Making Progress

1st Six Weeks
It’s hard to believe we are already wrapping up the first six weeks of the school year. We are off to an exceptional start! The high school football team is dominating with a 5-0 record. Volleyball has a winning record and has begun their district competition. The high school band has been preparing their program for their state competition. The band is in store for a very busy month, performing just about every weekend during the month of October. I am optimistic and hopeful that I will be making a trip to San Antonio to watch them perform in the State Marching Competition this November.

Construction
With three simultaneous construction projects underway in Anna ISD, the growth is undeniable. I appreciate the patience and cooperation our community has shown as we work to fulfill the district’s plan.

The final touches are being put in place on the interior of Anna Middle School. The exterior construction is in full swing with steel being erected for the new band hall and theatre arts area. The piers and footings have been poured on the new classroom wing. The foundation for that particular area is soon to follow.

The new athletic complex is in full swing with the hopes to have it open in February. Heaps of dirt have been dug out behind Anna High School, as the foundation is being prepared for the new surface. We will accommodate baseball, softball and tennis activities at the complex this spring.

The construction for Anna’s third elementary school is underway. Lee Lewis Construction has started moving dirt in preparation for utilities and the foundation.

Elementary #3 Naming/Boundary/Staffing
Be on the lookout for surveys and other information concerning Elementary #3. We are in the process of developing two surveys to gather community input regarding our third elementary school.

The first survey will address naming the campus. You will be able to vote from a list of Anna’s past educators or have the option to write in your own idea. The survey will be placed on the district Website and will run for two weeks during the month of October. The survey results will be compiled and presented to the AISD School Board. The Board will discuss your input and consider other necessary factors to determine the name of Anna’s newest campus. Our goal is to announce the name of the school at our January Board Meeting.

The second survey will address the boundary lines for Elementary #3. Anna ISD has been provided four different scenarios by our demographer to consider in determining the boundary lines. The survey will contain the four different choices along with some demographic information and will be placed on the district Website during the month of October. The AISD Board of Trustees will receive the results from this survey in November and consider all information before making the final decision at the January Board Meeting.

The district is also beginning to discuss staffing the new campus. Our staffing objective is that each campus will be as equal as possible with regards to years of experience. During the second semester, we will send out a questionnaire to the district elementary staff requesting volunteers to move to the new campus. District administration will review the results and consider other necessary factors in designating staff to the elementary campuses. At this time, our plan for Elementary #3 is to announce the new principal in January and the remainder of the personnel in April.

As a reminder to the staff of Anna ISD:
These are exciting times in our district! Embrace the growth and maintain a positive outlook for the benefit of our schools, families and community. Anna ISD is a desirable district filled with wonderful students and staff. We are blessed to be part of such a district. Every day pledge to be positive so that you may have a positive impact on those whose lives you touch.

Great Start to the 16-17 School Year

The 2016-2017 school year is off to a great start! Below are the first day enrollment numbers: 

817 - AHS

719 - AMS

646 - JKB

649 - SER

303 - ECC

3,134 - Total

On behalf of our teachers, staff and administrators, I would like to express our appreciation for the opportunity to teach your children here in Anna ISD. As I toured the campuses today, I was pleased to see everyone hit the ground running. Our teachers were teaching and our kids were learning. 

Thank you for your continued patience with the road construction and cautious driving through our growing city. There were the usual first-day-of-school-delays, however, everyone arrived safely and there were smiles all around.

I spent the morning at Anna Middle School. It was great to see our 7th and 8th graders come into the renovated building with smiles on their faces in response to the changes. 

We anticipate countless accomplishments by our hard-working students this school year. Please take every opportunity to support our Coyotes by attending events and activities and by volunteering wherever possible. Thank you for your continued support of Anna Independent School District!

2016-2017 Anna ISD Employee Recognition

Well another year is in the books! It seems as if every year passes faster than the last. I would like to express my appreciation to the teachers and staff of Anna ISD for their dedication to our students. Anna is such a successful district due to the hard-working and kid-loving AISD family. We spent the last day of school recognizing various staff members for their contributions to the district.

5 Years of Service

Daniel Ackermann, Britta Borgardt, Tammy Darland, Jennifer Fulp, Kelli Gee, Anna Lisa, Gonzalez, Lisa Hutchinson, Jessica Justus, Allison Kennedy, Mindy Lacy, Heather Mackey, Margaret Martinez, Heriberto Nevarez, Becky Stahl, Nelda Stanley, Patricia Voit and Kristy Walters. Lauri Keck and Benton Timpanaro were also recognized for five years of service. Due to an error in calculating years of service it was recognized that they had not been recognized previously. Lauri actually has six years in the district while Benton has completed eight.

