Westchester Adademy for International Studies Excels

Texas business group honors four schools for high performance

Four district campuses have been named Honor Roll schools by a highly regarded nonprofit business and education group. Earning recognition this year are Memorial High, Memorial Middle, Frostwood Elementary and Westchester Academy for International Studies, the district’s only charter middle and high school.

The Austin-based Texas Business & Education Coalition (TBEC) awards are issued each year to only a select number of Texas public schools based on high, sustained student academic performance. To be honored, schools are compared with individual peer schools and student groups, and then tracked over a multiyear period.

“The TBEC Honor Roll is the most prestigious award for sustained, academic excellence in Texas. Among other factors, these schools have the highest percentage of students performing at the state’s most rigorous standard – Commended – in every subject during the past three school years,” says coalition Executive Director John H. Stevens.
Honor Roll schools will be recognized Oct. 22 with special seminar sessions and an evening dinner at the Austin Hilton Hotel.

Memorial High and Memorial Middle schools were both named 2006 TBEC Honor Roll Schools. Frostwood Elementary is a repeat TBEC honoree, too, and several other SBISD campuses have also earned the highly regarded award in recent years. TBEC has also rated Memorial High as one of the state’s best high schools.

Cornerstone Academy, the district’s other charter middle school, was a three-time Honor Roll award recipient. Spring Oaks Middle has been a repeat TBEC award winner, too.
Formed in 1989, TBEC is a nonprofit group composed of business executives and education leaders. They are dedicated to improving the performance of public schools by influencing state education policy and fostering community-based initiatives to improve our schools.
Principals for this year’s award-winning schools include Memorial High’s Steve Shorter and Westchester Academy’s Pamela Butler. Memorial Middle’s new principal is Lisa Weir.
Longtime Frostwood Elementary Principal Lynda Maxwell is now a district administrator. Replacing her at Frostwood is new Principal Jan Griffin.

A few principals had this to say:

“I am thrilled for the Frostwood staff and community! This is the second time that we have won this award, and that does not happen by accident. It comes from a commitment to collaboration that always focuses on the best interest of our students. The Frostwood parents and teachers listen to one another with openness, compassion and respect and make decisions that consistently lead to excellence for all our children.” – Lynda Maxwell, former Frostwood principal

“Memorial High School is again honored to be recognized for the large number of high-achieving students at our school. Being named a Texas Honor Roll School is a tribute to our faculty, students and community for their high standards of achievement.” – Steve Shorter, Memorial High principal

"When our students heard the news in a recent assembly, they all cheered! I am so very proud of our faculty, staff, students and parents. We have all worked so hard to increase our TAKS scores, close our achievement gaps, and increase Commended Levels on TAKS. We truly believe that all students can achieve at very high levels given the right set of circumstances. Recognition by the Texas Business & Education Coalition is greatly appreciated by everyone here at Westchester Academy." -- Campus Director Pam Butler