Four district campuses have been named
Honor Roll schools by a highly regarded
nonprofit business and education group.
Earning recognition this year are Memorial
High, Memorial Middle, Frostwood Elementary
and Westchester Academy for International
Studies, the district’s
only charter middle and high school.
The Austin-based Texas Business & Education
Coalition (TBEC) awards are issued each
year to only a select number of Texas public
schools based on high, sustained student
academic performance. To be honored, schools
are compared with individual peer schools
and student groups, and then tracked over
a multiyear period.
“The TBEC Honor Roll is the most
prestigious award for sustained, academic
excellence in Texas. Among other factors,
these schools have the highest percentage
of students performing at the state’s
most rigorous standard – Commended – in
every subject during the past three school
years,” says coalition Executive Director
John H. Stevens.
Honor Roll schools will be recognized Oct.
22 with special seminar sessions and an
evening dinner at the Austin Hilton Hotel.
Memorial High and Memorial Middle schools
were both named 2006 TBEC Honor Roll Schools.
Frostwood Elementary is a repeat TBEC honoree,
too, and several other SBISD campuses have
also earned the highly regarded award in
recent years. TBEC has also rated Memorial
High as one of the state’s best high
schools.
Cornerstone Academy, the district’s
other charter middle school, was a three-time
Honor Roll award recipient. Spring Oaks
Middle has been a repeat TBEC award winner,
too.
Formed in 1989, TBEC is a nonprofit group
composed of business executives and education
leaders. They are dedicated to improving
the performance of public schools by influencing
state education policy and fostering community-based
initiatives to improve our schools.
Principals for this year’s award-winning
schools include Memorial High’s Steve
Shorter and Westchester Academy’s
Pamela Butler. Memorial Middle’s new
principal is Lisa Weir.
Longtime Frostwood Elementary Principal
Lynda Maxwell is now a district administrator.
Replacing her at Frostwood is new Principal
Jan Griffin.
A few principals had this to say:
“I am thrilled for the Frostwood
staff and community! This is the second
time that we have won this award, and that
does not happen by accident. It comes from
a commitment to collaboration that always
focuses on the best interest of our students.
The Frostwood parents and teachers listen
to one another with openness, compassion
and respect and make decisions that consistently
lead to excellence for all our children.” – Lynda
Maxwell, former Frostwood principal
“Memorial High School is again honored
to be recognized for the large number of
high-achieving students at our school. Being
named a Texas Honor Roll School is a tribute
to our faculty, students and community for
their high standards of achievement.” – Steve
Shorter, Memorial High principal
"When our students heard the news in a
recent assembly, they all cheered! I am
so very proud of our faculty, staff, students
and parents. We have all worked so hard
to increase our TAKS scores, close our achievement
gaps, and increase Commended Levels on TAKS. We
truly believe that all students can achieve
at very high levels given the right set
of circumstances. Recognition by the Texas
Business & Education Coalition is greatly
appreciated by everyone here at Westchester
Academy." -- Campus Director Pam Butler
For more information, please visit www.tbec.org.
