A Message from the Superintendent

Vernon Community,

I am often asked, “What did you do during your summer break?” I find so much humor in the question, as it is rare for teachers and other school officials like myself to partake in the break our students have. For us, summers are used to sharpen our skill set and conference with like colleagues in order to learn what is going on in other districts.

Personally, I like to take time to read a good book that relates to my profession. This summer I read a book called “Shoe Dog” which is a story detailing, Nike founder Phil Knight’s struggles in creating Nike shoes.

I was drawn to read this book when I came across Knight’s manifesto he created to sort of guide the thought process of this company. I wanted to learn more about Nike’s manifestos as I thought, although created in the 1970s, they still applied to successful businesses and organizations today. Read on:

MANIFESTO: “PERFECT RESULTS COUNT—NOT A PERFECT PROCESS.”

As we embark on the 2024-25 school year, Vernon Independent School District is making waves in its commitment to equity, opportunity, and empowerment. When I say making waves, we are literally making waves. This year, in a groundbreaking move, Vernon ISD will provide swimming lessons to all fourth graders.

This initiative is not merely about teaching a life skill; it is about breaking down barriers, fostering inclusivity, and ensuring every student, regardless of background, has the opportunity to learn and thrive. It is a mission that speaks to my heart of leading a school district and is backed by a school board that has a commitment to the holistic education and empowerment of each student.

The decision to provide swimming lessons to all fourth graders this year is not just a commendable initiative – I have learned through summer observations and conversations it is a necessary and timely step towards addressing an issue long overlooked. Our kids are comfortable in the water yet they only frolic in it instead of swim.

A great majority of parents never have enough disposable income to provide swimming lessons for their children. When given a choice of keeping the lights on or paying for swimming lessons, the lights are going to win every time.

Data reveals many students living in low socioeconomic households never have the opportunity to learn how to swim, a skill that is not only essential for water safety but also opens the door to recreation, fitness, and even future career opportunities. To be more specific, according to the most recent statistics from USA Swimming, 79% of children from low-income families have low to no swimming ability.

The percentage of students attending Vernon Elementary who are from low social economic backgrounds recently approached 80%. By offering swimming lessons as part of the curriculum, Vernon ISD is not only equipping students with a vital life skill, but also providing access to extracurricular activities that are often taken for granted. This initiative levels the playing field, ensuring every student, regardless of their socioeconomic background, has the opportunity to learn, grow, and thrive in a supportive and inclusive environment.

Specifically, the plan is to have students remain after school for a 3-week period and receive academic intervention or enrichment for one hour and then transit to Vernon College where the college has agreed to collaborate with us on the use of their indoor facility. The Vernon College agreement should be considered key as the cooler weather or rain that is sure to show up this fall will no longer be a limiting factor. I am thankful for the opportunity to collaborate with Vernon College and I very much look forward to the other collaborative endeavors we currently have in the oven.

MANIFESTO: “OUR BUSINESS IS CHANGE.”

When I arrived here, there were several things that were quite a surprise to me. High on the list, if not No. 1, was having classes that might exceed 125 students and yet we had no plan for accelerating some of the brightest in the class. In short, we had a one size fits all mentality with all of our kids.

There is a need to identify our brightest and provide differentiated instruction for those capable of thriving in an accelerated classroom environment. In short, we needed to turn this large organization into a smaller one and develop an individualized instructional approach to all of our kids. The research states if we are doing things right we should be accelerating roughly 25% of our students. I, along with our curriculum team, well knew this was not something that could occur overnight, yet we began to work on this immediately when I arrived here in December of 2022.

We started with ensuring we properly identified our Gifted and Talented kids at the elementary level. In just one year we went from a paltry 3% of kids identified as GT to a now very healthy 8%, which places this district on par with the state average. With that group, we created a 6th grade accelerated Math class where our 6th graders took a full year of 6th grade Math and half of 7th grade. That same cohort, as 7th graders, will take the remaining half of 7th grade Math and all of 8th grade Math. Our plan and work are on the cusp of paying off, as we have 33 of 119 (27.7%) of our students set to take Algebra 1 as 8th graders. The pay-off for those kids will be realized when they are both juniors and seniors as they will be more prepared to do well on ACT and SAT tests, and even more free to take more college level classes while in high school.

MANIFESTO: “WE ARE ON OFFENSE. ALL THE TIME.”

We have suddenly developed a very healthy relationship with Grand Canyon University. Our aim is to provide some of our non-degreed employees with a sensible and affordable pathway to obtain a bachelor degree and provide a reasonable opportunity for our current certified teachers to obtain graduate degrees.

In the process of building those programs we often leaned into conversations about what offerings are out there for our kids. The conversations within those meetings, although not included on our agendas, inadvertently always seemed to land on this. We eventually started talking about offering a college visit opportunity for 25 seniors who had high scores on our school-paid ACT test. Those 25 students, all scoring above a 21 on the ACT will board a plane and head to Phoenix, Ariz. for a 2-day college visit to Grand Canyon University in the Fall.

MANIFESTO: “IT WON’T BE PRETTY.”

Perhaps you can mildly tell from my writing that I am excited about both the direction and start of the school year that approaches. If you run into me and hear me talk about it, you’ll definitely feel my excitement. I well realize this will not be easy. This particular manifesto is likely my favorite as it prepares me for the trials and tribulations that lie ahead of us in our quest to follow through with all of our plans.

Dr. Kermit Ward
Vernon ISD Superintendent