July 2012, Edition

Dear Education Partner:

Dr Wanda Bamberg, Superintendent of SchoolsThe 2012-13 school year begins on Aug. 27, which is just six weeks away. We have been gearing up for up for the start of the new school year during the summer. Our employees did have a chance to take some much-deserved time off this summer to recharge their batteries, but now we are all back at work preparing for the upcoming school year.

Next week, we will hold our annual administrative conference where district administrators and principals will gather for an overview of the changes the new school year will bring.

The week will be intensive as we chart the course for the coming year, set goals and acquire information that will benefit our students. We will also introduce new administrators, principals and assistant principals to the rest of our team.

While this is an intensive week, we do find time to have some fun at our annual APPLE (Aldine Plans for Performance and Learning Excellence) Celebration, which caps off the administrative conference. At the APPLE Celebration, we gather for lunch and celebrate our successes from the 2011-12 school year. We even enjoy a bit of entertainment as various departments perform skits during the celebration.

There is still a lot of work to do before we begin yet another school year, but this is always an exciting time of year as we prepare to welcome back our students after their summer break.

While we ready for the new year, I’d like to share with you some information concerning a long-time employee who was honored by our Trustees during the July Board meeting. Our Trustees unanimously voted to rename the softball field at Nimitz High School and the district’s Varsity Invitational Softball Tournament after Irene Hopkins, who started the softball program at Nimitz and served the district for 43 years as a teacher and coach.

Irene was a member of the staff that opened Nimitz in 1978 and was the last employee to retire from the original staff when she retired in December of 2011. She was also the longest serving coach in the history of Aldine ISD. She devoted her personal time and resources to maintain the softball field so her players would have the best conditions possible to practice and play the game they loved. Thanks to her influence, many of her former students and players received scholarships and have gone on to become coaches themselves.

We salute Irene for her 43 years of dedicated service to our students and we are glad that her name will be a fixture at Nimitz High for future generations of softball players to come.

We are looking forward to the coming year and to working with you as business partners and stakeholders as we strive, together, to Produce the Nation’s Best!

Sincerely,
Wanda Bamberg Ed.D.
Superintendent of Schools

District Highlights

• Aldine ISD students Christian Adame and Shandey Ketchey currently have their artwork on display at the George H.W. Bush Library in College Station as part of the Texas Art Education Association Gold Seal Art Exhibit. Their works will be on display until Aug. 9.

• All seven Aldine ISD Trustees attended the Texas Association of School Board’s (TASB) Summer Leadership Institute in June in San Antonio.

• Johnson Elementary School took first place in both the K-2 and 3-4 divisions in the Name That Book contest, held during the spring semester.

• Aldine ISD hosted the 12th annual Blue Chip Senior Bowl all-star game in June. Fourteen AISD football players were selected to play in the game, which featured 72 of the Greater Houston area’s top high school football graduates.

The Nation’s Best!

Geneve Fragoso Wind, a teacher at deSantiago EC/Pre-K Center, shares her love of dogs by volunteering with the Greater Houston Search Dogs (GHSD) group. Geneve and her dogs donate their time to GHSD, a non-profit group of volunteers who are dedicated to helping families and law enforcement in searching for missing loved ones. While Geneve loves teaching, she also relishes volunteering with GHSD. She trains her own dogs three days a week so they will be prepared when called upon to help in a search. She said nothing gives her more joy than helping families in their time of need when a loved one has gone missing. Geneve is just one more example of an Aldine employee who goes above and beyond the call of duty to help her fellow man!

Upcoming Events

Thursday, July 26
APPLE Celebration, M.O. Campbell Educational Center, 11 a.m.

Monday, Aug. 6
Regular Work Schedule (8 a.m.-4:30 p.m.) Resumes

Mon., Aug. 13-Wed., Aug. 15
New Teacher Induction Academy, Nimitz High School

Thursday, Aug. 16
Summer School Graduation, M.O. Campbell Educational Center, 7 p.m.

Monday, Aug. 20
Board Study Session, Board Room, 6:30 p.m.

Tuesday, Aug. 21
Board Meeting, Board Room, 7 p.m.

Monday, Aug. 27
First Day of Instruction

Monday, Sept. 3
Labor Day Holiday (district offices and schools closed)

Saturday, Sept. 8
Reach Out to Dropouts Walk Day, 8 a.m.-noon

Monday, Sept. 17
Board Study Session, Board Room, 6:30 p.m.

Tuesday, Sept. 18
Board Meeting, Board Room, 7 p.m.