10 Years of Service

Anita Bickenbach, Malissa Cellars, Tomika Crosby, Dean Gladden, Paula McMillion, Laura Morales, Melanie O’Bier, Jeremy Patton Amy Pratt, Carol Silverglat, Pete Slaughter, Deborah Womack and Katrina York.

15 Years of Service

Delda Morrison, Paige Gililland and Zoila Lebo

20 Years of Service

Judy Smith

25 Years of Service

Dianna Olsen and Debbie Lindsey

30 Years of Service
Dawn Motley

Campus Paraprofessionals of the Year 

Gail Higgins, Miguel Diaz Sifonte, Shirley Beazley, Salma Rehman and Maria Gutierrez. 

Campus Teachers of the Year  

Laura Taylor, Zoila Lebo, Robin Latham, Mary Lewis and Rebecca Steffen.

District Para of the Year

Miguel Diaz Sifonte

District Elementary Teacher of the Year

 Robin Latham

District Secodary Teacher fo the Year

Zoila Lebo

Anna ISD Employee of the Year

Jesus Ramirez 

Anna ISD's Rockin' Retirees

Every year we honor our employees who are retiring with a rocking chair. 

Congratulations to Debbie Dumas and Judy Smith! 

Election

I would like to personally thank all the Anna stakeholders who voted in the May 7, 2016 election. The 585 voting citizens have elected to pass the AISD bond election, with a total of 413 (70.59%) votes for the bond and 172 (29.40%) votes against the bond.

Our first order of business will be the construction of the district’s third elementary school. At our May school board meeting, trustees will approve plans, select the site, and place the project out for bid. In order to complete the project in a timely manner, we will need to begin construction June 2016. Our goal is to have Anna’s third elementary school open the fall of 2017.

Beginning in the fall of 2016, Anna ISD will be in the midst of three different construction projects. The projects include: AMS expansion, AHS Athletic Complex, and Elementary #3. We will keep you posted on the details of each project throughout the summer.

Baseball

Congratulations to the Anna Coyotes baseball team! The guys won the bi-district championship by shutting down Pinkston. The first game was a no hitter 19-0 victory. The second game was much like the first, a one hitter with a 19-0 victory. We would also like to congratulate Coach Hector who picked up his 300 career win during the championship. The guys are scheduled to play Sanger in the next round of the playoffs at Sanger High School, this Thursday at 7:30 pm.

AISD Staff

I would like to express my appreciation to the staff of AISD for making this such a great district. Every department and campus strives to create a student-centered environment. Thank you.

Anna ISD Fine Arts Programs Continue to Soar and Expand

Anna ISD believes that the arts play an important role in education and in the development of our students. I have always believed that Anna ISD has one of the best fine art programs in Texas! Anna students have a variety of fine art opportunities to excel in. As I walk our campuses and attend the various events hosted by our fine arts teachers, it is obvious that our students are extremely talented and are being taught well. I would like to recognize some of our high school students and their great accomplishments in our fine arts programs.

In March, AHS art students participated in the Visual Arts Scholastic Event (VASE) in Dallas, Texas. Several students received 4's, which is the highest score possible and given for their extraordinary artwork. We are especially excited for Katie Kemp, as her painting advanced to the state level. She will travel to San Antonio on April 22 for the State VASE Event.

This past Saturday, our theater arts students competed in the One-Act Play Area contest at Denison High School. The cast and crew advanced to the Regional competition. In addition, Andrew Shute was named “Outstanding Male Actor”. They did a phenomenal job and represented Anna superbly.  The Regional competition will be held at Texas A&M Commerce later this month.

The AHS Band has had an exceptional year. In the fall competition, our marching band received all ones (which is the highest score possible) for their performance. Under the UIL’s rotating competition schedule, next year our marching band will have the opportunity to compete for the state title. We are excited to see the performance they will select and to see how far they will advance. We have also had several concert band students advance to the state competition. Dylan Stepherson advanced to the Association of Texas Small School Bands All-State Jazz Band. The following students have advanced to the Texas State Solo & Ensemble Contest:

Devon Achenbach, Johnny Alvarado, Haley Anderson, Timothy Arellano, Noah Bert, Sebastian Boyer, Amanda Callahan, Evan Callahan, Austin Casada, Sayde Cummings, Madison Davis, Brenda DeSantiago, Samantha Divers, Dustin Drayer, Ben Drazil, Cassandra Erbynn, Gabrielle Fornoff, Dillon Garcia, Joe Garcia, Juanita Govea, Ariana Guillermo, Sean Henricks, Ryan Hoverson, Nolan Hutchins, Preston Isham, Darian Jones, Andre Joyce, Joel Lopez, Ashlynn Love, Sydney May, Reid McGowan, Cintia Medina, Dylan Morgan, Freddy Perez, Joshua Phakvang, Jonah Parker, Jairo Rubio, Omar Rubio, Heidi Sanders, Estrella Santibanez, Joe Sarro, Keira Schmidt, Riley Self, Alexis Smith, Dylan Stepherson, Tatum Wolf, Trevor Wolf, and Jacob Woodard

I am excited to announce that our Fine Arts program is expanding this upcoming school year, with two new opportunities for our students. We are in the process of adding color guard, which will add to the artistic performance of our marching band. We will also offer choir to our middle and high school and are currently in the process of interviewing candidates for a choir director.

