Courtesy Montgomery ISD[/caption]Beau Rees has served as the Montgomery ISD superintendent since January 2012.
Prior to joining MISD, Rees worked for the Graham, Sweetwater and Colorado ISDs in a variety of roles, including 12 combined years as superintendent, stints as a high school and elementary principal, and as a teacher and a coach.
Rees said overall he enjoys working directly with students.
"My favorite role was as principal," Rees said. "I really enjoyed being an elementary principal for two years in Colorado ISD, and I just enjoy working with teachers and parents. I really love interacting with all of the kids."
Additionally, Rees serves on the Conroe Regional Medical Center board of directors, the San Jacinto River Authority Communication Committee and the Lake Conroe Rotary Club.
Rees and his wife, Billie, who teaches English at Montgomery High School, have three daughters—Hannah, Blyss and Reagan.
What are some of the major initiatives you are working on for the next school year?
Our No. 1 priority at this point is dealing with [population] growth. We are trying to make sure that we staff appropriately, budget accordingly, and also with the bond election that we have out, trying to plan for those facilities and bring those online. We have really been working a lot with technology at the secondary level, [and we are] currently doing learning-management software, which is basically a virtual classroom. We plan to be able to launch that for all of the students at the high school in the next year.
Why is the school district pursuing a bond referendum in the May election?
The Montgomery school district has grown [by] over 1,400 kids in the last three years, and we continue to see that growth as all of this North Houston area does. The school district has bonded a number of times in the last decade trying to accommodate the growth. The growth is the No. 1 thing that really precipitates the need to look at a bond election. We have a number of facility needs as well in our existing facilities, but 80 percent of this election is for new facilities to accommodate growth.
If approved by voters during the May election, what would the bond funding be used for?
The main items in this bond are a second high school, another junior high and an elementary school. Those are the main components as far as new schools. Safety and security upgrades [will be made] at all of our campuses, which would include controlled entry and access, security cameras and door hardware that makes the classrooms much safer. Renovations and additions [will be made] at all of our campuses. Some of our schools are over 40 years old, so they just need some attention. We are also looking at school buses.
The school district already has some high-end facilities. Why is the bond necessary?
Our high school's capacity is 2,600 students, and our current projections for growth put us opening the school next year in August with zero growth in terms of move-ins at 2,539 kids. So we are sitting there 61 kids away from our capacity, and we are three years out from being able to get a new school on the ground. If we don't pass [the bond] that high school would be close to 2,900 kids [by 2018]. At our junior high school we are over capacity. We currently have a school built for 1,250 kids, and we are sitting at about 1,300 students. It is capacity issues with the new schools and then the renovations touching every school to make sure that once we are finished with this package that everything is up to the same standard.
Why was it necessary to include improvements to existing facilities within the bond package?
We spent a lot of time, from the school board's perspective as well as our [citizen advisory] group, focusing on equity. By that we meant if we build a new high school then what work is going to be done at the existing high school to ensure that those two schools are equitable so it doesn't matter where your address is—you have access to high-quality facilities.
What education programs have you implemented in recent years? What programs are you looking to implement in the near future?
A program that has really been a staple for us in the last three years is our schoolwide enrichment model at the elementary level. That is a concept based off of the work of Dr. Joseph Renzulli's gifted and talented program. We have taken and implemented it across the board at all of our schools for all of our [elementary] kids. We have really hung our hat on that program at the elementary level. We have also worked hard at implementing a program called Conscious Discipline, which is another area that we really focus on to standardize as we grow to try to make sure these are the systems in place to define the DNA, if you will, of Montgomery ISD. At the secondary level we focus on technology implementation as well as our [science, technology, engineering and math] model. We have really seen those classes grow. Our dual-credit programs here in conjunction with Lone Star College have tripled in enrollment over the last three years, so those are all some programs that we are seeing grow as we grow and really take off.
How has the switch to the 6A classification affected athletics?
We have moved up to 6A, the highest classification, [this school year], and that is an example of the growth that we have seen. It's been a transition being in the same classification with Spring and Klein, and we are by far the smallest enrollment of those schools. We have been proud of our kids and coaches—they have competed hard. We just barely missed the playoffs in football, but we made it in volleyball. We are looking forward to good softball and baseball seasons. Our middle school has really gotten so big that with our one school we basically operate like it is two schools athletically. We feel real good about tennis and golf—we think we can hold our own in 6A in those sports. The best thing about extracurricular activities is that the more kids are involved and have that feeling of belonging then the better they do in school. So we encourage kids to find their niche and get hooked—get in there and participate.
