Spring Branch ISD Featured News

Update: On September 8, close to 17,000 students returned to in-person learning at 44 SBISD campuses.

At the end of each nine-week grading period, families of students learning at home may choose to have their children return to in-person learning. The distance learning model will remain an option for students for the remainder of the school year.

Welcome back to school! from SBISD on Vimeo.

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August 28, 2020

Spring Branch ISD reopened its academic school year on Monday, August 24, with thousands of prepared teachers welcoming students back from district classroom settings using remote technology and familiar traditions – from daily attendance to letter grades.

The first two weeks of instruction will be held remotely (minus two days at home watching Hurricane Laura’s final route), followed on Sept. 8^th by remote or in-person learning options for all 33,000 students.

Due to COVID-19, families in SBISD have generally split on how to go forward this semester: Half of students will report to schools in person, with others learning online at home.

At Stratford High, tennis coach and district Teacher of the Year Crystal Fain was a living advertisement on Monday for SBISD’s back-to-school theme of Go Beyond: Last month, Harvard University’s School of Education accepted Fain into its new, two-year, master’s degree program. Her own learning will be largely remote, too.

“It’ll be hard work – teaching and coaching and learning,” she said. “But, we are at a pivotal time in education. We need to bring more equity to education, and I will say what better way to answer such tough questions but to study at Harvard.”

At Woodview Elementary, Claire Rottino is pivoting for the new school year, too.  A campus Teacher of the Year, she moved during the summer into her new role as a special education resource teacher at the same campus.

On Monday, however, Rottino was excited to view and to visit with several groups of fourth-graders over Zoom. When she last saw them in March, they were in her third-grade math class.

They really did not get to say their goodbyes when their in-person classes were suspended, although they remained online for instruction. She broke into a big smile when connecting again with her former third-graders.

Scenes like this, big and small, occurred across hundreds of SBISD Zoom rooms.

Andrea Gilmore at Memorial Drive Elementary, another campus Teacher of the Year, used a "What's in my bag?" activity to help her new third-graders get to know her better.

She pulled out: a library book (she likes to read), a framed photo of her spouse (family), a card game (she likes to play games), and sunglasses (she likes to be outdoors). Many teachers across the district used planned “Getting to Know You” online sharing sessions.

Gilmore’s students were given time to find or think of three items of their own to share with classmates to build new relationships.

“If I have two pictures of my dogs, does that count as one thing or two?” asked one student.

Kate Waldorf at Spring Branch Middle School, also a campus teacher of the year, was so prepared she had a Google plan in her back pocket for her students when Zoom’s national network failed briefly early on Monday morning.

Pausing during her fourth of seven remote classes, Waldorf gave a good grade to school team and district planning for the new school year, and the remote start.

The bandwidth and Zoom connectivity demands were real big, both in SBISD and elsewhere. “It’s gone well,” she said. “I was concerned about Internet and Zoom holding up. It was ‘iffy’ in my zero hour class, but it’s held up and I’m pleased.”

Her own principal, Stefanie Spencer, joined Meadow Wood Elementary Principal Lynne Barry and Spring Woods High School Principal Jennifer Collier at the Board of Trustees meeting held Monday evening.

The three principals described the efforts and activities taken during the previous week, known as the Week of Welcome or WOW, which gave campus leaders and teachers in SBISD several days to reach out to their students and families, as well as time for school teams to share, plan and work together.

“Today was a great day at Spring Woods High School,” Principal Collier told Board members during a socially distanced meeting held August 24 in the auditorium at Northbrook High School. “The Week of WOW let our staff be ready, our students be ready, and our parents be ready.”

Spring Branch Middle’s Waldorf agreed, speaking from her own classroom. At her school, the traditional back-to-school Bear Camp changed from students together into remote Zoom calls. The personal connection with students and their families was helpful, she said.

“Reaching out ahead of time to each student is helpful,” Waldorf said. Bear Camp in the future might be better with a one-to-one outreach component, she said.

The preparation work undertaken by staff and teachers before Monday’s remote start was noted at the highest level, and highly praised.

“Monday was our first virtual start ever!” Superintendent Jennifer Blaine, Ed.D., told Trustees. “We have received much positive feedback from our families on our Week of Welcome. We are proud of our central office staff, campus leaders and teachers for making this a special week for our students.”