Preliminary TAKS testing results for Avalon ISD are, once again, projecting the AEIS rating from the Texas Education Agency for 2009-2010 to be that of a “Recognized” district. Official and final district and campus ratings will be published by TEA on Friday, July 30th. This will be the fifth consecutive year that Avalon ISD will have the distinction as a recognized district. The graduating class of 2011 achieved a 100% passing rate in all areas.

Mr. DelBosque (Avalon ISD superintendent) proudly stated, "We have been recognized for five years in a row. We are very, very pleased and very, very proud of all of our kids. They work very hard at it. This is the fifth year of being recognized, we are one measure short from being exemplary which is one score short. But probably what I am most proud of is there is not a gap between any of the groups of students (Economically Disadvantaged, White, Hispanic and African American). Everyone did the same. This means everybody is being reached and that is the ultimate goal.

DelBosque explained, “We have a planning team, It is made up of Neva DelBosque- the school Counselor, Jody Tinnery – assistant high school Principal, Margaret Day – elementary Principal, and Chris Marshall – high school Principal. Our whole system is a team, it includes the school board, the superintendent, the administrators, the teachers and paraprofessionals. If you don’t have everyone working together it just isn’t going to work. This plays a key role in our success.”

Neva DelBosque (Avalon ISD Counselor) said, “You know we believe all students can learn, that is our mission statement and our scores prove it. It is not so much about our expectations any more, it has become their expectations of themselves and they are excited about having expectations. Our expectations have become their expectations.”

When asked what he thought made the kids so successful, Jody Tinnery (assistant high school Principal) explained, “I want to say that all the credit goes to the teachers because they are the ones that really make a difference in the students’ learning. I think the kids did fantastic, they did a wonderful job, they work hard every year and it shows by the scores that we get.”

Margaret Day (elementary Principal), “I am very excited with the results, the students worked hard, they did a good job, we did some extra tutoring and they did not get burned out on us. They just kept coming to the tutoring and everything we expected from them met our expectations.”

Chris Marshall (high school Principal), “We are real excited for the kids and what they have learned, they have come a long way from a few years back and we have been keeping this going on for quite a while, it starts at elementary and comes all the way through the high school. We are lucky we keep our teachers, they like to stay and they enjoy working with the kids and the kids enjoy them.”

Avalon’s overall district TAKS results in 2010 for grades three through eleven were: Reading/ELA- 98%, Writing – 100%, Mathematics – 91%, Social Studies – 100%, and Science – 99%. These results show an increase in four of the five areas from the 2009 scores which included: Reading/ELA -98%, Writing – 97%, Mathematics -94%, Social Studies -100% and Science – 91%.

Way to go Avalon ISD, keep up the good work.