GCISD Strategic Planning

During the September Board meeting, the members of the Board approved a contract with Cambridge Strategic Services to initiate our new 5-year strategic plan process. I believe this is a big step for GCISD as we continue to work towards our mission to be the Best. For an organization to be successful in any field, the most important component needed is strong leadership. I am confident that our new superintendent, Dr. Robin Ryan, will provide that leadership to continue to move our district forward. But right after strong leadership, a strong plan is also critical. This is why we are partnering with Cambridge, an entity with many years of successful experience developing strategic plans for school districts in our state.

The Cambridge process has two purposes: to create a long-term strategic plan by rejuvenating the district's planning process, and to ensure implementation through a complete organizational alignment and systemization of plans and actions.

GCISD will have a 30-member team working with Cambridge to develop the plan for the district, and their first meeting will be in mid-October. The team will include two Board members (Jesse Rodriguez and myself), GCISD staff and other members of our community. The strategic plan should be ready for Board approval by February of next year.

Newsweek's Best High Schools Ranking

Newsweek magazine just released their annual Best High Schools ranking, and once more our two high schools made the list. CHHS was ranked #170 (top 0.7% of the US high schools) and GHS #342 (top 1.3% of the US high schools). According to the article, there are approximately 27,000 high schools in the nation. This ranking is based on the rate of AP tests taken by all the students at each school versus the total number of graduates. The ranking used the AP tests taken in the 2008 - 2009 school year.  The rate of AP tests per graduate was 3.428 at CHHS and 2.669 at GHS.  For the state of Texas, CHHS and GHS ranked #20 and #37, respectively.

The full Newsweek's article can be found here.

Congratulations to both high schools!

Welcome Dr. Robin Ryan!

On June 14th, the GCISD Board of Trustees will move to approve the contract of our new superintendent, Dr. Robin Ryan. Dr. Ryan is the Chief Academic Officer of the Dallas Independent School District and is a current Grapevine resident. He was also the principal at Colleyville Heritage High School from 2004 to 2006.

Dr. Ryan brings a strong educational background with a focus on closing the performance gaps of minority and economically disadvantage students. However, he is also experienced in attending the needs of high performing students. In his previous position as the DISD West Secondary Learning Comunity Executive Director, he was in charge of 44 secondary schools, including the Ewell Townview Center magnet schools. The Ewell Townview Center includes the School of Science and Engineering, and the School for the Gifted and Talented, two of the top ten high schools in the United States according to the US News and Newsweek magazines (2009 rankings). His success in working with such diverse student body in DISD will be a great asset for GCISD.

Dr. Ryan has a Doctorate in Education from the University of North Texas. He also has degrees from Texas A&M and Midwestern State University.

New GCISD Board Member

I would like to welcome Mrs. Karen Deakin to the GCISD Board! Karen is the current President of the CHHS PTSA. Karen received her Bachelor of Science Degree in Consumer Studies from Mount St. Mary's College in Los Angeles. She has been a resident of Colleyville for the past 9 years. Karen won the May 8th GCISD election with 2131 out of 4218 votes (50.52%).

GCISD Board of Trustees Election

The GCISD Board of Trustees election is on Saturday, May 8th. Early voting starts on Monday, April 26th. The early voting locations are: Grapevine Community Activities Center, Colleyville City Hall, Euless Public Library, Bedford Public Library, Southlake Town Hall and the Tarrant County Elections Center in Ft. Worth.

The Election Day voting locations can be found using the Tarrant County Elections Center voters registration look-up application.

The GCISD Board Voters Guide from the League of Women Voters can be found here.

Profile of the new GCISD superintendent

Last month our superintendent search firm held three focus groups to gather feedback from our community on the professional profile they wanted to see in the new superintendent. We had over 60 participants in the three sessions.

One of the main characteristics our community wanted to see was a superintendent with a good understanding of the Texas school finance system. Also, they wanted someone with a track record of success working in a district with a diverse student body. The participants wanted someone that can represent and promote our district within and outside our community. An excellent communicator is another important trait for our new superintendent. Our new superintendent should be accessible, with the ability to listen and work with parents.

Other desired characteristics were: an inspirational leader with a high level of integrity, a strong motivator and an innovative instructional leader. The community wanted someone that is not afraid of making tough decisions, and preferred an educator with a doctorate degree.

If there is anything else you want to add to this excellent profile put together by our community, please post your comments below.

2010 GCISD Board Candidate Forums

We will have two GCISD Board candidate forums next week. The first one is on Monday, April 19th, at Stacey's Furniture in Grapevine. This forum is sponsored by the Colleyville-Grapevine-Southlake (CGS) Democrats, and it starts at 7PM. The forum will also include candidates for the Colleyville Mayoral and Grapevine City Council races.

Our second forum is sponsored by the GCISD Council of PTAs and will be held on Tuesday, April 20th at the Colleyville Heritage High School Library. The forum will start at 6:30PM.

These forums will give you the opportunity to hear the Board candidate viewpoints on important issues the affect our School District.

The GCISD Board election will be held on May 8th. Early voting starts on April 26th.