Student accomplishments, outstanding staff service, community support and financial stewardship took center stage at the Spring Branch ISD Board of Trustees’ Oct. 26 regular meeting.
Trustees recognized 16 National Merit Semifinalists from Memorial High School, Spring Branch Academic Institute and Stratford High School. The honor recognizes students’ outstanding performance on the PSAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test.
SBAI student Zachary Allen was honored as a 2026 National MathCON champion. Nearly 30,000 students registered for this year’s competition. Trustees also celebrated SBAI writers selected for publication in the 2026 iWRITE Annual Publishing Contest anthology, joining 150 young authors and illustrators in grades 3–12. Read more about SBISD’s iWRITE honorees.
In fine arts, Memorial High School’s Sinfonia Orchestra, directed by Matthew Chan and Leslie Campbell, earned National Winner recognition in the 2026 Mark of Excellence competition. Stratford High School’s Symphony Orchestra, directed by Artan Zhuri and Marcos Altamirano, earned Commended Winner honors. This year’s competition drew 525 entries from 40 states.
The Board presented the #IAMSBISD Award to Transportation employee Bene Pena, known to students as “Mr. Benny,” for 13 years of dedicated service. Wilchester Elementary families praised his kindness, reliability and commitment to helping students feel safe and welcome. The Wilchester PTA and families also named the school’s bus circle in his honor.
Trustees also heard from the district’s Finance team about SBISD’s Superior rating under the state’s Financial Integrity Rating System of Texas (FIRST). SBISD earned the state’s highest financial accountability rating for the 25th consecutive year, with perfect scores of 100 out of 100 in the two most recent years. The results reflect the district’s continued commitment to responsible financial stewardship and student-focused budgeting. Read more about SBISD’s FIRST rating.
Trustees viewed a recap of the new Guthrie Center’s grand opening, highlighting the community support behind the 2022 Bond investment and expanded opportunities in health sciences, engineering, culinary arts and enterprise services. Watch the Guthrie Center grand opening video.
The meeting’s special presentations also included recognition of National Dyslexia Awareness Month.