New Year Brings Exciting New Opportunities!
Submitted by Dr. Darrell Myers, Livingston ISD, August 5, 2008

Livingston ISD - This is going to be an exciting year in Lion Country as we head back to class this fall with new programs, several new faces, and fresh ideas to rejuvenate some academic cornerstones.  In every area of study and on all of our campuses you will find something to be excited about as we put a special emphasis on achieving academic success by meeting the needs of our local students and preparing them for continuing education and the workforce.  

Livingston ISD is setting the microscope directly on our district wide Science curriculum in 2008/2009.  With a concerted effort to improve our Science achievement, a team of teachers and administrators have been put in place to help evaluate and improve this area of study.  The effort will be from top to bottom, with the long term goal of aligning our Science curriculum toward the success of students from K-12.  Academic improvements are also being made in areas such as reading, math, and social studies as we implement several new textbook, curriculum packages, and computer based learning programs.  It is our goal in 2008/2009 for all of our campuses to reach the Exemplary status that we know they are capable of achieving.

This fall Livingston ISD, in partnership with Angelina College and the Memorial Medical Center, will begin our new Certified Nursing Assistant program which will allow many of our students to take classes toward earning their certification by graduation.  This exciting program will pave the way for these students to work in this rapidly expanding field and reach the first step toward further certifications.

Livingston High School is implanting a new Career counseling component to the curriculum which will provide job training for students that enter the workforce during their senior year of classes.  Students will be receiving training on every aspect of working in the real world as well as being monitored as they work in our local community.  

Livingston ISD is working hard to hire and retain qualified personnel for our district.  In 2008/2009 we are making strong employee retention a priority with programs such as our Aspiring Leadership Academy which provides support and training for prospective principals and administrators and our New Teacher Academy which assist young teachers as they work through their first years in the classroom. 

LISD has many fresh faces in leadership roles with four new principals joining our administrative team.  At Timber Creek Elementary and Livingston Intermediate School, Kyle Rice and Lana Smith will be moving from their former roles as assistant principals into the new role of principal.  Livingston Junior High School will have a new principal as well as they welcome Michael Woodard who served LISD last year as a High School assistant principal.  We are also very excited to have Barbara Shaw serving as the new principal of Livingston High School as she comes to us from the Conroe Independent School District. 

LISD is revamping and rejuvenating our Challenger program and our Alternative Education programs in 2008-2009.  The Challenger program, under the new leadership Stephanie Smith, has been moved to the High School campus this fall and will work hard to continue to assist students toward graduation.  Our AEP program will have new leadership with Principal Karen Maxey, who joins us from Huntsville ISD.

There are many other exciting things happening throughout our schools and changes to be noted, we will be participating in a new UIL district which should bring on some new competition for our sports teams and our District Champion UIL Academics program at the High School.  We also hope to see continued success from all of our programs as we move into the fall. 

I invite everyone to follow our students successes on our school district website at www.livingstonisd.com and as always feel free to visit us throughout the year at one of our many school board meetings and help us celebrate the hard work of our local kids.  Join us in 2008/2009 as we take our local students from crayons to careers!