan, a
1982 graduate of Belton High School who has served for more than a decade on the Board, was selected as President. Sue Jordan will serve as Vice President and Leo Camden, Jr., will be Secretary.
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Texas Bioscience Institute Graduates
Alex Alafa, Allison Evatt, Channing Marsh, Joshua Meyer, and Hannah Smith were recognized in a special Silver Cording Ceremony held by Temple College on April 11 for completing dual credit coursework in the Texas Bioscience Institute (TBI) Middle College program.
The TBI Middle College program is a partnership with Temple College that allows qualified Belton ISD students to enroll in rigorous STEM-focused dual credit coursework in their junior and senior years of high school. All five BHS students have also qualified to receive an associate of arts degree from Temple College in May.
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Big Red Community Partner - Workforce Solutions of Central Texas
Belton ISD's vis
ion is "to be a leader in preparing every student to excel in tomorrow's world." That includes equipp
ing students with the tools that they need for the jobs of the future - some of which
don't even exist today. Workforce Solutions of Central Texas is an integral part of those efforts.
For many years and in many different ways, Workforce Solutions of Central Texas has supported students by helping them to secure the employment, education, training and support services necessary to succeed in the labor market and to match employers with the skilled workers they need to compete in the global economy.
This summer Belton ISD seniors will have the opportunity to apply for an 8-week training program to gain hands-on experience in computer networking and earn CompTIA certifications in A+ and Network+, thanks in part to the District's ongoing partnership with Workforce Solutions of Central Texas.
For their commitment to Belton ISD's vision, Workforce Solutions of Central Texas is the Big Red Community Partner for May. Susan Kamas, Executive Director of Workforce Solutions of Central Texas, accepted the award.
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Superintendent's Report
Summer Programs
The District will offer summer school for acceleration and remediation for high school students, and reviews for summer STAAR testing for 5th grade, 8th grade and high school students. There will be programs to meet the needs of students in bilingual/ESL, gifted and talented and special education.
For the second year, the Summer Adventures In Learning (SAIL) academic enrichment camps will be hosted for students at Miller Heights and Southwest Elementary and we are continuing to offer our GT summer camp, along with a number athletic camps.
Belton ISD also participates in a summer feeding program that offers free meals to any child under the age of 18.
Belton IT Academy
Graduating seniors of Belton High School and Belton New Tech High School @ Waskow are invited to apply for admittance this summer to the recently created, and grant-funded Belton IT Training Academy.
This unique opportunity is provided through a partnership with Texas Workforce Commission, Belton Economic Development Corporation and BISD.
Belton students can attend free of charge, and may be eligible for a TWC stipend. This program is targeted toward high school graduates who are considering a career in the IT field or may need a job upon graduation while pursuing a degree. Students will have the opportunity to acquire fundamental skills for careers in the IT sector and earn certifications that will help them acquire jobs in this high-demand occupation industry. Students will earn CompTIA A+ and Network+ certifications.
Classes consisting of two cohorts of 18 graduates will be held at Belton High School starting June 4, 2018 and running through August 3 (with a week off around the July 4 holiday). Students can select to go to classes from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Mondays and Wednesdays or Tuesdays and Thursdays. Open lab will be available on Fridays.
Students interested in taking advantage of this exciting opportunity should visit
https://beltonedc.org/belton-itt-academy and download an application. Completed applications should be sent to
[email protected] or fax to 254.215.2261. For more information, contact the BISD Career & Technical Education office at 254.215.2216.
2018-2019 School Start Times
Belton ISD has been working towards the implementation of a three-tier bus routing system. The new system, proposed to start this fall, would eliminate our current bus docking system. These changes are expected to result in savings in route times for students, the number of buses needed and other opportunities for new efficiencies.
To implement the new system, the District is anticipating changes in the start and end times for middle school and high school. There would be no changes in the start and end times for elementary students.
Proposed middle school start and end time would be 10 minutes earlier, from 8:20 to 8:10 in the mornings and from 3:55 to 3:45 in the afternoon.
Proposed high school start and end time would be 35 minutes later, from 8:15 to 8:50 in the mornings and from 3:50 to 4:25 in the afternoons.
Final decisions on new school start times for middle and high school students will be shared with parents and guardians well in advance of the start of the 2018-2019 school year.
Attendance Boundaries Process
The upcoming attendance boundaries process will include rezoning for elementary, middle and high school with new elementary attendance boundaries in effect for the fall of 2019 and middle and high school boundaries in effect for the fall of 2020.
It has been a District goal all along to be able to tell students entering the ninth grade in the fall of 2019 which high school that they will attend their sophomore year when the new high school opens in the fall of 2020. Making attendance boundaries decisions in January 2019 and just before the pre-registration process for the fall of 2019 is the target.
Approximately 55 people have been identified to serve on our attendance boundaries committee this fall. The committee will consist of parents representing every campus in the district, city representatives, community members and teacher and departmental staff representatives from across the district.
Meetings are scheduled to begin at the end of August and run through the end of the semester. They will be posted as board meetings and will be open to the public.
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More photos of students and staff members recognized at this month's board meeting can be found on Belton ISD's Google+ page.
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