March 27, 2015

Breeden and Lucio Earn Awards

Two BISD schools won the district’s March Madness Student Attendance Contest on Friday, March 6, 2015. Congratulations to Breeden Elementary and Lucio Middle School for having the highest attendance rate on the Friday before Spring Break. Both schools earned cash incentives.

March 24, 2015

Brownsville ISD Among the Best in Music Ed

For a second consecutive year, Brownsville ISD has been nationally recognized as one of the 2015 Best Communities for Music Education (BCME) in the United States. The announcement was made by the National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) Foundation. BISD was one of the 388 districts selected from thousands of districts that were considered for this prestigious designation. Only 36 school districts in Texas earned this distinction. Now in its 16th year, the Best Communities of Music Education program evaluates schools and districts based on funding, staffing of highly qualified teachers, commitment to standards, and access to music instruction. The NAMM Foundation, with the assistance of researchers at The Institute for Educational Research and Public Service of Lawrence, Kansas (an affiliate of the University of Kansas), evaluate participants on these factors. Designations are awarded to districts and schools that demonstrate an exceptionally high commitment and greater access to music education.

Summer School On-Line Apps

The 2015 BISD Summer School on-line applications are now open to current, full-time BISD employees through Tuesday, April 7 at 5 pm. Late applications will not be accepted. For more information, call the BISD Human Resources Department at 548-8031 or 548-8051. Follow this link to the on-line application. Summer School Vacancy List: Certified Positions | Classified Positions | Important Dates

March 23, 2015

Thank You, Milligan!

Milligan College, located in Johnson City, Tennessee, has granted 8 Betty Goah Scholarships to Rio Grande Valley students, including 6 students from BISD. The BISD scholarships total $648,000. In the past 6 years, Milligan College has awarded over $4.3 million in scholarships to BISD students. Tim Snyder, BISD Career and Technical Education Administrator and Milligan alumni, has facilited this generous scholarship award. Milligan has a full-time enrollment of about 1,000 students.

Middle School Choirs Are Tops

BISD middle schools continue to excel! At the Region 28 UIL Concert and Sightreading Contest, BISD middle school choirs brought home 21 sweepstakes titles, 5 more than last year. A total of 13 BISD choirs also improved their ratings from last year. Congratulations to these students, teachers, and parents on their performances and results. View the results by campus.

March 20, 2015

Porter Business Students to Participate in National Leadership Conference

Top students from Porter Early College High School Prep will be attending the Business Professionals of America (BPA) 2015 National Leadership Conference, “Imagine, Believe, Become,” in Anaheim, California, May 5 – May 10, 2015. Porter ECHS chapter members, Cileo Ascencio, Rafael Gomez, Jr., Francisco Rodriguez, and Armando Silva, will join over 5,000 other conference delegates from across the nation to participate in national level business skills competitions, work-shops, general sessions, and the national officer candidate campaigns and elections. Besides having the opportunity to excel, the students will experience Anaheim, California. View the entire release.

March 18, 2015

Let’s Play Football

Brownsville ISD, in conjunction with the Brownsville Parks and Recreation Program, is pleased to announce the 2015 NFL Flag Football schedule for 4th and 5th grade BISD students. All games will be played after school at the Brownsville Sports Park. Students must be enrolled at participating elementaries. For more information, call Fred Tamez, BISD PE/Health Specialist, at 698-0149. View the list of established teams and games.

March 17, 2015

Hanna Drumline Wins State Championship

The Hanna ECHS Indoor Drumline has been labeled as the 2015 Winter Guard International (WGI) Champion for Texas by placing first at the WGI Houston Regional Competition on March 7, 2015, qualifying the drumline to attend the National Championships in Dayton, Ohio on Thursday,April 9. Hanna will represent the State of Texas in the Scholastic World Class Division, the highest classification of scholastic competition in this activity. In the entire history of the activity, since 1993, only 2 other Texas high schools in the World Class Level have earned this honor. Currently, Hanna Early College High School is ranked third on the national scale in the WGI activity. Congratulations to the students, parents, and directors of this outstanding ensemble. Best of luck to the members of the Hanna ECHS Indoor Drumline as they advance to national competition and represent Hanna, the City of Brownsville, and the entire State of Texas! View the national rankings.

2 BISD Cafeterias Get Facelifts

Students at Martin and El Jardin Elementary Schools were greeted with a pleasant surprise when they returned to their schools on Monday, March 16 after Spring Break. Their school cafeterias received stunning new makeovers while they were away. The fresh, new cafeterias are modern, vibrant and look very similar to popular chain restaurants. They provide a kid-friendly atmosphere for students to dine and relax with friends. The students love their new spaces which were carefully designed by the BISD Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) staff with students in mind. FNS previously renovated the Villa Nueva Elementary cafeteria over this year’s winter break and Canales, Cromack, and Vermillion Elementary cafeterias were remodeled last year. Plans are to continue improving the cafeterias at older BISD campuses as funds become available.

Change in Plans

The Rivera Cluster STEM Exposition scheduled for Saturday, March 21 has been rescheduled due to a forecast of projected rain. It will be rescheduled to Saturday, May 30 from 9-11 am in the BISD Administration Building parking lot.

