TALAS extends its support to our colleagues in El Paso
We’re tracking who’s going where in Texas.
If you’ve got news to share, contact us at
TALAS News
|
|
In The Aftermath Of Tragedy, El Paso Superintendent Prepares For The Opening Of School
Many of the families at an El Paso Walmart on Saturday were shopping for school supplies. Kids in El Paso ISD will be going back to school next Monday. Now, the usual back-to-school jitters and excitement will likely be replaced by a different kind of anxiety for many students and staff members – anxiety that stems from the trauma left by the last weekend’s shooting.
El Paso ISD Superintendent
Juan Cabrera
wrote an
open letter
to teachers encouraging them to show strength through these hard times. He says no El Paso ISD students or staff were directly affected by the shooting. But some staff members’ relatives were injured, and a few student families were impacted.
|
|
SISD board approves raise for Gutierrez
The Seguin ISD superintendent received a vote of confidence from the board with a one-year extension on his contract and a 4% pay increase.
Following a lengthy executive session behind closed doors, the board voted unanimously in favor of the raise and contract extension for SISD Superintendent Matthew Gutierrez.
“I am thankful for the board’s faith in me,” Gutierrez said.
Board president Cinde Thomas-Jiminez said the board is pleased with the work Gutierrez has done and looks forward to seeing what he will continue to do.
SISD Board
|
|
Meet Dr. Darryl Henson
Dr. Darryl J. Henson, TALAS cohort II member, currently serves as the Assistant Superintendent of School Leadership in Cedar Hill ISD.
Serving as an educator for 12 years, Dr. Henson is recognized as one of Texas’ emerging educational leaders. In his current role, Dr. Henson provides the direct supervision, leadership, and support of the district’s thirteen campus principals serving 7,400 students. His primary responsibility is to develop highly effective leaders who inspire the improvement of the quality of instruction that lead to increases in student achievement.
Prior to his appointment in Cedar Hill ISD, Dr. Henson served as the principal of North Forest High School in the Houston ISD, principal of Parkland High School in Ysleta ISD, and principal of Plum Creek Elementary School in Lockhart ISD. During his tenures at North Forest and Parkland high schools, both campuses experienced unprecedented gains on state assessment results, increased enrollment, and reinvigorated senses of school spirit and community pride. Under Dr. Henson’s leadership, Parkland High School earned all seven distinction designations from the Texas Education Agency – only 1.9% of Texas schools earned this honor. Additionally, North Forest High School achieved the highest student growth measure of all Achieve 180 campuses in Houston ISD, in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey.
Throughout the years, Dr. Henson has been regarded for his passion and vibrant personality as he has built lasting relationships with students and communities across Texas. Dr. Henson firmly believes that culture, curriculum, and community are the pillars of establishing and maintaining a thriving school system. He is forever grateful for the mentoring provided by TALAS board members Dr. Rolando “Rudy” Trevino and Dr. Xavier De la Torre.
Dr. Henson earned a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from The University of Texas at Austin, a master’s degree in educational leadership and policy studies from the University of Texas at Arlington, and a doctorate in curriculum and instruction from the University of Houston.
|
|
Opportunities with TEA
- ESSA Federal Program Specialist (Program Specialist IV)
- Texas PK-16 Public Education Information Resource (TPEIR) Unit Manager (Manager V)
- Teacher Effectiveness Specialist (Program Specialist VI
|
|
‘Anywhere I Go, I Feel Threatened’: Schools Encounter Latino Students’ Fears in Shooting Aftermath
|
Another wave of mass shootings. Thirty-five people killed in three separate gun rampages. And a resurgence in racist rhetoric that prompted the deadliest of the attacks, in El Paso, Texas.
Now as school begins again in El Paso and nationwide, Latino parents and students alike are grappling with a new, awful possibility: If they can be targeted in public places like a Walmart—where many families from El Paso and Ciudad Juarez, just over the Mexican border, had gathered to do their back-to-school shopping on Aug. 3—could they also be targeted in schools?
It’s a real fear for Roman Pastrana, who began his senior year at Eastlake High School in the Socorro school district in southeast El Paso just two weeks ago.
|
|
Texas Workforce grants to address industry needs for high demand jobs
|
When it comes to education in the Rio Grande Valley, nearly every school district has the same goal: to provide the best opportunities and growth for their students as possible.
Which is why South Texas College, after receiving a $75,000 grant by the Texas Workforce Commission for their Associate Degree of Nursing Program, will be partnering with Mission CISD, Monte Alto ISD and Weslaco ISD to support and provide training in several areas of occupations.
These grants will provide funding for equipment to each school district that would address industry needs of high demand jobs in the area. For Mission CISD, who will be granted $206,584, and Weslaco ISD, granted $268,501, this includes training for future welders, cutters, solderers and brazers. For Monte Alto, who was awarded $112,614, it means training for licensed practical and vocational nurses.
|
|
Discover New Career Opportunities
|
|
At US-Mexico border, a bus becomes a school for migrant children in limbo
|
The children crammed into the bus and sat in two neat lines, poring over notebooks at desks where once there had been passenger seats.
From the overhead baggage bins, a teacher hung their exploits: coloured alphabet letters, watercolour paintings.
In the border city of Tijuana just miles from the US border, in a dirt parking lot adjoining a migrant shelter, that bus is offering a rare chance at school to Central American and Mexican children.
|
|
‘Hispanic invasion’: A white nationalist version of Texas that never existed
|
Shortly before the alleged El Paso gunman attacked a shopping center Saturday, authorities believe he posted a so-called manifesto to the website 8chan. It rails against a “Hispanic invasion of Texas,” embracing a white nationalist version of Texas that has never existed.
Neither “Hispanics” nor Mexicans have ever invaded an all-white Texas; when white American settlers arrived in the 1820s, Mexicans of Mestizo and Criollo Spanish descent were already there. And though the American settlers were initially invited by the Mexican government, by the time of the Texas Revolution in 1835, they were flooding into the region illegally.
|
|
How Are You Keeping Your Hispanic Employees Safe?: raceAhead
|
The manifesto, still under investigation by authorities, was posted 20 minutes before the shooting.
It was a 2,300-word screed that blamed immigrants and first-generation Americans for taking jobs. It was filled with racist tropes and white supremacist talking points. And then, the rampage began.
The horror that unfolded in an El Paso, Tex. Walmart was only the first of two mass shootings that occurred over the weekend.
|
|
Mil gracias to our sponsors
for their on-going support of TALAS!
|
|
Making Classrooms
Better Places
Our products were designed to deliver the rich insight, powerful instruction, and comprehensive support that educators trust and rely on to help students at all levels, from all backgrounds, achieve their greatest possible gains.
|
|
Midstate Energy
Gives You Control
Building a lower cost, sustainable energy future is now within the reach of every organization; no matter their size.
|
|
Catapult Learning
Educational programs to improve student performance.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
