Dear CISD Family,

I join with our entire nation, state and community in mourning the death of former President George H.W. Bush last week.  A quote of his that resonates with me is, “Think about every problem, every challenge, we face. The solution to each starts with education.” I also think we all could learn from his legacy of dignified leadership and respect for all, even those who disagreed with him the most. He and his wife, Barbara, had a strong commitment to literacy and education. They will be missed.

As we head toward the end of the fall semester, I want to share more about the CISD Core Value of Great Teaching, a timely message as our schools have announced their Teachers of the Year these past two weeks.  The full Value statement reads, “We value great teaching, because we believe it is key to deep learning.” 

Our teachers and staff spend a great deal of time outside of the classroom developing instructional tools to impart Great Teaching to our children.  Our teachers often take online courses during their personal time, and participate in weekend and evening professional development opportunities. Much of their “breaks” and “summers off” truly are spent learning about curriculum, acquiring new ideas and honing the skills they need to be the best teachers they can be for our students. 

Sometimes, we can forget our teachers and administrators also are parents and members of families. When they are spending extra time tutoring our children, participating in professional development, attending evening or early morning meetings and events, coaching our student athletes, or supporting their students at extra-curricular activities, they are away from their own families.  So, as we celebrate Great Teaching in CISD, I want to thank the families of our teachers and staff for supporting the teachers in their lives. It is a calling to be a teacher and impart learning and knowledge to our children, while also caring for them.  I know that I couldn’t be the Superintendent I am today without the support of my wife and my children.

As you see more stories recognizing the commitment of our teachers and support staff to Great Teaching, I know you join me commending our teachers and, by extension, their families for their commitment to Great Teaching.  

Enjoy the weekend with your family.

Brad Hunt

Superintendent

Strategic Design Core Values Audit

Phase 2 of CISD’s Strategic Design effort will hone in on specific opportunities to fully realize the Core Values developed in Phase 1 of the process.  As we move forward, we are again inviting all our stakeholders (students, parents, employees and community members) to provide input about our campuses via this Audit, which is available at www.coppellisd.com/corevaluesaudit.  This Audit will be open to the public through at least Dec. 31, 2018. We will use this important insight to help drive the next steps in Phase 2 of our Strategic Design effort. Details and phases of our Strategic Design process can be found at www.coppellisd.com/strategicdesign.

Boundary Realignment Update

The CISD Board of Trustees will host its third Board Workshop on Boundary Realignment on Dec. 10 at 6:30 p.m., which will be broadcast at www.coppellisd.com/page/167. Reminder, Board Workshops are held for the purpose of allowing CISD Board of Trustees to receive more information, and discuss and debate pending matters with CISD staff and amongst themselves before taking a formal vote at a later date. However, since no action is being decided or taken at a Board Workshop, there is no “Open Forum” or other opportunities for the public to address the Board or ask questions during a Board Workshop. These opportunities are available via open forums at regular Board meetings. The CISD Public Forum on Boundary Realignment will be held on Thursday, Jan. 10, 2019, in the CHS9 Auditorium starting at 6:30 p.m.  The district also will host a Boundary Realignment Facebook Live on Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2019, at 6:30 p.m. at www.facebook.com/coppellisd. The Board will consider and adopt the final Boundary Realignment model at its February 25, 2019, meeting.  Details about the Boundary Realignment process can be found at  www.coppellisd.com/realignment. The CISD community can share additional feedback on the process by emailing input@coppellisd.com.

Holiday Greeting Card Winner: Austin 5th Grader Uttalika Dutta

Superintendent Brad Hunt, along with Austin Elementary Principal Lorie Squalls and Art Teacher Lisa Ricciardelli, surprised fifth grade student Uttalika Dutta with the news her art was chosen as this year’s Coppell ISD Holiday Greeting Card on Dec. 3. As the winner of the contest, Uttalika’s work will be featured as the cover of the official district Holiday Greeting Card. Three runners-up also will be featured on the back of the card.

The 2018 winners are:

 Uttalika Dutta

 Winner

 5th Grade - Austin Elementary

 Art Teacher - Lisa Ricciardelli

 Anna Croley

 First Runner Up

 4th Grade - Austin Elementary

 Art Teacher - Lisa Ricciardelli

 Sahan Balaji

 Second Runner Up

 5th Grade - Town Center Elementary

 Art Teacher - Beth Dilley

 Emma Rose

 Third Runner Up

 2nd Grade - Cottonwood Creek Elementary

 Teacher - Rachel Millikien

Canyon Ranch Elementary Name of New Elementary School

At its Nov. 26 meeting, Coppell ISD Board of Trustees approved Canyon Ranch Elementary as the name of the district’s 11th elementary school. Canyon Ranch Elementary currently is under construction in Irving (Valley Ranch) and will welcome students in August 2019. The project is part of the voter-approved 2016 Coppell ISD Bond to address current and future growth within CISD, especially in the southern portion of the district.

High School Choir Competes in Region 31 TMEA Pre-Area Auditions

Led by Director Boona Coogle, the High School Choir had 14 singers participate in the Region 31 Texas Music Educators Association competition Nov. 15 at Carroll Senior High School.  Congratulations to the seven singers who are moving to the 4th, and last, round of TMEA auditions in January. This means 35% of Region 31 will be represented by CISD students in the next round.  These advancing singers are New Tech High @ Coppell seniors Reagan Dunn and Arezue Shakeri; CHS seniors Karvi Bhatnagar, Evan Barnes, Timothy Sanchez and Jacob Barnes; and CHS junior Max Madlambayan.

