THE HOME FRONT

November's regularly scheduled board meeting was held November 9, 2026. Below you will find a recap of agenda items from the meeting as well as other happenings in New Home ISD.

The next regularly scheduled board meeting will be Monday, December 14, 2026.

As we move through November and into December, our elementary and middle school students are gearing up for Academic UIL competition, putting their knowledge, creativity, and hard work to the test. Basketball season is already underway, bringing new opportunities to cheer on our Leopards, while our outstanding Ag students continue traveling across the state, competing at a high level, and bringing home the hardware! Our One Act Play students are also hard at work, developing their talents and preparing to take the stage. Whether in the classroom, on the court, on the stage, or in the competitive arena, our Leopards continue to represent New Home ISD with pride, determination, and excellence!

As our calendars fill and the holiday season approaches, I want to extend a heartfelt thank-you to our families, staff, and community for the many ways you support our students and schools. Whether you're cheering from the stands, volunteering your time, or encouraging our Leopards along the way, your involvement matters, and it does not go unnoticed.

I hope the coming weeks bring opportunities to celebrate our students' accomplishments, enjoy time with family and friends, and reflect on the many blessings we share. Thank you for being such an important part of our Leopard family and for continuing to make New Home ISD a special place to learn, grow, and belong.

Julia

Our New Home Leopards will be spreading holiday cheer throughout November and December as they volunteer to ring the bells for The Salvation Army's Red Kettle Campaign!

At New Home ISD, we believe in the importance of serving others and making a positive difference beyond the walls of our classrooms. This is a wonderful opportunity for our Leopards to give back, demonstrate the spirit of service, and support families and individuals throughout our greater Lynn and Lubbock County communities.

We are proud of our students and staff for stepping up to serve and represent New Home ISD in such a meaningful way!

Make plans to stop by, say hello, and support our Leopards at the following locations:

• November 19, 2026, 4:00 PM - 6:00 PM: Athletics will be at the United on 114th & Slide
• November 21, 2026, 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM: NHISD Administration will be at the United Market Street on 98th & Quaker
• November 28, 2026, 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM: National Honor Society will be at the United Market Street on 98th & Quaker
• December 10, 2026, 4:00 PM - 6:00 PM: Athletics will be at the United on 114th & Slide
• December 12, 2026, 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM: Gifted & Talented will be at Hobby Lobby

Thank you for supporting our students and staff as they share the spirit of giving this holiday season.

New Home ISD is pleased to congratulate Andy Beck, Jason Gandy, Olivia Lane, and Tyler Norris on their election to the New Home ISD Board of Trustees! The District looks forward to working together as we continue building on the strong traditions, outstanding accomplishments, and exciting opportunities that make New Home ISD such a special place.

At Monday night's Board meeting, the Board also approved Andy Beck to serve as Secretary of the New Home ISD Board of Trustees. We appreciate his willingness to take on this additional leadership responsibility.

Serving on a school board is much more than attending monthly meetings. It is a commitment to our students, staff, families, and community. Our trustees volunteer their time, participate in ongoing training, and make important decisions that help shape the future of our district. Their willingness to serve reflects a dedication to public education and a desire to see New Home ISD continue to thrive.

We also extend our sincere appreciation to all candidates who stepped forward to serve and to our community members who participated in the election. Your engagement and willingness to invest in the future of our schools are part of what makes New Home such a wonderful community.

As we continue Growing Stronger Together, we look forward to working alongside our newly elected and returning trustees to ensure New Home ISD remains a place where students are challenged, supported, and inspired to succeed.

Congratulations to our elected trustees, and thank you for your commitment to New Home ISD!

We are excited to announce that New Home Elementary will host the UIL Academic Meet on Wednesday, December 2, 2026! Hosting an event of this magnitude takes an incredible amount of planning, preparation, and teamwork. From coaching our Leopards and judging events to supervising students, operating concessions, and scoring competitions, it truly takes the entire school community to make an event like this successful!

