Fort Bend Independent School District NEWS RELEASE FROM COMMUNITY RELATIONS Keryn Miles, Communications Specialist keryn.miles@fortbendisd.com    281.634.1100

**  FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE  **

Four Fort Bend ISD Schools Recognized as 2009 TBEC Honor Roll Schools

FORT BEND ISD ― Four Fort Bend ISD schools – Commonwealth Elementary School, Fort Settlement Middle School, Sartartia Middle School and Walker Station Elementary School – have been recognized as 2009 Texas Business and Education Coalition (TBEC) Honor Roll schools. This is the fourth consecutive year that Fort Settlement Middle School and Sartartia Middle School have been recognized. Walker Station Elementary has been recognized the past two years, and this is the first year for Commonwealth Elementary School. They are among only 254 of Texas schools that were honored this year, representing less than 4% of our state’s public schools.

“Being named an Honor Roll school by TBEC for the fourth-consecutive year is truly a prestigious accomplishment for our Sartartia students, parents and our quality middle school staff,” said Dr. Sara Thurman, Principal. “This award is possible because of Sartartia Middle School’s relentless pursuit of excellence in the classroom. Sartartia Middle School is known for its depth of academic excellence and this award exemplifies our motto of Exemplary Education Everyday, E³.”

Commonwealth Elementary School Principal, Charmaine Hobin, is equally proud and said, “The Commonwealth Elementary School family is honored and excited to be named a 2009 TBEC Honor Roll School. I personally congratulate our students, staff, and community members who continuously work together to demonstrate a commitment to learning and growing. The collaborative spirit leads our school community to the common goal of excellence in student academic performance. Go Cougars!!”

The Texas Business and Education Coalition’s Honor Roll for 2009 recognizes some of the state’s most outstanding public schools. Being named a TBEC Honor Roll school is the most prestigious academic award a Texas public school can achieve. The list of Texas public school honorees represents 13 High Schools, 35 middle schools and 206 elementary schools. In analyzing every public school in Texas TBEC considers only the school’s commended performance, the state’s highest standard for academic achievement and sets specific targets for schools based on grades served and student demographics.

The 2009 standards were by far the toughest in the 10 year history of the award. All schools were expected to improve their commended performance from 2008 and every school was required to have a minimum of 20% of students tested performing at the commended level on ALL tests for 2009.

TBEC will recognize all the Honor Roll schools on Monday, November 9, 2009 at an awards reception and dinner in San Antonio sponsored by HEB and IBM.

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