Robotics Team Advances

Congratulations to Mr. Sam Bartlett and our Robotics Team!  They competed this past weekend in the Heart of Texas Boosting Engineering, Science & Technology (BEST) Robotics Technical Competition, and took home first place.  This is an outstanding result especially considering we are in the first year of our Robotics program.  They now advance to the State competition in Dallas in two weeks.  Students from both the Middle School and High School make up the team, and they represented Lorena extremely well.  The picture on the left shows the team's trophy, t-shirt, plaque for best t-shirt design, and the official program for the competition.  You can find out more about our Robotics team by reading this post from earlier this year. 

Bus Rider Count

On Wednesday, October 31st and Friday, November 2nd LISD will take a bus count on both the morning and afternoon routes.  The school district can earn an additional $9000+ if we have good ridership on those days. 
The Texas Education Agency requires the school district to choose two days from different months to get the bus ridership average we report.  So, we are asking you to encourage your child to ride the bus Wednesday, October 31st and Friday, November 2nd to support us in the effort to raise additional transportation funding from the state.

Thank you for your support.

Science, Technology and Engineering Success

Lorena High School science/physics teacher, Sam Bartlett, had a simple idea:  If you build it, they will come.  Last spring, with hopes of developing a local science club, Mr. Bartlett applied for and won a grant  from the Lorena Education Foundation to purchase parts and build a computer from scratch.   With his grant in hand, Mr. Bartlett then solicited students to form LSTEC (the Lorena Science Technology and Engineering Club).  Last week the students and Mr. Bartlett met after school to build their first computer, Leopard I.  With excitement in the air and an overall atmosphere of half business and half party, the students finally flipped the switch.  “There were cheers and high fives when we turned it on for the first time and it worked”, said Mr. Bartlett.  “I want to thank the Lorena Education foundation again for making this fantastic experience possible.”  He went on to explain the high school students will also form the Lorena High School BEST Robotics Team, using the computer to design and build a robot and then compete later this year in the Boosting Engineering, Science and Technology competition, or BEST Robotics.

LISD appreciates Mr. Bartlett, who, like so many other teachers in Lorena, strive to show students that science, math and technology can be fun, challenging and rewarding.  If you would like to help the Education Foundation make future grants like this possible, you can mail your donation to the Lorena Education Foundation, P. O. Box 39, Lorena, Texas 76655 or consider participating in our annual Golf Tournament Fundraiser on Friday, October 26th.  For more info about the tournament or the foundation, contact them at EducationFoundation@LorenaISD.net. 

Lorena Elementary Earns Award

 

This year the Waco Tribune-Herald once again conducted the H.O.T. Reader’s Choice Awards. Congratulations to Lorena Elementary School for being chosen as the Best Public Elementary School by readers! Be on the lookout for the Waco Tribune-Herald H.O.T. Reader’s Choice 2012 Award supplement in the paper where you will see the announcement!
 

Congratulations to the Lorena Elementary staff and students for this outstanding honor!

AYP Plans and Information

Dear Parents and Guardians of Students at Lorena ISD,

Lorena ISD is committed to providing every child with the best education possible, and we work hard to that end each and every day.  While Lorena ISD has been a recognized school district for the past several years, this year the state suspended ratings because of the new STAAR tests.  The state is still in the process of setting the standard for the grades 3-8 assessments.  However, there are different requirements for the Federal government under the NCLB (No Child Left Behind) Act.

Under the NCLB Act of 2001, a Title I, Part A-funded LEA (local education agency/LISD), or school district, that has not met AYP (Adequate Yearly Progress) for two or more consecutive years in the same indicator (reading, mathematics, attendance rate, or graduation rate) is subject to LEA-level Title I School Improvement Requirements.  Based on the 2012 LEA AYP Status released August 8, 2012, Lorena ISD is subject to the LEA-level SIP (School Improvement Program) requirements for Stage 1 during the 2012-2013 school year. For additional information about the AYP definition please visit TEA’s website at http://www.tea.state.tx.us/ayp/.

 Lorena ISD missed AYP in math for the past two years.  In 2010-11 we had more students pass the math assessment in Special Education than were allowed by the state imposed cap.  There is a 2% cap of special education students that are allowed to take a modified test; therefore, any student who passes over the cap counts as a failure.  This caused Lorena ISD to miss AYP in 2010-11.  In 2011-12 the standards were raised as the goal of 100% of all students passing was quickly approaching in 2014.  Requirements for math in 2011-2012 were 83% of all students and subgroups passing; next year the goal for all students will be 95%, and finally in 2014 the standard will be 100% passing for all students and subgroups.