BISD Bands Students Dominate Region

BISD high school band students, competing against 183 of the top regional players, earned 15 of the 27 available chairs in the Texas Music Educators Association (TMEA) Region 28 Orchestra auditions held on Tuesday, October 28 at Harlingen High School. BISD students also earned 7 of the 11 available first chairs. Twelve BISD students will advance to the TMEA Area audition to compete for chairs in the All-State Orchestra. The All-Region Orchestra will perform on Saturday, November 22 at the Harlingen CISD Performing Arts Center. Congratulations to our outstanding high school musicians and their directors. View the results by school.

Brains at Work

The 2014 BISD Brownsville Inventions Competition was held on Saturday, October 25 at Manzano Middle School. Students from 33 district schools submitted 237 projects. Brainsville Inventions is an activity designed to promote problem solving skills. View the results of this year’s competition by student and category.

Spanish Educators to Tour BISD

Two distinguished educators from Spain will visit Brownsville ISD on Monday, November 3 and Tuesday, November 4. The district is pleased to welcome Esther Salat, Education Councilwoman, Sant Cugat City Hall, and Sam Lardner, Project Director for the Sant Cugat Living Lab. The focus of their visit is to learn about the district’s initial training of teachers ranging from the implementation of methodologies to the evaluation of students. The visitors will hear first-hand accounts from BISD teachers and administrators as they tour district campuses. They hope to take BISD’s best practices and use them with their own students in Catalunya, Spain. The BISD Curriculum and Instruction Department is coordinating their visit.

Hanna and Lopez Bands Are State Bound

Hanna and Lopez High Schools will host pep rallies to recognize their marching bands and wish them luck on their upcoming state competition on Tuesday, November 4 in San Antonio. Hanna’s Pep Rally is scheduled for Friday, October 31 at 12:15 pm in the gym and Lopez’s Pep Rally is Friday, October 31 at 3 pm in the school’s gym. Both schools will also recognize their bands during their football games this weekend.

Two BISD Bands Advance to State Competition

Two BISD high school marching bands, Hanna and Lopez, proved to be the most successful in the entire Rio Grande Valley (RGV) at the UIL 6A Area G Marching Band Competition held on Saturday, October 25 at Gustafson and Farris Stadiums in San Antonio. Competing against 40 bands from San Antonio, Corpus Christi, Laredo, and the RGV, the Lopez Lobo Band earned 4th place and the Hanna Golden Eagle Band earned 6th place. Both BISD bands will advance to the UIL 6A State Marching Championship to be held on Tuesday, November 4 in San Antonio at the Alamodome. The Veterans Memorial Charger Band once again advanced to the final competition and the Rivera Raiders Band made its sixth consecutive appearance at the Area G event. All four BISD marching bands gave exceptional performances. Congratulations to Brownsville band students and staff on their record setting area and state achievements.

Brains at Work

The 2014 BISD Brownsville Inventions Competition was held on Saturday, October 25 at Manzano Middle School. Students from 33 district schools submitted 237 projects. Brainsville Inventions is an activity designed to promote problem solving skills. View the results of this year’s competition by student and category.

Lights On Rally Cancelled

The Lights On Afterschool Rally scheduled for today, Wednesday, October 22, has been cancelled due to inclement weather. For more information, call BISD Grants at 548-8227.

Saluting Our Veterans

Several BISD schools will participate in the Annual Southmost Veterans Parade on Saturday, November 8 at 2 pm. The parade will begin at Porter High School and proceed down Coolidge Street to Southmost Road concluding at Cromack Elementary School, located at the corner of Southmost Road and 30th Street. The Veterans Day Parade is sponsored by the Southmost Veterans Day Parade Committee and the City of Brownsville to honor the brave men and women who have served or are serving in the United States Armed Services. In case of inclement weather, the parade will be held on Sunday, November 9 at 2 pm.

Brownsville ISD: An Early College District

Brownsville ISD’s Early College High Schools were featured in the Fall Issue of Latino Education Magazine which was inserted in Rio Grande Valley newspapers on Sunday, October 19. Comments from Superintendent Dr. Carl A. Montoya were also featured in a SpaceX story in the same magazine. View the ECHS story and photos.

Great Bands, Great Sounds

Five BISD high school marching bands earned 1st Division, Superior ratings at the 72nd UIL Pigskin Marching Competition held on October 19 at the San Benito High School Stadium. BISD bands competed against 24 other UIL Region 28 schools for ratings from 1 to 5 on the level of mastery demonstrated in their performances. Four BISD 6A Bands, Hanna, Lopez, Rivera and Veterans Memorial, have earned spots in the 2014 UIL Area G Marching Contest which will be held on Saturday, October 25 in San Antonio. The BISD bands will compete to advance to the 2014 UIL State Marching Band Championship on Tuesday, November 4 in the Alamodome. Congratulations to these outstanding BISD band programs. View the results by individual BISD campuses.

