Charting the Course
with Dr. TJ Farler
 
August 2014
  
Greetings PTISD Faculty and Staff -

One of the articles I read this summer was An Open Letter on Teacher Morale by Dina Strasser (Educational Leadership,February 2014, Volume 71, Number 5). This article provides suggestions for administrators regarding some critical ways administrators could improve not only teacher morale, but morale for all employees. The number two recommendation was to communicate - frequently and sincerely. After some reflection, I decided to put into action an idea that I had been toying with for the past six months. In working with Mary Whitton, the PTISD Director of Communications, we discussed how other organizations provided important and interesting information to the teams. As a result, Charting our Course, the PTISD internal newsletter was created. In this newsletter, I will provide you with first hand information regarding our district, campuses, and community. In addition, we will do our best to find interesting and unique stories about the people who make Pine Tree ISD such a great place.

Summer has been a busy time here in PTISD. New members have joined our staff, many facility upgrades have taken place, professional learning has been in full swing, and the Board of Trustees has approved the $32 million operating budget. This budget includes a step raise for employees and new tools/resources for our classrooms. PTISD employees have received a step raise each year for the last three years thanks to the commitment of our Trustees. In addition, over half of the teaching staff will receive new laptops this fall. We realize that a laptop is a critical tool for instructional design and the teaching process. Our next year's budget will include laptops for the rest of the teaching staff. Thanks to the hard work of the textbook committees last spring, our students will receive new math textbooks (grades K - 8), and science textbooks (grades K - 12) . As we continue to analyze our district resources, we will look at replacing the computers in the labs at each campus. Providing up to date instructional resources for our students and teachers is a priority in PTISD. This support was also a point in the article on teacher morale. Providing teachers/staff the tools they need each day to get the job done is critical. The leadership in PTISD understands this, and we will continue to get you the tools you need.

Many of you have been learners this summer as we have been very intentional in our work to improve the academic achievement of every student. As we systematically design instruction and align our resources at each grade level, we increase the opportunities for our students to be successful. We have focused on two important resources to impact reading and writing in the district - Readers' Workshop and Writers' Workshop for grades K - 8. We will continue our learning with these resources and create opportunities for discussions among various grades (vertical curriculum meetings) throughout the school year.

The other recommendations in the article were important, too. One powerful message from the article was this - "Treat teachers as leaders and empower them to make good decisions that affect their lives." This is exactly what I have been working on this past spring/summer. For the first time, we invited each campus to bring three or four teachers to the annual Administrative Leadership Retreat. Each year PTISD administrators work collaboratively to plan and design our work for the upcoming year. In July, we included 20+ teachers to work with us so we could clearly hear the ideas and needs of our teachers. We want to build on the successes/strengths of the District (and there are many!) and work to improve in other areas.

And, finally, I am very excited as we get ready to welcome our students back for the 2014-15 school year. Many students and teachers/coaches have been working hard all summer so that this is a banner year in PTISD. These students and their teachers have demonstrated commitment and discipline over the summer in order to ensure success this school year. There will be countless opportunities to cheer these students on this year, and you can find this on the PTISD monthly events calendar. No matter what your passion is you can find PTISD students and teachers engaged in some activity that connects to it. Without a doubt, our students' success, in large part, stems from the fact that you are committed to supporting our students at every opportunity.

Each of you matter in the success of PTISD, and together we will continue our tradition of excellence.


BACK TO SCHOOL CONVOCATION 2014

Wednesday, August 20, 2014
9:00 a.m. 
Pine Tree Road Auditorium 

featuring
Angela Maiers
"Choose2Matter" 
YOU Make a Difference Each Day

Breakfast - 7:30 a.m. - 8:30 a.m

PTHS Cafeteria - HIgh School, ExCEL, Middle School, Central Administration and ERC, Facility Services, and Transportation

PTJHS Cafeteria - Junior High, PACE, Intermediate, Elementary, and Primary

Campus custodians and Child Nutrition staff will report with their assigned campuses

After breakfast, the Transportation team will have buses to take everyone to the 
Back to School Convocation at the PT Road Auditorium.


Pine Tree ISD Welcomes 
New  Principal Leadership to District

Brandy Holland - Primary Principal

Brandy served as Assistant Principal at the Primary school from 2013-2014. Brandy is a former 4th, 3rd and Kindergarten teacher at Hawkins ISD. Brandy earned a Bachelor of Business degree from Dillard University and a Masters of Educational Administration-Principal Certification in December 2012. 