Recognizing the commitment required of our elementary faculty and staff, the New Home ISD Board of Trustees has approved Wednesday, December 2, as a student holiday for ELEMENTARY STUDENTS ONLY (Pre-K - 5th grade). This will allow our elementary staff to devote their time and attention to supporting our competing Leopards and ensuring a well-organized, positive experience for all participating schools.

New Home Secondary will operate on a normal school schedule. Students in grades 7 - 12 will participate in CPR and Stop the Bleed training, helping fulfill Texas Education Agency graduation-related requirements while learning valuable, potentially lifesaving skills. Sixth-grade students will follow their regular instructional schedule.

A special thank-you to our UIL Coordinator, Kelly Gordon, and all of our elementary teachers and staff for their willingness to go above and beyond to make this event a success. We also extend our sincere appreciation to UMC for partnering with New Home Secondary School to provide these important, and required, trainings to our secondary students.

We are proud to showcase our students, our school, and our community as we welcome fellow competitors to New Home ISD. Thank you for your continued support as we work together to create meaningful opportunities for our Leopards.

Please click the buttons below to access the list of newly added books to the New Home Elementary School library.

Thank you Ms. Holder for making sure our library is a great place for students to develop and sustain a love of reading!

In September, the New Home ISD Board of Trustees and I began an important conversation about the future of our District, including the distinction between strategic planning and long-term facilities planning. While these two processes are closely connected, they serve different purposes. Strategic planning focuses on where we want to go as a district, the opportunities we want to provide our students, and the priorities that will guide our decisions. Long-term facilities planning focuses on ensuring our buildings, classrooms, and infrastructure can support that vision.

In October, we continued that conversation by examining New Home ISD's enrollment trends, the relationship between student attendance and district funding, and the financial considerations we face as we plan for the future. I emphasized then that we are not facing a financial crisis, but rather we are at an important decision point about how we sustain our programs, support our staff, and continue providing exceptional opportunities for our students.

Last night's Board meeting marked the third part of this ongoing conversation. This time, our focus turned to one of our greatest assets: our teachers and staff. As we consider the future of New Home ISD, we must also consider how we will support the people who make that future possible.

New Home ISD currently pays teachers $2,500 above the state minimum salary schedule and contributes $300 per month toward employee health insurance. We are committed to providing competitive compensation, but the rising cost of health insurance, along with the increasing cost of everyday living, is creating challenges for our employees.

For the 2026-2027 school year, increases in TRS-ActiveCare health insurance premiums have had a significant impact on some of our teachers. While teachers received salary increases based on their years of experience (state step increases), those increases were not always enough to offset the additional cost of health insurance. As a result, some of our teachers are actually taking home less money this school year than they did last year, despite receiving a salary increase. Many of those who experienced an increase in take-home pay were employees who do not participate in the District's health insurance plan. That is concerning, and it deserves our attention.

At last night's meeting, I shared information regarding our current teacher salary schedule, changes in TRS-ActiveCare premiums, compensation comparisons with neighboring districts, and potential options for improving teacher compensation in the 2027-2028 school year.

The challenge, of course, is determining how to responsibly fund additional compensation. As I shared in October, our enrollment has remained relatively steady over the past several years, while the costs associated with operating our schools continue to rise. At this time, thoughtfully increasing enrollment through student transfers is the primary opportunity within our control to generate additional recurring revenue to support priorities such as teacher compensation.

This does not mean opening our doors without careful consideration of classroom capacity, staffing, facilities, or the quality of education we provide. It means recognizing that if we want to invest more in our people, we must also consider how to generate the resources necessary to sustain that investment.

In December, we will continue this discussion by examining our current enrollment and available capacity across the District. Our goal will be to identify approximately how many additional transfer students we could responsibly accommodate at each grade level, or at a minimum, within our elementary, middle school, and high school campuses. This information will help us better understand the potential for enrollment growth while ensuring that any decisions remain grounded in our ability to serve students well.

I have not asked our Board to make an immediate decision. Rather, over these past three meetings, I have worked to provide information supported by data to encourage thoughtful, intentional conversations about our District's future. Where do we want to go? What will it take to get there? And how do we responsibly fund and sustain that vision for years to come?

