Community,

It’s a Great Day to be a Gladiator!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. The staff and students at Italy ISD are back to work with a lot going on.

This weekend many of the staff and student groups will be a part of the Italian Christmas Festival that is hosted by the City of Italy. We are looking forward to being a part of the fun.

With the help of Maggie Westrick, the elementary counselor, our staff will be working at The North Texas Food Bank on January 3, 2017. We will be closing both campuses while our staff serves at this team building event.

The girls’ and boys’ basketball teams are in season with many games and tournaments coming up. Both teams are exciting to watch. The community is welcome to come show its support to our student-athletes. This Saturday many varsity band members will be competing for State Honor Band recognition. We look forward to seeing the success of our musicians. Our 4th grade students will make their annual trip to Austin this week. This is always a great experience for the students. They get to visit museums and tour the capital building.

This morning the construction crews began pouring concrete at the new ag shop. We expect the foundation to be completed today, and they will start putting up the walls soon.

The dirt work at the football field is almost complete. This morning the crews were laying rock in the area of the track.

The construction at Stafford is still under a delay. There is a pole with transformers providing electricity to the building in the area where a classroom is to be built. We are waiting to get the pole moved and the electricity rerouted. Oncor has been working with us. Unfortunately, this is a time consuming process. We are in the procurement process for a Construction Manager at Risk for Phase II of the 2015 Bond. The process will be completed in January. We expect to begin the construction of the new cafetorium in May of 2017.

Next week, I am meeting with the new Commissioner of Education as part of an update with Region 10 Superintendents. We plan to discuss current issues educators are facing as legislators in Texas begin their next session.

As always, please contact me at 972-483-1815 if you have questions or concerns.

It’s a Great Day to Be a Gladiator!

Thank you,
Lee Joffre