Thursday, May 9, 2024

Hello East Harris County and Crosby ISD families,

We’re in the homestretch of the 2023-24 School Year! We’re three weeks away from our last day of school. On the last day of the month, our graduating seniors will instantly become Crosby High School alumni. It’s a magical moment we love to witness year after year.

This is the time of year we start planning for the new school year in detail. One of our major jobs this summer will be to recruit teachers in specialized high-need areas. As part of our recruiting process, the district is offering $1,000 referral stipends to current employees who help us recruit teachers in the following specialties: Bilingual, ESL, Special Education, Secondary English, Secondary Math, and Secondary Science. We are also recruiting bus drivers! For both referral stipends for teachers and bus drivers, the new employee must be new to Crosby ISD. Share our job listings now at www.crosbyisd.org/jobs

We are also opening up registration for students who will be new to Crosby ISD this fall. We’re hoping parents can register new students for the 24-25 School Year, before the summer begins. If you know of families that are new to Crosby ISD, please let them know that registration is now open at www.crosbyisd.org/registration. They will need to create a Skyward account and upload proof of residency. Verification of returning students will open June 5. Our goal is to have every student verified/registered by July 25, in order for students to be routed for transportation on the first day of school and for families to learn their child’s teacher by Meet the Teacher Nights.

The Crosby ISD Athletics Department is looking ahead to summer camps. Coaches will be offering camps in five different sports: football, boys’ basketball, girls’ basketball, volleyball, and softball. These camps are geared toward our elementary and middle school students, as we build a bench of student-athletes who not only train their minds and bodies but also work toward earning scholarships for their futures.

There will be free heart screenings at Crosby High School on Thursday, May 9 for any student who needs one. To sign up, email Ms. McMahon at cmmcmahon@crosbyisd.org. There will be $10 physicals conducted at Crosby High School on Saturday, May 18, from 9am-Noon for students ages 11-18. You can get all the information about signing up here: www.crosbyisd.org/physicals

This last month, we are wrapping up one year emphasizing our Portrait of a Graduate. Students across the district are earning pride and popsicle parties by showing they are: Effective Communicators, Kind, Emotionally Intelligent, Goal-Oriented, and Service-Minded. One such example, JROTC cadets from Crosby High School recently cheered on bike riders, raising money and awareness to battle Multiple Sclerosis. The cadets staged at the Austin County Fairgrounds to show their support for the bicyclists in the MS150.

On Friday, May 3^rd, we celebrated School Lunch Hero Day! We saluted Child Nutrition staff members who feed our students’ bellies, so they can do their best in class. Our cafeteria staff have served: 286,554 breakfasts; 649,562 lunches; and more than 8,000 snacks this year. That’s a lot of brain food!

Hats off to our Crosby ISD Technology Services team for a seamless STAAR testing season. If you didn’t know, the state assessment tests are now done entirely online. Our technicians truly are the unsung heroes, working diligently each day to ensure our students do their best on the exams. 

Our last day of school will be Thursday, May 30^th. Crosby High School and Crosby Middle School will dismiss students at 11:20am. Elementary campuses will dismiss students at 12:10pm. I can’t believe we are almost at the finish line. I remember my time as a first grade teacher. The transformation parents saw in their students from August to May were some of the proudest moments of my teaching career.

One last reminder: the Crosby High School Commencement Ceremony will be held Friday, May 31 at 7:30pm. Seating will be on a first come, first served basis. There are currently no seating capacity limitations for Cougar Stadium. The district will communicate in the coming weeks about inclement weather plans should the outdoor ceremony be interrupted by weather. We will all pray for sunny skies and clear weather as we celebrate the Class of 2024. I hope to see you there.

We are Moving Forward! Go Coogs!

Paula Patterson
Superintendent of Schools
Crosby ISD