WA Parents' Communiquè!
April 16, 2010
CEO UPDATE
Robichaux Family- On our Academy home page there is information about a web site where you can sign up to provide Amy and her children meals. This is part of the “being there” that this family truly needs right now as they grieve. So please, whether you knew Todd directly or not, give serious consideration to being a part of this effort or other efforts to help the Robichaux family over the long term. I know they will appreciate it as it will minister to them with the ministry of comfort that I know the Westlake Academy family is so capable of providing.
Graduation Commencement Address News!!!- I’m pleased and excited to announce that Governor Rick Perry has agreed to speak at WA’s first graduation! We also will be honored to have in attendance and involved in the commencement ceremony Texas Education Commissioner Robert Scott, Congressman Michael Burgess, and State Representative Vicki Truitt. An impressive lineup for a class of 24 seniors, isn’t it? This is truly a huge honor for us to have these major public officials at WA’s graduation. It also speaks volumes about the fact that WA is being noticed. Mayor Wheat was instrumental in arranging the Governor’s participation in this ceremony. While I am telling you about it now, your cooperation in not advising the news media until the Governor’s Office gives the “go ahead” would be very helpful. If we announce it too far in advance of the event, there is a tendency for the media to cover it once and then move on to other things. Obviously, we would like the media to give this strong coverage; which they will if we announce it a week or two before the event as opposed to now which is over a month before hand.
Also, please check out Head of Secondary Mark Garcia’s letter about our graduating seniors as well as Secondary Counselor Barron’s web page and see the very impressive report about our senior’s college acceptances and scholarship offers. A reminder- our graduation will be on Sunday, May 23rd at 2:00pm in the Grand Ball Room at the Marriott Solana in Westlake.
Reflective Question- In the March 26th Communiqué I challenged us to reflect on the IB Learner Profile and ask ourselves if we were modeling what we expected of our children in this regard. Here, I’d like to ask you another reflective question: who are we as a school? Are we an IB school? Are we an open enrollment charter school? Are we a municipally owned school? Are we a full spectrum K-12 IB school? Are we a public school? The answer to all these questions is “yes”! It is not an “either/or” paradigm, but a “both/and” paradigm. And, I would submit to you that, if we all can embrace the “yes” answer to this question and recognize the multiple dimensions of who we are as a school in terms of how we think of ourselves collectively, that is when we will maximize our true potential as a high performance organization. Once we come to terms with who we really are, we become “comfortable in our own skin” and realize how unique and special we really are.
Block Schedule Follow-up- At the April Board meeting, additional information about this proposal was presented. The Board wanted additional information which Staff will provide at the May Board meeting. We are continuing to advertise for teachers for the new courses (something the Board approved at the March meeting). This would allow us to offer our students these additional courses in the event that the Board decides they wish to implement this proposal in the next school year. In that regard, the Staff recommended at the April Board meeting that we continue to accept these teacher applications and review them as to their quality until mid-May. If we do not receive the quality of teacher applications we desire, then at that point, the Board can make the determination to not move ahead on this proposal in the next school year since we want to have high caliber teacher talent should we proceed with implementation.
Class Size- Since we have a sizeable portion of our student enrollment that resides within the boundaries of Keller ISD, you might be interested in this news. Due to budget constraints, the KISD Board recently voted to increase their grades 5-12 class size from 26 to 1 to 27 to 1 with some classes having as many as 30 students in the next school year. Here’s the link to the story: http://www.star-telegram.com/2010/04/13/2111451/trustees-vote-to-change-staffing.html This is quite a contrast to the block schedule proposal our Board has been considering where, by adding about 60 students (a significant portion of which are siblings of current WA students), we could level our Secondary student-teacher ratio at 18 to 1, add new courses, and have the funding to pay for the new teachers to teach them. Regardless of what decision is made or not made about the block schedule proposal now before our Board, it seems safe to say that perhaps we are more fortunate than we might first realize. Given circumstances such as those KISD is facing, it seems reasonable to conclude that WA is, indeed, most fortunate to have the ability to consider these kinds of choices as opposed to what other school districts are facing.
Athletic Banquet- Whether your children are involved in WA athletics or not, this year’s event promises to be a great one with SMU football coach June Jones and award winning WFAA-TV film critic Gary Cogill being the banquet speakers. Information about this April 22nd event is on the WA home page, and I’d encourage you to make plans to attend. Jacette and the WAAC have put a huge amount of effort into this year’s event and it shows. I’m really looking forward to it!
SP- The draft WA Strategic Plan is on the WA home page for your perusal. It’s worth taking a bit of your time to review as it will become an important blue print for WA’s direction over the next 5 years. It was discussed at the last Board meeting and not adopted pending a few more changes the Board wanted made to it. It will be on the May meeting agenda for their consideration for adoption.
It’s B2 Time! The HOC’s 7th Annual Bandana Bonanza will be on Saturday, May 1, 2010 at the WA campus from 3:30 �" 7:30 pm. So, “saddle up” your family and come have some fun at the “Double B”. Mark this on your calendar and don’t miss it!
School Calendar for Next Year- This was tabled at the last Board meeting so we could get feedback from the faculty about it. It will be on the next Board agenda. If you have any questions about it, please contact Ben, Jamie, or Mark.
Campus Traffic Study- I mentioned in a previous Communiqué that we’ve retained Jacobs Engineering to do a traffic pattern and signage study of the campus. Preliminary findings have just been received and are being reviewed by staff. Their recommendations will involve some changes that, if we implement them, would be best put in place at the start of the new school year. Stay tuned and we will keep you advised as to what Staff will do in moving these traffic engineering recommendations.
