San Marcos CISD Superintendent Mark Eads has been named the 2014 Superintendent of the year for Region 13, an area composed of 16 counties and 60 school districts within Central Texas. Eads said he was pleasantly surprised when he heard the news from Region 13 Executive Director Terry Smith on June 18. "I said 'Terry, I know this sounds clich, but the reality of it is, that is a district and community award. It's not just a superintendent's award,'" Eads said. Eads was nominated by the San Marcos CISD Board of Trustees for the award, and he was interviewed by a group of school board members from throughout the state. Eads said the district has much to be proud of. During the 2011–12 school year, 244 students took dual credit courses. In the 2013–14 school year, 591 students took dual credit classes. Additionally, Eads said the district will be increasing its career and technical education courses to include 20 different offerings in the 2014–15 school year. In the 2013–14 school year, the district had 30 AP Scholars and four National AP Hispanic Scholars. "A lot of people look at one thing only," Eads said. "They look at test scores and that's it. They don't look at the whole big picture of what it's taken to get there and where we're at and improvement This committee that did the interview, they were looking at the whole picture and not just the individual test scores. We did well." Eads said he has been particularly proud of the change in the district's image and the business and community partnerships that have been formed since he took the reins as superintendent in 2011. "The image of the district has changed," he said. "When I arrived three years ago, people just didn't have all the facts about the good things that were happening, and it really did take some time to get that information out there. We had buy-in from the Greater San Marcos Partnership and other organizations like that that started going out and speaking on our behalf." Eads said there is room for improvement, and in the next school year, the district will be altering certain aspects of its curriculum. San Marcos CISD recently underwent an in-depth audit of its curriculum, and Eads said the district learned that because its six elementary schools and two middle schools were not focusing on the same programs, not all of its students were on the same level. "All the elementary schools and middle schools will be on the same timeline and the same curriculum," he said. "That's probably one of the biggest improvements that we'll have that will have a positive impact on the kids." The Texas Association of School Boards and the Texas Association of School Administrators will select a statewide winner at its annual TASA/TASB Convention in Dallas on Sept. 26. The state committee responsible for selecting the winner will interview Eads Aug. 23.