Italy Independent School District

Italy ISD welcomes our new High School Principal, Sharon Graves. Go Gladiators!

Italy ISD would like to congratulate Lee Guidry, CAP instructor at Italy ISD, for receiving the Civil Air Patrol Aerospace Education Teacher of the Year Award! He received this award for his development of aerospace leadership curriculum that ties into the government and public administration strand of Texas’ career and technical education. Also, He implemented a drone flight school that allows cadets to earn their FAA part 107 commercial drone license before graduation. The Civil Air Patrol Aerospace Education Teacher of the Year Award is a national-level award established to recognize and reward any Civil Air Patrol member who is a certified K-12 teacher for outstanding accomplishments in Aerospace/STEM education and for possessing those honorable attributes we expect from American teachers who are inspiring the next generation of aerospace-related STEM citizenry. Congratulations Mr. Guidry on a Job well done!

March 11, 2021 Response to Governor Abbott’s Executive Order Concerning Masking Within Governor Greg Abbott’s recent executive order GA-34, the Governor instructed public schools to continue to operate under the standard health protocols and guidance issued by the Texas Education Agency (TEA). At this time, TEA continues to require schools to perform contact tracing in response to all confirmed cases of COVID-19, and require all individuals who have had close contact with the person who has COVID-19 to be quarantined. As a relief from the quarantine requirement, TEA allows school districts to consider the wearing of face coverings. Italy ISD has utilized this relief throughout the pandemic in all situations where consistent and faithful mask wearing can be verified. Due to our consistent efforts to enforce the wearing of face coverings among students and staff, we have been able to keep the numbers of required quarantines relatively low among our student population. This has enabled the vast majority of our well student population to continue to come to school each day for in-person instruction and activities. WIthout the consistent presence of face coverings, the number of our required quarantines would have been significantly greater. Spring is a very busy period of time and we do not want to face the difficult decisions we were forced to make this time last year. As a result, following the standards and guidance from TEA, Italy ISD will continue to require all staff and students to wear face coverings this school year. We believe this requirement best protects the ability of our staff and students to continue to have school in-person and minimize the chances of having to cancel spring activities. We have faithfully worn face coverings throughout this school year. Maintaining this practice for the remainder of the school year is a benefit for our students, staff and families.

ATTENTION PARENTS: Due to inclement weather and power outages, Italy ISD will be closed for the remainder of the week. Italy ISD will re-open at our normal time on Monday, 2/22. Stay safe and we will keep you updated.

ATTENTION PARENTS: Due to inclement weather and no power or internet, Italy ISD will be closed on Wednesday, 2/17 & Thursday, 2/18. Stay safe and we will keep you updated!

ATTENTION PARENTS: Due to inclement weather and power issues, Italy ISD will be closed on Tuesday, 2/16

Attention Staff. No staff development tomorrow, Monday 2/15. Enjoy your day off, and remember that students have a holiday on this day. More information to come about Tuesday, 2/16 and Wednesday, 2/17.

Awesome School & Community Collaboration. Got the water trough refilled! Enough water to take care of animals through Wednesday. Thanks to Mr. Larry Eubank and Mr. Glover for your help!

Attention Italy ISD parents: Italy ISD will be closed tomorrow February 11th due to inclement weather. Thank you.

The Italy Independent School District would like to direct you to the Italy Police Department's Facebook page for further details regarding today's LOCKOUT at Italy ISD.

Attention Italy Parents, The Italy PD has issued an all clear for the schools to return to normal. The LOCKOUT has concluded and both schools have been returned to normal operations. Thank you.

Italy ISD Board of Trustees Name Lone Finalist for Superintendent Position At a Special Called Board meeting on February 1st, the Italy Board of Trustees unanimously named Rachel Kistner as the Lone Finalist for the position of Superintendent of Schools. Currently, Mrs. Kistner is serving as the Executive Director of Special Services in the Burleson Independent School District near Ft. Worth, with a student population of 12,500. Prior to serving in Burleson, Mrs. Kistner served the Red Oak ISD, as a teacher, campus Principal, and Director of Special Education. Her letter of interest states that her philosophy is grounded in building positive relationships with students, families, staff and communities. She further states that these relationships motivate and foster levels of collaboration that evolve into outstanding programs and services for students. State Statute requires a 21-day waiting period for the Board and Lone Finalist to execute a final contract. Once this 21-day period waiting is over, Mrs. Kistner looks forward to getting into the district as soon as possible. She states, “I would like to express my gratitude to the Board of Trustees for giving me the wonderful opportunity to serve Italy ISD. I look very much forward to transitioning into the district and getting to meet and know everyone asap! My husband Dave and I very excited and ready to become part of Gladiator Nation!”

