COVID-19 UPDATE (3/16/20)

For the last 55 years, I have either attended, taught or served in public schools. I understand the significance and comfort that the routine of the school calendar provides students, staff and our community. In addition, I know the importance of academics, athletics, fine arts and extracurricular activities. That is why, with great sadness and reluctance, I must share with you that we have made the difficult decision to cancel in-person classes for students from March 23 until April 9, following consultation today with local and state health officials, the Centers for Disease Control and other Region 4 superintendents. Our instructional team is making plans for long-term delivery of instruction and continues to navigate the many details of this unprecedented situation.

On Monday, March 23, staff will resume duty with a modified work schedule and location as assigned and detailed by your supervisor.

Although today is only the first day of instruction that our 118,000-plus students are missing due to COVID-19, I am proud that we have been able to quickly provide valuable resources for our students, and we will continue to do so. The district website (http://www.cfisd.net/covid19) has details regarding the following resources and will continue to be regularly updated.

• Curbside meals (breakfast, lunch and dinner) for children 18 years or younger, Monday through Friday, began today.
• Arnold MS, Bane ES, Cy Creek HS, Cy Lakes HS, Cy Park HS, Cy Ridge HS, Cy Springs HS, Danish ES, Francone ES, Frazier ES, Holbrook ES, Horne ES, Kirk ES, Langham Creek HS, Thornton MS (Goodson MS begins Tuesday, March 17)
• Houston Food Bank mobile food truck at Cy-Hope’s Hope Chest (12015 Barker Cypress) on Wednesday, March 18 from 10 a.m. – 1 p.m. Families will need to sign in to receive food.
• Extended Learning Resources to support reading, writing and math for Early Childhood through 12th grade. Long-term delivery of instruction will be greatly expanded next week.
• A Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) document that will be updated as we receive additional information on COVID-19 and its impact to our CFISD families.

Today, we also learned that the Texas Education Agency has waived all STAAR tests for the 2019-2020 school year. I expect that more information regarding other tests will be announced soon.

I will continue to participate in frequent calls and meetings with local and state health officials and will update you regularly as we receive new information. We are all committed to providing resources for our students and staff during this time. 

Please stay safe,
~ Mark Henry, Ed.D.

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.