Board members indicated the move has also served to better match key administrative roles under the new organization of the district with the focus of each committee. The project has led to a community awareness parade and festival, a breakfast for parents of students in grades 4 and 5, and an international culture festival. On another front, Link Elementary maintains The Parent Link, emphasizing more parental involvement in education and practical parent education bringing trained parents in contact with other parents to discuss and resolve child-rearing issues. During the last school year more than 1,060 parents and community members participated in one of these endeavors. Wells Middle School's Success Club addresses student's behavioral and learning needs.
Participants attend individualized two-hour sessions after school.
During the 1997-98 school year, the Success Club was presented as an Innovative Program at the Texas Middle School Association Convention, received a second Spring Education Foundation grant, and support from the Exxon Education Involvement Fund. Achievement data showed that 100 percent of students who participated in the Success Club were promoted to the next grade and made marked improvement on their TAAS scores. SISD uses innovative compensation strategies, including a performance-based pay plan and exceptional benefits, to attract and retain highly qualified personnel and reinforce the achievement of district priorities. In addition, SISD's performance appraisal system directly ties performance to professional development and compensation. SISD's performance based pay plan continues to be a model program for districts across the state, and has regularly been cited by TSPR in recommendations for districts without meaningful evaluation and reward systems.