Willowridge High School achieved a significant milestone during the 2023-24 school year: it officially exited its school improvement federal identification status.
Previously identified as a Comprehensive Support and Improvement (CSI) campus under the Every Student Succeeds Act, Willowridge faced academic challenges that placed it in the lowest-performing 5% of Title I schools in Texas.
Under the leadership of Principal Dr. Jennifer Roberts and her administrative team, the campus implemented initiatives to close academic gaps and increase student engagement. These included implementing educational software that helped make learning fun and competitive and bringing in support from Region IV and the district to partner with teachers and instructional coaches to improve day-to-day instruction in all areas.
Campus leaders also provided professional development for teachers and increased engagement with parents using callouts and hosting parent nights to open and build strong lines of communication and accountability about students’ academic progress.
“I’m very proud of our entire staff, our students and community for coming together around the goal of exiting school improvement,” said Roberts. “The teachers, students and team worked hard to ensure gains were made to show progress over the last two years.”
Willowridge alumni and former teachers are celebrating the news too, though guardedly.
“What an amazing job the administrators, staff, students, community leaders, parents and the Willowridge alumni have done in working together to exit the federal school improvement plan,” legendary former Willowridge teacher Betty Morgan said about the three-year process. “It is indeed a milestone.”
Morgan noted that when those invested in the school’s well-being work together for the common good, good things happen. Still, she contends the work is not done.
“While I am proud and extremely pleased at this accomplishment, I am cautiously optimistic. We must continue the fight in order to not fall into another federal school improvement plan,” she added.
FBISD Superintendent Dr. Marc Smith said this achievement is a pivotal first step.
“Our Willowridge administrators, district leaders, teachers, parents, and students put in a lot of effort and long hours, and it paid off with significant results,” said Smith. “This is just the beginning of the academic progress we expect to see, and with the campus and district working together plus the incredible support of the Willowridge community, we are certain to succeed.”
One teacher said once their team embraced the challenge that faced them there was no turning back.
“We figured out what the state was expecting, and we actually set our goals higher,” stated Social Studies teacher Andrew Terrell. “I feel like we believed it could be done and chose not to waste time complaining, but instead focused our efforts on positivity and grit.”
