Crowley ISD Boardroom Rewind

Left to right: North Crowley High School Principal Daryl Porter, Natalia Perez, Brady Barksdale and Crowley High School Principal Daryle Moffett

The National Merit Scholarship Program is an academic scholarship competition that high school students enter by taking the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test. Of the 1.6 million entrants, only 50,000 qualify for recognition. Crowley ISD is proud to recognize the academic successes of the following students in the National Merit Program:

Commended Scholar:
Brady Barksdale, NCHS

Hispanic Scholar:
Natalia Perez, CHS
Elias Caicedo, NCHS

Students from Crowley and North Crowley high schools earned 73 Advanced Placement Scholar awards in 2018 for college-level achievement demonstrated through AP courses and tests. Twelve students earned AP Scholars with Honor awards for scoring at least 3.25 on all AP Exams taken and scores of 3 or higher on four or more of the exams. Eleven students earned AP Scholars with Distinction awards for scoring at least 3.5 on all AP exams taken and receiving a score of 3 or higher on five or more of the exams. One student won the prestigious distinction of National AP Scholar by receiving an average score of 4 on all AP exams taken and receiving a score of 4 or higher on eight or more of the exams.

Crowley High School:

AP Scholar • Caitlyn Alexander • Mica Alexander • Olaide Bankole • Gillian Buckelew • Gualberto Delagarza • Tori Hall • Luke Hernandez • Jacob Horton • Samantha Marner • Austin Marshall • Daniel Perez • Natalie Perez • Ryan Pham • Charles Ram • Devin Traylor • AP Scholar with Honor • Amaya Ronczyk • Savanna Simmank • AP Scholar with Distinction • Maximilian Dennis • Timbrel Hildebrand • Abraham Montes • Elizabeth Rhodes • National AP Scholar • Maximilian Dennis

North Crowley High School:

AP Scholars • Reniery Aguilar • Tajh Bablington • Chloe Benton • David-Emmanu Bissou • Chrishaun Blake • Elia Caicedo • Trishton Chang • Pauline Chess • Malie Cisneros • ShonNia Coffie • David Cumbee • Alesha Davis • Darby Durbin • Dina Dzemic • Angel Fernandez • Erick Fernandez • Kaiya Goff • Annaliese Grassia • Amberly Hattaway • Derian Hewett • Jineesha Hira • Crystal Huynh April Kelley • Jose Lozano • Leslie Luna • Clarence Manglal-lan • Oliver Nelson • Van Nguyen • Collin Nikirk • Jenny Pham • Kyler Ramos Bader Shoufi • Joseph Simanski • John Stevenson • Subrajit Surendran • Dao Ton • Brenna Tromble • Jared Vargas • Matthew Wilson • James Young • AP Scholar with Honor • Johnny Choi • Mateo Cordova • Connor Jameson • Cesar Martinez • Thevnin Remende • Jimmia Tabe • Hunter Thompson • Victor Torres • Britney Tran • Joe Zahrah • AP Scholar with Distinction • William Barksdale • Vincent Berardi • William Cobble • Corey Ellis • Dilan Nana • Keri Pursley • Thomas Supina • Logan Williams

Andrea Coker, Bess Race Elementary School fourth-grade teacher, is the October Heartbeat Team Award winner.

The award recognizes employees who display heart as they go above and beyond their job description, inspiring other employees through their extraordinary work ethic. Heartbeat team members are nominated only by other district employees.

Watch to learn more about why Coker is the heartbeat of Crowley ISD.

Crowley ISD's demographer presented an overview of the rezoning and restructuring process as well as potential options for moving forward.

The district will host two town hall meetings to gather input from the community as it moves through the process.

Town Hall Meetings:

6 p.m. Nov. 12 — North Crowley High School

6 p.m. Nov. 13 — Crowley High School

Watch the video above to learn more about the rezoning and restructuring process the district is considering.

Annette Duvall, director of College, Career and Military Readiness, highlighted several successes related to college and career readiness, including:

•College applications increased from 979 to 3,618 from 2016-17 to 2017-18.

•Ninety percent of students enrolled in the 2017-18 UT Austin OnRamps program were eligible for college credit from UT Austin.

•New strategies have been implemented for increasing student participation on the SAT and ACT.

Read more from the College and Career Readiness Report.

Crowley ISD's auditor made the following findings about the district's financial statements:

• No material weaknesses were noted.

• No significant deficiencies identified.

Each year, charter schools, education service centers and school districts must have their annual financial and compliance report audited by an independent auditor. The resulting annual financial and compliance report must then be submitted to TEA for review.

The Targeted Improvement Plans for first year Improvement Required (IR) campuses David L. Walker Intermediate, Meadowcreek Elementary and Sidney H. Poynter Elementary were approved.

At an earlier study session, each principal presented their plans for board review. The approval of each plan is the final step in the process. The approved plans now will be submitted to the Texas Education Agency.

Above: Architect's rendering of the new CTE Center

The second Guaranteed Maximum Price (GMP) of $15.9 million for concrete, steel material and utilities was approved. Funding will come from the capital bond fund program.

At the August board meeting, trustees approved GMP No. 1 for the new CTE facility for rough grading and preliminary dirt work. The final GMP is scheduled to be presented for approval in November, and the new CTE Center is expected to open in the fall of 2020.

Magnolia Dental donated $800 for miscellaneous purchases benefiting the Fine Arts Academy, Music, PE and GATE programs at S.H. Crowley Intermediate School.

Above: Superintendent Dr. Michael McFarland visits with a group of kindergarten students at Deer Creek Elementary School.

Trustees congratulated Dr. Michael McFarland on a successful first year as superintendent of Crowley ISD. Board President June W. Davis noted that McFarland has taken CISD to the next level with his vision and initiatives. She also praised the great team McFarland has around him.

Among McFarland's first-year accomplishments are the expansion of early childhood programming, gains on the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR), the implementation of Curriculum Audit recommendations, development of the Instructional Leadership Guide and a Comprehensive Literacy Framework as well as many others.

From left to right (front row): Lyndsae M. Benton, board secretary; Superintendent Dr. Michael D. McFarland; June W. Davis, board president; Mia Hall, board vice president

From left to right (back row): Gary Grassia, board assistant secretary; Nedra Robinson, board member; Dr. La Tonya Mayfield, board member; Ryan Ray, board member

Previous Board Summaries