McAllen ISD Offering Immunization Clinics for Back to School

McAllen ISD is offering immunization clinics each day this week at 4309 Warrior Drive, at the Facilities, Maintenance & Operations building, behind Rowe High School.

Here is the schedule.

Clinic Schedule/Scroll Down for Dates

There will be more clinics Aug. 27-31 however it is important parents get their kids vaccinated before school starts because they cannot enter school until they are up to date. The first day of school is Monday, Aug. 27.

Click Here to View the State Immunization Requirements for 2012-13

Oprima aquí para obtener las listas de vacunas que el Estado de Texas requiere para esta temporada de escuela 2012-2013

McAllen School Board Named Best in Region for 2011-12

In this photo: Standing from left to right are Daniel Vela, Javier Farias, Superintendent Dr. James Ponce, Dr. Joseph Caporusso and Sam Saldivar Jr. Sitting are Debbie Crane Aliseda, Board President Hilda Garza-DeShazo and Board Vice President Erica de la Garza.Courtesy of McAllen ISD:

The McAllen ISD School Board of Trustees has been named the Region I School Board of the Year for 2011-12, it was announced.

The McAllen School Board received notice in a letter from the regional office which represents nearly 40 school districts between Laredo and Brownsville.

“Region One Education Service Center is proud to announce the McAllen Independent School District’s school board as this year’s regional winning entry in the Texas Association of School Administrators (TASA) School Board Awards Program,” Region One ESC Executive Director Jack Damron wrote in a congratulatory letter addressed to McAllen ISD Superintendent James Ponce, Ed.D. “You and your school district should be extremely proud of the recognition that this award brings to your school community.”

As the regional winner, McAllen ISD’s board is now in the running for the Outstanding School Board for the state which will be announced at the TASA-TASB (Texas Association of School Administrators-Texas Association of School Boards) Annual Convention Sept. 28-30 in Austin. Officials at the TASA-TASB Conference will first select a group of five Honor Boards from the 20 regional winners from Texas. Of those five Honor Boards, one will be named the state’s Outstanding Board.

“We are honored and humbled to be recognized by the entire region,” McAllen School Board President Hilda Garza-DeShazo said. “This is truly the result of a team effort. Our administration, our teachers, staff, parents and students have all contributed to making this a great school district.”

One area in which McAllen ISD is unique is its TLC3 framework. This past year, McAllen ISD unveiled a plan to provide electronic learning devices for every student. Known as TLC3, or Transforming Learning in the Classroom, Campus and Community, this cutting-edge framework utilizes devices like the iPad and iPod Touch so students can embrace technology and cultivate skills for the 21st-century workforce. TLC3 became the subject of news stories in the Valley, the state, nation and even internationally thanks to an Associated Press feature.

This is McAllen ISD’s second Regional award. In 1998, the McAllen School Board represented the region and was later named a state Honor Board – making it one of the top five in the state.

McAllen’s School Board members include Mrs. DeShazo, Erica de la Garza, Debbie Crane Aliseda, Sam Saldivar Jr., Daniel Vela, Javier Farias and Dr. Joseph Caporusso.

According to the TASA website, TASA created the School Board Awards Program in 1971 to recognize those school boards that have demonstrated outstanding dedication and rendered ethical service to the children of Texas. The criteria emphasize evidence of support for educational performance improvement. The awards program allows each regional selection committee to submit up to two nominations for state competition, one from districts with less than 1,000 students and one from districts with more than 1,000 students.

The Region One Education Service Center is part of a state-wide system of 20 regional education service centers to assist school districts. The education service centers work alongside school districts to carry out three main objectives -- to assist school districts in improving student performance; enable school districts to operate more efficiently and economically; and to implement initiatives assigned by the legislature or commissioner. Region One ESC serves 37 school districts and nine charter school systems in the seven county areas of Cameron, Hidalgo , Jim Hogg, Starr, Webb, Willacy and Zapata County.

Commission Meetings Move to New Time, Starting August 13

The McAllen City Commission will begin meeting at a new time, starting August 13, 2012.

The regular city commission meeting, previously held at 4:00 pm, will move to 6:00 pm and will commence with a public hearing. Public comments, though, will be heard by the city commission prior to adjourning the meeting.

“Based on the content and the length of the agenda and in consideration of employment responsibilities for all participants, we thought it would be more efficient to move the meeting to a later time,” said McAllen City Commissioner James “Jim” Darling.

The city commission workshop time has also changed from 2:30 pm to 5:00 pm, effective on August 13, 2012.

