October is Connected Educator Month (CEM). The United States Department of Education (USDoE) created CEM to help “hundreds of thousands of educators learn, reducing isolation and providing ‘just in time’ access to knowledge and opportunities for collaboration.” For 2013, the USDoE identified four school districts from across the United States that are putting a high value on the connected educator process.

White Oak ISD is proud to announce its selection as one of those four school districts. The selected districts are “intended to serve as models for forward learning along your district’s connected learning journey.”

WOISD is spotlighted in the USDoE’s Connected Educator District ToolKit to provide direction to those wishing to improve the level of connectedness their staff currently has. Within the Toolkit are links to videos of all four of the districts. White Oak’s video is available below.

Questions concerning WOISD’s selection can be addressed to:

Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach: @snbeach or [email protected]

Michael Gilbert: [email protected]

Click HERE for more information about Connected Educator Month.

Download the District ToolKit HERE.

Video Interview posted on Connected Educator site:

White Oak ISD has been selected as one of 23 school districts in the State of Texas to develop the next generation learning standards, assessment and accountability systems for Texas.

Additional Information:

White Oak ISD is honored to be chosen for this project that will start this fall and go through January of 2018. During that time, we will work collaboratively with consortium members to develop and implement a new statewide assessment system. This new system will incorporate digital learning, multiple assessments and an element of local control that allows communities to have a voice in the education of their students.

White Oak ISD is the fourth smallest district in the consortium by enrollment and the only member located in East Texas.

TEA News Releases Online

Sept. 19, 2012

23 districts selected High Performance Schools Consortium members

AUSTIN – Texas Commissioner of Education Michael L. Williams today invited 23 school districts to participate in the Texas High Performance Schools Consortium, which will help develop innovative, next-generation learning standards, assessments and accountability systems. TEA will host the first consortium meeting next month.

“The school districts selected to participate in the consortium are already known for their innovative work and are looked to by many as educational leaders. This exciting project will help the Governor, legislative leaders and the Texas Education Agency craft a sound, well-thought out plan to move all Texas schools to the next performance level,” Williams said.

The consortium will make recommendations in four key areas:

1. Digital learning–Engagement of students in digital learning, including the use of electronic textbooks and instructional materials and courses offered through the Texas Virtual School Network;
2. Learning standards–Standards that a student must master to be successful in a competitive postsecondary environment;
3. Multiple assessments–Various methods of measuring student progress to keep students, parents and schools  informed, and the actions consortium participants are taking to improve learning; and
4. Local control–Ways in which reliance on local input and decision-making enable communities and parents to be involved in the important decisions regarding the education of their children.

Districts submitted an application and went through a rigorous selection process to become part of the consortium. To be eligible to participate, a district or charter must have:

1. Received either national, statewide, or regional public acknowledgement for district-wide or campus-wide excellence in academic performance or innovative practice;
2. Supplied proof of compliance with TEA audit requirements; and
3. Met performance ratings requirements– Only districts and campuses that have received Academically Acceptable, Recognized, or Exemplary ratings and open enrollment charter schools that are rated Exemplary in the 2010-2011 state accountability system are eligible.

In selecting the participants, state law required the Commissioner to create a consortium that reflected the state’s diversity in district size and type, as well as student demographics.

Following is an alphabetic list of those selected to participate in the consortium.

Anderson-Shiro Consolidated ISD

Clear Creek ISD

College Station ISD

Coppell ISD

Duncanville ISD

Eanes ISD

Glen Rose ISD

Guthrie Common

Harlingen CISD

Highland Park ISD (Dallas County)

Irving ISD

Klein ISD

Lake Travis ISD

Lancaster ISD

Lewisville ISD

McAllen ISD

McKinney ISD

Northwest ISD

Prosper ISD

Richardson ISD

Roscoe ISD

Round Rock ISD

White Oak ISD

The White Oak Education Foundation voted in a Special Meeting held Thursday, May 20, 2010, to donate $20,000.00 to White Oak ISD to go toward construction of a new 30′ X 50″ steel Pavilion for use by White Oak students in conjunction with the District’s Nature Center.  There will be Check Presentation Ceremony at the site of the Nature Center on Wednesday, May 26, 2010 at 3:45 PM.  The Public is invited to attend.

Members of the Nature Center Steering Committee, chaired by Kevin McGuire, will accept the over-sized check facsimile from Billy Sallee, President of the White Oak Education Foundation.

For the past several weeks, White Oak Intermediate School children (grades 3-5) and White Oak Primary School children (K-2) have held a competition between grade levels to see which grade could collect the most “Nickels For Nature”.   The Intermediate Third Grade class and Primary grade level winners celebrated Friday, May 21, with ice cream on the location behind the school where the new Pavilion will be constructed.   The all steel constructed building is expected to be ready for use by students at the beginning of the 2010-2011 school year.

Linked below are photos of the students, led by Intermediate Principal, Karen Dickson, forming the shape of the rectangular Pavilion on the very site where it will be built.  If you have any questions, you may contact Michael E. Gilbert, Superintendent of Schools for White Oak ISD at 903-291-2201.   Click on the link below to view photos:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikegras/sets/72157623984069439/

C. V. Dickson
White Oak Education Foundation
Publicity Committee
Cell: 903-720-7690

Monday through Wednesday of next week (May 24-26), AMS Pictures will be in the district to produce a film using White Oak ISD students, faculty, and staff. The purpose of the film is to promote the integration of technology in the classroom. We were selected by the Texas Education Agency to take part in this project based on the presentations of our teachers at January’s TCEA Conference. Mrs. Monica Floyd, Mrs. Shelly Huggins, and Mrs. Nina Peery are scheduled to be the featured educators in the film. This is an honor for WOISD and we are looking forward to seeing the final product.

November, 2009

White Oak High School has received the “2009 College Readiness Award” from the Texas ACT Council for maintaining or increasing the number of students taking the ACT Assessment over the past five years and significantly increasing their level of achievement and college readiness. The Texas ACT Council is comprised of secondary and post-secondary educators who advise ACT, Inc. on the utilization of ACT programs and services in Texas schools and colleges. ACT, Inc. is the not-for-profit organization that provides assessment, research, information, and program management services in the broad areas of education and workforce development, and the publisher of the ACT Assessment. The ACT Assessment is the college admissions test that is used and accepted by all colleges nationwide and throughout Texas. In 2009, nearly 160,000 Texas students took the ACT which was an all-time high and Texas ACT scores have increased substantially over the last five years.

According to Karen L. Pennell, Assistant Vice President and ACT Southwest Regional Manager, “The Texas ACT Council wanted to recognize those Texas high schools that have made significant strides in increasing the college readiness of their graduates as demonstrated by their ACT score increases over the past five years. This can only happen as a result of the high school’s faculty and staff efforts and the dedication of White Oak High School students and parents to focus on college readiness and raise the level of college readiness for all students. Less than 5% of all high schools in Texas were honored for this superior level of accomplishment.“