Reflecting on 2018-2019

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It’s hard to believe, but today we wrapped up the 79^th school year of Cypress-Fairbanks ISD. Each year that passes, I grow prouder to lead our school district and live in our wonderful community, and 2018-2019 did not disappoint.

We began planning this school year last summer by instituting some major safety initiatives including the purchase of three K-9s and a Mental Health Intervention Team. We know our schools’ bolstered safety and security measures were effective threat deterrents.

As the year kicked off, we celebrated our own Jeanna Peña of Lamkin Elementary School winning Region 4 Teacher of the Year. I was also humbled to accept the region’s nomination for Superintendent of the Year, representing the best district in Texas!

Students and staff at Moore Elementary were delighted to return to their freshly renovated campus on the first day of school, Aug. 27. Moore was flooded by Hurricane Harvey a year before, but the Armadillos stayed strong and had a great year in their “new” old home.

CFISD is the home of Opportunity for All, where students thrive through fine arts. Marching bands from Cy-Fair and Jersey Village high schools placed among the top 33 in the state, and 46 students earned TMEA All-State recognition. Cypress Ranch High School theatre students won two Tommy Tune awards this spring for their amazing production of The Little Mermaid.

Every year, students enter our doors as athletes and leave as champions. Two Cypress Creek High School students, swimmer Hayden Miller and wrestler Amanda McAleavey, captured individual state championships in their respective sports in February. Today, the Cypress Ranch baseball team is competing for a chance to return to the state tournament for the fourth time in eight years.

Our students continued to achieve at the highest possible levels academically. Eight students were accepted into MIT, including four from Langham Creek High School—the most from a single comprehensive school in the entire nation! We celebrated 17 National Merit semifinalists at the Berry Center in March. 

Community members supported a $1.762 billion bond referendum in May that will address district needs through the year 2025 with a telling 70-percent approval rate. 

We could not have achieved all we did this year without a supportive and involved school board. One of our trustees, Christine Hartley, announced her resignation earlier this month after eight years and will be dearly missed.

It’s easy to see why I’m so proud of this district and community. For eight decades we have worked together to produce successful citizens, and there is no better portrait of that than the 8,000-plus graduates walking our stage at the Berry Center from Wednesday through Saturday.

As the final set of caps are tossed on Saturday evening and we start to set our sights on 2019-2020, we’ll take pride in a year that gave us so many incredible things to cheer about.

~ Mark Henry, Ed.D.

Working Together for a Safer Future

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The last week has presented some challenges for educators as we evaluate our school safety protocols and seek ways to strengthen security measures. Many of you have sent me questions and concerns via email, and I appreciate the feedback as we work together to better protect CFISD students and staff.

In light of two major school shootings since February, I have already started meeting with district leadership and law enforcement officials to review current procedures and discuss potential changes for the 2018-2019 school year.

I continue to stress how fortunate we are in CFISD to employ approximately 100 well-trained, professional police officers who work diligently 24/7 with every campus to provide a variety of safety measures to prevent what occurred in Parkland, Fla., and Santa Fe, Texas. Besides being available to respond in the time of a crisis, CFPD officers provide many proactive measures, such as investigating all potential threats, monitoring social media and tip line reports, making home visits, mentoring students and providing classroom presentations.

We will continue to look at ways to enhance our campuses in order to make them even safer. We ask for everyone’s patience, understanding and support as we make modifications to practices and procedures for how our students, staff, parents and community members access our campuses next school year.

As always, we encourage use of the tip line and if you hear or see something, say something. While no plan is perfect, we will all have to work together as a team to keep our campuses as safe as possible.

Thank you for your continued support.

~ Mark Henry, Ed.D.

Finishing Strong, Finishing Safe

This is the time of year when I typically prepare an end-of-year message reflecting on the successes of the school year and the exciting future ahead. I had this message queued up for Friday, but could not bring myself to push send. In light of the horrific news out of Santa Fe ISD, the tone felt insensitive. 

There will be a time for that message, surely, because we have had an overwhelmingly successful school year. But it has not been without its challenges. I include the two major public school shootings in Parkland, Fla., and Santa Fe, Texas, among those challenges, because when one school community suffers, we all share in their grief and seek ways to eliminate future threats to our students and staff.

In an effort to end the year on a positive note, I have asked our chief of police, Eric Mendez, to increase police presence on every campus. I was pleased to learn from Chief Mendez that the CFPD’s thorough recruiting efforts recently resulted in a fully-staffed police force. This will be a tremendous help in bolstering the protection of each of our 91 campuses and support facilities.

I have also communicated to each principal the need for a strict enforcement of dress code. Through the end of the school year, we are asking that no students wear trench coats or other heavy clothing that could potentially conceal weapons. While we want students to dress in clothing that is comfortable in their learning environment, we feel any extra safety measure that assists our officers and administrators should be utilized.

I ask that you assist us through this transition by communicating these efforts to your students. During these anxious times, vigilance is key.

Thank you for your continued support.

~ Mark Henry, Ed.D.