Spring Hill ISD

Spring Hill ISD is proud to recognize Polly Allen as Teacher of the Month. Polly teaches fourth grade math, science, and social studies at Spring Hill Intermediate.

Polly says: I am married to my wonderful husband Jerrod. I have two boys that have attended Spring Hill since Kindergarten. Emory is a Junior and Travis is in 7th grade. They are both very active in sports. Currently, they are both playing baseball, so we spend a lot of time at the baseball fields. We love every minute of it! We also have the cutest lab named Champ who is very spoiled. He fits right in with our active family! I also enjoy spending time outside and exercising when I can. As a family, we love spending time at Beavers Bend. We also enjoy snow skiing and spending time at the beach when we can.

This is my 14th year to teach and my 3rd year to teach at Spring Hill. I absolutely love teaching at Spring Hill! Our administrators, teachers, and students are wonderful. The ladies that I teach with are amazing teachers. I am lucky to call them my friends and coworkers. I truly enjoy coming to work each day. My students and team are my school family!

Being named Teacher of the Month is a great honor! Thank you so much!

Congratulations to Amanda Chism on being named Spring Hill's Support Staff of the Month! Amanda is an LVN and works as the Intermediate Campus Nurse.

Amanda says: I've been married to my wonderful husband Scott for almost 17 years. We have two beautiful daughters, Adisyn (15) and Laityn (10). Adisyn is a Sophomore at Spring Hill, a Varsity cheerleader and plays softball. Laityn is a 4th grader and plays travel softball. Our girls keep us busy with all their activities and sports but we enjoy every minute of it. Right now, you can find us at the softball fields every day of the week. We also have lots of animals, too many to name but they are all very much loved.

My favorite vacation is our annual family beach vacation. It's difficult to get everyone together but it's a time for my parents, brother, sister and their families to enjoy each other.

I'm a Spring Hill Alumni Class of '97. Go Panthers! I attended Kilgore College nursing school. I've been a pediatric nurse for 19 years and have spent the last seven years as a school nurse at Spring Hill Intermediate. My favorite part of being a school nurse is getting to know all of our students. They all hold a special place in my heart.

Spring Hill High School recently hosted the District UIL Academic Meet. The UIL Academics program is designed to motivate students as they acquire higher levels of knowledge, and to provide students with the opportunity to demonstrate mastery of specific skills. Students are challenged to think critically and creatively.

After competing in the District Meet, 15 students qualified to advance to the Regional UIL Meet. Best of luck to the following students as they compete at Regionals!

Ashton Thomas

Bailey Ratcliff

Brooke Ratcliff

David McFatridge

Easton Ballard

Jace Jones

Jacob Gerfen

Jacob Kimbrough

Julya Socoteanu

Kayden Miller

Kennedy Croom

Kyle White

Marshall Bodenheimer

Sofia Villarreal

Taylor Green

Congratulations to these individuals for their accomplishments at the District Meet!

Addison McQuitty

Alyssa McClung

Andrew Grooters

Carter Boyd

Chris Decker

Christian Jeter

Davion Simpson

Dylan Murdick

Eduardo Flores

Elijah Mayhew

Jackson Perritt

Jaxon Yantes

Kirstin Saha

Lexi Smith

Luisa Trujillo-Soto

Luke Diggins

Micah Socoteanu

Nick Bodenheimer

Shailyn Higgenbotham

The Spring Hill Math and Science team recently competed in the Texas Math and Science Coaches Association (TMSCA) state competition. The team finished in second place overall.

“These kids work really hard all year and dedicate a lot of Saturdays to prepare for and to compete in these meets,” said Debby Bass, math and science coach. “I’m very proud of them.”

Senior David McFatridge received the Top Gun award, an award given to the students who have the best average scores from all four tests: Number Sense, Calculator, Mathematics, and Science. “David is only the second person in Spring Hill history to receive this honor,” said Bass.

McFatridge also won first place in Calculator and Mathematics. Other big winners of the meet included Gersain Saenz and Lily Cooper who placed first in different events for their grade level.

Members of the Spring Hill Math and Science team include:

Brandon Krenek

Gersain Saenz

Claire Iltis

Trig Fields

Carter Boyd

Lily Cooper

Marshall Bodenheimer

Jacob Kimbrough

Eduardo Flores

Elijah Mayhew

Jace Jones

Davion Simpson

Ashton Thomas

Easton Ballard

Jacob Gerfen

David McFatridge

Members of the Spring Hill High School Pacesetters drill team will take to the stage Saturday, April 24, for their spring show. The theme for this year’s show is "Setting the Pace: A Year in the Life." Performances are scheduled for 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. at Spring Hill Intermediate Auditorium.

Tickets are $7 for the 3 p.m. show and $10 for the 7 p.m. show. To purchase tickets email apresley@shisd.net or see a Pacesetter. Tickets will also be sold the week of the show at the auditorium and the day of the show at the door.

In addition to preparing for the spring show, the Pacesetters recently competed at the ADTS Nationals Competition. The team and officers scored Division 1 ratings in all six categories entered. The team and officers placed runner-up in their division, and the officers scored first place overall in their Modern routine.

Kindergarten preregistration is available for students who will be five years of age on or before September 1, 2021. Follow these steps to preregister your child for Kindergarten.