Her professional career development includes CHAMPS training, RTI Training, Buck Institute, PLP Networking, PDAS for Administrators, TELPAS, STARR Reading and Writing, Special Education Concepts, Ethics in Education and Inclusion Strategies.

Melanie Bridges - Elementary Principal

Melanie comes to Pine Tree from Tyler ISD Bonner and Rice Elementary where she served as an instructional consultant/coach. Melanie's professional teaching began in 1992 in the Columbia-Brazoria Independent School District. Throughout the past 22 years, Melanie has served in the following school districts: Brazosport ISD, Lamar Consolidated ISD, Sweeny ISD, Chapel Hill ISD, Brownsboro ISD, Tyler ISD and Gilmer ISD. She brings extensive experience in the areas of Math/Science as well as  Headstart. 

Melanie earned an Associate of Elective Studies degree from Brazosport College, a  Bachelor of Science from the University of  Houston-Clear Lake with a major in  Interdisciplinary Studies with  a  specialization in Reading  and a minor in  Art and a Master of                                   Education from the University of  Texas at Tyler - Educational Leadership/Administration.                                                         
 She received her Standard Principal  certification in 2006. Her specialized training includes Instructional Leadership Development, Crisis Intervention Prevention, Texas Behavior             Student Initiative, Region 7 First Time Administrator  Academy and Tarlington Assessment of Principals and  Leadforward Training.

Shalonda Adams - P.A.C.E. Principal

 Shalonda began her career at PTISD in 2006 as a Special Education Teacher  and District In-Home Autism Trainer. Since June 2012 to her appointment  as Principal of P.A.C.E., she has served as an Elementary/Special Education  Teacher. Her previous work experience prior to becoming a teacher  includes employment with Texas Department of Family and Protective  Services (TDFPS), Meadow Pines Residential Treatment Center and  Longview Youth Shelter.


 
Shalonda earned a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Texas at Tyler majoring in Criminal Justice.  She earned her PACT Alternative Teaching Certification in 2007 from LeTourneau University and her Masters in Educational Leadership with Principal Certification from UT Tyler in 2011. In 2012 she earned a Superintendent certification from UT Tyler.

 
Ancient and Historic Cornerstone Ceremony
Tuesday, August 19, 2014
1:00 p.m.
Pirate Stadium

Lunch will be served at 12:00 noon at the Masonic Lodge 
located at 2709 Pine Tree Road

For reservations contact Allen Morris at [email protected] 

Reservation deadline: Monday, August 18

This is the same ceremony that was performed by George Washington when 
he laid the cornerstone on the nation's capital
Employee Recognitions/Celebrations
 
       Congratulations to Coach Mike Darby
       Best Teacher 2014
 
        Voted by the readers of the Longview News-Journal 
          Best of East Texas 





Pine Tree High School Selected for Region 7
Design Thinking Pilot Project

Pine Tree High School has been selected to participate in Region 7's Design Thinking Pilot Project for 2014-2015. Region 7 ESC, in partnership with an educational consulting group, NO TOSH, which has bases of operation in several countries.

NO TOSH specializes in Design Thinking Schools. The company works with schools to build content, engagement, assessment and creative thinking into one cohesive unit where student achievement is maximized. It is a combination of Project-based and Problem-based learning with a unique twist on thinking strategies.

Pine Tree High School will create their design team which will consist of a group of five pilot team teachers as well as high school and district administrators. There will be follow up training throughout the year and opportunities for networking and student product demonstrations in the spring.


District/Community
Partnerships/Collaborations

UT TYLER/HIGH SCHOOL AP CHEMISTRY

SOS/MIDDLE SCHOOL GRANT
KEEP LONGVIEW BEAUTIFUL

I AM SMART
PINE TREE HIGH SCHOOL/3RD GRADE

MONSTER PROJECT
PTHS ART & DIGITAL MEDIA ANIMATION
3RD GRADE 


Contact
Dr. TJ Farler, Superintendent
Pine Tree ISD
1701 Pine Tree Road
P O Box 5878
Longview, TX  75608
903.295.5000
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"Instruction ends in the school-room, but education ends only with life."

- Frederick W. Robertson