Meanwhile, Willis ISD also has a resource center, named the Wildkat Resource Center, which is located in what was once the first Willis High School. The center opened during the 2020-2021 school year to serve students and staff, and is led by Michelle Bischoff. As part of the Wildkat Resource Center, the Kat’s Closet provides shoes, underwear, socks, coats, school supplies, clothing and personal hygiene items for district families.
MISD’s Director of Community Service Courtney Dyer said the resource center, which is set up like a store, has basic food items, refrigerated and frozen food items, shelf items, along with some basic hygiene cleaning products and school supplies.
The center at MISD is open to come in and shop for free once a month by appointment for any staff member or any family who has a student or students who are currently enrolled in the district.
WISD’s center sees around 80 visits per month for clothing assistance and around 300 visits per month for food assistance, Bischoff said. There are also around 1,200 visits for school supply and backpack assistance each year and around 1,000 visits for Christmas assistance each year.
The impact
60% of Willis ISD students are economically disadvantaged, while 28% of MISD students are economically disadvantaged, according to data from the Texas Education Agency based on the 2024-25 school year.
“We will serve mostly our economically disadvantaged population, which varies from year to year, but it ranges around 60% of our population of almost 10,000 kids served on the free and reduced lunch list,” Bischoff said.
According to previous Community Impact reporting and TEA data, the percentages of students who receive free and reduced lunches enrolled in WISD and MISD for the 2024-25 school year include:
- Willis ISD: 52.84% receive free lunch and the number of Willis ISD students receiving reduced lunch was not available
- Montgomery ISD: 22.16% receive free lunch and 4.36% receive reduced lunch
Quotes of note
- “If they're able to save a little bit on groceries, they can put that extra money toward gas for the car to get to work or maybe to even put toward a bill to keep the utilities on.” —Courtney Dyer, director of community service, Montgomery ISD
- “A lot of families don't know about us, so we're working really hard to kind of get the word out to our families about what it is we do. We've done a lot of open houses and families are very appreciative.” —Michelle Bischoff, Wildkat Resource Center director, Willis ISD
Those who want to make a shopping appointment, volunteer or donate at the MISD or WISD resource centers can visit www.bit.ly/3C3BJ86 or www.willisisd.org/students-families/wildkat-resource-center, respectively.
The MISD Resource Center is located at MISD’s Education Support Center at 20774 Eva St., Montgomery, and the Wildkat Resource Center is located at 204 West Rogers Road, Willis.
“We're always looking for wish-granters. We're always looking for toy donations, new socks, new underwear, new shoes for our families that are in need,” Bischoff said.
