Public Schools Week!

Members of the Belton High School Robotics team shared their experiences about this year's regional competition.

Dr. Kincannon recognized Jackson Belobrajdic, a 6th grader who recently won the Temple Daily Telegram's 85th Spelling Bee.

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Joe Pirtle accepted the Distinguished Alumnus of the Year award on behalf of Mr. Bill Ward, a 1961 graduate of Belton High School.

More than 200 community leaders attended this year's Public Schools Week Luncheon in the McLane Great Hall at UMHB.

Faces in the Crowd

Janelle Frazier and Estella Murray smiled for the camera!

Bell County Commissioner Bill Schumann and BISD Engineering teacher Pete Giustino.

The Robotics team from Leon Heights Elementary demonstrated their learning with Legos.

Texas State Technical College was honored as the 2016 Education Partner of the Year.

CGI Technologies was awarded the 2016 Business Partner of the Year for their contributions to the development of BISD's engineering and computer science programs.

South Belton Middle School Principal Keonna White and members of the SBMS PTA accepted this year's Volunteer of the Year Award.

March 11, 2016

Dear Community Leader,

This week, Belton ISD has been celebrating Texas Public Schools Week by welcoming the community into our classrooms. From open houses to yesterday's luncheon, our teachers and students relish the opportunity to share what they're doing with you.

Visit any campus, and it's clear that we are committed to preparing every student to excel in tomorrow's world.

At Belton High School, the career and technical education program hosted two open houses that showcased the wide variety of classes available to our high school students. With 99 different courses in areas as varied as culinary arts and construction trades, there's an opportunity for every student to find a field that he or she is passionate about.

To make sure that students are prepared for tomorrow's world, our school board approved new career and technical education classes in engineering and computer science. The response from our students has been enthusiastic. More than 140 students signed up for the first engineering course this year, and more than 190 students have already expressed interest in taking the first computer science course when it launches next year.

Students, who take the four-year sequence of classes in either engineering or computer science, will have the option to earn college credit through the Advanced Placement program or through a dual-credit partnership with Temple College. Those students will graduate from high school with a head start on their college coursework.

They'll also have laid the foundation for a promising career path. Texas consistently ranks among the top ten states for engineering jobs, and the demand for computer science skills is growing nationally. In fact, the United States is projected to add 1.4 million computer science jobs in 2020, but just 400,000 college students are expected to graduate with a computer science degree that year. That gap between computer science jobs and computer science students represents a $500 billion opportunity.

At yesterday's luncheon, we were able to give our guests a closer look at the new engineering career pathway. If you weren't able to join us, you can learn more by watching the video below.

The luncheon also gave us an opportunity to celebrate some of the extraordinary things that our students have done in the subjects of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Those are successes that you helped to make possible. Thank you for supporting our kids!

Sincerely,

Susan Kincannon, Ed.D.

Superintendent

Message from the Board President:

Our Schools, Our Community!

Having a partnership between our schools and our community is vital to the success of our students. We know that it takes a supportive community to have strong schools, and strong schools to have a great community. We also know that a community's public schools are a key element in the quality of life that determines where people choose to live. Because of that we actively seek out partnerships within our community to make our schools better.

Throughout this school year we have been recognizing "Big Red Community Partners" who go above and beyond to provide opportunities for our students:

Heart of Central Texas Independent Living
Temple Winnelson Company
Military Child Education Coalition
Belton Veterinary Clinic
CGI Technologies, Inc.
Flying T Entertainment Group
R.K. Bass Electric

These organizations represent the many businesses and individuals who are making a difference by investing in our schools in extraordinary ways.

This week as we celebrated Texas Public Schools Week we also recognized some very special individuals and organizations for their efforts on behalf of our students. Please join us in thanking Bill Ward, Distinguished Alumnus of the Year; Wilsonart, New Partner of the Year; CGI Technologies, Business Partner of the Year; Texas State Technical College - Waco, Education Partner of the Year; South Belton Middle School PTA, Volunteers of the Year; and the one and only Jane Gibson, Community Partner of the Year. Each of these organizations and individuals has demonstrated a commitment to our schools and our community that is making a difference for our kids!

Thank you for your continued support of our students and our schools. A supportive and engaged community makes our public schools stronger, and stronger schools make our community a better place to live, work and play.

I Love Belton!

Randy Pittenger

President, Board of Trustees