The Board of Trustees met in regular session on Thursday,   

> View November 17, 2011 e-review 

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An important message from:

Brian K. Guthrie

Executive Director

Teacher Retirement System of Texas

As the new executive director of the Teacher Retirement System (TRS), I appreciate this opportunity to share information with you about developments that may impact you and your TRS benefits.

At TRS, we strive to operate your retirement system in a cost-effective and convenient manner for you. Communicating with more than 1.3 million members can be challenging because our members and retirees live all over the world, and the cost to print and mail information is very expensive.

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Richland High School has received the "2011 College Readiness Award" from the Texas ACT Council for increasing the number of students taking the ACT Assessment over the past five years and significantly increasing their level of achievement and college readiness. The Texas ACT Council is comprised of secondary and postsecondary educators who advise ACT, Inc. on the utilization of ACT programs and services in Texas schools and colleges. ACT, Inc. is the not-for-profit organization that provides assessment, research, information, and program management services in the broad areas of education and workforce development and the publisher of the ACT Assessment. The ACT Assessment is the college admissions test that is used and accepted by all colleges nationwide and throughout Texas. In 2011, over 205,000 Texas students took the ACT which was an all-time high and Texas ACT scores have increased substantially over the last five years.

According to Karen L. Pennell, assistant vice president and ACT southwest regional manager: "The Texas ACT Council wanted to recognize those Texas high schools that have made significant strides in increasing the college readiness of their graduates as demonstrated by their ACT score increases over the past five years. This can only happen as a result of the high school's faculty and staff efforts and the dedication of Richland High School students and parents to focus on college readiness and raise the level of college readiness for all students. Only 10 percent of all high schools in Texas were honored for this superior level of accomplishment. These outstanding Texas high schools should be proud of their faculty, staff, and students." 

Texas School Ready!™ is a program that certifies preschool education classrooms that effectively prepared their students for kindergarten. BISD teachers participated in this certification application through the Prekindergarten Early Start Grant during the 2009-10 and 2010-11 school years.

Birdville ISD  2011 Texas School Ready! Certification awarded to:

Birdville Elementary
Mick Sandoval, Principal
Laura Tippett and Yesmin Mejia, Teachers

W.T. Francisco Elementary
Janelle Rayfield, Principal
Priscila Lunsford and Rene Grimes, Teachers

Major Cheney Elementary at South Birdville
Han Arthurs, Principal
Judy Peresh and Vicki Miller, Teachers

Academy at West Birdville
Lindi Andrews, Principal
Margaret Estrada, Valarie King and Celestina Olguin, Teachers

Holiday Heights Elementary
Patrick Guy, Principal
Diana Gauthier and Maeghan Johnson

Watauga Elementary
Jennifer Salyards, Principal (Sharon Heier, Principal 2009-10)
Gloria Montemayor, Teacher

The Sunshine House
Angie Barton, Principal
Julie McElroy, Teacher

Carson Head Start
Monika Koenig, Principal
Rana Greathouse, Laura Guinn and Emily White

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