pineda

skip to page 10 for an update on what PASA is doing now in Klein ISD

try this one, Chris

Tom Ricker who is in way over his head here

Gotta agree with you on this one. Tom Ricker was in charge of the whole "mold remediation" situation at Northampton Elementary last year and had several big missteps in my opinion. He was only recently moved into his new position, in charge of Facilities, a step up from his last position, in charge of the Bus Barn.

The bigger problem, again in my opinion, is the PASA report done for and paid for by the Klein ISD. This report was and is loaded with errors, but the past board just skimmed over the report's findings and approved all their recommendations. This was a mistake, considering the group that did the work had also done a similar report for Spring ISD, and sent that whole district into a tail-spin, one from which they still haven't fully recovered, which included a failed bond election. The PASA report needs to have another committee, since the school board appears to be too busy to bother, to go over its' findings with a fine-toothed comb. A nice touch would be to include representatives from each of the affected communities on the committee.

Chris-

Did you attend the Community Forum at Klein Oak regarding zoning proposals? If you did, would you be so kind as to give us your thoughts on how you thought it went on this rather contentious issue for Klein ISD? Thanks!

I know that the bus service issue for the International Baccalaureate program at Klein Oak was to be addressed by the school board, but I don't know the outcome yet. Hopefully, they decided to provide bus service to and from Klein Oak for the students whose home campus is either Klein Collins, Klein Forest or Klein. Otherwise, it unfairly penalizes those students who might have qualified to attend the program, but had not transportation provided by the district.

I wonder why Klein ISD is locating all of the special campuses in the Klein Forest Zone.

Not all are. The I.B. (International Baccalaureate) program is located at Klein Oak.

My question would be:

Is Klein ISD providing bus service to VISTAS and the IBA? They currently do not for the IB program.

On a related note:

Here's a press release from Klein ISD regarding Klein Forest's appeal of their AYP-

"Klein Forest High School was recently granted an appeal of its preliminary 2006 AYP (Adequate Yearly Progress) rating. An AYP rating is based upon requirements of the federal No Child Left Behind Act. As a result of the approval of the appeal, all campuses in Klein and the district itself now have ratings of "Meets AYP."

To meet AYP, student groups on each campus must achieve performance and participation standards in reading and mathematics. The student groups are: all students, African American, Hispanic, white, economically disadvantaged, limited English proficient, and special education.

Klein Forest students met all performance standards, but one group did not meet the required 95% participation rate for mathematics. An absence by one student caused the campus to have a 94% rate of participation in that group. The campus submitted proper documentation regarding the student's absence in the appeal, and its rating for 2006 was successfully changed to "Meets AYP."

Well, since you're dabbling in hypotheticals like Brad Paisley, I'd have to say that if I had my druthers, I'd like to see Shake Russell & Dana Cooper at the HLS&R!

My favorite picks this year in order:

1. George Strait

2. ZZ Top

3. Alan Jackson

4. Toby Keith

5. Josh Turner

(from press release today from Klein ISD)

The Klein ISD International Business Academy will open in August 2007 for ninth grade students. This magnet program provides a strong academic, business, marketing, and foreign language foundation for students who wish to enter the highly competitive global environment.

To apply for the academy, students must complete an application that includes an essay. Parents will provide a signed permission form. And students must provide the names of two intermediate school teachers as references. The application items are due by noon on February 9. Students may visit with their guidance counselors for more information.

The International Business Academy will be housed at Klein Forest High School. Students will attend classes during regular school hours and participate in enrichment activities and community service projects. Opportunities will be provided for interaction with members of the community who work in the international business environment.

I attended Johnston Junior High with a Mark Herod. I wonder if they're related.

Lame Duck Senator Jon Lindsay (yep, I do like saying that!) made himself a pretty good chunk of change selling off his land that was surrounded on three sides by Windrose recently also.

When is the Grand Parkway going to be completed?

It really depends on who you ask. Right now, they have no identifiable funding, so maybe never.

Also the plan is to have Cutten Road come all the way through to Spring Cypress to alleviate some traffic issues.

any idea as to the timeframe on this?

Besides future Tomball ISD schools being built for Creekside Park area homes, is Tomball ISD building any new schools in the immediate future?

