Board asks parents to stay involved with students
By BRENDA JOB JISD President

I hope that students and parents enjoyed the longer summer break and are eager to get back to school. We are all excited about getting back in the groove of early mornings and busy schedules.

It has been said that the decision to have children is to decide to let your heart go walking around outside your body. We do not take your trust in JISD lightly.

As parents, we are responsible to raise our children in the way we see best and for our children's education. Public school is only one of the tools to help parents accomplish that goal.

We at JISD pledge to do all in our power to make each decision that we make "in the best interest of our children". We need your help.

We welcome parents, new to the district as well those who have been with us, to discover all you can about your child's educational experience. NO ONE is more important to your child's opportunity for success than you.

Students whose parents are involved in the campus and with their child's teacher are much more likely to participate fully and achieve their highest potential.

We encourage you to make appointments to visit our campuses and principals before the beginning of school. We want to help you in every way that we can to maximize your child's future.

JISD 2007-2008 looks to a number of changes this school year.

1) We have a 'new' superintendent; certainly not new to our district or to Jasper, but new to the top position.

We are excited about having a leader who is so knowledgeable about the history of our district as well as his vast experience of the workings of our different departments.

We have saved valuable transition time with this move.

During my tenure on the board, I do not believe that we have ever experienced someone so totally committed to making decisions that will best suit our students.

2) You have elected two new trustees, Melissa Armstrong and Kevin Kipp. They are already working hard to learn about our district and the responsibilities of public education as a whole. I am personally pleased to have board members who have students still in our system.

3) We have some 'experienced' personnel in different positions this year.

Carolyn Foster is Business Manager. Once again, we saved time and money getting back someone familiar and interested in our district.

At the High School we have a new principal, Kevin McCugh. Mr. McCugh is very aware of our TAKS situation and has already begun working to make this a successful year.

Victor Williams has moved from Assistant Principal at Few to Principal at Rowe Intermediate. His energy and love for our students will make a valued difference in their development.

With the increased pressure of TAKS and No Child Left Behind, the role of principal now focuses much more on the success of his students than ever before.

Andy Golden, previously Assistant Principal at Jasper High School, is the Director and Principal of the STARS campus. Mr. Golden will be providing students who are eligible for the program that second chance to obtain their high school diploma.

4) Of course, we have many new leaders in the classroom who have varied levels of experience in the classroom. The combination of youth, experience and new trends in education make for a complete learning centered environment.

We have had many 'successes' this past year. It is likely that Parnell has the TAKS scores to be a Recognized campus. Many of our other campuses will be Acceptable and our baseball team won the 3 A State Championship!

We also have had some difficult times. We have lost a number of our valued staff to death, retirement or relocation. Our high school math numbers were honestly disappointing.

We pledge to you, the community, our parents and students, to do all that we can to increase the number of successes and search diligently for the cause of our failures and ensure that they never happen to us again.