Money Management for Seniors

Over 700 BISD seniors from all six high schools will attend the Financial Education Summit hosted by U.S. Congressman Filemon Vela on Tuesday, October 28 from 9 am to 3 pm at the Brownsville Event Center. Sessions include Financial Football/Soccer, Get Smart About Credit, Setting Financial Goals, College Calculator and much, much more. Students will also have the opportunity to win a $250 college scholarship. View the details.

BISD Library/Media Services Wins 2014 Mora Honor Award

Brownsville ISD Library/Media Services has been selected to receive the 2014 Estela and Raul Mora Honor Award. The award was established by author and poet Pat Mora and her siblings in honor of their parents. The funds are to be used to promote El Dia De Los Ninos events on or near April 30 and link children to books, languages, and cultures.

BISD Earns National Award

Brownsville ISD is the recipient of the 2014 School District of the Year Award by the National Hispanic Institute (NHI). BISD earned the award for taking the lead in providing special support to young men and women who will play significant future roles as professionals and trained community leaders. Of the many schools that support NIH efforts, Brownsville ISD was selected because it displayed the greatest commitment. Dr. Montoya will receive the award at the NHI Alumni Banquet and Awards Ceremony to be held on Saturday, November 15 in Dallas, Texas. In the letter of award notification, NHI cited the long history of individuals who have been educated by BISD schools and are now successful leaders.

Principals Lead the Way!

Texas Governor Rick Perry has proclaimed October 2014 as “Principals Month” in Texas. Please join Brownsville ISD in recognizing the positive contributions that our elementary and secondary school leaders have made on student achievement in our great state. View the Governor’s proclamation.

Support Veterans Memorial and Safe Driving

Veterans Memorial Early College High School invites everyone to support the “Celebrate My Drive” campaign during National Teen Driver Safety Week, October 15-24, 2014. Veterans Memorial is participating in the program because teen driver safety is important and the school has a chance to win $100,000 or one of two hometown concert events. Make a safe driving commitment once a day, between October 15-24, by logging on celebratemydrive.com and indicate that you want to support Veterans Memorial ECHS by committing to drive safely! Log on here.

BISD Artists Earn BPUB Awards

Several BISD secondary students earned awards in the Brownville Public Utilities Board Public (BPUB) Power Month Poster Contest. Congratulations to Daniela Sosa, Grand Prize, Pace High Early College High School; Alicia Chavez, Hanna Early College High School and Arendi Garcia, Manzano Middle School, People’s Choice Awards; Kathy Estrella, Hanna Early College High School, and Rebecca Cedillo, Stillman Middle School, Honorable Mention. The winning students will be presented with their prizes and certificates on Monday, October 13 at 5 pm at the Brownsville PUB administration building for a congratulatory advertisement in The Brownsville Herald.

It's Time for Pigskin!

Make plans to attend the 72nd Annual UIL Pigskin Marching Competition on Saturday, October 18 at the San Benito High School Stadium. The 5A groups will start performing at approximately 5:45 pm. Tickets are $8 and can be purchased from any BISD high school band director or at the stadium gate on October 18. Seats sold by the band directors are grouped together by campus. Come and support our marching bands from Hanna, Lopez, Pace, Porter, Rivera, and Veterans Memorial High Schools. The BISD students have been preparing since June for this competition and they are ready to entertain you with an enjoyable evening of music, dance, and precision. The 2014 Brownsville Band UIL presentations are titled: Hanna-Countdown; Lopez-Climb; Pace-Music of the Night; Porter-Ancient Voices; Rivera-Stonehenge; and Veterans Memorial-The Explorer.

Power Outage at Veterans and Villa Nueva

Classes at Veterans Memorial High School and Villa Nueva Elementary School will be dismissed today, Thursday, October 9, at 11:30 am, due to a power outage caused by an early morning vehicle accident. Students have been served breakfast and lunch will be available before students leave their campuses. Brownsville PUB is working on restoring the power but all indications are that it will take most of the day. Both schools report that students and employees are safe and coping well with the situation but it is starting to get warm. It has been decided that in the best interests of the students, Villa Nueva Elementary parents will be asked to pick up their children. Parents at Veterans Memorial High School may pick their children up or the students may ride the bus in the cases where someone is available to look after them when they arrive at home. Students without supervision will be allowed to remain on both campuses until the end of the day.The principals are keeping their parents informed via the SchoolMessenger system.

