Thursday, July 11, 2024

Hello East Harris County and Crosby ISD families,

Happy birthday to Crosby ISD! Our beloved school district turned 105 years old last month. The Second Special Session of the 36^th Texas Legislature created Crosby ISD on June 27, 1919, and Governor William P. Hobby signed the district’s creation into law. There were only four graduates three years later in the Class of 1922. This year, we graduated 492 seniors in the Class of 2024, and we are expecting enrollment to top 7000 students for the 24-25 school year. We’ve come a long way!

Let’s fast forward to the future! Later this month, the Board of Trustees and I are looking forward to breaking ground on the new additions to Crosby High School. The CTE (Career and Technical Education) wing will be expanded, and we’re adding a new academic wing. The new academic wing will feature two floors, each with 16 classrooms and 4 labs, for a total of 32 classrooms and 8 labs. In total, the CHS additions will provide room for 900 additional students. The expansion is expected to be completed in November 2025. We’ll continue to update our community members on the progress as construction moves forward. Construction is not expected to impact the traffic flow around Crosby High School.

Summer means behind-the-scenes work is being done on facilities while students are out of the buildings. One of the biggest projects is the turf replacement at Cougar Stadium. Crews have started to remove the old turf from the field. The new turf will offer softer, sturdier, more comfortable support for our student athletes. The turf replacement process will be completed in time for the high school football season. Cougar Stadium is closed to the public during this time of construction.

Hats off to the Crosby Fair and Rodeo for all the hard work by the board members, volunteers, parents, and students. The fair and rodeo raised more than $455,000 to support scholarships for Crosby ISD youth. I was so impressed with our students, particularly projects by our FFA and ag mechanics students. One of the next big community events is the Barrett Station Homecoming Parade on Saturday, July 20. Crosby ISD will have several floats in the parade for the 38^th annual celebration. Last year, the parade was one of the biggest ever! We’re looking forward to celebrating Barrett Station’s special place in Crosby ISD history.

Summer is also a time of staff promotions. We have two new principals for the new school year. The Board of Trustees approved the hiring of Crosby Middle School associate principal, Ms. Kellie Hall, as the new principal of Drew Elementary School. Ms. Hall is from Barrett Station, and she is a proud Crosby High School alumna. The Board also approved the promotion of Ms. Laura Haynes, from assistant principal at Crosby High School, to the new principal of the district’s DAEP (Disciplinary Alternative Education Program). Ms. Haynes brings a wealth of experience, including military service, to this critical new assignment. Congratulations to Ms. Hall and Ms. Haynes for their deserved promotions.

We are also celebrating the 2023-24 teachers of the year. Crosby Middle School math teacher, Mr. Kevin Fontenot, and Barrett Elementary School fifth grade teacher, Ms. Diedre JohnBaptiste, were named the Secondary and Elementary Teachers of the Year. They are both highly creative educators who turn their classrooms into learning adventures. Mr. Fontenot’s classroom features a window on the world for his students to dream big while solving fractions. Ms. JohnBaptiste turned her classroom into an “emergency room” where students wore scrubs and “cured” patients by sharing concepts they learned during reading units. Thank you both for instilling a passion for education in your students.

Finally, children in our 21^st century summer school program are spending their weeks flying high. They are enjoying student enrichment activities thanks to our partnership with the Harris County Department of Education. So far this summer, they have explored the Houston Museum of Natural Science, getting up close to dinosaurs and prehistoric fossils. They also had the chance to fly at an indoor skydiving adventure park. The students had to answer questions about the aerodynamics of what makes a skydiver glide, then they had a chance to soar! It was a great way to bring home the lessons of STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, and math).

We are Moving Forward! Go Coogs!

Paula Patterson
Superintendent of Schools
Crosby ISD