Academic rating elates Rio Vista school board president

By Pete Kendall/reporter@trcle.com

Grandview and Rio Vista have been rivals since cowboys first herded longhorns across the Brazos River and up the well worn Chisholm Trail.

So it was no surprise Monday when Rio Vista school board president David Brunson said with a grin, “It wouldn’t make any difference if you put a classroom on the ball field. We’re going to compete with them.”

Both school districts competed and achieved in the latest round of TAKS achievement ratings released last Friday by Texas Education Agency.

Both school districts were recognized, the only districts in Johnson County so rated.

At Rio Vista, the high school, middle school and elementary were all recognized.

At Grandview, the junior high, elementary and intermediate were all exemplary. The high school was recognized and the alternative learning center academically acceptable.

This is the fourth straight year Grandview ISD has been rated recognized.

One in a row is good enough at Rio Vista — right now.

“We’ve been close so many times,” Brunson said. “Our teachers and kids have all worked so hard, and I don’t think we’re complacent. We’re hunting that exemplary rating now.”

Much like the Rio Vista community as a whole, the school community is tight knit.

“We’ve got a veteran staff of teachers,” Brunson said. “Some have been here over 20 years. They’re really tied up with our kids. The board has worked real hard to try to get our salaries competitive with the districts around us, and I think we have gotten competitive there. But our teachers are not here because of the salaries. They’re here because Rio Vista is a great place to work, and they work hard. It’s kind of like winning a big ball game. Everyone contributes.”

Brunson tipped his hat to former Superintendent Rock McNulty and present Superintendent Steve Madson, who was in charge of curriculum and instruction under McNulty.

“Steve and Dr. McNulty worked hard,” Brunson said. “They had a lot to do with the success.”

The scores were expected to be good, Madson said, but he held his breath until the final results are in.

“When the preliminary results came in, I was pretty excited with those,” Madson said. “When they were confirmed, I was really happy. I have a feeling there’s going to be more celebrating as the teachers come in. I praise the teachers’ efforts. They worked so hard. We had a focus on being recognized.”

Curriculum played a major role, Madson said.

“We aligned the curriculum in kindergarten through 12th grade in all core subjects,” he said. “I tried to get in the classrooms more often to work with the teachers. The teachers were a big part of the curriculum alignment, and I’ve also got to hand it to the parents for getting their kids to school. Our attendance has been great the last couple of years.”

Grandview’s completion percentage for the class of 2008 was 97 percent. Rio Vista’s was 95 percent.

“We’re going to keep working on curriculum alignment,” Madson said. “The next step is to get it fully implemented in the classrooms. Keeping our attendance up is another important factor. We want to see every teacher with high expectations and also be there to help the kids meet them.”

He could have been talking about Grandview.

“Grandview has been a great example for every school district in this county,” Brunson said.

Rio Vista is continuing to take applications for a permanent superintendent to replace McNulty. The applications will be unsealed in September.

“We have five so far. I haven’t opened any of them,” Brunson said. “We’ll open them when all the board members are there. I think we’ll have some good ones. I hope Steve applies. He hasn’t applied yet.”

Teresa Loudermilk has been hired as high school principal.

Loudermilk, who holds a master’s degree in education administration from Tarleton State, was deputy superintendent at Comanche ISD.

“She wanted to get back with the kids,” Brunson said. “She wants to build a house here.”

“My family and I look forward to being active members in the Rio Vista community,” Loudermilk said. “Rio Vista is a charming community that we are proud to support and call our home.

“I am excited to meet the RVHS staff and students over the next couple of weeks and look forward to an exciting and successful 2009-10 school year. This community has a tradition of academic and extracurricular success, and I plan to work with the school board, administrators, staff, students and all community members in order to continue a tradition of excellence while providing a 21st century learning environment for the students of Rio Vista High School.”

Rio Vista’s other pressing issue is expanding facilities to help fulfill needs related to new 4 by 4 curriculum.

The state now mandates that all schools offer four years of math, science, English and social studies.

“We know we need some more science labs,” Brunson said. “Our labs are getting a little crowded. We’ll consider a bond issue, and I believe our voters will go for it. To my knowledge, our voters have never turned one down. It doesn’t hurt that we were just rated recognized. This community really cares about its schools.”