By CASSIE MCKEE, Four Points News

A Steiner Ranch couple is having to take drastic action in a further attempt to bring their adoptive son, Henry, home from Africa.

On Sept. 4, Sherri Smetana is boarding a plane by herself with a one-way ticket to the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The Smetana family shown here at the Fourth of July Parade in Steiner Ranch is missing one member, adopted son Henry who is still in Africa. This week Sherri leaves for Africa in hopes of bringing Henry home soon.
Photo by Lynette Haaland

“I’m pretty much staying until I can bring him back,” she said. “I need to make sure that he’s ok. I’m trying to parent a child from across the world and that’s impossible.”

The decision wasn’t easy. Staying behind will be her husband, Andy, and their 5-year-old twin girls, who just started kindergarten last week.

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By CASSIE MCKEE, Four Points News

The International School of Texas, a private school located nearby off RM 620 and Hudson Bend Road, is celebrating its first year with the addition of middle school students for the 2014-2015 school year. Also a new entrance is being constructed and scheduled to be complete in the weeks ahead.

“We’re proud to be celebrating the first successful year of the International School of Texas, an excellent choice for families looking to provide their children a true international education,” said Monique Threadgill, chair of the board of trustees for the International School of Texas. “We’re looking forward to the coming school year when we’ll welcome even more students to our family and continue to improve our beautiful campus and available resources.”

The nonprofit, non-faith based school opened in September 2013 and completed its first year of classes to more than 70 students. In April, 10 families with children at the school formed a Limited Liability Company and purchased the campus land to ensure a continued legacy of international education for their families and the larger community. Several of the families are from Four Points.FPN_2014_FOOTBALL-PREVIEW

In April, 10 families, including some from Four Points, formed a Limited Liability Company and purchased the 11-acre campus to ensure a continued legacy of international education.

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By CASSIE MCKEE, Four Points News

In the state’s new accountability ranking system, Vandegrift High School received special academic distinction in four categories: Top 25 percent Closing Performance Gap, Postsecondary Readiness, Academic Achievement in Math, and Academic Achievement in Science.

To receive a distinction, a school must score in the top 25 percent of its comparison group – each comparison group is made up of 40 schools from across the state with similar demographics. The top 25 percent schools are known as quartile 1, or Q1. VHS principal Charlie Little said VHS’s comparison group makes up some of the top public schools in the state.

“I am extremely proud of our staff and students for their exceptional performance this year,” said Little.  “We are excited and welcome the chance to be ranked and compared to the 40 of the best high schools in Texas. The use of the comparison group for accountability requires us to be savvy with our data review. Sometimes, it is only a fraction of a percentage point that separates a Quartile 4 from a Quartile 1 ranking.”

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By LYNETTE HAALAND, Four Points News

Parents of two students in two different Leander ISD schools are frustrated with incidents that happened during their childrens’ ride home from the first day of school on Monday, and say they’re not satisfied with the response from the schools or Leander ISD.

In one incident, a sixth-grade girl attending Four Points Middle School was put on the wrong bus and later dropped off at “an isolated River Place location with few houses and a construction site,” according to the girl’s mom.

Her parents, who wish to remain anonymous, said they were “were absolutely shaken to the core.”

“How can they just drop off a kid in a random, remote location without telling the parent,” the mom asks, calling the incident “unbelievable.”

The girl’s parents want to alert other parents to better coach their children on how to handle something similar situations. It was their daughter’s cell phone that allowed her to communicate with them that she was on the wrong bus.

In another incident, a kindergartner from Winkley Elementary who fell asleep on the ride home, received cuts and bruises after the bus stopped abruptly, throwing the girl into the seatback in front of her. Continue reading →