MISD Superintendent Tom Crowe is retiring from education after 38 years

McKinney ISD Superintendent of Schools Tom Crowe will retiring on Dec. 31 and has led MISD as superintendent since July 2004 and will be entering his 38th year of service in public education.

“MISD, with the help of more than 200 community members, recently approved a five-year strategic plan,” Crowe said.  “A plan has been put into place and the path is clear, and we are excited about the direction in which the District is heading.  With that in place, and dedicated and talented teachers and staff throughout the district, I feel it is an appropriate and fitting time to retire from education after what I feel has been a very blessed career.”

Prior to coming to McKinney, Crowe served as the Deputy Superintendent for Administrative Services in the Katy ISD, near Houston, for seven years. During his 37 years in the education field he served for 10 years as a classroom teacher and 27 years as an administrator.

“I have never worked with a more talented and amazing group of educators than here in McKinney ISD,” Crowe said. “When I am asked after retirement what I did for a living, I will respond that I did the most important work in the world.  More importantly, I will say that I worked with so many talented individuals who also did the most important work in the world.  We were educators.”

Crowe is involved in the community as a member of the McKinney Rotary Club, a board member for the Collin County Children’s Advocacy Center and a board member of the McKinney Chamber of Commerce.

Crowe received a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Arts in secondary education with a physical education major and mathematics minor from Ball State University in Muncie, Ind. He received his Mid-Management and Superintendent’s certifications from Sam Houston State University in Huntsville.

Crowe’s wife, Mary Jane, is the Associate Principal for McKinney Boyd High School. They have two sons, Kelly, who serves in the United States Navy, and David, who graduated from the United States Naval Academy and works as a volunteer fireman in Katy. 

Judy Bragg named principal of Wilmeth Elementary School in McKinney ISD

Bragg will replace former Wilmeth Elementary School principal Michelle McMichael, who is the new Director of Curriculum and Instruction for Stephenville ISD, which is located south of Dallas.

Bragg has served in San Angelo ISD for the past 25 years, most recently serving as principal of Holiman Elementary School for eight years. She started her career at Crockett Elementary School in San Angelo as a sixth grade teacher in 1984. Two years later, she moved to Bonham Elementary School where she taught first, fourth, fifth, and sixth grades throughout her 13 years at the school. In 1999, Bragg taught sixth grade at Santa Rita Elementary School before becoming an assistant principal at Goliad Elementary School the following year. In 2001, she arrived at Holiman Elementary School as principal, and led the campus to an exemplary rating in 2006, 2007, and 2008.

Bragg received her bachelor of arts in elementary education from Texas Tech University in 1984 and her master of education degree in mid-management from Angelo State University in 2000. She was voted Teacher of the Year by her peers at Bonham Elementary School in 1998.

McKinney High School computer science team wins big UIL Practice meet

Josh Middlebrook- first individual
Nicole DeVault- second individual
Rahat Ahmed- third individual

McKinney North Winterguard earns second place at local contest

The McKinney North High School Winterguard earned a secnd place trophy at the Centennial High School Contest on Feb. 20. The next day they performed in Austin at the Wingerguard International (WGI) Austin Regional Competiton.

McKinney North Winterguard placed second in preliminaries and advanced to the finals. They ranked 12th place overall in finals performance, with two judges ranking them sixth in the categories of movement and equipment. Congratulations on the award-winning performance by these hard-working band members under the direction of Guard Instructor Charles "Chuckie" McClean, said Justin Acker, spokesperson for McKinney ISD.

The McKinney North Winterguard will perform at the following locations and dates: March 13 at Birdville High School at 10:45 a.m. and March 14 and 15 - WGI Dallas Power Regional at South Grand Prairie High School at 11:12 a.m.

Baker Elementary School students show their love for Iraq troops by making and collecting valentines

Submitted photo and copy
Created at 11:55 a.m. on Feb. 9, 2009

Audie Russell's first grade class at Baker Elementary School in McKinney, which lies in the Prosper ISD. First grade students at Baker Elementary School in McKinney showed their love for local troops who are serving overseas in the Iraq War as they recently made valentines for the troops. The students also discussed random acts of kindness that they could do for their fellow man. Russell's daughter's fiance' is currently serving in in the United States Armed Services in Iraq and the class has communicated with him.  The students collected 314 valentines, which will be distributed to troops serving in the Iraq War before Valentine's Day.
"The class was very excited when we received a thank you note via e-mail from Iraq," Russell said.