Band Competes at TMEA Region

The Coppell HS Band had 136 student performers earn placement in the Texas Music Educators Association (TMEA) All-Region Bands on Dec. 1. Of these, 33 students are advancing to the TMEA Area B Round in January, and 12 are performing with the All-Region Orchestra Dec. 7-8.  We are #CISDProud of band performers Joshua Chio, Seunghyun Chun, Seungmin Chun, Markus Jarvela, Juwon Lee, Celeste Wang, Justin Gross, Mallika Chadaga, Catherine Yang, Sofia Tobias, Andrew Clarke, Landon Cochran, Terri Rauschenbach, Natalia Routhier, Jaxson Shealy, Zain Zaidi, Avery Owens, Arnav Saxena, Milada Zatkalik, Ryan Elms and Harini Lenin; and those students performing in All Region-Orchestra, in addition to the Area Round, who are: Anish Singhal, Alice Mae Alford, Eden Kim, Samantha Lai, Jacqueline Palmer, Alec Xu, Isabel Goodwin, Sangho Han, Ethan Garrett, Trevor Holmes, Mihir Ranjan and Andrew Tao.  

Coppell Education Foundation Grant Patrol

Earlier this fall, the Coppell ISD Education Foundation (CEF) encouraged all CISD educators to submit grant requests for innovative and transformative ideas or projects and describe how it would impact student achievement. This year, about $160,600 in grant requests came in from across 17 campuses. An unprecedented 51 applications were received. A grant committee within the Foundation reviewed the applications and determined the grants to fund. 

CISD grant recipients learned if their grants were funded by receiving a surprise visit from the CEF Board of Directors. These volunteerswho show up at a school wearing their CEF polo shirts, grant recipient decal and a BIG check. Park Place Lexus of Grapevine supplied drivers and cars for the Board members to visit each of the campuses. This year's "grant patrol" took place when the Board visited 16 campuses giving out 28 grants totaling more than $48,854.

This year, of the 51 grants submitted, CEF funded 28. Three additional grants, “Kindergarten puts the E in STEAM” at Cottonwood Creek Elementary for $3,650, “Increasing Social Successes Through Interactive Games” at Coppell High School for $250 and “Colored Overlays" at Coppell High School for $46 were covered by anonymous donors. CEF is seeking other donors to fund additional grants they felt were worthy, but didn’t have the resources to fund. Those interested in funding a grant are encouraged to contact CEF.

Information about all the grants awarded in 2018, as well as those from past years, can be found on CEF's website at www.coppellisdef.com.

CISD Campuses Announce Teachers of the Year

Over the past two weeks, each CISD campus has revealed its Teacher of the Year (TOY) in surprise announcement ceremonies at school assemblies, staff meetings or other special activities.  These events are designated to show these exceptional and dedicated teachers that they and their hard work “matter” to CISD. Congratulations to the 2018-2019 TOYS.

Coppell High School - Melissa Murray

CHS9 - Cathy Douglas

New Tech High @ Coppell - Brian Hussey

CMS East - Debra Nickell

CMS North - Brooke Horne

CMS West - Shelby Otway

Austin Elementary - Natalie Harvey

Cottonwood Creek Elementary - Meghan Tidwell

Denton Creek Elementary - Angela Knipe

Lakeside Elementary - Kelly Fischer

Richard J. Lee Elementary - Samira Khan

Mockingbird Elementary - Mary Johnson

Pinkerton Elementary - Narda Holguin

Town Center Elementary - Courtney Rice

Valley Ranch Elementary - Paige Koester

Wilson Elementary - Raquel Cantu

One overall elementary and one overall secondary CISD Teacher of the Year will be announced by the district in April.

CHS Choir Madrigal Feast Dec. 7 & 8

The CHS Choir presents its annual Madrigal Feast Dec. 7 and Dec. 8 at 7 p.m. at Coppell High School Commons. Tickets are available www.coppellchoir.com/tickets.

New Tech Slamming for a Cause Dec. 11

The Rookie class of 2022 at New Tech High @ Coppell presents the 5th annual Slamming for a Cause night Dec. 11 from 6 to 8:30 p.m. at New Tech. During the event, select Rookies will perform their original slam poems. Tickets are $5 and learner designed t-shirts are $15. The event includes a bake sale, learner made greeting cards and a silent auction. Proceeds benefit Carry the Load, a local non-profit organization honoring military, law enforcement, firefighters and first responders. For more information, email ksaucier@newtech.coppellisd.com  or jbence@newtech.coppellisd.com.

“Pay to Ride” Bus Renewal by Jan. 21

All "Pay to Ride" bus students must renew their Spring Bus Pass no later than Monday, Jan. 21, in order to continue bus service. Visit www.coppellisd.com/Page/15121  for instructions on how to renew.

CGA Writing Contest Deadline TONIGHT at Midnight

The deadline for the 11th Annual Coppell Gifted Association Writing Competition for 4th to 12th graders is midnight, Dec. 7, 2018.  Visit https://coppellgifted.org/competitions/ for details.

• Dec. 10 - Board Workshop on Boundary Realignment 6:30 p.m.
• Dec. 11 - New Tech High @ Coppell 2:30 to 4 p.m. Parent Tour for 2019-2020 Enrollment
• Dec. 17 - Regular Board of Trustees Meeting 7 p.m.
• Dec. 21 - Early Dismissal
• Dec. 24 - Jan. 4 - Winter Break