The Holdsworth Center, an Austin-based nonprofit focused on leadership in public education, has selected Crosby ISD to join the Holdsworth Leadership Collaborative, an 18-month program that will help Crosby ISD build a strong bench of aspiring principals who are ready to step into school leadership positions when they arise.

Crosby ISD is among 17 districts across the state chosen for Holdsworth’s world-class leadership development program.

“Crosby ISD demonstrated a strong commitment to developing principals and a growth mindset around learning new concepts,” said Dr. Lindsay Whorton, president of The Holdsworth Center. “Great leaders draw out the best in people and inspire them to achieve the unimaginable. Every student in Crosby ISD deserves a strong principal at the helm of their school.” 

As part of the Collaborative, a team of three – Superintendent, Mrs. Paula Patterson, and two district leaders, Assistant Superintendent of Administration, Ms. Jewel Whitfield, and Executive Director of Human Resources, Ms. Christy CoVan – work with Holdsworth staff to define what great leadership looks like in Crosby ISD. The team of three will use this definition to design systems and structures to strengthen the principal pipeline.

Research shows that effective principals can significantly impact student outcomes by creating the conditions for teachers to thrive. Because principals influence the working conditions and skill level of every teacher in the building, their impact is outsized.

“We don’t believe there are any quick fixes in education. Investing in the skill and capacity of the people working in our schools is the only way we will see true transformation,” Whorton said. 

Since its founding in 2017, Holdsworth has served 1,371 educators across 50 districts in more than 200 schools in Texas. 

In surveys, 100 percent of superintendents surveyed rate their leadership pipeline as stronger after partnering with Holdsworth for at least three years. 

Click here for more impact stories and data.   

Crosby ISD is excited to announce Superintendent Paula Patterson has been selected for the prestigious Superintendent Leadership Program with The Holdsworth Center in Austin. Superintendent Patterson is among the first group of leaders chosen for the 18-month program and will work with fellow superintendents across Texas. The Superintendent Leadership Program is designed to deepen everyday leadership skills in service of Crosby ISD's students, staff and community.

As the leader of Crosby ISD, Superintendent Patterson plays a key role in helping staff, students and community members forge a new path. The training and mentoring help craft a vision, perfect communication and build a high-performing executive team. Superintendent Patterson is committed to growing and learning to best serve the students, staff, and communities of Crosby ISD.

The Holdsworth Center's program helps Crosby ISD create systems to ensure we have a strong pool of leaders who will grow and lead the district in the future. This is a critical moment for public education in Texas, with historic challenges that will take extraordinary leadership. Navigating recovery and seizing opportunities for transformative change will be critical and necessary for stronger and more innovative schools.

The Holdsworth Center was created by Charles Butt, the chairman of HEB, in 2017 near Lake Austin. He named the nonprofit organization for his mother, a former schoolteacher and lifelong advocate for social justice. The Holdsworth Center is dedicated to Excellence in Education Leadership.

For these inaugural programs, The Holdsworth Center will cover the costs of programming, thanks to the generosity of its founder and other philanthropic supporters. The center’s mission is to improve the quality of public education by supporting and developing educational leaders. The Austin-based nonprofit works with partner districts for five years and makes a deep investment in leaders at both the district and campus levels.

You can read more about the program here: https://holdsworthcenter.org/blog/two-new-programs-launch/ and www.holdsworthcenter.org

Thursday, April 11, 2024

Hello East Harris County and Crosby ISD families,

It’s happening! In big ways and small ways, students across the district are celebrating our “Portrait of a Graduate.” In the past week, teachers have been sharing lessons about one of our five key character traits: Effective Communicators. Students earn certificates when they master the essential skill. Here’s just one example: Ms. Dionna Griffin at Drew Elementary School explained different communication methods and followed up her mini-lesson with candy for compliments. The more certificates our elementary students collect, the closer they move toward a popsicle party in May. Our Cougars are committed to ensuring our “Portrait of a Graduate” comes to life. These are skills we want to instill in students from kindergarten through 12^th grade and beyond: Kind, Goal-Oriented, Service-Minded, Emotionally Intelligent, and Effective Communicators.

Speaking of being Goal-Oriented, English IV teachers Ms. Maegan Hensley and Ms. Jennae Fontenot knocked it out of the park at Crosby High School this month. They created a “Starbooks” for students! Yes, they transformed a classroom into a coffee shop, complete with a book tasting menu. Students were encouraged to sip and learn. They sampled different genres of books to find the one that best suited their taste. They also predicted plot points based just on the cover. Ms. Hensley and Ms. Fontenot are going where our kids are, and pairing something they love (coffee) with something they need (literary criticism and critical thinking skills). I am thrilled to see creative instruction by our English Language Arts teams. They are hitting the mark all across the district.

As we think about being Service-Minded, what a joy it was to see smiling faces at the Coleen Walker special education relays this month. This is one of our favorite days of the year! Older students volunteer as mentors, guiding younger students through skill challenges, games, dress-up stations, and much more. There’s always pizza too! The relays are named after the late Ms. Coleen Walker, a LifeSkills teacher at Crosby High School. She dedicated part of her career to mentoring students to live out their dreams of becoming teachers. What an admirable legacy.

A brand-new distinction for Crosby ISD is music to our ears. For the first time ever, we’ve been named one of 2024’s “Best Communities for Music Education” by the NAMM (National Association of Music Merchants) Foundation. Crosby ISD is only one of 115 districts or schools in the state of Texas to earn the honor this year! Crosby ISD was awarded the distinction for demonstrating an “exceptionally high commitment and access to music education.” We are so proud of our band, choir, and music students and the teachers and sponsors who support them.

Some of our soon-to-be graduates are leaving their mark on the track and field season. Congratulations to the Crosby High School 4X400 Girls’ Relay Team for breaking a school record! Mayte Tavarez, Emori LaSalle, Kaitlyn Daniels, and Abby Ellisor finished with a time of 4:10 in the Bronco Relays in Dayton last month. Now that’s fast! I’m looking forward to the track and field Regionals, knowing we’re definitely going to have some track stars from Crosby High School competing to make State.

Our soccer Cougars celebrated wonderful seasons. The CHS Varsity Boys’ Soccer Team advanced to the second round of the playoffs for the first time in three years. It was a wonderful time for the seniors of 2024 to repeat their success as freshmen in 2021. The CHS Varsity Girls’ Soccer Team also had a great season with a run into the first round of the playoffs.

I wanted to share a few reminders and dates to add to your phone. Pre-K and Kindergarten registration is now open for the 2024-25 School Year. Please share the information with parents you may know who have kindergarten-aged children. It’s a great time to complete the paperwork before the summer rush. You can use this easy-to-remember link: www.crosbyisd.org/kinderregistration

Crosby ISD’s hybrid calendar will switch back to five-day-a-week instruction, starting the week of April 15. That means students will be required to attend classes on the following Fridays: April 19, April 26, May 3, May 10, May 17, and May 24. The return to instruction on Fridays is part of our overall hybrid academic calendar. Also of note, our last instructional day will be Thursday, May 30.

As we close in on the final six weeks of the school year, I’m reflecting on all that our students and staff members have journeyed toward. Our “Portrait of a Graduate” is a strategic plan, but it’s more than a list of common goals or words on a website. It’s who we are … who we’ve always been… and who we will become. It’s Tradition with a Future.

We are Moving Forward! Go Coogs!