The soldiers even took time to answer some of our questions that we asked in our valentine cards.  Some examples of questions the students asked:  Do helicopters pick up tanks?; What do you eat?; Do your tanks shoot bullets?; Do you get to sleep?; Do they have schools there?, What do your Hum-Vees look like?; Are there camels?   

Pictured above are members of Audie Russell's first grade class at Baker Elementary School in McKinney who are holding valentines they made for local troops currently serving in the military in Iraq.

Chi Zeta Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. seeks scholarship applicants

Graduating African American female seniors in school disttricts in the McKinney ISD, Allen ISD, Frisco ISD, Plano ISD, and Wylie ISD, and other school districts in Collin County are eligible to apply for the Chi Zeta Omega Achieving Excellence Educational Scholarship Award. Two Scholarship donations will be awarded in the amount of $1,500 each from the Chi Zeta Omega Chapter of the African-American AKA Sorority, Inc. Eligible students are those planning to begin their post-high school careers in the summer of fall of 2009.

“Promoting academic excellence and scholarship has been the hallmark of AKA Sorority since its inception. Chi Zeta Omega Chapter is privileged to continue the vision of our founders,” said Felicia Layeni, president of Chi Zeta Omega Chapter.

Applications must be postmarked by March 20 and may be obtained from high school counselors, AKA Chapter members or by requesting an application at scholarship@akaczo.org .      
Application and supporting documents must be mailed to: Chi Zeta Omega Scholarship Committee, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., PO Box 941832, Plano, TX,75094.  For more information, contact Sandra Barber 972-359-1172 or at scholarship@akaczo.org or spbarber52@yahoo.com. 

Collin College Child Development Lab School receives national accreditation

The Child Development Lab School at Collin College’s Spring Creek Campus is one of the first early childhood programs to earn accreditation from the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) – the nation’s leading organization of early childhood professionals in their new accreditation system.

“We’re proud to have once again earned the mark of quality from NAEYC, and to be recognized for our commitment to reaching the highest professional standards,” Janet Galantay, lab school director, said.  “NAEYC accreditation lets families in our community know that children in our program are getting the best care and early learning experiences possible. As a lab school, we are setting a high standard for the college students that come through our program.” 

To earn NAEYC accreditation in the new system, the Child Development Lab School went through an extensive self-study process, measuring the program and its services against the ten new NAEYC Early Childhood Program Standards and more than 400 related Accreditation Criteria.  The program received NAEYC Accreditation after an on-site visit by NAEYC Assessors to ensure that the program meets each of the ten NAEYC program standards.  NAEYC-accredited programs are also subject to unannounced visits during their accreditation, which lasts for five years.

“We are committed to providing the best educational experience possible for our students at Collin. The NAEYC Accreditation affirms our desire to be the very best lab school possible. This is a tribute to the commitment of our Board of Trustees, President Cary Israel, and the staff of the Spring Creek Child Development Lab School,” said Gary Hodge, Academic Dean.

In the 20 years since NAEYC Accreditation was established, it has become a widely recognized sign of high-quality early childhood education.  More than 11,000 programs, serving one million young children, are currently accredited by NAEYC – about 8 percent of all preschools and other early childhood programs. 

“The new NAEYC Accreditation system raises the bar for preschools, child care centers and other early childhood programs,” said Dr. Mark Ginsberg, executive director of NAEYC.  “Collin College Child Development Lab School’s NAEYC accreditation is a sign that they are a leader in a national effort to invest in high-quality early childhood education, and to help give all children a better start.”

McKinney ISD students earn more than 250 AP Scholar Awards

More than 250 McKinney ISD high school students have earned AP Scholar Awards in recognition of their exceptional achievement on the college-level Advanced Placement Program®, also known as the AP Exams.