BISD Earns Highest Fiscal Rating

Brownsville ISD officials announced that the school district received the top rating of “Superior Achievement” under the Texas’ Schools FIRST financial accountability rating system. The Superior Achievement rating is the state’s highest, demonstrating the quality of Brownsville ISD’s financial management and reporting system. This is the district’s 11th top rating in the Schools FIRST (Financial Accountability Rating System of Texas), a financial accountability system for Texas school districts developed by the Texas Education Agency in response to Senate Bill 875 of the 76th Texas Legislature in 1999. The primary goal of Schools FIRST is to achieve quality performance in the management of school districts’ financial resources, a goal made more significant due to the complexity of accounting associated with Texas’ school finance system. View the media release.

Top Tier Universities at BISD

Brownsville ISD, in collaboration with representatives from Princeton, Stanford, and Dartmouth Universities, invites Brownsville area 9th – 12th grade students and their parents to attend an information session on Tuesday, October 14 at 7 pm in the Porter High School Auditorium, located at 3500 International Boulevard. For questions, contact Pilar Janis, Lead/Higher Education Counselor, at (956) 548-8251.

Our HR Department is Tops

Governor Rick Perry has proclaimed Wednesday, October 8, 2014 as Texas Human Resources Day. Brownsville ISD’s dedicated Human Resources employees play an important role in our educational system. They serve the needs of our students by recruiting and retaining qualified staff in a timely manner to maximize educational excellence. Hats off to the team in the BISD Human Resources Department. View the proclamation.

Giving From the Heart!

BISD employees generously donated $282,300 to the district’s 2014 United Way campaign. Campus by campus, department by department employees contributed so that the United Way of Southern Cameron County can continue providing support services to local families. Thank you BISD employees for strongly supporting this community organization.

BISD Live On Stage

The BISD Theatrefest Finals 2014 were held on Tuesday, September 30 in the Porter High School Auditorium. A standing-room only audience watched the 28 top performance entries that were selected during an earlier preliminary round. This year’s Theatrefest Finals featured dramatic and humorous interpretations, duet acting, and original monologues. BISD students who are seeking a viable career in theatre arts will be able to use their Theatrefest experience to prepare for the first annual South Texas Theatre Auditions which will be held on Tuesday, November 25 at PSJA North. Several top Texas universities, including UT-Austin, Texas A & M Corpus Christi, Texas A & M Kingsville, UTPA, Webster Conservatory, and the University of Houston, are scheduled to send recruiters to this audition. Since BISD’s Theatrefest first began in 2011, the number of entries has more than tripled with over 106 this year.

Pace Hosts THE BIG EVENT

Pace Early College High School Student Council Officers, Tanya Llanes and Yovanna Soto, in the spirit of community service, are spearheading THE BIG EVENT. On Friday, October 17, 2014, over 600 students have volunteered to provide one day of community service to the campuses in the Pace Cluster and other surrounding non-profit organizations and parks in the Pace zone. Students will clean, plant, paint and serve teachers, students and community members. Students will also earn community service hours for their respective programs and college applications. THE BIG EVENT is an opportunity for Pace Vikings to say “Thank You” to the residents of their community for the support, guidance and leadership they have provided to students throughout their educational careers. Working alongside or assisting the Pace students will be community partners from the Lowe’s Home Improvement Store, the City of Brownsville, Chick Fil A, State Representative Eddie Lucio III, BISD Maintenance Department, BISD Food and Nutrition Services, BISD Transportation Department, and KGBT TV. Tayna Llanes invites interested individuals to contact Pace High School at (956) 548-7700 if they are interested in donating gardening materials or want to participate in THE BIG EVENT. She states, “It will be an initiative unlike any other this community has ever seen. We challenge other community high schools to do something similar to take care of their little piece of Brownsville.”

Enroll in the Sick Leave Bank

The BISD Human Resources Department has announced the opening of the annual Employee Sick Leave Bank enrollment period, October 1-31, 2014, for new and current members. If a BISD employee or immediate family member has a catastrophic illness, the employee may be eligible to withdraw days. View the information. Call (956) 548-8051 or (956) 548-8031 for questions.

Choirs Are Tops Again

It has become a tradition! Brownsville ISD high school choir students once again dominated the Region 28 Texas Music Educators Association (TMEA) District Auditions by earning 93 chairs in the district choir on Saturday, September 27. This number is 20% higher than last year. In addition, BISD students earned four 1st chair positions and six alternate chairs. Hundreds of mid and lower Rio Grande Valley choir students competed at Rivera High School. The students who earned chairs will perform in the TMEA Region 28 District Choir on Saturday, November 15 in the Harlingen Performing Arts Center. Congratulations to these talented BISD students and their directors. View the results by campus.

