Southside ISD is honored and excited to be a part of the Texas Education Agency’s Math Innovation Zone. SISD was named among 14 school districts in the state and the only district in Bexar County. The grant proposal was developed by the district’s math specialist Kim Faircloth and the Curriulum Director Melonie Iglehart-Hammons.
Superintendent Mark E. Eads said the announcement was more affirmation on how far SISD has come, “This is yet another example of how Southside ISD is Soaring to Excellence. This is not just a motto we have, it is the standard now for education at Southside.”
SISD’s Curricium department applied for the grant and the initiative in hopes of getting state of the art support for math. According to TEA, as a recipient SISD will get “state negotiated software rates, access to Math Innovation Zones programmatic resources and will be eligible for an outcomes-based grant of $100,000 based on high-fidelity implementation of the program.”
“Southside is on a mission to give our students the best education possible, but we cannot improve without outside of the box thinking when it comes to funding programs and getting access to innovative programs that can help our students. This is a step, a huge leap, in that direction. I am very proud of our staff for getting this grant and excited for our children to have this distinction,” said Dr. Genesee Bell.
Our Director of Curriculum and Instruction is ecstatic to be a part of this initiative! Melonie Iglehart-Hammons says, “Our data indicated the need to strengthen the mathematical conceptual development of our students, and we believed a blended learning model of guided mathematics would facilitate that process. Selection to participate in this cohort of Exploratory Math Innovation Zones is a tremendous acknowledgment of our plan for implementation, which was our priority. Our team of curriculum specialists and campus coaches worked collaboratively to write this grant, and we are thrilled to be able to implement the process collaboratively! This is a win for our students! “
The program aims to use what TEA called “high-fidelity program implementation” to get better results from students when it comes to math.
For more information on the Math Innovation Zones, visit the Texas Education Agency website.