A Message from Superintendent Dr. Walter Jackson
Greetings La Porte ISD stakeholders. Today is a great day to be a thankful Bulldog!
As we enter the latter part of November, I am asking you to join me in offering thanks for the many blessings that have been bestowed upon our school district and community.
We are grateful to our La Porte Education Foundation members and volunteers who marched through our school hallways this week to present our awesome staff with grant awards. The Foundation awarded 97 grants worth more than $101,000, all of which will be used to enhance educational opportunities for our students.
We are thankful for all the wonderful things that our student-athletes experienced this fall. Some post season honors are being released, and we want to congratulate Lady Dawgs Volleyball and Bulldogs and Lady Bulldogs Water Polo members who were selected to the All-District and Academic All-District teams. We’re also very proud of the Bulldogs Football Team, which posted its best record in more than five years. Congratulations to our junior high student-athletes. La Porte Junior High 7A Volleyball Team won the District Championship on Oct. 29; Lomax Junior High 8A Volleyball Team also qualified to compete at the District Tournament. La Porte and Lomax Junior High Schools’ eighth-grade football teams split their annual crosstown rivalry games to wrap up very successful seasons. It was another great season for our cross country programs. Both the Boys and Girls teams qualified for Regionals, and Brady Axtell and Bryce Shawley qualified to run in the UIL State Championships earlier this month, where they wrapped up stellar cross country careers. Thank you to our students, coaches, and parents for your dedication to excellence.
La Porte High School’s Mighty Bulldog Marching Band on Oct. 22 earned a finalist spot for the third straight year – and fourth time since 1989 – at the UIL Area Marching Contest in Alvin. Of the 18 bands that competed, La Porte placed sixth overall. Only seven bands are named Area Finalists. The band qualified for UIL Area by earning the coveted Sweepstakes award at the Oct. 16 UIL Region 19 Marching Contest. Three La Porte High School students earned a chair in the Region 19 All-Region Orchestra after Oct. 22 auditions at Pasadena Memorial High School, and another student earned an alternate position. About 370 orchestra students auditioned for the 60-member All-Region Orchestra. We are also very proud of our band students at Lomax and La Porte Junior High Schools. Nine musicians between the two schools were recently named to the All-Region Band. Again, these successes could not be possible without a diligent commitment toward excellence from students, directors and parents, and for that we are grateful.
We are thankful for the wonderful La Porte High School JROTC, Band, Chatos, Choir, American Sign Language students, and everyone else who organized and took part in the annual Veterans Day ceremony at the Bulldog Centre. Additionally, we are thankful to other schools across the district that showed their gratitude to our veterans with musical performances, readings, walls of honor and even a drive-thru parade. We are eternally grateful to the people who have served in our armed forces, so that celebrations such as these are possible.
You might have heard that we are exploring a bond package for May 2023. The bond would fund academic program expansions, infrastructure, and preventative maintenance projects, an educational conference center and possibly a multi-purpose stadium. As you know, parents can choose where they live and send their children to school. We believe these projects would help keep La Porte ISD on the cutting edge and competitive with many of our neighboring districts, who have recently passed bond packages for these very reasons.
It goes without saying that positive energy and culture are abundant in our district. We are all working together to promote our district in a meaningful way, as there are many young families who are moving to our community and enrolling their children in our district. We aim to make La Porte ISD the absolute best district for our families and community by offering a world-class education in a safe and nurturing environment, and by preparing students for a brighter tomorrow, today! Great things are truly happening in La Porte ISD because you make the difference!
The Thanksgiving holiday is a welcome respite for most of us, and it is my hope that everyone can celebrate the spirit of being thankful and find some time to take care of you!
Happy, Thankful and Blessed,
Walter Jackson, Ed.D.
Superintendent of Schools