Students took AP Exams in May of this year after completing challenging college-level courses at their high schools. The College Board recognizes several levels of achievement based on students’performance on AP Exams.

Two students from McKinney Boyd High School were awarded the National AP Scholar Award, 13 were recognized as AP Scholars with Distinction, 13 were honored as AP Scholars with Honors, and 70 students were awarded an AP Scholar Award. McKinney High School had a total of six students awarded the National AP Scholar Award, 22 honored as AP Scholar with Distinction recipients, four recognized as AP Scholars with Honor, and a total of 53 students as AP Scholar Award winners.

McKinney North High School had 22 honored as AP Scholar with Distinction Awards, nine students were awarded the AP Scholar with Honor Award, and 43 students recognized as AP Scholar Award Winners.

“The significant increase in AP Scholar Awards is outstanding for a district our size,” said Virginia Cotten, Ph.D., assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction for McKinney ISD. “We hope to continue the upward trend each year because we have incredible teachers and brilliant student scholars. We have increased our efforts to identify potential scholars, and we have put a great prep program in
place during the last three years. We are so proud of the students and the teachers.”

The College Board’s Advanced Placement Program provides motivated and academically prepared students with the opportunity to take rigorous college-level courses while still in high school, and to earn college credit, advanced placement, or both for successful performance on the AP Exams. About 18 percent of the 1.6 million students worldwide who took AP Exams performed at a sufficiently high level to merit the designation of an AP Scholar.

Students that have an average grade of at least 3.5 on all AP Exams taken, and scores a three or higher on five or more of these exams are recognized as AP Scholars with Distinction students. Students earning an average grade of at least 3.25 on all AP Exams taken, and grades of three or higher on four or more of these exams qualified for the AP Scholar with Honor Award. The AP Scholar Award was given to students that completed three or more AP Exams, and scored a three or higher on the exams.

The highest honor available to students through the College Board is the National AP Scholar Award. To be honored as a National AP Scholar a student must earn an average grade of four or higher on a five-point scale on all AP Exams taken, and grades of 4 or higher on eight or more of these exams.

2008 McKinney ISD AP Scholars Awards
McKinney Boyd High School:
National AP Scholar: Jennifer Koester, Laura Norman
AP Scholar with Distinction: Alec Baum, Austin Butts, Robert Carpenter,Caroline Dixon, Zachary Fusco, Steven Kirk, Jennifer Koester, Catherine Lee, Marquerite Monogue, Laura Norman, Sean Adasivan, Danielle Snow, and Aerial Whiting

AP Scholar with Honor: Andrea Barreto, Erika Brown, Megan Coffin, Malia Gresham, William Huang, Lauren Krempin, Alejandra Mancera, Amanda Miller, Ethan Pulliam, Jenny Ringovist, Tyler Schardt, Aimi Tanada, and Tyler Terrill

AP Scholar Award: Preston Bagley, Morgyn Bailey, Alexander Barker, Margaret Bates, Emily Beaney, Brian Benshoof, Zachary Blankenship, Dillon Bloodworth, Laura Bohon, Colin Bosch, Laurel Buchanan, Bryan Burnett, Jeffrey Cameron, Juan Carrillo, Steven Cisar, Adam Cislo, Emily Clark, Danielle Corbin, Devan Decell, Brad Dobberfuhl, Delaney Dowd, Brandon Dugall, Rebecca Eddy, Kaylyn Frink, Kylie Gulickson, Ryan Hames, William Hamlett, Michael Hann, Kaitlin Hawkins, Kelsey Higgins, James Juno, Alexander Ladd, Nicholas Leamon, Emily Ledbetter, Gabriella Leiva, Taylor Lovell, Ana Madera, Sana Mahmood, Matthew Manquero, Bradley McCullough, Christopher Miller, Daniel Moore, Mitchell Morin, Max Mullen, Tyler Nally, Emily Nielsen, Ryan Parker, Blake Patterson, Ashiyan Rahman, Kaiden Rawlinson, Lauryn Reid, Shaun Ritchie, Kirsten Rude, Ethan Saporito, Glen Schumann, Laura Shaheen, Katie Shaw, Sarah Shearer-Law, Alison Sheffer, Donika Shpati, Christina Smith, Jeffrey Smith, Jonathan Smith, Wangminhui Song,Andrew Stein, Sarah Sterns,Kylie Sullivan, Andrew Willis, Mason Zack, and James Zodrow