Our teachers and staff give so much of themselves to our students, often extending their work far beyond the classroom. They deserve to know that we recognize their commitment and are actively considering ways to support them.

Investing in our people is investing in our students. As we continue planning for the future of New Home ISD, I believe supporting and retaining outstanding educators must remain a priority.

Thank you to our Board of Trustees for their continued commitment to responsible stewardship, thoughtful decision-making, and planning for the long-term success of our District. And to our teachers and staff, thank you for the incredible work you do each day to make New Home ISD such a special place.

At New Home ISD, we are committed to providing our students with high-quality instruction, strong academic foundations, and the tools they need to be successful throughout their educational journey. An important part of that commitment is continually evaluating our instructional materials and practices to ensure we are providing the very best learning opportunities for our Leopards.

Over the past several months, our elementary leadership and curriculum committee have been thoughtfully reviewing instructional materials in both mathematics and reading language arts. This work includes exploring several high-quality curriculum options, including HMH, Savvas, and Bluebonnet Learning, to determine which resources best align with the needs of our students, support our teachers, and strengthen instruction across grade levels.

As part of this process, Mr. Gordon has visited campuses using these curriculums as their primary instructional resource, bringing back classroom observations, video, and valuable insight for our curriculum committee to review and discuss. These visits, along with ongoing committee meetings and evaluations of other instructional resources, are helping our team develop a clearer understanding of the strengths and considerations associated with each option.

At last night's Board of Trustees meeting, Mr. Gordon shared an update on this important work. Our elementary curriculum committee has not reached a final decision or recommendation. Rather than rushing to adopt new materials, the team is continuing its review and engaging in thoughtful conversations about which curriculum will best serve our students and teachers beginning in the 2027-2028 school year.

An important part of this evaluation is considering not only the quality and alignment of the instructional materials, but also the professional learning, implementation support, and financial resources that would be needed for a successful transition. We want to ensure that when a recommendation is brought forward, it reflects both strong instructional practices and responsible stewardship of District resources.

For our teachers, this process is about identifying instructional materials that provide meaningful resources, support effective teaching, and allow them to meet the diverse learning needs of their students. For our students, it is about building strong foundations in mathematics and literacy, developing critical thinking skills, and preparing them for continued success as they move through our schools.

I appreciate Mr. Gordon, our curriculum committee, and our elementary teachers for the time, energy, and thoughtful consideration they are investing in this process. Their willingness to explore options, ask important questions, and carefully evaluate what will work best for our students reflects the collaborative, student-centered approach we value at New Home ISD.

Below you will find several documents that may be helpful during the 2026 - 2027 school year. Please use the buttons below to access the instructional calendar, student handbook, and student code of conduct.

Our New Home Leopards are headed to the Bi-District Football Playoffs this Friday, November 13, 2026, as they take on the Ballinger Bearcats at Ballinger High School! Kickoff is set for 7:00 PM.

Before our Leopards hit the road, let's pack CNB Arena for a special Playoff Pep Rally at 8:15 AM on November 13. Doors will open at 8:00 AM, and we invite our families, friends, and community members to join us as we celebrate our players, coaches, and cheerleaders and send our team off with plenty of Leopard pride.

Game time is at 7:00 PM; tickets are only available online. Here is the ticket link: Bi-District Championship: New Home vs Ballinger

Stadium address is 1200 11th Street, Ballinger TX 76821 and gates open at 6:00 PM

Congratulations to our boys cross country team, and girls individual, Dyllan McMinn, on qualifying for and competing in the Regional Cross Country meet. New Home ISD is proud of each of you, your hard work, perseverance, and determination this season!

Congratulations to our girls volleyball team on their inaugural season! The girls represented New Home in the Area round against Amarillo Highland Park and came up just short. It has been a great joy to watch the growth, resilience, and sheer determination each of you displayed to learn a new sport and represent Leopard Nation so well in year one. The future is bright!