Step 1: Go to SHISD.net

Step 2: Select the Parents tab

Step 3: Scroll down and click on Enroll A New Student

Step 4: Follow the instructions to complete registration

You will need to scan and upload the following documents during your online registration.

• Student’s Birth Certificate
• Student’s Social Security Card
• Student’s Shot Record
• Parent Driver’s License
• Proof of Residency in Spring Hill ISD*

Step 5: Schedule a Kindergarten Assessment Appointment

Students will take a Kindergarten pre-assessment. Assessments are by appointment only and will last approximately 20 minutes. Call Spring Hill Primary at 903-323-7848 to schedule an appointment. Assessments will be scheduled on the following dates and times.

• Tuesday, April 13: 8:30 am - 2:30 pm
• Wednesday, April 14: 8:30 am - 2:30 pm & 4:00 pm - 6:00 pm
• Thursday, April 15: 8:30 am - 2:30 pm

*A current utility bill (a fixed utility bill indicating service at a verifiable address within the boundaries of Spring Hill ISD e.g. natural gas, electricity, or water service). Disconnect notices will not be accepted. Phone, cable, internet, or satellite services are not considered fixed utilities and cannot be considered.

Students at Spring Hill Intermediate learn new things every day, including how to play musical instruments. Fifth graders in Rachel Smith’s music classes are learning to play the recorder.

“It’s a great tool that promotes hand eye coordination, as well as encourages students to use their music reading skills that we have been working on since third grade,” Smith said.

Recorders are sent home for students to play this year to maintain a safe learning environment. While in class, students practice the finger patterns for various notes, and watch demonstration videos. Materials are loaded into Google Classroom for students to practice at home. They submit videos of them playing the recorder to be assessed.

“Learning to play the recorder is fun and challenging,” fifth grade student Tinsley Robinson said.

Recorder Karate is the curriculum being used. It is designed after karate belts in that students can demonstrate mastery on a “belt” by playing the corresponding song correctly, and with proper tone. There are nine different levels of mastery.

“The great thing is, students can move at their own pace,” Smith said.

In addition to the recorder, Spring Hill Intermediate students learn to play the ukulele and the xylophone while in music class.

To encourage students to read independently and to explore various book genres, Spring Hill Junior High teachers Katie Hunter and Sherry England have implemented the Tower of Books Challenge.

Students are given a set number of genres to read. Some of the genres include nonfiction, historical fiction, adventure, humor, realistic fiction, and fantasy. “One fantastic aspect of the tower is that the kids must read from multiple genres,” said England. “While they may love Diary of a Wimpy Kid books, they only have a few spots to fill for that genre. Then they must branch out and broaden their literary horizons.”

The goal is for students to read a total of 40 books. “This makes reading as many books as possible a challenge to the students,” said Hunter. Students earn credit for a book once they have completed an accountability assignment for it, such as a summary and either a review or a recommendation.

Small prizes are given as incentives in each class throughout the program. The class with the highest total number of books read will receive a group prize at the end of the year.

“The students seem to be enjoying themselves,” Hunter said.

Spring Hill High School welding students recently constructed a 5-by-10-foot utility trailer. The welding program at Spring Hill focuses on the development and use of automatic and computer-controlled machines, tools, and robots that perform work on metal or plastic.

The trailer is available to purchase for $1400. If you are interested in buying the utility trailer, email Grant Mars at gmars@shisd.net.

Spring Hill Intermediate recently hosted a blood drive through Carter BloodCare. They met their goal of donating 20 units of blood. By donating 20 units, they were able to help 60 people. Thank you to all who donated!

Spring Hill PTA dropped off donuts to district offices recently. We “donut” know what we would do without our wonderful PTA!

Kindergarten students recently had a day full of GLOWING fun. Autumn Cameron, Megan Dunavan, and Brittany Sipes transformed their classrooms and planned glow in the dark activities. Students built sight words with glow sticks and glow Play-Doh, made a glow number line, created shapes out of glow sticks, played Tic-Tac-Toe, ring toss, bowled, and had a dance party. "It was a blast," Sipes said. "I want to do it again next year."

• TEA "A" Rated district
• K-12 Education
• Premier school district in East Texas
• College and Career Readiness best in the area
• Low teacher / student class ratio
• Honors, dual-credit, gifted & talented, Career & Technical Education, and numerous local courses offered
• UIL Academics, robotics, theatre/drama, band, drill team, cheerleading, athletics and bass club activities offered
• State award winning band
• Education Foundation
• Boys and Girls Club
• District enrollment at an all time high
• Designated as a District of Innovation by the Texas Education Agency
• Outstanding parent and community support

Spring Hill ISD would like to thank the following sponsors for their continued support through the marquee partnership program. Proceeds help support:

• Classroom technology
• Fine arts exposure and experience
• Support athletic programs
• Innovative classes for sports marketing and game day production
• Scholarships

For advertising information, please contact the superintendent's office at 903-323-7740.

Email: contact@shisd.net
Website: shisd.net
Location: 3101 Spring Hill Rd, Longview, TX 75605
Phone: 903-759-4404
Facebook: facebook.com/Facebook
Twitter: @SpringHill_ISD