From Little Elm ISD: Our Mission
The mission of Little Elm Independent School District, as a premier school system, is to educate and prepare all students to adapt and excel in a competitive global community through partnerships and programs that facilitate academic excellence within a secure and supportive learning environment.
The Little Elm Independent School District encompasses 40 square miles in the southeast corner of Denton County on the north end of Lake Lewisville. Our district is one of the fastest growing districts in the State of Texas. We serve students who reside in the communities of Little Elm, Frisco, Hackberry, Lakewood Village, The Colony, and Oak Point.
Geographically, we have 23 miles of shoreline on Lewisville Lake, so our community is fortunate to have plenty of scenic lakefront property. The community maintains a "small town" feeling, yet because of our close proximity to the Dallas-Fort Worth area, our teachers and students have access to the same resources as many large communities.
If current growth patterns persist, LEISD will remain a "one high school town" for many years to come. In athletic and academic competition, our students compete in a very competitive 4A classification in the University Interscholastic League.
The Texas Education Agency (TEA) rated the district "Recognized" this year for the first time in the district's history. In addition, the district attained "Exemplary" status in 53 percent of the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) accountability indicators and made "Recognized" in 26 percent of the categories.
King Early Learning Academy, the district's pre-kindergarten campus and, therefore, not eligible for ratings, earned certification as a "Texas Readiness" school from the Texas State Center for Early Childhood Development for the second year. The award signifies that students are prepared to start school with the reading and social skills necessary to be successful throughout their educational career.
All of our elementary campuses for 2009 achieved the highest rating of "Academically Exemplary" by the Texas Education Agency. Brent Intermediate School is rated "Academically Recognized" for their second consecutive year, and Little Elm High School is also rated as "Academically Recognized."
According to TEA, only 26 percent of school campuses in Texas have an "Academically Exemplary" rating this year. In our district, 55 percent of eligible campuses are "Exemplary."
Little Elm High School and Brent Intermediate School both earned the state's second highest rating of "Recognized."
Colin Powell Intermediate School and Lakeside Junior High School both earned an "Academically Acceptable" rating. Data indicates that both schools were within two or three student scores in one or two categories from being elevated to the "Recognized" status.
Exemplary Schools
- Chavez Elementary School
- Hackberry Elementary School
- Lakeview Elementary School
- Oak Point Elementary School
- Zellars Elementary School
Recognized Schools
- Brent Intermediate School
- Little Elm High School
No Child Left Behind
All schools in the Little Elm ISD as well as the district met the federal government standard of Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP), according to data released recently by the Texas Education Agency for the second consecutive year. Along with acceptable test performance, districts and high schools must also meet a 70 percent graduation rate or show improvement over the previous year. Elementary and middle schools must have an attendance rate of 90 percent or higher to meet AYP requirements.
Enrollment and Facilities
The district maintains over $132 million in school facilities owned by the local taxpayers. The majority of our schools and facilities have been built or completely renovated within the last five years.
Student Enrollment (as of January)
| High School | 1,310 | |
| Junior High School | 771 | |
| Intermediate School | 800 | |
| Elementary School | 2,280 | |
| Early Childhood Education | 258 | |
|
Total
|
5,411 |
.
Ethnicity of Student Population
Our school district is wonderfully diverse, with a student population comprised of:
| African American | 13.2% | |
| Hispanic | 35.8% | |
| White | 48.2% | |
| Native American | 0.7% | |
| Asian/Pacific Islander | 2.1% |
Campuses
Little Elm High School (9-12)
Lakeside Junior High School (7-8)
Brent Intermediate School (5-6)
Colin Powell Intermediate School (5-6)
Cesar Chavez Elementary School (K-4)
Hackberry Elementary School (K-4)
Lakeview Elementary School (K-4)
Oak Point Elementary (K-4)
Hershel Zellars Elementary School (K-4)
King Early Learning Academy (Early Intervention and Employee Childcare Center)
More Projects Remain
The remaining large projects from a Capital Improvements Plan voters approved in 2002 include the district's second junior high school and a maintenance/ transportation facility. A 55,607-square-foot academic expansion, including new science, engineering, and computer labs, at the three-year-old Little Elm High School campus opened this fall, bringing our potential capacity to 2,200 students.
The wing on the south side or front of the campus includes 26 more general education classrooms, four science labs, three computer labs, one language lab, two adult learning labs, storage, and office space.
As a by-product of the new academic addition to Little Elm High School, faculty members received Apple laptop computers for use in their classrooms. Rather than adding more stationary computers in each classroom, the district issued teachers MacBooks for professional use.
The district hopes the change in platform will inspire more student-created projects and that teachers will ensure that technology is integrated into the curriculum.
In addition to laptops for classroom teachers, LEHS has two Apple labs, a set of 30 MacBooks for the Marketing Department and 14 MacMini computers for the digital graphics classes. The school will also be seeking certification for students who wish to work with Apple's Final Cut.
All told, LEHS has 540 computers and 15 computer labs throughout the building.
