Q&A: New superintendent Shawn Pratt shares ideas for McKinney ISD's future

I did my student teaching here in McKinney at McKinney High School and Faubion Middle School half days each and just fell in love with it.

How do you see your previous positions helping you with this new role?

I’d say the biggest thing is I’ve been on [the administrative] cabinet for 12 years. I’ve always had an interest in all of the departments and learning, and those kinds of things. I’d say that the other thing is safety and security. It is such an important role right now. Overseeing that the last three years helped me really know the ins and outs. Being on the cabinet helped me really understand the district as a whole and all the different departments, [and] how we interact.

Going into this position, what are some of your top goals?

[My top priorities] are going to be academic achievement, and safety and security. Those are going to be the first two major focuses. We will really focus on academic achievement and what we can do to continue improving all of our academic programs that meet the need for all of the different students. You put 23,500 students, you’d have a wide range of abilities and interests. We will make sure that as an aggregate, we’re really moving the district forward and those academic programs. With safety and security, we are ensuring still that we are providing a safe and secure learning environment where students can come and feel safe, and that affects their ability to learn. Keeping them safe is important, but also having them feel safe where they can learn is also important.

How did you prepare to enter this role?

You have to have mentors. I’ve got some really good mentors. Some of the superintendents around us, I spent time with them before the interview process, really going and talking to them as I was going through the process of making the decision if I was going to do this.

What do you think makes this district unique?

McKinney is a special place. We’re a diverse population. Through our growth in the city, we’ve been able to keep the family-type atmosphere in McKinney ISD. I think, as I’ve gone around and talked to principals and teachers, they always bring that up—that we’ve had a family atmosphere. That’s part of the reason I’ve stayed here for so long, because there are good people, and there’s good relationships and people in the business for the right reasons.

What are some areas of growth you’d like to see explored by the district in the future?

We’ve got to continue to focus on closing some of our gaps in academic achievement. That is definitely going to be a focus right off the bat. We want all students to be successful, no matter the hurdles that face them, and it’s our job to try to remove those hurdles and close those gaps.

What are some areas that you think MISD excels in?

We provide an excellent educational experience. I’ve had three children, my own kids, go through this district and had outstanding educational experiences. I think if you look at some of our special programs, we offer a wide variety. There’s just so many options for our kids that they often will be able to walk out of school and have certifications for a job if they’re not going into college. There is also our dual credit and our AP courses. Those are allowing our kids to walk into college with many hours; often, we have students that are starting [college] really as sophomores.

Where do you want to see the district in the next five years?

I want it to remain a very safe and secure environment, and even improve in that. That’s tricky, and you want to be as safe and secure as possible, but you also want to keep it inviting for our students and our staff. That, and then I think in our academic achievement, again, I go back to closing those gaps. It’s something that we have to focus on; we have to move the needle on [that] and allow all students to be successful.