LISD schools earn highest accountability marks


7 local schools receive distinctions

Staff Reports

Leander ISD schools continues to shine, earning 39 state distinctions with all eligible schools earning the state’s highest accountability standard, according to a release from the Texas Education Agency.

TEA announced the results from the 2016-17 state accountability system on Aug. 15 and all 39 eligible LISD schools earned the state’s Met Standard rating.

“We are proud of our students, teachers and families for all student success,” said Dan Troxell, superintendent of schools. “State accountability is a necessary component of our education system, but our focus as educators in Leander ISD will continue to be success for the whole child. We have room to keep growing, and I look forward to working with our talented team to improve for kids.”

State accountability measures schools are based on performance on the State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness (STAAR), End-of-Course Exams, and graduation rates across four indices – student achievement, student progress, closing performance gaps and postsecondary readiness.

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Medical school roommates turn business partners

Four Points doctors Cameron King and Brent Cardwell met in college, ended up in Austin, and opened a practice together. Their families enjoy spending time together. Left side: King and his wife, Debbie, with their daughters Anwen, Isabelle and Emilia, on the raft. Right side: Cardwell and his wife, Jennifer, and their daughters Grace and McKenna, also on the raft.

Local doctors share the Cedar Park
Pediatric & Family Medicine story

By KIM ESTES
Four Points News

Brent Cardwell of Grandview Hills and Cameron King of Steiner Ranch were college roommates who turned into business partners. King and Cardwell first met at the University of Kansas, went their separate ways for a while but came together again in Austin to open Cedar Park Pediatric and Family Medicine in 2005.

“We have known each other for a long time, and we think the same way when it comes to the medical business,” said Cardwell about the pair opening a practice together.

King added, “We’re very like-minded. Having been roommates, we’ve seen each other from behind the scenes.”

Kansas is where the boyhood homes of both physicians are. Cardwell grew up in Topeka and attended Kansas State University as an undergraduate. King attended KU after growing up in Wichita.

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Fish & Wildlife to meet about 2nd road to VHS

The second access road behind Vandegrift would cost over $15 million and be one mile with a 100-foot right of way and an 800-foot bridge to protect habitat below.

By LYNETTE HAALAND
Four Points News

Especially with the start of school this week, traffic in Four Points is backed up and congested including long lines going to and from Vandegrift. Currently, drivers can only access VHS and Four Points Middle School from McNeil Drive. The scenario serves as a reminder to the community that a secondary access road is needed.

Leander ISD is trying to build a second access road. It is seeking an Endangered Species Act (ESA) permit to construct a proposed one-mile, $15 million-plus road behind VHS.

This would support some 3,700 students and staff who attend and work at VHS and FPMS. The additional road would address traffic safety concerns and provide an emergency exit.’

LISD hosted a public forum at VHS on May 30 and launched the #BuildTheRoad social media campaign in an effort to get Washington D.C. lawmakers’ attention on the need for the additional road.
The efforts did get attention from national lawmakers.

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