District Personnel
| Certified Teachers | 400 | |
| Specialized Professionals | 50 | |
| Administrative Staff | 40 | |
| Instructional Aides | 100 | |
| Secretaries/Clerical | 60 | |
| Maintenance Staff | 60 | |
|
Total
|
710 |
Teachers' Years of Experience
| Beginning Teachers | 8% | |
| 1-5 Years of Experience | 37% | |
| 6-10 Years of Experience | 25% | |
| 11-20 Years of Experience | 20% | |
| 20+ Years of Experience | 10% | |
| Average Years of Experience Teaching |
8 years |
Transportation
Per state law, transportation is available for children who live more than two miles from their attendance zone school. LEISD collaborates with Durham School Services to travel more than 336,540 miles. Pre-kindergarten and special education students are eligible for transportation once need is established.
| Number of Buses | 35 | |
| Number of Routes | 30 |
College and Career Focused
As the district works daily to keep pace with the influx of new students and to enhance academics, achievement levels have increased steadily, and financial stability has become the standard.
College and career awareness and preparation for all students have become a key area of emphasis for the district. Gifted and talented programs begin in kindergarten and transition through to sixth grade when students enroll in a host of accelerated courses.
Pre-Advanced Placement (Pre-AP) courses start at the intermediate school with mathematics and English/language arts, social studies, and science. At Lakeside Junior High, students may enroll in Pre-AP courses in English/language arts, science, Texas history, biology, US history, and algebra. The number of Little Elm High School students enrolled in an Advanced Placement and Dual Credit course during the past three years has dramatically increased. As an incentive, the district offers tuition reimbursement for students who enroll and complete the class. Through a partnership with the Little Elm Awards Foundation (LEAF), students may also receive scholarships for tuition and reimbursement for books and supplies.
Little Elm High School is one of only 79 schools in Texas and 15 in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex honored with the "College Readiness Award" for increasing the number of students taking the ACT assessment over the past five years and significantly increasing their level of academic achievement and college readiness from ACT, Inc.
Two kindergarten classes at Hackberry Elementary School are beginning the journey as the district's first dual language classrooms. The 44 students, comprising 22 native English speakers and 22 native Spanish speakers, will cover the standard kindergarten curriculum while students learn to read and write in both languages. The program's goal is to grow learners who are bilingual and biliterate.
Collaborative
LEISD has also developed a strong partnership with North Central Texas College (NCTC), including having Little Elm High School serve as a satellite campus for high school students and the community. Students and community members may attend evening and weekend classes to begin work on an associate's degree only minutes from home.
Through our partnership with Texas Woman's University, LEHS has the "Go Center," an on-campus center to focus on college-prep and college entrance. At the center, students can map out their college career with the assistance of student volunteers from TWU who give a valuable firsthand perspective of student life. Career and technology offerings at LEHS are increasing each year. Through "Project Lead the Way," students may enter an engineering program to take a prescribed number and coherent sequence of math, science, technology, and other courses that fit into pre-determined engineering/high tech fields of study. The Rochester Institute of Technology provides dual credit for four hours of credit with this program.
In addition, Health Sciences, Criminal Justice, Business, Technology, and Media Production programs are available to LEHS students for career-specific preparation.
School Budget
The Little Elm ISD Board of School Trustees is the district's taxing entity, and they approve the budget each year for the district. The budget totaled $53,436,421, which is inclusive of $28,671,249 from local funds, $23,249,125 from state funds, and $1,516,047 from federal funds.
The budget included an increase in the beginning teacher salary to $42,000, an all-time district high. Teachers, librarians, and nurses received salary increases varied from 3-5 percent. Other staff members received a 4 percent increase to their mid-point salary range.
The budget reflects a predicted 5 percent growth in student enrollment, a compressed maintenance and operating tax rate, a taxable property increase of 12 percent to $1.6 billion and a $673,000 increase to the debt service schedule. Overall, the budget is a 9.7 percent increase over the 2007-2008 budget. This year the Board approved a total tax rate of $1.53 per $100 assessed valuation. Of that rate, $1.04 per $100 assessed valuation is for maintenance and operation (M&O); $0.49 per $100 assessed valuation is to repay school debt approved by local voters (I&S). The total rate is a 4.8 percent increase over last year's rate.
The average market value of an LEISD residence is $167, 452 with an average taxable value of $149,673. Taxes due on that home would average $2,290 per year.
Our district has a FIRST (Financial Integrity Rating System of Texas) rating of "Superior Achievement" and our official financial audit shows the district to be extremely sound financially with optimum amounts of reserve funds in place, as well as accounting practices viewed as "Exemplary." The district has an "AAA" bond rating by Fitch's Investor Services with an underlying rating of "A."
Accreditation
LEISD schools are accredited by the Texas Education Agency (TEA) and Little Elm High School is also accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges & Schools.
Board Meetings
The regular board meetings of the Little Elm ISD Board of Trustees are held on the third Monday of each month at 6:30 p.m. in the Lakeside Junior High Theater. The dates are subject to change due to holidays. The meetings are open to the public.
