More students are being added by the day. On Tuesday 55 new students enrolled in ECISD bringing total enrollment to 29,661 through 11 days of school. That is 1,424 more students than at the same time last year.

At this time Cavazos Elementary and Fly Elementary are closed to further enrollment. This is due to the fact that both elementary schools are in west Odessa, outside of the City's sewage infrastructure. The school district built and maintains separate septic systems at each campus and both are beyond capacity now.

New Tech Odessa got quite a shout out recently. Take a moment to read the story from the link below; it lists NTO among the 20 schools nation-wide that are using technology in an interesting way.

20 Schools Innovating With Digital Tools - Vander Ark on Innovation - Education Week -- Tom Vander Ark is an education advocate, advisor, and author of Getting Smart: How Personal Digital Learning is Changing the World. Tom is Founder and Executive Editor of Getting Smart and a partner in Learn Capital.

Submitted by Kay Crow, transportation operations manager

 "The wheels on the bus go round & round all through the town."

Big eyes, tight braids, tooth missing, hair blowing, these little ones have to use their hands to help them climb up the bus steps, they are so tiny. First year of school for these little ones excited about going to kindergarten and riding that big yellow bus. The driver is dropping them off one by one after school, double checking their list of names and addresses. Yet, it never fails, each year there are some that did not make the list or got on the wrong bus. We dig through the backpacks hoping for some ID and the questions begin....

*          Driver:   Hello little one, do you know where you live?

*          Kdg: At my house.

*          Driver: What is your name?

*          Kdg: Precious

*          Driver: What is your mom's name?

*          Kdg: Mommy

*          Driver: Dispatch, I'm bringing one in.

*          Transportation is prepared for the first week of school with animal crackers and small apple juice boxes. We haven't lost one yet.

Seriously, we owe a debt of gratitude to our bus drivers (and our entire transportation department.) During the first week of school there is always confusion with getting kids on the wrong buses or parents going to the wrong pickup location or kids who don't get off at the right stop. Our drivers have a very strict protocol for taking care of kids in those situations - they do not leave the kids alone if they are supposed to be meeting someone. They keep the kids with them through the end of their routes and take them back to the Transportation Center to contact their parents and wait for them to be picked up. The department handles a lot of stressful situations in the early days of the school year and they always keep the kids' safety first!

ECISD is always happy to team up with businesses and organizations through Partners in Education. And we love recognizing their efforts to help our teachers and kids!

The week before school started representatives from Complex Community Federal Credit Union paid a surprise visit to secondary AVID teachers and coordinators. Lisa Wyman, vice president of marketing, said CCFCU wanted to recognize the AVID staff and let them know they are appreciated. Members of CCFCU presented everyone with a cheer bag with pom-poms and a spirit finger along with a $250 school supplies scholarship! This is their fifth year partnering with AVID. The credit union provides a leadership speaker every fall and a financial literacy series throughout the school year.

Meanwhile, McDonald's owned by West Texas J&A, Inc. is offering cash incentives to its student employees for good grades. Students who work at least 20 hours per week will get payroll incentives for A's, B's, and C's on their report card. Contact one of our local McDonald's if you would like more information.

Odessa High and Permian renew their football rivalry on Friday night at 7:30 p.m. Tickets went on sale to the general public on Wednesday morning; as usual people began lining up at Ratliff Stadium on Tuesday!

Because of the size of the crowd at this game, ECISD Police, working with the Odessa Police Department have drawn up a special traffic flow pattern for entering the stadium before the game and leaving it after the game. Please visit THIS LINK to see a diagram of the traffic flow plan and for ticket updates.

Also, for the first time, the ECISD Communications Department is giving away tickets to the game through a trivia contest on Twitter. Four tickets will be given away on Wednesday afternoon and four more on Thursday to the person who replies to the Tweeted trivia question. Follow us on Twitter @EctorCountyISD.