What’s New at Mesquite ISD?Stay Informed All Year Long

Welcome to Mesquite ISD or welcome back!  We’ve planned a fulfilling and action-packed year for students on all of our 46 campuses, and I’d like to mention a couple of our exciting new undertakings.

Our Technology Excellence Center (TEC) opens this semester in the updated Armory Building. This $4.2 million renovation project offers innovative instruction for high school students from all five campuses, including a science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) course. You’ll be learning more and more about the TEC as this semester unfolds.

Another grand opening involves Florence Black Elementary. One of our district’s oldest campuses has been replaced by a completely new 82,000-square-foot facility. This project, which began in February of 2012, was funded by the 2007 bond package. We hope you enjoy the photos of this beautiful campus that we’re posting on our district websites and on our Facebook page.

Please know our district works hard to keep you informed. We offer several ways to help you stay connected with your student’s school experience. Follow us at mesquiteisd.org, our mobile app,  the district’s Facebook page or Twitter account. You can also follow me on Twitter or here at my blog.

Best wishes for a terrific school year!

Preparation Begins LongBefore First Day of School

Just like our students and their families, our district’s teachers and leaders are busy getting set for the upcoming school year. Over the summer, we hold staff training and each campus team plans carefully how to make its school even better than the year before.

To me, preparation is so central to our schools, staff and students being the best they can be. As the famous tennis player Arthur Ashe once said, “One important key to success is self-confidence. An important key to self-confidence is preparation.”

Let’s help our students start off the school year with utmost confidence by being fully ready. And that may mean changing household sleep schedules long before the first day.

Here are some recommendations:
- Ease children back into a school year routine gradually.
- During the last two weeks of summer, re-introduce a school year bedtime.
- Begin waking late sleepers earlier and earlier, closer to the time they’ll
  need to rise when school begins.

Being fully prepared also means being organized, and a centralized site for all family calendars and schedules is a popular tool. Create a centralized calendar that allows students and parents alike to add school lunch menus, class assignment due dates, extra-curricular activity schedules and more. 

What helps your family get set for school? Please share your tips for back-to-school preparedness.