Cy-Fair Lifestyles and Homes magazine Oct 2009: Campus1 News in Cy-Fair

retired from CFISD in 2008 after 30 years in public education. Elementary School No. 52 will be named after Betty Cody Rennell, who spent 28 of her 34 years in education working in CFISD prior to her retirement in 2006.

Emery began her career teaching in Aldine ISD for two years, then came to CFISD in 1978. She served nine years at Lieder Elementary as a fourth and fifth grade teacher, librarian and assistant principal; then as principal at Bane and Metcalf elementary schools and Truitt Middle School. She served as assistant to the superintendent and as associate superintendent of school administration and human resources for six years.

Emery and her husband, Karl, have been married for 25 years. Their son, Scott, is a graduate of Cypress Falls High School.

Dr. Debbie Emery Elementary School is currently under construction at Plantation Myrtle Drive and Round Robin Drive. The school is scheduled to open in August 2010.

Rennell began her career in Alachua County, Fla., teaching kindergarten. She came to CFISD as a substitute teacher in 1978 prior to serving at Millsap Elementary School for seven years as a teacher and assistant principal. She was then named principal at Moore Elementary School and served eight years before serving as principal at Bang Elementary School for two years. She then moved on to the district administrative level, working as assistant director for personnel management/employee relations and as assistant superintendent for human resources, a position she held at the time of her retirement.

Rennell and her husband, Larry, have been married for 43 years. They have two children, Bryant and Stephanie; both Cypress Creek High School graduates.

Betty Cody Rennell Elementary School is currently under construction in the Towne Lake development and is scheduled to open in August 2010.

Cy Creek Softball Player Makes All-state Team - Cypress Creek High School senior Brandi Virgil was selected to the Texas Girls Coaches Association Class 5A All-state Softball Team.

Brandi, who played centerfield and shortstop for the Cougars as a junior, hit .434 with a .539 on-base percentage and a .590 slugging percentage. She scored 28 runs, had 19 RBIs, 28 stolen bases and 10 extra-base hits.

Virgil has verbally committed to play for the University of Michigan in 2010-11.

Holbrook Receives Distinguished School Award - Holbrook Elementary School received the Distinguished School Award at the 17th Annual Model Schools Conference in Atlanta, Ga., this summer. Cy-Fair ISD Board member Bob Covey commended Holbrook for this honor during the Board Comments portion of the regularly scheduled board meeting in September.

Holbrook was chosen from six Model Elementary Schools to receive this honor. The conference showcases several of the nation ’s highest performing and rapidly improving schools. Holbrook's passing rates on the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills have increased by up to 33 percent in the last two years. The school has a diverse population —35 percent of the students are Limited English Proficient—and the highest mobility rate in the district.

According to Holbrook principal Howard Diacon, a variety of factors contributed to the positive changes at the school:

• Relationships became a major focus, and data-driven decisions became the foundation for program development created to support struggling learners;

• A school-wide balanced literacy approach to reading and writing was implemented;

• A Building Better Relationships time block was put into place to help students develop interpersonal relationships with their teachers and one another, maximizing the time students were available for instruction and minimizing student time spent in Discipline Management Class; and

• Saturday camps that included core academic subjects were instituted to improve and enhance student skills.

“A culture of change was created by individuals who were focused, united and believed that the students of Holbrook could be successful, ” Diacon said. “The Holbrook staff works diligently to provide an atmosphere of rigor, relevance and relationships to support its student body. ”

nationwide to participate in an exclusive professional development event for Discovery Educator Network members at the Headlands Institute in Sausalito, Calif.

The all-expenses paid DEN National Institute was open to STAR Discovery Educators —DEN members recognized for their efforts to share their insight and expertise with peers. Glynn applied and was accepted as one of 5,600 STAR Discovery Educators nationwide.

Glynn and her fellow educators listened to representatives from Wikispaces.com, Glogster.com and SecondLife.com, who told them about upcoming changes to these Web 2.0 sites. They learned about digital storytelling, geocaching, podcasting, smartboard features, Discovery Student Adventures, Google Earth and many more Web 2.0 sites that can be used in education.

Cy Lakes FFA, Cy Ridge Student Receive Trade Honors - Students in Cypress-Fairbanks ISD’s Technology Education and Agriculture Science programs achieved national and statewide success in their respective competitions.

The Cypress Lakes High School FFA Chapter was recognized as a 1-Star Chapter in the National FFA Chapter Award program. Every year, chapters are recognized as having earned a one-, two- or three-star rating on its application.

The chapter members have been invited to attend the 82nd National FFA Convention in Indianapolis, Ind., from Oct. 21-24, during which they will be recognized for this honor.