Regular city commission meetings are held every second and fourth Monday of the month, in the City Commission Chambers on the third floor of City Hall, located at 1300 Houston Avenue. These meetings are open to the public, excluding executive sessions which are closed to the public by state law.

Meeting and agenda packets are available for download the Friday prior to the Monday meeting, at 2:00 pm. All agendas and packets are in Adobe Acrobat (PDF) format. Click here to download meeting agendas and packets. Regular city commission meetings are televised on the City of McAllen’s Time Warner Digital Cable Channel 17.12 (McAllen Cable Network) and are also streamed live online.

Click here to stream MCN live on the web.

En Español

A partir del 13 de Agosto del presenta la reunión de cabildo cambia su horario de reunión.

La junta de la Comisión anteriormente daba comienzo a las 4:00 PM, ahora se trasladará a las 6:00 PM y se iniciará con la audiencia pública.

La parte de los comentarios públicos será escuchada por la comisión antes de levantar la sesión

"Con base en el contenido y la duración del programa y en consideración de las responsabilidades laborales para todos los participantes, pensamos en la comisión que sería más eficiente mover la reunión de cabildo para otro horario", dijo el comisionado de la Ciudad de McAllen James "Jim" Darling.

La Comisión de la Ciudad de McAllen también le dio un cambio al horario del taller de presentación que se conduce antes de la reunión de cabildo y ahora este comenzara a las 2:30PM y se extenderá hasta las 5:00 PM. Efectivo el 13 de agosto del 2012.

Las reuniones periódicas de cabildo, en la Ciudad de McAllen se llevan a cabo cada segundo y cuarto lunes del mes, esto en el tercer piso del Palacio Municipal, ubicado en el 1300 de la Ave. Houston. Estas reuniones están abiertas al público, con excepción de la junta ejecutiva que se realiza a puerta cerrada bajo el consentimiento de la ley estatal.

Cada reunión de cabildo en la Ciudad de McAllen se transmite en vivo a través de Time Warner Cable su canal de TV 17.12, si desea también puede accesar su computador en la pagina http://www.mcallen.net/mcn/live.

Copias de la agenda a discutir la pueden obtener visitando la página http://www.mcallen.net/officials/meetings

McAllen ISD Awarded $2.1M Grant for Student Physical Ed.

From the office of Congressman Henry Cuellar (D-Laredo) 7/31/2012

McAllen, TX— Today, Congressman Henry Cuellar (D-Laredo) announced that the Department of Education has awarded McAllen ISD’s Department of Physical Education and Health Instruction Services a $715,495 grant under the Carol M. White Physical Education Program. The grant is expected to stand for a total of 3 years and total $2,146,485.

“Over the past three decades, childhood obesity rates in America have tripled, and this trend is hitting the Hispanic community especially hard. By giving kids the tools they need to make healthy decisions, we’re helping them put themselves on a path toward a healthier life,” Congressman Cuellar said. “Obesity leads to chronic problems like diabetes, heart disease and high blood pressure which carry a high price tag in medical bills, so this federal funding is an important long term investment in our community’s health. Thank you to McAllen ISD for your commitment to nurturing our students’ bodies as well as their minds.”

The McAllen Independent School District will partner with the Texas VALLEY (Valuing Activity with Lifestyle Lessons to Encourage Youth), a community-wide partnership, to enact a series of improvements to the K-12 physical education program. The partnership will put an obesity prevention model strategy in place designed to increase the percentage of K-12 students meeting Texas State standards, implement a more focused physical activity, nutrition and health program and implement a tracking system to monitor student success.

“What better time to receive this grant than when the world’s most athletic men and women are competing on a world stage at the Olympics,” said McAllen ISD Superintendent Dr. James Ponce. “When we educate students, it is with the notion that we want healthy minds and healthy bodies.”

This grant arrives on the heels of a report by CNBC that the McAllen-Edinburg-Mission metropolitan area is the most obese in the nation. The report projected that if the region lowered the obesity rate from 38.8 percent to 15 percent, it could save $252 million a year in medical costs annually.

Background:

The Carol M. White Physical Education Program provides grants to initiate, expand, or enhance physical education programs, including after-school programs, for students in K-12 grade. Grant recipients must implement programs that help students make progress toward meeting state standards.

Code Compliance Director Interviews On Garage Sale Ordinance

Planning a garage sale in McAllen? If so, remember you must be a McAllen resident, own or lease property in McAllen and obtain a permit. These are just some of the rules. Watch Environmental Health and Code Compliance Director Josh Ramirez give us an overview in this video clip produced by the McAllen Cable Network.