Chris Gunnin began as head of school July 1.[/caption]New head of school starts at St. Stephen’s
Chris Gunnin, St. Stephen’s Episcopal School’s newest head of school, began his role on July 1. He replaces Bob Kirkpatrick, who retired in June after serving the West Austin private school for nine years.
Gunnin previously served as head of Upper School at Trinity Valley School in Fort Worth. He also taught English, coached track and field and cross country, and served as a junior and senior student adviser at TVS.
“I was initially drawn to this opportunity because of the school’s strong mission, Episcopal identity, impressive boarding program and global student body,” Gunnin said in a release.
Gunnin was hired following a nationwide search that included a diverse pool of candidates, according to the news release.
LTISD adds minutes to instructional day
Effective the first day of school—Aug. 22—Lake Travis ISD will add five minutes each to the beginning and end of the school day at each elementary campus and Lake Travis High School.
The change is mandatory because of a new state law that requires students to receive 75,600 minutes of instruction annually rather than 180 days of instruction annually.
All elementary schools will begin at 7:40 a.m. and end at 2:50 p.m. LTHS will begin at 8:40 a.m. and end at 3:50 p.m.
Eanes ISD and Leander ISD adjusted their instructional start and end times in January.
The Steiner Strategic Stallions celebrate after their win.[/caption]Steiner Ranch team wins math tournament
Leander ISD’s Steiner Ranch Elementary School math team, the Steiner Strategic Stallions, won the 2016 Pentathlon Institute National Tournament Series May 21 in a four-way tie with three elementary schools in Round Rock ISD, Austin ISD and Meridian World School.
Participants learn five different games based on their division that cover skills across computational, logical/scientific and spatial/geometric reasoning. At a tournament, every player competes in all five games against students from other schools.
More than 3,700 students from 131 Texas schools competed in the tournament.
Jeff Arnett was named deputy superintendent for EISD.[/caption]Administration sees positions shift at EISD
Eanes ISD has seen a number of positions change at the administrative level.
Jeff Arnett, who previously worked as assistant superintendent of operations and outreach in the Chicago area, was named EISD’s new deputy superintendent of curriculum, instruction and assessment, or CIA, on June 13.
Current Deputy Superintendent Bill Bechtol will serve as Barton Creek Elementary School principal for the 2016-17 school year. He said he plans to retire at the end of the school year.
BCES Principal Bryan Shippy is moving to Westlake High School to serve as assistant principal, joining newly named interim principal Steve Ramsey, who replaced former principal John Carter.
Kendall Still, a former principal in Frisco ISD, has been named West Ridge Middle School principal.
Stephanie Cutler earned a perfect score on her ACT.[/caption]Leander ISD student achieves top ACT score
Stephanie Cutler, a rising senior at Leander ISD’s Vandegrift High School, earned the highest possible score of 36 on the ACT, a leading U.S. college admissions test, in June, according to a news release.
On average, less than one-tenth of 1 percent of students who take the ACT earn this score, the news release said.
The ACT consists of tests in English, math, reading and science, and it is scored on a scale of 1-36, with a student’s composite score calculated as the average of the four test scores.
“I was so shocked and thought it was a fluke,” Cutler said in an email to Community Impact Newspaper. “The [score of] 36 really shows me that I can be competitive with other top students in the country as I apply for college.”
Cutler said she plans to apply to a number of colleges, including Harvard University, Columbia University, Yale University and The University of Texas. She said she hopes to study economics or business.
“I love so many subjects and want to take a wide range of classes, so it’s hard to narrow in on a major,” she said.
