The rise of esports in NISD: from classroom to competitive
NISD is giving students more opportunities to strengthen their skills through tournaments that are not only giving gamers the chance to shine and improve their skills at an academic level but are also opening doors for new opportunities for college and future careers.
Spriester Sessions: Northside ISD superintendent discusses why heโs leaving, hot topics facing Texas public schools
Dr. Brian Woods is leaving the cityโs largest school district after 11 years. KSAT anchor Steve Spriester sits down with the Northside ISD superintendent to discuss why heโs leaving the district, school safety, and what Woods believes is the biggest threat to Texas public schools.
โItโs truly just voter intimidationโ: NISD pressured staff, tracked votes during bond election, records show
Employees at multiple Northside Independent School District campuses have told the KSAT 12 Defenders in recent weeks that administrators relentlessly pressured them to vote on a May bond measure, tracked whether they had cast a ballot and in one instance threatened discipline if they failed to do so.
Trump and Cruz propose โhardenedโ one-door schoolhouses. Experts say thatโs not a credible solution.
U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz and other Republicans argue that gunmen can be stopped by locking all but one door and posting guards at schools. School officials and safety experts say thatโs not realistic.
Northside ISD urges another week of virtual learning for students due to COVID-19 surge
SAN ANTONIO โ Northside ISD Superintendent Brian Woods sent a letter to parents on Friday, asking them to consider waiting another week before sending students back to in-person learning due to the ongoing rise of COVID-19 cases in the area. โWe had hoped to see an improvement in the cityโs health metrics and allow students to return Feb. 1. โThis applies to those who temporarily switched to virtual learning and those who had hoped to start in-person learning for the third grading cycle.โWoods said the district would determine the possibility of allowing additional in-person learners next week. The superintendent had previously urged parents to consider virtual learning for their kids through the end of January because of the surge in COVID-19 cases. Students who need a device to facilitate virtual learning will be able to get one from their childโs school.
KSAT Kids: Superintendent pushes for virtual learning; studentโs art chosen for virtual MLK march; soap boats
In this weekโs KSAT Kidsโ kid spotlight, we focus on 11-year-old Yesenia Morin, who won a citywide Martin Luther King Jr. art contest. Guide Dogs of Texas, a nonprofit guide dog provider that breeds, raises, trains and matches guide dogs to owners across the state is now looking for volunteers. For students still seeking additional schooling help, the San Antonio Public Library continues to offer resources to help with their lessons. All rights reserved)Volunteers needed in San Antonio to help raise, train guide dogs for nonprofit organizationGuide Dogs of Texas, a nonprofit guide dog provider, has worked to train and provide guide dogs to visually impaired Texans. Holiday lights on San Antonio River Walk (San Antonio River Walk Association)Related Links
Northside ISD urges virtual learning for students due to COVID-19 surge
SAN ANTONIO โ The superintendent of Northside Independent School District is urging parents to consider virtual learning for their kids through the end of the month because of the surge in COVID-19 cases in San Antonio. Woods said theyโre not closing schools or going to mandatory virtual learning because the state requires them to offer daily in-person instruction and ties funding to that mandate. Students who need a device to facilitate virtual learning will be able to get one from their childโs school. As of last week, NISD reported 190 active COVID-19 cases among campus staff and 346 active cases among the districtโs students, according to the district. AdAlso Tuesday, state health officials reported that Texas had surpassed 14,000 hospitalized COVID-19 patients for the first time during the pandemic.
Alarming failure rates among Texas students fuel calls to get them back into classrooms
The problems are concentrated among students trying to learn from home, more than 3 million of the stateโs 5.5 million public school students, according to administratorsโ accounts. According to KVUE-TV, about 11,700 Austin ISD students are failing at least one class this year, a 70% increase from last year. San Antonioโs Northside ISD has not changed its expectations for virtual students, despite seeing higher failure rates, said Superintendent Brian Woods. Since many students learning from home are low income, Black and Hispanic, lowering academic standards for those students could end up deepening existing inequities, he said. Bizuayehu has dyslexia and dysgraphia, which impacts his ability to write clearly by hand, and heโs found virtual learning much easier.
2 San Antonio school districts make list of top 50 employers in Texas
SAN ANTONIO โ Forbes released its list for best companies to work for in 2020 and two San Antonio school districts made the top 50 list for Texas. According to the NISD page, 106,863 students are currently enrolled in one of the districtโs 120 schools. Also formed in 1949, NEISD is the second-largest school district in San Antonio. โIt is an honor to be recognized by Forbes and Statista, however, it is beyond an honor that our employees put NEISD on this prestigious list.โ said NEISD Superintendent Sean Maika. MethodologySurveys and responses were collected from Oct. 2019 to May 2020 to determine which employers made the list.
Northside ISD, North East ISD will delay in-person learning at start of the new school year
SAN ANTONIO โ Northside ISD and North East ISD will delay holding in-person instruction for students at the start of the new school year. Instead, both school districts will utilize distance learning for students in an effort to stay safe and limit the spread of the coronavirus. Northside ISD will begin its 2020-2021 school year Monday, Aug. 24 with distance learning. According to school district officials, there will be no in-person instruction until at least the Tuesday after Labor Day, which is Sept. 8. The school district said it will also offer assistance to families that may not have devices or internet for their children to use for distance learning.
Its going to be an all hands on deck situation,: Northside ISD superintendent says on school reopenings
On Sunday, Northside ISD Superintendent Dr. Brian Woods joined Leading SA to speak about the plan in place as schools prepare for reopening. I think it enables us to provide a much safer experience for both staff and students, Dr. Woods said. If the Northside ISD school district had a lab-confirmed positive COVID-19 case, Dr. Woods said a closure or quarantine of some sort would be imminent. And if they dont, we can do distance learning in an effective way thats safe for everybody, Dr. Woods said. The full interview with Dr. Woods can be viewed in the video player above.
San Antonio superintendents prepare for return of in-person classes this fall
Greg Abbott has announced that public school students in Texas will return to the classroom in the fall, San Antonio superintendents are making preliminary plans for the new school year. Related: Texas students will return to school campuses this fall, Gov. Safety is a critical component of each plan, with protocols being developed within a framework of hygiene, physical distancing and other public health considerations. Northside Independent School District Superintendent Brian Woods said that school in the fall does not come without proper health and safety precautions. It will be safe for Texas public school students, teachers and staff to return to school campuses for in-person instruction this fall, Moraths email stated.
Northside ISD task force reveals preliminary plan to safely reopen schools this fall
SAN ANTONIO The Northside Independent School District released a new survey Tuesday detailing how parents feel about sending their children to school this fall. NISD Superintendent Brian Woods said the district is looking at all options and attempting to give families and NISD community members what they want. The task force presented different recommendations during Tuesday's board of trustees meeting, including classroom changes, school bus alterations and suggestions on remote learning. According to Woods, the districts survey was designed to gauge parents' feelings of the pandemic. The district also released key findings of a survey in which thousands of NISD parents responded.