Well, if that's the location for these two schools, road access should be no problem at all. Thanks for the link, Lock.

ENG-

The press release I got did state that the land was bought with the intention of building not just a high school, but an intermediate school as well, on the same lot. I don't know the time frame for building these schools, though. But, it's probably on those Community Forums for Klein ISD.

It is a pretty big chunk of land for these two schools, but what caught my attention from the aerial map was that it looks as if the access onto Spring Cypress is only a 2-lane road. Is this true? Maybe I was looking at an outdated map. I know big portions of Spring Cypress are being widened. If not, this could be a potential nightmare, similar to the situation now being played out daily at Kreinhop, Schindewolf and Klein Collins as all three schools dump out onto Falvel every day.

I think it is. I checked out the location the other day on an aerial map. It looks like it is close to Gleannloch Farms, which should make them all very happy.

story found on chron.com

Klein will have their last day of classes on June 5th. They have condensed some parts of the year to make it all fit. One of the things that the students in Klein will be upset about with this new calendar is that their final exams will not be taking place before Christmas break anymore. Instead they will be taking them after the break in January, which means they will be studying over Christmas break or NOT! It should be interesting, to say the least!

related story about Tomball ISD

Notice of Meeting of Klein ISD:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The regular meeting of the Klein ISD Board of Trustees will be Tuesday, December 12. The public portion of the meeting will begin at 7:00 p.m. in the board room at the central office of the district at 7200 Spring Cypress Road, Klein.

Among the topics that the board members will consider is the calendar for the 2007-08 school year. The calendar approved by the board must reflect mandates of the Texas Legislature. For example, school may not begin before the fourth Monday in August. After the calendar is approved, it will be posted to the Klein ISD Web site at www.kleinisd.net.

This should be interesting! For example, the students who will be seniors next year will be graduating at the end of June now instead of May. Some colleges, such as U.T., are utilizing a new tool called "Early Start", which requires incoming freshman to be on campus in June/July, instead of August, to ease overcrowding. So, some students will be essentially going straight from their high school graduation to college. This isn't the only big change coming from the Texas Lege. Students who will be incoming high school freshmen next year will be required to take more math & science than previously required. This is a great idea, but the middle schools will have to step up what they're teaching now in order to get those kids ready for extra work.

http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articl...908122006-1.htm

Curt Glowacki, formerly with Monterey House, jumps to Outback Steakhouse.

Yes, his name is Frank Lemmon, a longtime resident of Northampton and everyone loves him! And, actually he's an interim principal, until the district picks a new one. This gives Scott Crowe time now to get his new school ready. He will office out of Hildebrandt, but will no longer be concerned with the day-to-day business of Hildebrandt. This way he'll be ready to hit the ground running when Krimmel opens. We're very fortunate that the district gives Mr. Crowe this time frame in which to get ready, and lucky to get Mr. Lemmon back in the school he once ran. Many of his former students are now parents of children who attend Hildebrandt, and are really looking forward to seeing him again. It's a win-win situation.

It seems very odd that they would close so suddenly and just drop orders they've already taken. That suggests to me that they are not in a good relationship with Wulfe and want out NOW (and won't be back for BLVD Place.)

I knew their old location was being torn down, and I had heard that they were in negotiations with Wulfe for a new location. Their overhead is supposedly outrageous, and maybe they just couldn't make the numbers work for them. I'm going to miss them! Out here, the closest thing we have to it is Panera's or Pie Town. BTW, has anyone heard if Dean & Deluca is coming out to the Woodlands area? If so, when & where? Thanks!

from the demographic study done for Klein ISD

more about capacity from demographic study

more about expected population by neighborhood areas

summation of comments made by PASA re; long-range high school plans

A note from pineda:

I do not agree with many of the assessments and assumptions made in the PASA report commissioned by the Klein ISD, especially regarding current population numbers and projected future ones. I would use their report as one of several planning tools, but it is not the solitary recommendation I would choose to use.

State Marching Band Contest results

Marcus High School Band - 5A State Champions! - Congratulations!

Chris-

Have you considered presenting this information at a Klein ISD school board meeting? They always welcome hearing from community members, and this should be brought to their attention. Good luck.