The Pasadena ISD Board of Trustees approved the appointment of a new principal for Sparks Elementary School and filled two assistant principal positions at its March regular meeting.

Sherri Means was named the new principal at Sparks, replacing longtime principal Gayle Holder, who will retire at the end of the school year. Means came to the school in 1990 and has served as assistant principal since 1994. She began her career as a third grade teacher at Gardens Elementary in 1989. She earned her bachelor’s degree in elementary education from the University of Houston and her master’s in educational management from the University of Houston-Clear Lake.

J.P. Rodriguez was named assistant principal at Pomeroy Elementary School. He has served as counselor at Morris Fifth Grade Center since 2004. He began his career in 1997 as a bilingual teacher at Morales Elementary and has also worked as a bilingual peer facilitator at De Zavala Fifth Grade Center.

Cindy Owens is now one of the new assistant principals at De Zavala Fifth Grade Center. She has served as the school’s peer facilitator since 2002. She has also worked as a fifth grade reading teacher at Morales Elementary and at Richey Elementary in her 17-year career.
 

Grant approved for Matthys SPARK Park

Matthys Elementary School was awarded a $89,118 Community Development Block Grant from Harris County that will go toward the building of a new SPARK Park on the campus.

In 1983, former Houston City Council member Eleanor Tinsley spearheaded the SPARK Park program in an effort to transform public school grounds into neighborhood parks. Other contributions to the project include a $7,500 donation from HEB, an $8,000 donation from the Matthys Booster Club and $5,000 donations from the Pasadena Education Foundation, Lowe’s and Harris County Precinct 2. 

A timetable has not been set for construction to begin on the project, but once the park is built, it will be one of 194 in the Houston area and the second in Pasadena ISD. A SPARK Park on the Parks Elementary campus opened in May 2007. 

Lazenby receives national budget excellence award

Don Lazenby has a knack for making sense of the numbers in his job as Pasadena ISD's director of budget. 

For the sixth year in a row, Lazenby was given the Meritorious Budget Award from the Association of School Business Officials International at the March regular board meeting. Lazenby has served as the district's director of budget since 1992. 

The award is given for excellence in the preparation and issuance of school system annual budgets and for districts exceeding standard budget development criteria. 

The Meritorious Budget Awards program was designed by ASBO International and school business management professionals to enable school business administration to achieve a standard of excellence in budget preparation. The program helps school systems in the skills of developing, analyzing and presenting a budget. 

According to ASBO International, the award is only given to school districts that have gone above and beyond normal standards in budget planning and preparation. 

Gardens, Southmore receive CASE grants

Gardens Elementary and Southmore Intermediate are the recipients of a $9,780 Cooperative After School Enrichment (CASE) program grant from the Harris County Department of Education. 

The grant will help provide a media production class to Southmore students during its spring enrichment program, while Gardens will use the funding for a summer arts-based project. 

Robotics may become classroom course

Pasadena ISD has sponsored a competitive robotics team for several years, now it could become a course for graduation credit, pending approval from the Texas Education Agency. 

The Board approved an innovative course proposal to offer Robotics I and II classes starting next year. The course application must now be reviewed by the TEA, who will make a decision within the next couple months. If approved, the courses would be offered to students from all five high schools at the L.P. Card Career and Technical Center.