Delighting, Teaching and Inspiring Student Expression

Did you know that C-FB offers art and music education to all students kinder through fifth grade? Did you know that C-FB offers orchestra, band, visual arts, jewelry making, theater, speech, debate, drill team, dance, and choir to our secondary students?

Poet and National Endowment for the Arts Chairman Dana Gioia said during his 2007 Com­mence­ment Address at Stanford Uni­ver­sity, “Art is an irre­place­able way of under­stand­ing and expressing the world ... There are some truths about life that can be expressed only as stories, or songs, or images. Art delights, instructs, consoles. It educates our emotions.”

In C-FB ISD, we value Fine Arts and its lasting impact on the lives and education of our students. The arts are an integral aspect of the well-rounded education our students receive in Carrollton-Farmers Branch. 

One of our C-FB parents says it best,

"The Fine Arts program at Perry Middle School is second to none! This is our third year at Perry and I continue to be amazed at what the students accomplish each year. We are so fortunate to have these teachers in our district! Their passion for what they do is evident in the results they achieve each year. We attended the Fine Arts Extravaganza and as a parent it was refreshing to see so many students shine in so many areas. From Orchestra, Choir, Theatre, Karate, Art and Band there are so many choices for our students to find their place in middle school."

What is amazing - is that this is true across our district from elementary through high school. And we are fortunate to have a committed, passionate staff who pour their lives into our students.

Stories fill tv screens and newspapers about schools cutting fine arts programs completely. But that is not the case in C-FB. Despite cuts in our funding for the state legislature, the C-FB School Board and administration have focused our resources on meeting our goal of high achievement for all students including academics, fine arts and athletics. We will continue to provide fine arts education - delighting, teaching and inspiring - our students and our emotions.

Come check out our amazing students at an upcoming Fine arts event. 

Visit the Fine Arts Calendar for dates, times and locations.

C-FB ISD Students Out-Perform State on College Entrance Exams

Try to solve this:
If a and b are positive integers and 9 (3a) = 3b, what is a in terms of b?
A. b - 3
B. b - 2
C. b - 1
D. b
E. b + 2

Made you think, right? Well, in C-FB, our students are excelling at this type of question.

C-FB seniors taking the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) and the American College Test (ACT) in 2012 out-performed students taking the exam throughout the state.

The overall composite score of 22.1 for C-FB ISD seniors taking the ACT in 2012 was higher than both the state (20.8) and the national (21.1) scores. The district combined score for 2012 on the SAT is 1476 compared to 1434 for the state.

You might ask why college entrance exams are important.  The SAT and ACT are like a barometer of success for college readiness. C-FB students are choosing to attend college at Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Cornell, West Point, University of Texas, Texas A&M, and other prestigious universities.  Scores on the SAT and ACT are an important aspect of college admittance. High scores show that our students are college-ready with such skills as problem-solving, mathematical reasoning and literary comprehension.  
I am so proud of the hard work of our students and staff but we have more work to do. Our district is focused on high achievement for all students including college readiness. We will continue to prepare and equip our students with college readiness skills.
 
SAT Results for 2012    Critical
                     Count         Reading    Math    Writing     Combined
Nation    1,664,479          496            514       488           1,498
Texas         172,802         474            499       461           1,434
District 963 487 512 477 1,476

ACT Results for 2011
                      Count English     Math Reading Science Composite
Nation     1,666,017 20.5          21.1 21.3            20.9 21.1
Texas         110,180 19.6          21.4 20.8            20.8 20.8
District              443         20.8          22.7       22.4            22.0             22.1

We Have Lowered The Tax Rate in C-FB

"I shall never use profanity except in discussing house rent and taxes." Mark Twain

Did you know? According to the Energy Information Administration, on July 27, 1992 the price of gas was $1.13. Can you imagine paying that at the pump now? Well...

The Board of Trustees in the Carrollton-Farmers Branch School District approved the 2012-2013 Budget with the lowest tax rate since 1992. Yes, you read that right, our tax rate is lower than it has been in twenty years. The 2012-2013 tax rate is $1.3306. During times when the cost of everything, especially gas, is soaring, our school district has worked diligently to be an efficient, effective system reaching our goal of high achievement for all students.

The lower tax rate will save a homeowner $3.28 a month for a home valued at $165,000.

The Board of Trustees recognized the outstanding job our teachers and staff have done to continuously increase student achievement and approved a one and a half percent raise for all staff members.

At a Special Board Meeting in August, the School Board approved a budget and tax rate for the 2012-2013 school year. To find out more, visit www.cfbisd.edu.

Sorting, Unloading and Organizing

Sorting, unloading and organizing – sounds like doing laundry, right? Well, it’s not about laundry. It is about service.

In C-FB ISD we believe it is imperative that we teach our students character values of pride, cooperation, responsibility, respect, integrity, service, and citizenship. It goes beyond that, though. Across this district, our C-FB team members live out our character values every day.

The staff at Perry Middle School modeled the character trait of service during their first week back when they divided up into teams and went into our community to volunteer at various non-profit organizations. Sorting books at the Farmers Branch Manske Library, unloading food at the Metrocrest Social Services Food Pantry and organizing clothes at the Goodwill Store were just part of the ways that the staff at Perry helped our community. Principal Brooke Puricelli explained, "These organizations give so much to the students at Perry that we wanted to give back to them.."

I encourage you to volunteer your time at a non-profit organization or even at one of our campuses. Find out more about volunteering at www.cfbisd.edu/volunteer.

Reading is Fun(damental) - Part 2

“The more you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go.” Dr. Seuss, I Can Read With My Eyes Shut! 

Reading is an important life skill. Our goal in C-FB ISD is high achievement for all students. And in regards to reading – we want our students to be excellent life-long readers.

I encourage you to read with or to your child every day for at least 20 minutes. If you have a high school student, read a book that he/she is reading and talk about it. Model reading for your children – when they see you reading, it will encourage their own love for books. As a side benefit to you, a recent report from the Harvard Business Review by John Coleman states, “Finally, an active literary life can make you more personally effective by keeping you relaxed and improving health. For stressed executives, reading is the best way to relax, as reading for six minutes can reduce stress by 68%.” So read - it helps you and your child.

To find more ways to encourage reading in your children, check out our blogs Blogabilities and Future C-FB.