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The year has officially started! Much is to be celebrated…first, let me congratulate the staff and students of San Saba High School. These students and staff members posted extraordinary marks during the 2009-2010 testing season and have been named a Recognized Campus by the Texas Education Agency! Congratulations to both students and staff.

Other items to celebrate include our technology upgrades. Students at high school all received Macbooks, middle school students received 2 carts with 30 Macbooks each and an extra Macbook for each classroom. Elementary teachers receive 35 PC laptops to use as centers in their classrooms and each teacher received a laptop. As well, all teachers have smartboards and document cameras to enhance instruction in the classroom. But, let me be sure that we all know and acknowledge that NOTHING replaces a quality teacher in the classroom. The technology is a tool, but the teacher is the driving force as to the quality of education that students receive in the classroom. Go get’em teachers!

I need to revisit the calendar for everyone as the ISD is observing a very different calendar this year for students in middle school and high school. As well, this calendar impacts elementary because the number of days of instruction increased to 180 for elementary rather than 177 as in the past. This is due to the fact that the ISD sought no waivers for the 2010-2011 school year regarding professional development. SSMS and SSHS will be observing the Optional Flexible Year Program throughout this school year which changes the traditional calendar greatly. What this means is that there are nine (9) days built into the calendar for which students can earn 9 days off from school for reaching high attendance and high performance standards. The guidelines submitted and approved by the Texas Education Agency are as follows: A student must attend the OFYP days if any of the following occur: Attendance: The student has 2 or more unexcused absences during any of the six weeks grading periods or nine weeks grading periods from the dates August 23, 2010 until May 6, 2011 OR TAKS/Benchmark Testing: The student did not pass one or more portions of any state assessment (TAKS or TAKS Accommodated) the previous year OR, The student did not pass the benchmarks given during the current school year in the core academic areas (Math, Science, ELA, or Social Studies) that are tested by TAKS OR Grades: The student is failing a core academic area (Math, Science, ELA or Social Studies) OR Classroom Performance: The student has missing or late work in any class. Students in grades 5 – 7 will be encouraged to attend the OFYP days for enrichment activities that extend the instruction in the content areas. But, this is not mandatory and will be the parent’s option. The entire goal of the OFYP program is to provide students who need additional instruction time the opportunity to work in a small environment, one on one with a teacher or in a very small group. The school calendars denoting these days can be found in the front of the student handbook, on the front of the SSISD webpage at www.san-saba.net or please come by the SSISD central office for a printed copy.

Please visit www.san-saba.net to view events and find information you need to know about SSISD. As well, don’t forget to sign up for the "alerts" available from the website, and don’t miss the opportunity to sign up for the Parent Portal giving parents access to grades and attendance. Parents, let us know how we can help you the first day of school all the way until the last day of school!! If you have any question about this article or any other question about school happenings please contact me at 325/372-3144 or email me at lglaze@san-saba.net . We are San Saba! We are together!