In closing…as you can tell from this Communiqué and looking at our web site, there’s LOTS going on right now! Please make sure you read the other parts of the Communiqué so you can be involved in all the events in this exciting time in our school’s history.
Sincerely,
Tom Brymer
Town Manager/CEO Westlake Academy
Graduation Commencement Address News!!!- I’m pleased and excited to announce that Governor Rick Perry has agreed to speak at WA’s first graduation! We also will be honored to have in attendance and involved in the commencement ceremony Texas Education Commissioner Robert Scott, Congressman Michael Burgess, and State Representative Vicki Truitt. An impressive lineup for a class of 24 seniors, isn’t it? This is truly a huge honor for us to have these major public officials at WA’s graduation. It also speaks volumes about the fact that WA is being noticed. Mayor Wheat was instrumental in arranging the Governor’s participation in this ceremony. While I am telling you about it now, your cooperation in not advising the news media until the Governor’s Office gives the “go ahead” would be very helpful. If we announce it too far in advance of the event, there is a tendency for the media to cover it once and then move on to other things. Obviously, we would like the media to give this strong coverage; which they will if we announce it a week or two before the event as opposed to now which is over a month before hand.
Also, please check out Head of Secondary Mark Garcia’s letter about our graduating seniors as well as Secondary Counselor Barron’s web page and see the very impressive report about our senior’s college acceptances and scholarship offers. A reminder- our graduation will be on Sunday, May 23rd at 2:00pm in the Grand Ball Room at the Marriott Solana in Westlake.
Reflective Question- In the March 26th Communiqué I challenged us to reflect on the IB Learner Profile and ask ourselves if we were modeling what we expected of our children in this regard. Here, I’d like to ask you another reflective question: who are we as a school? Are we an IB school? Are we an open enrollment charter school? Are we a municipally owned school? Are we a full spectrum K-12 IB school? Are we a public school? The answer to all these questions is “yes”! It is not an “either/or” paradigm, but a “both/and” paradigm. And, I would submit to you that, if we all can embrace the “yes” answer to this question and recognize the multiple dimensions of who we are as a school in terms of how we think of ourselves collectively, that is when we will maximize our true potential as a high performance organization. Once we come to terms with who we really are, we become “comfortable in our own skin” and realize how unique and special we really are.
Block Schedule Follow-up- At the April Board meeting, additional information about this proposal was presented. The Board wanted additional information which Staff will provide at the May Board meeting. We are continuing to advertise for teachers for the new courses (something the Board approved at the March meeting). This would allow us to offer our students these additional courses in the event that the Board decides they wish to implement this proposal in the next school year. In that regard, the Staff recommended at the April Board meeting that we continue to accept these teacher applications and review them as to their quality until mid-May. If we do not receive the quality of teacher applications we desire, then at that point, the Board can make the determination to not move ahead on this proposal in the next school year since we want to have high caliber teacher talent should we proceed with implementation.
Class Size- Since we have a sizeable portion of our student enrollment that resides within the boundaries of Keller ISD, you might be interested in this news. Due to budget constraints, the KISD Board recently voted to increase their grades 5-12 class size from 26 to 1 to 27 to 1 with some classes having as many as 30 students in the next school year. Here’s the link to the story: http://www.star-telegram.com/2010/04/13/2111451/trustees-vote-to-change-staffing.html This is quite a contrast to the block schedule proposal our Board has been considering where, by adding about 60 students (a significant portion of which are siblings of current WA students), we could level our Secondary student-teacher ratio at 18 to 1, add new courses, and have the funding to pay for the new teachers to teach them. Regardless of what decision is made or not made about the block schedule proposal now before our Board, it seems safe to say that perhaps we are more fortunate than we might first realize. Given circumstances such as those KISD is facing, it seems reasonable to conclude that WA is, indeed, most fortunate to have the ability to consider these kinds of choices as opposed to what other school districts are facing.
Athletic Banquet- Whether your children are involved in WA athletics or not, this year’s event promises to be a great one with SMU football coach June Jones and award winning WFAA-TV film critic Gary Cogill being the banquet speakers. Information about this April 22nd event is on the WA home page, and I’d encourage you to make plans to attend. Jacette and the WAAC have put a huge amount of effort into this year’s event and it shows. I’m really looking forward to it!
SP- The draft WA Strategic Plan is on the WA home page for your perusal. It’s worth taking a bit of your time to review as it will become an important blue print for WA’s direction over the next 5 years. It was discussed at the last Board meeting and not adopted pending a few more changes the Board wanted made to it. It will be on the May meeting agenda for their consideration for adoption.
It’s B2 Time! The HOC’s 7th Annual Bandana Bonanza will be on Saturday, May 1, 2010 at the WA campus from 3:30 �" 7:30 pm. So, “saddle up” your family and come have some fun at the “Double B”. Mark this on your calendar and don’t miss it!
School Calendar for Next Year- This was tabled at the last Board meeting so we could get feedback from the faculty about it. It will be on the next Board agenda. If you have any questions about it, please contact Ben, Jamie, or Mark.
Campus Traffic Study- I mentioned in a previous Communiqué that we’ve retained Jacobs Engineering to do a traffic pattern and signage study of the campus. Preliminary findings have just been received and are being reviewed by staff. Their recommendations will involve some changes that, if we implement them, would be best put in place at the start of the new school year. Stay tuned and we will keep you advised as to what Staff will do in moving these traffic engineering recommendations.
In closing…as you can tell from this Communiqué and looking at our web site, there’s LOTS going on right now! Please make sure you read the other parts of the Communiqué so you can be involved in all the events in this exciting time in our school’s history.
Sincerely,
Tom Brymer
Town Manager/CEO Westlake Academy