Timothy Simmons

Last week we promised to begin talking about dynamic proof in the past year or two that Leander ISD is, indeed, progressing well in our journey from a very good school district to a great one. These improvements fall into three major areas: improving education, enhancing communication and maximizing resources. We begin today by listing a few areas of significant academic improvement.

The most dramatic example of growing success in providing academic challenge for Leander ISD's students is the earning of Advanced Placement (AP) Scholar accolades by 119 students from Cedar Park, Leander and Vista Ridge high schools in 2006. This result marked a single-year increase of 67.6 percent over 2005, when 71 LISD students or graduates earned AP Scholar recognition.

Nearly 900 Leander ISD students (889) took one or more AP Exams this past school year, a 78 percent increase in students taking these college-credit exams over 2005. The results of 767 of these examinations were in the range that most colleges set for the earning of college course credit. These results show that we are not only getting additional students to take more challenging high school coursework, but that our LISD students are also being successful in these challenging classes - preparing them to earn college credit through this nationally accepted higher education credit program.

Another way that Leander ISD has challenged students to take more difficult academic courses is through the adoption by our school board in 2003 of an LISD “Advanced Graduation Plan” that requires four years of math and science to go along with similar English and social studies requirements. In November 2006, the Texas State Board of Education gave final approval to upgrade Texas high school graduation plans to match the heightened requirements of this Leander ISD plan - enhancing college readiness for more Texas graduates. We were simply three years ahead of the pack.

Leander ISD is also one of just more than 100 school districts nationally to have a partnership with the College Board that allows district-wide testing of all LISD sophomores and juniors via the Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test (PSAT). This partnership allows LISD students who may not have previously considered college to see that higher education is a realistic choice for them. We also use the data to surface students who would thrive under the challenge of our advanced courses.

Another method of encouraging our students to attend college comes through a partnership born in 2005 with Austin Community College. This Leander ISD/ACC College Connection Program allows all LISD seniors to receive on-campus academic counseling from ACC staff.

Our 2007 seniors will be the third class of LISD graduates to receive two important documents when they walk that graduation stage - a Leander ISD diploma and an acceptance to Austin Community College. Whether or not our graduates choose to attend ACC, they will have received college-preparation counseling and will have completed important college- and scholarship-application paperwork before graduation. Leander ISD was the second area school district to enter into this important partnership program.

Other exciting academic news came in the December 2006 announcement of Leander ISD's first-ever Rhodes Scholar.

Timothy F. Simmons, a 2003 graduate of Cedar Park High School and a current cadet at the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, N.Y., was selected as one of America's 32 Rhodes scholars for 2007. He will attend Oxford University on a full scholarship, placing this Leander ISD grad alongside past Rhodes Scholars that include President Clinton, Gen. Wesley Clark, astronomer Edwin Hubble and actor/musician Kris Kristofferson.

Join me here next week as I share more evidence of noteworthy educational improvement within Leander ISD.

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