3 BISD Schools Among Nation’s Best

Three BISD elementary schools have been ranked among the highest performing urban schools in America. Final results of the National Excellence in Urban Education Award have been announced and both Benavides and Breeden Elementary Schools were named bronze winners. Ortiz Elementary has earned either a gold or silver award but the final announcement for Ortiz will be made at the National Center for Urban School Transformation (NCUST) awards ceremony on May 21 in Dallas, Texas. The 3 BISD schools were among 24 schools from across the U.S. selected as finalists for this distinguished national award. The finalists serve low-income communities with an array of challenges but still boast achievement results that exceed state averages for all students. Each finalist was visited by a team of national education experts before the final results were determined.

March 16, 2015

SHARS Allowable Services

School Health and Related Services (SHARS) are the services to be determined to be medically necessary and reasonable to ensure that children with disabilities who are eligible for Medicaid and under 21 years of age receive the benefits accorded to them by federal state law in order to participate in the educational program. To learn more, click here to view information in English/Spanish.

March 6, 2015

BISD Secondary Scientists Excel

Approximately 200 BISD secondary students competed at the 55th Annual Rio Grande Valley Regional Science and Engineering Fair (RGVRSEF) Competition hosted by the University of Texas at Brownsville on Saturday, February 21. A total of 67 BISD students earned 1st through 3rd places qualifying them to advance to the ExxonMobil Texas Science and Engineering Fair on March 27-29 in San Antonio. View the regional results.

Charro Days Winners

Congratulations to Keller Elementary School (97.69%), Faulk Middle School (97.75%), and Brownsville Early College High School (97.81%) for winning the Charro Days student attendance contest.

Next Year’s School Calendar

At the Regularly Scheduled BISD Board Meeting held on Tuesday, March 3, Trustees approved the 2015-2016 school calendar. View the calendar.

STAAR/EOC Testing

BISD students in several grades will be STAAR/EOC testing on March 30-April 1. The tests are timed. Please stress the importance of rest, proper diet, and a positive attitude so that our students do their very best. It is also important that students arrive to school on time. Please note that no cell phones or electronic devices are allowed on BISD campuses during testing. As per the Texas Education Code, “Any irregularities in test security or confidential integrity may result in the invalidation of student results.” Thank you for your support of our students, schools and district.

Apply for Summer School

The 2015 Summer School on-line applications will be open to current, full-time BISD employees beginning on Tuesday, March 24 at 8 am through Tuesday, April 7 at 5 pm. For more information, call BISD Human Resources at 548-8031 or 548-8051.

March 5, 2015

THANK YOU!

Governor Greg Abbott has proclaimed March 2-6 as Educational Diagnosticians’ Week in Texas. Educational diagnosticians are certified professionals with skills in identifying learning disorders. Brownsville joins school districts across Texas in thanking its diagnosticians for their many contributions to students.

Top BISD Spellers

Brownsville ISD will send its top 8 spellers to the 27th Annual Rio Grande Regional Spelling Bee on Saturday, March 7th at South Texas College in Weslaco. The Regional Spelling Bee starts at 9:00 AM. The public is invited to attend. The students representing BISD are: Bianca Lopez, Vela Middle School (2015 BISD Champion) Paris Cho, Manzano Middle School (2015 BISD Runner-Up) Richard Emmanuel Zayas, Sharp Elementary School Kailey Nichole Chavez, Russell Elementary School Starlika Milinda Bauskar, Burns Elementary School Vince Alejandro Espitia, Del Castillo Elementary School Alejandro Javier Ortiz, Faulk Middle School Oscar Huang, Perez Elementary School The winner of the regional competition will advance to the Scripps National Spelling Bee to be held in Washington, D.C. on May 24-29.

March 4, 2015

Family Zumba Fun

The BISD Wellness Fitness Center and Healthy Communities of Brownsville invite everyone to attend a free Family Zumbathon on Saturday, March 21 from 9-11 am. View the details.

High School Artists Advance

A total of 19 BISD high school visual art students and 21 artworks have qualified to advance to the State Visual Arts Scholastic Event (VASE) competition to be held on April 24-26 in Dallas, Texas. The BISD artists’ work excelled at the Regional One competition in McAllen on Saturday, February 28. BISD students earned 185 medals of excellence. Congratulations to these amazing BISD students and their teachers. View the Region One results by high school campus.

March 3, 2015

BISD Board Meeting Live

The BISD Regularly Scheduled Board Meeting will be streamed live on Tuesday, March 3 beginning at 5:30 pm. Click here to view the meeting.

5 District DI Teams Advance

Five BISD Destination Imagination (DI) teams have won the right to advance to the Texas Destination Imagination State Tournament to be held at Skyline High School in Dallas, Texas on April 10-11, 2015. Congratulations to Manzano Middle School, and Hudson, Gonzalez, Keller and Peña Elementary Schools. The teams from BISD will join approximately 475 Texas Destination Imagination regional winners at the 2015 Affiliate Tournament. Texas DI is a school-based program devoted to helping students gain practical life skills through interesting, entertaining and mind-boggling challenges. The program is created and guided by parents, educators and community volunteers who support the art and skill of creative problem solving. DI seeks to develop the creativity, innovation and imagination of the students. While working on the challenges, students learn to work as team members, be cooperative, take risks, stay within a budget and meet deadlines.