Supplies for BISD Students

The results are in. The top three winners of the Special Programs School Supply Drive are 1st Migrant Department (256 items), 2nd Human Resources (165 items) and 3rd Adult Continuing Education (97 items). The supplies will be given to students served by the BISD Homeless Youth and Migrant Programs. Thank you to all BISD department employees for your generous donations.

Border SPICES Grant to Benefit BISD

Brownsville ISD hosted a special grant announcement on Tuesday, September 23 in the Boardroom. The district is a partner in the Border SPICES (Special Interventionists in Childcare and Education Services) grant for $1,235,000 which was awarded to the UTB College of Education. The five-year grant from the U.S. Department of Education will increase the number of highly qualified personnel who serve young people, birth to 8 years, with disabilities including children from traditionally underrepresented groups. Specifically, 36 scholars will be given full scholarships to earn M.ED. Advanced Special Education degrees with an emphasis on early childhood and be fully prepared to take the state licensure exams in both special education and early childhood. The grants are available to BISD teachers and teachers from local school districts. For more information, contact Julie Trevino, BISD Grants Administrator, at (956) 548-8227.

Ortiz Selected by TEA for Best Practices

Ortiz Elementary School is one of 11 campuses identified by the Texas Education Agency (TEA) to participate in a best practices case studies project. Each of the 11 campuses was designated by TEA as a High Performing and High Progress Title I Reward School. Congratulations to Ortiz Elementary for being selected. View the entire release.

A Splashing Good Time

The BISD Wellness Fitness Center and Aquatic Center will host a Water Volleyball Tournament for employees on Thursday, October 16. Learn more.

A Splashing Good Time

The public is invited to comment on the Porter High School Formerly Improvement Required/Priority School Targeted Improvement Plan during a public presentation and hearing to be held on Tuesday, October 7, 2014 at 5:30 pm in the Brownsville ISD Boardroom located at 1900 Price Road. TEC 39.106 requires a public hearing since Porter High School received an Improvement Required performance rating in the 2013 state accountability system and Met Standard in 2014. Click here to view Porter’s Improvement Plan.

Public Comment on Porter

The public is invited to comment on the Porter High School Formerly Improvement Required/Priority School Targeted Improvement Plan during a public presentation and hearing to be held on Tuesday, October 7, 2014 at 5:30 pm in the Brownsville ISD Boardroom located at 1900 Price Road. TEC 39.106 requires a public hearing since Porter High School received an Improvement Required performance rating in the 2013 state accountability system and Met Standard in 2014. Click here to view Porter’s Improvement Plan.

The Flu: A Guide for Parents

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has provided a handy flu guide for parents. View the brochure in English/Spanish.

Weather Notice

Please be advised that for safety reasons, Dr. Montoya has postponed and/or cancelled all afterschool activities for Monday, September 15 due to inclement weather.

Public Hearing

Brownsville ISD will hold a public hearing to discuss the district’s state financial accountability rating on Tuesday, October 7 at 5:30 pm in the Boardroom of the Administration Building located at 1900 Price Road in Brownsville, Texas.

Walk Rescheduled

The 2014 BISD Walk for the Future has been rescheduled to Saturday, September 20 due to the inclement weather forecast for this weekend. For questions, call the Special Programs Department at 586-8137.

Game Time Change

The starting time for the Hanna vs. Donna football game scheduled for Saturday, September 13 has been changed from 7 pm to 7:30 pm so that there is additional time for the Parents’ Night activities. For more information, call the BISD Athletic Department at 548-8261.

Making History with Five Home Games

Five Brownsville ISD high school football games are scheduled to be played at home on Thursday, September 11 through Saturday, September 13. In the best interests of the student athletes, two of the games will be played at the same time on Friday. The Veterans Memorial High School Athletic Coordinator and the Edinburg High School Coordinator have agreed to play their football game on Friday, September 12 at 7:30 pm at the Veterans Memorial Stadium since Sams Stadium is booked with four other games on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. All in all, it promises to be an exciting weekend of high school gridiron action in Brownsville, Texas.

The Flu: A Guide for Parents

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has provided a handy flu guide for parents. View the brochure in English/Spanish.

Public Hearing

Brownsville ISD will hold a public hearing to discuss the district’s state financial accountability rating on Tuesday, October 7 at 5:30 pm in the Boardroom of the Administration Building located at 1900 Price Road in Brownsville, Texas.

Flu Prevention

Flu season is just around the corner. Brownsville ISD employees are eligible for free flu shots. Find out where by viewing this schedule.