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Yahoo
15-04-2025
- General
- Yahoo
WFISD school board presents turnaround plan for Hirschi Middle School
WICHITA FALLS (KFDX/KJTL) — Much-needed changes are coming to a Wichita Falls middle school after several years of underperforming. READ MORE: TEA visits WFISD — Q&A with Dr. Donny Lee The Board of Trustees for the Wichita Falls Independent School District met in a regular session on Monday, April 14, 2025, at 6 p.m. Among the meeting's agenda items was the presentation of a turnaround plan for Hirschi Middle School (formerly Kirby Middle School). 'Today, the Board got to hear a turnaround action plan for Hirschi because it's one of our lower-performing schools,' Dr. Donny Lee, WFISD Superintendent, said after the meeting on Monday night. Improving WFISD's middle schools has been a topic of discussion for the school board for several months, with a particular focus on Hirschi Middle School. Dr. Lee said the turnaround plan, unanimously approved by the WFISD Board of Trustees, is a comprehensive plan to get things back on track for the Huskies. A presentation given on the plan can be found below: PREVIOUS STORY: Hirschi holds town hall after successful first semester During the school board meeting on Monday night, several community members showed up to provide feedback on the plan, bringing up concerns like behavioral issues and district attendance zones as contributing factors to Hirschi's low performance. 'If we keep feeding in kids to our school who are in a failing school, how are we going to fill those gaps?' Joyce McCurdy, a community member, asked the board during the public hearing that preceded the meeting. Dr. Lee said that underperforming elementary schools are a reason the plan for Hirschi was put together. 'If they're low performing when they get to middle school, it's going to be a realistic assumption to say that they're going to be low-performing at the middle school unless we do something drastically different,' Dr. Lee said. One place that starts is with the school's curriculum, Bluebonnet, which will create continuity for WFISD students from elementary school to middle school. That kind of continuity didn't exist for them before. 'So now there's this seamless transition of curriculum that goes from our elementary to our middle schools, and we haven't had that prior,' Dr. Lee said. READ MORE: WFISD school board discusses TEA visit According to the turnaround plan, progress will be gauged using near-daily assessments so administrators can monitor changes in the student's scores in real time. 'What we're going to be doing is looking to have measures in place at the beginning of the year, middle of the year, and end of the year, specifically for Hirschi, so that we know how they're doing all year round,' Dr. Lee said. According to Dr. Lee, Hirschi will be able to implement the new plan with the help of the TEA, Region 9, and WFISD curriculum specialists. He and the rest of the trustees are hopeful that the steps being taken can bridge the learning gap and get things back on track. 'We want our kids learning, and we want them to have one year's growth in one year's time,' Dr. Lee said. 'All of our students.'Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
05-03-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Wichita Falls ISD board reviews academic progress reports from four schools
WICHITA FALLS (KFDX/KJTL) — The Wichita Falls ISD Board of Trustees heard from four campuses about their academic progress just before STAAR testing began. Superintendent Dr. Donny Lee said the overall theme the board heard was 'making small incremental improvements.' United Supermarkets donates to help Texomans in need Principals from Hirschi, Southern Hills, Fain, and Booker T. Washington brought their reports to board members, showing how students have progressed since taking an assessment at the beginning of the year. The reports give board members a projection of where students will be when they take the STAAR test. 'We try to educate the whole child and try to really ensure that all of our kids are growing. Every year we focus on growth. What does that mean? That means if they were reading on the third-grade level last year, we want to read on a fourth-grade level this year. Same with math. So we want constant improvement,' Lee said. STAAR testing begins April 8 for districts across the state. Lee knows educators are entering crunch time, so he will provide the support they need before testing. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
14-02-2025
- General
- Yahoo
WFISD celebrates mentoring program with ribbon cutting
WICHITA FALLS (KFDX/KJTL) — Fain Elementary School teachers, students, and administrators celebrated a new program that has been in place since September. A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held Thursday morning for Academy 4, a student mentoring program for 4th graders at the school. Each fourth grader is assigned a volunteer mentor for the year. Once a month, the two will spend 90 minutes focusing on a student's special areas. WFISD Superintendent Dr. Donny Lee said the program has had positive results so far. 'Part of the community': Swapping leads and collaboration is what's attract new businesses to the MPEC, convention center He said he looks forward to the future of this volunteer-based initiative: 'Because of its success and some of the testimonies we've heard from the students themselves, we're looking at expanding that possibly next year to another one, possibly two campuses.' Doctor Lee said they're still in the decision phase of the program's expansion. He said a lot of that depends on how many mentors they have, and added it takes a lot from the community because each fourth grader gets their own mentor who is volunteering their time. Click here to learn more about how you can get involved. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
