Dear CISD Families, 

This Season of Thanksgiving is a time where we should take a moment to think and share what we are grateful for in our lives.  Personally, I am grateful for our entire Coppell ISD community — our students, educators, staff, families and supporters — who work together every day to serve our children.  I also appreciate our district’s dedication to instilling a mindset of service and giving back to our community. This time of year, many of our schools host food drives, coat drives, toy drives and other donation drives to benefit our community members in need.  For example, CMS North’s annual Trick or Treat So Kids Can Eat food and toiletry drive collected 5,236 pounds of food and toilet paper for CCA’s local food bank. 

Another service tradition is Mockingbird’s 7th Annual Great Rakesgiving, where students rake the lawns of houses around the school as an expression of thanks for being good neighbors and supporting Mockingbird. These are just two examples of many others that exemplify what it means to fully engage with and serve our wonderful community. 

Personally, I want to take a moment to say a sincere “Thank You” to everyone for their congratulatory messages this week, as I completed my Doctorate in Education from the University of North Texas.  I truly believe it is important to model a commitment to lifelong learning, and I am extremely grateful for the support and encouragement I received from my wife and children, as well as my CISD family, along this arduous, but rewarding journey.  Throughout pursuing this degree, I was able to gain perspective from the student experience, see great teaching in action and develop relationships with professors and peers along the way, all of which I believe will help me continue to grow and thrive as a leader.  Learning is not a destination, it is a journey and should happen every day.

As we head into our week-long Thanksgiving Break, I hope you and your family have the opportunity to reflect on what you are grateful for, as well as take time to rest, rejuvenate and enjoy time with your families. 

Happy Thanksgiving! 

Sincerely, 

Dr. Brad Hunt

CISD continues to have ACT scores that are well above the state average, according to the ACT College Readiness Report.  CISD’s average score for the 2019 graduating class was 24.6, compared to the state average score of 20.5.  The tables above show the comparisons of ACT scores from the last 5 years, including the increase in CISD students taking the college admissions assessment since 2015. 

Your voice matters to CISD, so the district has extended the deadline for our family survey to midnight Nov. 22 to encourage more families to participate.  This survey shouldn’t take more than a few minutes to complete and will be a valuable source of information for us, as we work to make our schools and our district the best that they can be. To take the survey, please visit https://surveys.panoramaed.com, then select your child(ren)’s school.  If you have multiple children in CISD, we ask that you take the survey for each school your child attends.  Please email input@coppellisd.com,  if you would like to share any additional feedback or insight not covered in the survey or have any additional comments to share with the district. 

Your feedback is important as CISD considers academic calendar options for the 2020-2021 School Year. Please express your preference between Option 1,  Option 2 or Option 3 by taking the district’s survey now through Jan. 6, 2020. The CISD Board of Trustees is set to approve the 2020-2021 CISD Calendar at its Jan. 13, 2020, Board Meeting. The option selected for 2020-2021 will be duplicated for the 2021-2022 academic calendar. To see the calendar options and take the survey, visit www.coppellisd.com/calendaroptions.

CISD has developed www.coppellisd.com/realtors as a resource for our business partners in the real estate community. This resource will serve as a one-stop shop for information for real estate agents and their clients about the district.

Congratulations to ten Coppell High School student-athletes who signed letters of intent on Nov. 13 to continue their athletic careers at the collegiate level. The Cowboys and Cowgirls from six different sports will compete at 10 notable colleges and universities across the country starting next fall. Johan Pretorius has committed to join the swimming and diving team, as well as serve our country at Army West Point. Jackson Walker will take his speed to North Carolina and will join the Duke University track and field team. Emily Hunt will head to Chicago to compete with St. Xavier University golf team, while Hudson Polk will go to the Sooner State to be part of the University of Oklahoma baseball team. Three girls soccer players, Lauren Kellett, Katie Odum and Haley Roberson, will all stay in the state of Texas. Kellet will defend the goal for the TCU soccer program, while Odum will play for Texas Tech and compete against Kellet in the Big 12. Roberson will play for the Conference USA powerhouse North Texas next fall. Volleyball standouts, Kinsey Bailey, Peyton Minyard and Maci Watrous, will all head to the eastern U.S. Bailey will run the offense at Presbyterian College in South Carolina, while Minyard will be the middle blocker at Boston College and Watrous will lead the defense at Ohio University.