McKinney High School
National AP Scholar: Hannah Adams, Morgan Bailey, Jordan Carmona, Alison Cooley, Austin Klinger, and Stephanie Stefanski
AP Scholar with Distinction: Hannah Adams, Morgan Bailey, Bree Bess, Beau Brehm, Jordan Carmona, Jerod Coker, Alison Cooley, Courtney Eason, Reid Garcia, Cedric Horvath, Bethany Johnston, Ashley Kim, Austin Klinger, Christopher Krueger, Melody Maxson, David McCoy, Justin Montgomery, Carsen Neerings, Brett Peters, John Schommer, Stephanie Stefanski, Kenton Tindall
AP Scholar with Honor: Alexandra Davis, Audrey Harris, Grant Hertzog, Thor Lund
AP Scholar Award:Mark Alexander, Tristram Barnard, Elizabeth Brannon, Victoria Brenna, Andrea Brown,David Cullinan, Shane Curtis, James Davis, Joshua Dytko, Jason Emond, Jessica Friedrich, Brenna Garbelman, Daniel Gassett,Sean Gent,Jacquelyn Glockner Sean Hagan, Ryan Hart, Meghan Hendrickson,Haley Hickman,William Johnson, Jennelle Kaske,Alexander Kilgo, Matthew Lawless, Alexander Martin, Paulina Mora, Nicholas Mucci, Lauren Myhre, Kalen Nelson, Apinya Pantages, David Petty, Eric Prinslow,Jessica Reinelt, Andrew Russell, Kimberly Salmon, Lindsay Schermer, Karanvir Singh, Chelsea South, Matthew Stepan, Troy Stewart, Kaitlyn Swan, Morgan Swann, Dennis Taylor, Mitchell Thomas, Alexandra Thorne, Rachel Timm, Austin Tol, Kendal Tolle, Cleave Treanor, Allison Wells, Christi Welter, Ashley West, Alexandra Wilson, and Kunnel Zachariah

McKinney North High School
AP Scholar with Distinction: Taylor Amadon, Powers Bilodeau, Lindsay Camiscione, Keith Dreidger, Kathryn Edwards, Lauren Essler, Stephanie Ganter, Haley Gatewood, Meredith Hedgwood, Scott Henderson, Daniel Hooper, Tyler Knapik, Robert Long, Mirria Martin, Jordyn Maxwell, Snigda Merugu, Rachel Moorman, Christian Olmeda, Siddmartha Singh, Brittany Smith, Kathryn Walsh, and Adrian Zuniga
AP Scholar with Honor: Michael Bedgood, Asia Blissett, Nicole Cassidy, Jared Maddox, Benjamin Miller, William O’Neal, Sage Pierce, Daniela Ruiz De Somocur, and Rocio Willanueva
AP Honor Award: Steven Autry, Zachary Bitting, Devon Bosley, Garrett Bottlinger, Alisa Bovda, Chelsea Calder, Chuan-I Chang, Kristen Crawley, Lane Davis, Jeremy Deshan, Matthew East, Alyson Firpi, Alexandra Gatewood, Alison Gonzalez, Lauren Griffin, Christopher Harlan, Robert Hawthorne, Jacob Hebert, Morgan Henry, Sean Hillman, Doris Lee, Brandon Major, Megan McDougald, Ellen Ogden, Michelle O'Neal, Kaitlin Onofrey, Jed Pajela, Stephanie Ponder, James Ray, Elizabeth Reith, Megan Robinson, Jeremy Ross, Matthew Schrameyer, Jaclyn Sherman, Lauren Silver, Kayla Smith, Nicholas Sperl, Kelsey Subowsty, Katherine Thomas, Cynthia Tralmer, Katie True, Nakita Vojnovich, and Maria Whelan

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