Hello East Harris County and Crosby ISD families,
Happy New Year! What a great year it will be! After all, 2023 marks the town of Crosby’s 200th birthday. The District is working with the Crosby Historical Society for a big bicentennial celebration later in the fall. The District will celebrate our 104th birthday in June. We look forward to sharing and celebrating the history of the Crosby community since 1823!
January is School Board Recognition Month. I am so proud of our Team of 8 for their contributions to making big decisions, setting goals, and envisioning the future for our students and staff members. The Board of Trustees is led by President JR Humphries, along with Vice President Jennifer Roach, Secretary Heather Barrett, Assistant Secretary Kea Lynn Lewis, Trustee Karen St. Julian- Thomas, Trustee Lisa Kallies, and Trustee Phillip Chapman. Our meeting this month will feature performances by several student groups celebrating our volunteer Board members who give their time and talents to Crosby ISD.
We are well into the Spring Semester for 2023. Some of the new faces on our campuses are returning to Crosby ISD! We’re talking about alumni who decided to come home to teach the next generations. This is exactly what I love to see! We want to welcome CHS alumna Madison Kennedy as a new teacher at Crosby High School. She is a proud CHS graduate and a member of the Class of 2018! We are in the process of hiring more alumni, and we’ll share their stories soon. If you know of any alumni who want to return to educate in their hometown, let us know!
Congratulations to the Crosby Middle School 7th grade Boys’ Basketball team for finishing in second place at the Deer Park Basketball Tournament this month. CMS student athletes are the next generation we are growing to be leaders, readers, and achievers at Crosby High School.
Our elementary schools are rocking this month as we hosted a Read-A-Thon for our third-grade students. They are hoping to earn a spot in the 68-team bracket-style challenge known as “Read to the Final Four.” Just before Winter Break, our third graders had logged more than 1.7 million minutes. Our Cougars are hungry to show the world how much they love to read and learn!
I wanted to share a few examples of what we call CommUNITY in Crosby ISD. Friendly Ford celebrated the holidays by donating gifts to Crosby ISD families in need. Thank you to Matt and Madison Coleman who delivered the gifts to each home in December. The smiles on the children’s faces were all you needed to see to know we are making a difference. Each year, Friendly Ford generously donates money and time to make sure no Crosby ISD student goes without. Also, thank you to Smoothie King Crosby for delivering a big “Welcome Back” gift to Newport Elementary School. Our teachers and staff received 75 surprise smoothies. In December, Starbucks surprised teachers at Drew Elementary with free coffee. Coffee warms the heart and soul, and it was a great way to wrap up the first semester.
This month, staff members returned a few days ahead of students for career enrichment experiences. I truly believe in Professional Development for all. Our staff members had options for training, which varied from beefing up Customer Service skills for receptionists to technical software training for our Child Nutrition staff. Some of our new teachers also had a chance to attend the wonderful program known as “Capturing Kids Hearts.” They spent two days learning how to create meaningful and authentic classroom experiences with students. They really opened themselves up to creating social contracts and making connections with our kids. I can’t wait to see how this training bears fruit among our new educators and the students in their care.
We are Better Together! Go Coogs!
Paula Patterson
Crosby ISD Superintendent