Congratulations to both the Girls and Boys Cross Country teams for placing at the State UIL 6A Competition, which took place Nov. 9 in Round Rock. The Girls Team competed at state for the fourth consecutive year, and took 4th place.  The Boys team competed at state for the first time in 12 years and placed 7th. Having both teams competing at the highest level in the state was a program goal and point of pride for Head Coach Nick Benton. "From a coaching standpoint, I am very proud of our program and our athletes," said Coach Benton.  "I also appreciate the parents and athletes from Coppell that came to support our program at the state meet." Read more at https://coppellathletics.net/

CISD is one of two districts in Region 10 selected to participate in the Regional Student Advisory Committee for Texas Transition. CHS students Josephine (Josie) Gonzalez, Eugene Kim, Jacob Morse, Meagan Walker and Ben Yaney were nominated to provide feedback and recommendations to the State-wide Leadership Network regarding Transition. Transition services are a coordinated set of activities that focus on the activities or courses of study available in high school that will facilitate students' movement toward their post high school goals. Led by Transition Specialist, Misty Lynch, these learners  will participate in guided lessons and round table discussions to provide feedback and suggestions throughout the 2019-2020 school year. The information gathered will be presented to the State-wide Leadership Network to inform Transition education, resources and guidance as learners navigate their post-secondary options. These students exemplify the CISD Core Value of Redefining Success, as they tackle topics such as self-determination, employment, independence as well as postsecondary education and training options. Their participation, experience and ideas will have a positive impact on future learners across Texas. For more information on Transition in Texas, visit www.texastransition.org/.

CISD values Great Teaching because we believe it is key to deep learning. This month, the district is recognizing its designated “Super Teachers,” who design engaging and innovative learning experiences that ignite the interests of our students. Congratulations to CISD’s Super Teachers Julie Bowles and Kristen Schliewe from Canyon Ranch Elementary, Julia Flores from Cottonwood Creek Elementary, Linda Hoffman from Richard J. Lee Elementary, Marcus Green from CMS East,  Sandy Stubblefield from CMS North, John Kelder and Sanela Pjetrovic from CMS West, Kim Porter from CHS9, and Janelle Bence, Eric Hill and Justin Merchant from New Tech High @ Coppell.

Led by GT teacher Melissa Warren, 5th grade students at Lakeside Elementary designed sports activities for Pre-K learners at their school. These 5th graders were immersed in a force and motion unit in science where they designed Rube Goldberg chain reaction contraptions. After observing a Pre-K classroom of special needs learners, the older students designed chain reaction machines to introduce Lakeside’s littlest Longhorns to several different sports by simply having them supply a push or pull to initiate the chain reaction devices. The design phase of this project was coached by Lakeside 5th grade teachers, LeighAnn Abernathy, Deanna Hoenselaar, and students from Pilar Castro-Zena's STEM class at Coppell High School.

Pre-K learners from Jennifer Rooney's classroom were able to experience bowling, basketball, soccer and a mini-golf challenge. This interactive, student designed learning experience allowed all involved to learn from each other and showcased CISD’s Core Values in action.

If you were unable to attend CISD’s Oct. 16 Parent University “Keeping Your Kids Safe Online,” you can view the presentation online at http://bit.ly/parentuonlinesafety. Thank you to KCBY at CHS for taping the presentation and putting the online version together for the district. 

CISD’s most recent Lunch Bites Facebook Live on Visitors and Volunteers was Nov. 20.  To view the video presentation and ask any questions you may have, visit www.facebook.com/coppellisd.

The deadline for the 12th Annual Coppell Gifted Association Writing Competition for 4th to 12th graders is midnight, Dec. 6.  Visit https://coppellgifted.org/competitions/ for details.

The second round of the Coppell ISD Education Foundation Super Star program is underway.  Please help CEF spotlight the dedicated and hardworking students, teachers, administrators and support staff in CISD by nominating them for a Super Star award. The deadline for the second round of Super Star nominations is Dec. 6. Everyone nominated, regardless of whether they are chosen as a winner, will receive a printed certificate, so please nominate as many deserving individuals as possible! Visit www.coppellisdef.com/super-star  for more information about the Super Star program.  Click here for a link to the nomination form.