When Whitewright Superintendent Brian Garner answered the phone on Sept. 17, the last person he expected to hear from was the Texas Education Agency (TEA) media contact. As it turned out, TEA Commissioner Mike Morath was scheduled to speak at Austin College on Sept. 25. During his two-hour break, he wanted to pay a visit to Whitewright ISD and see how things were going.
Whitewright Elementary School has shown impressive growth over the past two years, skyrocketing from an accountability rating of 62 to 88. (The middle school is currently at a 90 and the high school at an 83.)
Garner credits the improvement to the school’s leadership -- namely their diligence, hard work and high expectations.
“Leadership has implemented a plan,” Garner said. “It’s all about having a goal in mind and doing the best we can to achieve those goals. Our teachers are committed. Sometimes, Monday through Thursday, they’re at the school from 7:15 a.m. to 4:30 or 5 p.m. They’ve really bought in and are excited about what we’re doing over there.”
Commissioner Morath and an entourage of state representatives (including Shelley Luther), TEA (including Pam Little, Vice Chair of the State Board of Education) and four dignitaries from Region 10 visited the school from 1-2:30 p.m. During that time, they visited the classrooms of Mrs. Cook, Mrs. Donaldson and Mrs. Sherman. Not only did they observe what was happening, but they engaged with the students and staff.
“Mr. Morath is very hands-on. He took the time to interact with the students and teachers,” Garner said. “The visit was a great opportunity for me to tell him to keep showing up to these little schools. We do a lot of work, and we don’t have the staff that larger schools have. It’s important for him to see what we’re able to accomplish.”
Though Garner was grateful for the experience, he was even more appreciative of the support the parents and community have given the school district. Enrollment has reached over 800 since 2019.
“It’s been a long run to get those numbers up, but we’re here and we’re excited,” Garner said.
At the end of the visit, Morath didn’t have any words of critique for the district – only words of encouragement.
“I understand that the Commissioner typically offers some feedback for improvement, but he didn’t have any for us,” Garner said. “He just told us to keep doing what we’re doing.”
