Changes

Highland Park will have some staffing changes next year.  Though change is hard for most folks, I firmly believe, when done right, it can be a good thing for all involved.  And it's a definite good thing when people grow into next steps and continue on their path.  Truly.  We have some first-rate people leaving at the end of this school year, but the good news is, we have some first-rate newbies coming in hot on their heels.  Good for all.

Chris

Lauren

Best of luck to Kinder teacher Lauren Farmer, SBS teacher Chris Purkiss, and ASCC teacher Markeshia Dunston.  Ms. Farmer is moving from Austin to another big TX city and will be exploring new life and career opportunities - first rate teacher and person as we know, so I know she is on to great things.  Mr. Purkiss has accepted an SBS teaching position at McCallum High School (woohoo! for our vertical team), which is a definite next step for him, while Ms. Dunston (who recently completed her special ed teacher certification requirements) is off to Dallas as a brand new teacher.  Happy for all!

Markeshia

The inevitable retirements are almost upon us and four HP'ers who have meant so much to so many over the years have decided to hang up their AISD badges and begin own next life steps.  Technology teacher Kyle Etie, reading specialist Kathy Sederholm, 5th grade science teacher Janet Matetich, and cafeteria employee extraordinaire Mona Rodriguez are exiting this June.  Love them all and though they may officially retire, the good they have done will continue to positively impact our school for many years to come.

Kyle

Kathy

Ms. Janet

Mona

So with the goodbyes, we have some hellos we are equally thrilled to share with you.  Welcome aboard to the following folks...

Laura Grannell will be our new 5th grade science teacher and comes very highly qualified and recommended to our campus.  From NY originally (hear her husband is a native Texan through and through!), Laura is a current AISD Science Coach (helping other teachers understand and deliver best practices in curriculum and instruction - cool!).  She formerly taught elementary science in Houston, is set to be a state StemScope trainer, and is very knowledgeable in all things inquiry based classroom. Much professional development delivery experience, Science Fair coordination experience, GT experience, and more.  Welcome Laura!

Roger Steele will be the brand new technology teacher for HP and our interview committee (including a very knowledgeable parent rep) was very impressed with the current CTE programming he delivers.  Roger is the Career and Technology Education teacher for Garcia Middle School and involves his kids in such things as coding, gaming development, web design, and again, much more.  He has extensive elementary tech teaching experience and even owned his own web design company at one point.  We're excited for all the new he will bring to our school, including pumping up those morning announcements each Monday! 

Erin Murrell is coming on board as the SCORES teacher and if anyone came more highly praised and recommended than Erin, I would be surprised.  Current Life Skills teacher in Springtown ISD, as well as an in-home trainer (offering family support for elementary age children with autism), Erin has a wealth of trainings and certifications directly related to our SCORES program, including a Graduate Academic Certificate in Autism Intervention.  Former Teacher of the Year for her school, former Educator of the Year nominee for her district, former Peace Corps volunteer in Western Somoa (cool!), we know Erin will bring much to our programming on campus.  Our special ed team is excited!

Last but not least, we are equally thrilled to have Carolyn Mixon join as the HP Reading Specialist.  Also highly qualified, Carolyn is a licensed speech and language pathologist, also working currently as a part time reading specialist, and is in process of finishing her studies in order to become a Certified Academic Language Therapist (CALT).  Our committee was very impressed to hear of her passion and curiosity for connecting the work of a language therapist to the work of reading intervention.  A smart cookie who will be a great asset to HP.

Finally, I leave you with some pics from our week.   Fifth grade headed out to Camp Allen on Tuesday morning and though the weather was a bit iffy early that morning, I hear they had a fantastic time. 

Loading the buses early Tuesday morning

And of course, I also caught a pic of 4th grade practicing for next week's Pioneer Fair performances.  Always a fun Social Studies culminating event that signals to our campus the last week of school is definitely upon us.  Hard to believe, but we have only a few days left in 14-15.  Set to be a week of varied and meaningful activities and as always, we're Scottie Strong to the End!

Rehearsal Time!