At the October 20th LISD Board meeting, the 2011 Demographic Report was presented.

Beginning with the 2011-2012 school year, the State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness (STAAR) will replace the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS). This new test is designed for students in grades 3-11. Read more...

To help the Leander ISD community understand the impact of the Texas 82nd Legislative Session and Special Session on public education, the district has scheduled two legislative forums this month. The public is encouraged to attend either meeting.

The first, sponsored by the Vandegrift High School PTA Ladder, will be held on Tuesday, Oct. 18 at VHS starting at 6:30 p.m. Special guest Morgan Smith, a reporter with the Texas Tribune, will discuss the recent legislative session. This meeting will also address traffic issues in the Four Points area.

In addition, the district is hosting a Legislative Summary and Community Forum at Vista Ridge High School on Monday, Oct. 24 from 6–8 p.m, featuring special guest David Anderson, a representative of HillCo Partners. Community leaders will discuss "What's next?" as Texas school districts navigate their way towards the next legislative session.

At the October 6 Leander ISD Board meeting, district administrators made a presentation to the School Board regarding debt management and long range enrollment growth planning. Additional discussions will follow over the coming months after LISD receives its annual demographic report and enrollment projections update later this month.
See presentation

Leander ISD officials announced today that six students were recently named Semifinalists in the 2012 National Merit Scholarship Program based on their performance on the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT).

The Semifinalists from LISD are: Joshua Anderson, Alexander Huynh, Keri Lawrence, Jason Noeller, Matthew Szostak and Colin Walker. These students are among some 16,000 Semifinalists in the 57th annual National Merit Scholarship Program.

In addition, 32 LISD students were named Commended Scholars in the National Merit Scholarship Program. These students are: Samuel Baldazo, Matthew Broussard, Cody Cox, Casey Cox, Lauren Daniels, Jenna Diven, Zachary Felice, Gregorio Flores, Sophie Grossman, Kelsey Hart, Leah Havens, Jessica Huebschiman, Alexander Huynh, David Jacobson, Christopher Jensen, Chan-Joong Kim, Anthony Martillotti, Jordan Ng, Jessie Ostrander, Nathaniel Pfeiffer, Cole Sawyer, Gretta Smith, Jessica Stauber, Ryan Stephenson, Aubrey Swilling, Andrew Toungate, Kendall Turner, Oliver Uitz, Guillermo Vargas, Jeffrey Walker, Davis Wilkinson, Marshall Wilson and Manuel Zamora.

To become finalists, semifinalists must verify outstanding academic records throughout their high school years, be endorsed by their principals, and earn SAT scores that confirm their high marks on the qualifying test. Semifinalists must also submit detailed applications, which include essays, and information about their school leadership and community activities. Finalists will be notified in February.

Giddens Elementary was chosen by Office Max to receive $1,000 worth of free supplies as part of the company’s “A Day Made Better” program! Drew Hallett was the lucky teacher randomly selected by the campus to receive the prize. Mr. Hallett was surprised on Tuesday, Oct. 4 by representatives from Office Max who stopped by to congratulate the winner.

Round Rock ISD is partnering with other local school districts to host “Destination…Life: A Regional Transition Fair” to help families of students with special needs gain a better understanding of the community resources available to their children after graduation. The event will be held on Saturday, Nov. 12 from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. at Round Rock High School, 300 N. Lake Creek Dr., in Bldg. 100.

Break-out sessions will feature a legal panel, DAR’s representative, Social Security and Medicaid waiver programs and a post-secondary student panel. In addition, more than 70 booths will be onsite to provide post-secondary educational, career and life-long living information. Representatives from Adult Service Agencies in Williamson, Travis and Bastrop counties will attend. Spanish and sign language interpreters will be available.