Additionally, Cypress Ridge High School senior Matt Mann represented Cy-Fair ISD at the Skills USA national hands-on skills competition in Kansas

City. Matt, the chapter president of his Skills USA club, is an Automotive Youth Educational Systems intern in Lone Star Chevrolet ’s diesel service and repair area.

Matt won the Diesel Service Technology contest at both the district and state Skills USA competitions to qualify for nationals. He is currently pursuing a degree at San Jacinto College through the General Motors Automotive Service Educational Program.

Three Elementary Schools Make TBEC Honor Roll - Hamilton, Moore and Sampson elementary schools were selected to the Texas Business and Education Coalition 2009 Honor Roll. The list represents less than 4 percent of all public schools in Texas and includes 13 high schools, 35 middle schools and 206 elementary schools.

The TBEC Honor Roll is the most prestigious award for sustained academic excellence in Texas. It recognizes schools that have demonstrated three years of consistently high performance in all subjects compared to other schools serving similar student populations.

TBEC Honor Roll schools have the highest percentage of students performing at the state ’s most rigorous standard—commended—in every

subject. All schools were expected to improve their commended performance from 2008, and every school was required to have a minimum of 20 percent of students tested performing at the commended level on all tests for 2009.

Hamilton Elementary School was given a score of 64.8 by the TBEC and had 52 percent of students performing at the commended level.

“The relationships that our staff members build with our students and parents provide the foundation for our school ’s success. Hamilton Elementary is a place where students and teachers alike can’t wait to come to school every morning,” said principal Catherine Bartlett. “Our students are engaged, our teachers are passionate and our parents are supportive. ”

Moore Elementary School received a score of 51.5 from the TBEC and had 39 percent of students performing at the commended level.

“We are fortunate to have a strong, dedicated group of staff members, along with a community that values education. Our students are the true winners from this dynamic partnership, ” said Moore principal Laura Harman.

Sampson Elementary School scored a 65.6 for the TBEC and had 56 percent of students performing at the commended level.

“We are thrilled to receive the honor again this year,” said Sampson principal Cindy O’Brien. “It is due to the strong relationship between staff, parents and our students striving for excellence and setting high goals that the students were able to achieve the commended status needed to earn the award. ”

The TBEC Honor Roll awards ceremony will take place on Nov. 9 at the Marriott San Antonio Rivercenter.

Cy Springs Cyclist Wins Silver in World Championships - Cypress Springs High School senior Lawson Craddock fulfilled the greatest achievement of his cycling career when he won the silver medal in the Men ’s Individual Time Trial at the 2009 Union Cycliste Internationale Juniors World Championships in Moscow.

Lawson completed the 25.8-kilometer course in a time of 32:54.45, only 2.22 seconds behind winner Luke Durbridge of Australia. Craddock said he exceeded his own expectations when he turned in the second-fastest time.

“This is by far my greatest cycling achievement so far. I've had an amazing season this year, and a silver medal at the World Championships just makes it so much better, ” Lawson said.

Lawson was nominated to be a member of the U.S. Junior National team in 2008 and began training this year with an elite team from Massachusetts called Hot Tubes. He qualified for the Juniors World Championships by winning individual time trial events in Franklin, Tenn., and Red River Gorge, Ky. He has had 14 top-three finishes in state, national and international competitions in 2009, adding to an impressive 10 championships in 2008 and four top-three finishes in 2007.

Craddock, who has been racing competitively since he was 10 years old, said he aspires to turn professional and be a positive ambassador for the sport. The 17-year-old national honor student, who ranks 33rd out of 985 in his class, credited the teachers and staff at Cypress Springs forhelping make his successes possible.

Third Annual Bus Buddies Program Serves New Riders - The third year of the Cy-Fair ISD Bus Buddies program was another successful partnership with Volunteers in Public Schools and the Cy-Fair Houston Chamber of Commerce during the first three days of school.

More than 415 volunteers in the community participated in Bus Buddies, riding school buses from 2:45 p.m.-4:45 p.m. to ensure students were safely transported to their proper drop-off points.

A total of 48 businesses and organizations participated in the program, serving 48 of the 50 elementary school campuses that were part of Bus Buddies.

Camina Thomas, an employee of the Cy-Fair Federal Credit Union, was the grand prize winner in the Bus Buddy drawing for a pair of varsity football season tickets to the Cy-Fair ISD high school of her choice.

“The teachers, students and drivers looked forward to the extra help and attention the ‘Buddies’ were giving those first few days of school. I believe everyone enjoys this so much because they know their time is making a real difference for our kids. Bus Buddies is a great partnership with our community, ” said Pam Scott, Partners in Education director.