Odessa High School's students from left to right: Jonathan Ortiz, Adam Vore, Michaela Anang, Charisma Desai, and Jesse Norris.y

ECISD is very pleased to announce that eleven students received recognition in the National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Program. These
students are nationally ranked based on their spring 2010 PSAT scores. 

Read the full story here.

Permian High School's group from left to right: Principal Roy Garcia, Tenesia Pointer, Alexander Adame, Anthony Culpepper, Jon Crain, Schuyler Stallcup, and Luke Anderson.

January is School Board Recognition Month in Texas and we want to call attention to the work done by our Board of Trustees. The time spent in board meetings represents just a small fraction of the hours school board members devote to their jobs. They work hard at seminars and training sessions to keep abreast of the latest changes in state and federal regulations and learn trends in educational leadership. They also are deeply involved in community activities, and spend many hours in the schools and at extracurricular events. Their love of learning and concern and caring for students, staff, and the community drive board members' desire to ensure every student can succeed. Their job entails an endless string of meetings and school functions to attend; reams of reports, agendas, proposals, and other information to read and study; and a host of difficult decisions to make. Board members must pull together as a team toward a common goal-helping our students achieve. While they may individually disagree on certain issues, their role as a board is to consistently strive toward excellence.

In Ector County, our Trustees are ultimately responsible for a budget of approximately $184 million, 28,000 students, 3,400 employees, and 38 schools. Over the past year they have spent considerable time establishing a vision for our education program, and designing the structure to achieve that vision. Under their watch ECISD has settled the decades old desegregation lawsuit, crafted a new definition of diversity that will guide our enrollment in this new era of Unitary status, took a step toward the future by establishing New Tech Odessa and its culture of project-based learning, and led the push for a managed curriculum, a comprehensive data system, and a collaborative network for teachers - all of which are crucial for strong teaching and learning.         

Please take a moment or two to say "thank you" to our Trustees!