HOUSTON — The "Mighty Rams" of Kashmere High had a mighty big reason celebrate on Thursday.
The perpetually failing school finally got a passing grade in the TEA's accountability ratings.
"Kashmere High went from an F to a C, skipped right over D,” said HISD board trustee Rhonda Skillern-Jones.
“I just want to tell you something," said trustee Jolanda Jones. "This was a lot of work.”
It became one of 86 HISD schools to earn a "C" under the Texas Education Agency’s letter grading system.
57 HISD schools earned an "A."
21 out of more than 200 schools are failing, and got an "F."
"We performed exceptionally well when you consider all of the challenges HISD has experienced over the last several years," said HISD Interim Supt. Grenita Lathan. "What I will say is the work is not finished.”
A lot of credit for Kashmere’s improvement lies with principal Reginald Bush.
He told us his campus vision and ongoing turnaround plan includes student input and regular surveys of their goals and needs along with increased parental and community involvement.
"This is not a testing facility," said Bush. "This is not where we prepare kids to go and meet some low expectation that the state may have. But this is a facility where we prepare young people for life.”
Alumni and current Kashmere parent Chris Ray told us he believes his alma mater is back on track, at last.
"When I was here, we had so much pride,” said Ray. "We can celebrate today, but there’s still work for tomorrow.”
Read HISD's release regarding TEA ratings here.
Check your district's rating here.
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