FWISD Update |
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Volume 3, Number 3 - April 2000 |
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Improved test scores pay dividends at 19 schoolsNineteen FWISD schools have been honored by the Texas Successful Schools Award System (TSSAS) and are slated to receive $500 to $5,000 cash awards for their achievement! The Texas Education Agency (TEA) honors schools each year for significant improvement on the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS) test. Awards go to schools ranked in the top 25 percent across the state in the areas of reading and mathematics when compared to schools with similar characteristics. To be eligible, schools must be rated exemplary, recognized or acceptable. Among the Fort Worth schools honored, one is ranked exemplary and five are recognized. The achievement of the schools listed below will be celebrated with a special recognition at the FWISD Board of Education meeting on April 11.
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State, FWISD to help students with Advanced Placement feesHigher enrollment in Advanced
Placement (AP) courses should translate into more students becoming
eligible for college credit if they score a 3 out of a possible
5 on > Transfer interrupted!have applied to take one or more exams this year compared to about 900 in 1998-99. The Educational Testing Service (ETS) assesses a $76 fee for each AP exam, and some students opt out because of the cost. This year for the first time, Texas Education Agency will pay a portion of the fee for each student who plans to be tested for a course in which he or she is enrolled. The student will pay $46 for the first exam, and the district will subsidize additional tests. If a student chooses to take a second exam, the cost will be $34; the third exam will cost $20. Any student eligible for free or reduced lunch will only pay $5 per exam. Students who have not registered may do so until May 1 by paying a late fee of $20 for handling and postage assessed by ETS.
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Diversity update trainingHow does the global community affect students in our schools? How does a person's outward appearance shape our opinions and the way we interact with others? More than 300 elementary and secondary trainers/facilitators for diversity discussed these and other issues during one of three Saturday sessions in February and March. The workshops offered participants an opportunity to preview some of the materials being considered for campus training next school year. The sessions were led by the Texas Christian University diversity leadership team: Dr. Cornell Thomas, special assistant to the chancellor for diversity issues; Rev. John Butler, and Dr. Cecilia Silva, associate professor. Dr. Thomas also led full-day sessions for elementary principals. |
Middle school grant underwrites several after-school programsStudents at seven FWISD middle schools are benefiting from a recently awarded $500,000 Texas After-School Initiative for Middle Schools grant. Programs include an academics-based curriculum linked to state curriculum standards, but also include character/citizenship education and parent and/or mentoring programs. Programs are designed to give students tools to build a strong foundation of academic and practical knowledge and skills. Grants are providing funds for such items as computer software, hand-held manipulatives and computer monitors. Schools receiving the grants include Monnig, Wedgwood, Forest Oak, Rosemont, Elder, Morningside and Stripling middle schools. |
Ninth-graders to benefit from state grantComputer programs designed to grab the attention of at-risk ninth-graders in algebra and science are among the special resources expected to foster academic success through a recently awarded Texas Education Agency grant for $3.1 million. Project Success, the new district initiative partially funded by TEA's Ninth Grade Success Initiative grant, will address individual needs of students in mathematics, reading, science and social studies by offering tutorials, computer-assisted instruction in mathematics and science, and summer school. Retired mathematics teachers or college math majors will help provide more individualized attention through in-class tutorials. Enhanced teacher training is also part of the initiative. The grant will allow eight high schools to add a second I Can Learn Algebra self-paced, teacher-led computer instruction lab next year. Three alternative schools will also receive the unique computer lab. |
RadioShack to honor students, teachersThe 17th RadioShack Scholars Dinner, scheduled April 27 at the Amon G. Carter Exhibits Hall, will honor 22 National Merit Scholarship semifinalists, 10 FWISD teachers of mathematics or science and nearly 1,500 students and their parents. Student honorees include eighth through 12th graders who have maintained a 4.0 GPA or are in the top 2 percent of their class. RadioShack will award the 10 FWISD teachers $2,000 each for their success in challenging students in education. Their schools will each receive $500. The RadioShack Teacher Scholars for 2000 are:
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