I would like to invite you to see our students perform in their different fine art events. Please view the campus calendars for future dates and times of performances. My hope is that our students will take every opportunity to explore Anna’s different fine arts programs to see if they might find a new avenue to express themselves.

Welcome

I hope everyone had a restful spring break and are ready to finish out this school year. We have made many great strides this year and are looking to continue that trend next year.

I would like to congratulate AHS Junior, Keamoni Mattocks for a successful year in basketball. He was named to the 4A All-State team and he is currently 8^th all-time in the state on 3 point scoring. He still has his senior year to add to his totals. All of our extracurricular teams have done an outstanding job this year. We are proud of our kids and look forward to a successful spring!

Bond Election

We will host a public meeting on April 11 at 6:30 pm to explain the bond process and information concerning the District’s plans. A meeting in Spanish will follow at 7:15 pm. The meeting will be held in in the Anna High School auditorium. The school bond election addresses the need for new schools and to improve existing schools in order to manage continuing growth. The bond will follow the AISD Facility Plan as developed by the Strategic Planning Committee. Early voting will begin on April 25 with Election Day being held on May 7. All voting will take place at Anna City Hall.

AMS Construction Update

Work has begun on expanding the middle school campus. In spite of all the rain during spring break, the AISD Maintenance Department managed to relocate and hook up the portable classrooms. Although this was a muddy and messy project, it allowed for progress to begin on the expansion.

As preparations for pouring a foundation are in the works, the construction company is in the process of tearing out the drive around the campus, so that piers can be drilled. Anna Middle School has set up temporary access to assist with student arrival and dismissal.

Bond Election

Bond Election

The Anna ISD Board of Trustees called for a $155,000,000 bond election to be held May 7, 2016. The bond package includes 2 additional elementary schools, a second middle school, expansion of the high school classroom wings, and other district renovations. This election will not include a tax increase for the citizens of Anna. The funds collected through the TRE will fund these projects. Information on the bond election can be found on the Anna ISD web site. I am also willing to come out and visit with any group or organization to discuss this topic.

AMS Construction Update

District administration met with the construction company this week to review bids submitted for the project. We are reviewing the bids with the respective departments within the district and doing reference checks. We are planning to accept bids on March 2 and then proceed with the project.

As soon as Oncor moves the existing electrical line leading into AMS, the district will move the portables and begin breaking ground. It looks as if the portables will be moved over Spring Break as to not disrupt instruction.  We are excited to begin this process for the benefit of our students and staff at AMS. Thank you for supporting the district and allowing us to push forward with this expansion process. 

Past, Present and Things to Come

AMS Construction Update

The AISD School Board approved the architecture plans submitted by Claycomb Associates at the January school board meeting. The plans have now been submitted to begin receiving bids for the construction at Anna Middle School. As soon as Oncor moves the existing electrical line leading into AMS, the district will move the portables and begin breaking ground. To minimize disruption to classroom instruction and school routine, the portables are scheduled to be moved over Spring Break.  We are excited to begin this process for the benefit of our students and staff at AMS! Thank you for supporting the district and allowing us to push forward with this expansion process.

Linking Past to Present

This year was the first year for Anna High School to offer an audio visual course for our students. A few weeks ago they created a video to compete in a competition entitled, “Celebrate Texas Public Schools”. Their idea was to create a video linking past graduates to present students. The students interviewed 47 former AISD graduates to create a video in which they could share their memories and give the history of our school district. The recording took place over two days and has now been sent off to the state level for the competition. I would like to thank the students along with the instructor Mr. Kramen and our district communications officer Melane Woodbury for creating this video to preserve the legacy of our district. I will keep you posted on how our students did at the competition. We will also place the video on our district website at the completion of the competition.

Bond Election

The Anna ISD School Board will discuss the future facility needs at the February 19^th board meeting to determine the need for a Bond Election. The Bond projects will be paid through our current debt service program along with funds collect through the TRE. An AISD Strategic Committee was formed last school year to determine the immediate and ongoing needs of the district. In following through with the committee’s recommendations, the School Board will be considering two additional elementary campuses, a second middle school, and a classroom expansion of Anna High School.