Please see public notice for Italy ISD, from the Board of Trustees, announcing Italy ISD intentions to hire the new Superintenent, Rachel L. Kistner. https://5il.co/p898

In honor of School Board Appreciation Month we have dedicated each board member a premium edition art book that will be a permanent part of the Italy HS Library collection. Italy High School’s staff and students would like to thank all board members for their service.

Dear Italy High School Families, Italy ISO Health Services Kim Hopgood, RN Italy High School 972-483-741 I khopgood@italvisd.org Dodie Chambers. LVN Stafford Elementary School 972-483-6342 dchambers@italyisd.org In keeping with Italy ISD's practices to respond to COVID-19, we are notifying all families that an individual(s) who has been lab-confirmed positive for COVID-19 was present on the Italy High School campus on January 19, 2021. Due to privacy requirements, we are not able to provide the name of this individual or any details that may identify him or her. The district is conducting a case investigation and will notify any individuals determined to be in close contact* with the COVID-positive individual. All students and staff that came in close contact will be directly notified. Those that were in close contact will follow the Italy guidelines and self-monitor for 14 days, unless otherwise required to quarantine. We will keep you apprised of additional updates. While we do not have reason to believe that those who were not in close contact with the infected individual have reason to be concerned, we ask that you watch for symptoms of COVID-19, which include: • Fever or chills • Cough • Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing • Fatigue • Muscle or body aches • Headache • New Loss of taste or smell • Sore throat • Congestion or runny nose • Nausea or vomiting • Diarrhea If you or any member of the Italy family begin experiencing any of these symptoms in a way that is not typical, we encourage you to contact your physician. If you have a lab-confirmed positive case of COVID-19, please notify our school by calling 972-483-7411. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Sincerely, Jason Lawson Italy High School Principal *"Close contact" is defined as: (a) being directly exposed to infection secretions (e.g., being coughed on while not wearing a mask or face shield); or (b) being within six feet of a person is infected with COVID-19 for a cumulative duration of 15 minutes.

Alert! Italy ISD will have a 2 hour delay in the start time on Monday, January 11th. Buses will run 2 hours later than normal. Thank you.

All Region Band Results Gladiator Nation, Results are in! This year we had 13 members of the Italy Gladiator Regiment Band audition for the 2020 ATSSB All-Region Band! Our students have been working hard on the audition music this season for a spot in the All-Region Band and the opportunity to advance to the second round of tryouts: All-Area. Congratulations to the following members of the Gladiator Regiment Band for auditioning! Jr., De La Hoya, Omar, - Euphonium - 1st Chair Concert Band, AREA Sr., Estrada, Daysi - Bb Clarinet - 4th Chair Symphonic Band, AREA Sr., Galvan, Xander - Bass Clarinet - 4th Chair Symphonic Band, AREA Soph., Garza, Isabella - Bb Clarinet - 7th Chair Concert Band Soph., Guidry, Madelyn - Oboe - 1st Chair Concert Band Jr., Haake, Bryant - Tenor Saxophone - 1st Chair Symphonic Band, AREA Fresh., Haake, Gabrielle - Flute Soph., Kizer, Addison - Bb Clarinet Sr., South, Catherine - Horn in F - 6th Chair Symphonic Band Soph., South, Evelyn - Oboe - 1st Chair Symphonic Band, AREA Jr., Trees, Rushton - Contra Bass Clarinet - 1st Chair Symphonic Band, AREA Jr., Williams, Julius - Tuba - 3rd Chair Symphonic Band, AREA Jr., Wims, Kaitlyn - Horn in F They ALL deserve to be recognized for undertaking a challenge and proudly representing our wonderful community of Italy, Texas! Our 7 members qualified for AREA will audition in January for a spot in the 2020 ATSSB All-State Band schedule to meet this summer - wish them luck! Go Gladiators!

Administration showing gratitude with Bundt Cakes. IHS Teachers rock!  Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all of the Italy ISD community.

Administration showing gratitude with Bundt Cakes. IHS Teachers rock!  Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all of the Italy ISD community . file:///var/mobile/Library/SMS/Attachments/fe/14/0A6EDC1F-823B-4140-9F3F-5A8FA0DE3443/part0.heic

Attention all Italy ISD Student Parents.. This Friday, November 20, 2020 is changing to an early release day. Jr. High and High school will dismiss at 12:05pm with an optional lunch being served to students until 12:35pm. Buses will run on early release schedule as normal. Stafford Elementary will dismiss at 11:55am with an optional lunch being served as well until 12:25pm. Buses will run on early release schedule as usual. Thank you very much and have a Happy Thanksgiving. Italy ISD