Castleberry ISD kicks off school year with pep rally, promising continued academic growth

Castleberry ISD kicks off school year with pep rally, promising continued academic growth

Castleberry ISD Superintendent Renee Smith-Faulker, dressed in an Olympic-themed outfit during the district’s annual pep rally Aug. 5, leads a procession of teachers into the Castleberry High School gymnasium. (Matthew Sgroi | Fort Worth Report)
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Castleberry ISD is going for gold.

The school district, which covers River Oaks, Sansom Park and parts of Fort Worth, was the first Tarrant County school district to kick off its 2024-25 school year on Aug. 7.

To celebrate, Superintendent Renee Smith-Faulkner slid on a toga, donned a golden sash and adorned a tainia, a Greek headband to resemble an Olympic torchbearer. Leading a procession of teachers into Castleberry High School’s gymnasium, the symbolism was fitting — as a torchbearer marks the start of each Olympic games, so too does Smith-Faulker, heralding the start of classes. 

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The pep rally, which is held annually by the district, is a way to get teachers excited for the coming year, and for district vendors to know their support is valued as a community partner, Smith-Faulker said.

“They’ll take this excitement into the first day,” Smith-Faulkner said. “Because they’re going to have really big things going on the first day of school.”

Those “big things” include continued academic growth on state standardized tests like STAAR, which Smith-Faulker is confident will persist this school year. She highlighted the district’s summer program, Go for the Gold, which inspired the theme of Monday’s pep rally.

Here’s how Castleberry ISD performed on district STAAR results:

Seventh graders struggled with math despite improvements, as 9% met grade-level, compared with 7% in 2023.

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Castleberry ISD saw an increase of 12 percentage points in the number of fourth graders who met grade level in the reading test, from 35% to 47%. 

The district saw improvements across every grade level in the reading test except eighth grade, which saw 42% of students meet grade level in reading, down from 51% the year before.

The district also saw improvements in the math results, with the exception of fourth graders.

Castleberry ISD saw an increase of 11 percentage points in the number of fifth graders who met grade level in the math test, from 38% to 49%.

“Fifth grade students overall outperformed the state,” Smith-Faulkner told the Fort Worth Report. 

She said the gains students made this summer in the learning and enrichment program, in which more than 1,900 of the district’s 3,740 students participated, are indicative of Castleberry ISD’s potential successes.

“Our parents are beginning to love it, too, because it’s tutoring, but it’s also finding what other enrichment we can provide students to see what they’re interested in,” Smith-Faulker told the Report.

As staff and teachers waited for the main event to begin, bags began to fill with goodies as attendees circled tables set up by district vendors and Castleberry ISD supporters like the Fort Worth Public Library, the City of River Oaks, Nothing Bundt Cakes and State Farm insurance agent Vince Adams, who eventually sang a booming “Star-Spangled Banner” to start the pep rally. 

For Smith-Faulkner, the pep rally was another way for her and district administrators to show Castleberry ISD teachers how much they’re appreciated, she said. 

Janine Henry, a principal health science teacher and eighth-grade biology teacher at Irma Marsh Middle School, won the district’s secondary teacher of the year award last school year. She already knows many of her students through the district’s science, technology and engineering pathway. As she held a few different tote bags, she said that she’s looking forward to providing a calm environment and safe space for her students — a refuge from the chaos of middle school hallways.

“I’m looking forward to seeing the kids’ faces, meeting my new students and working with students I already know,” Henry said. “Last year, a student told me that my classroom felt safe and like a home. That’s the best thing I could ever hear.”

First-year Castleberry ISD teachers Carlie Michael and Rebecca Glick also expressed enthusiasm about starting a new school year. Both are excited about seeing their students grow throughout the year.

“I’m excited to see what they bring to the table at the beginning of the year and see what they learn by the end,” Glick, who will teach second grade at Castleberry Elementary School, said. 

Michael, preparing for her first day as first grade teacher at A.V. Cato Elementary School, added to Glick’s anticipation.

“It’s really cool to make those little improvements with them and see the impact we can make,” Michael said.

Teachers’ commitment is a huge reason the district has improved academically over the past year, Smith-Faulkner said. 

Without teachers, the district’s commitment to student growth and community involvement through initiatives like Go for the Gold wouldn’t be evident, Smith-Faulkner said. While the program focused on students’ academic enrichment, it also helped students get acclimated to their new grade levels before the school year starts.

“In the summer — our kids attend for four weeks. In the morning, we do high-impact personalized tutoring, and in the afternoon, they get to do enrichment activities,” Smith-Faulkner explained. “So, when they come back in the fall, it’s not like the first day of school; they’re already familiar with their teachers and the school environment.”

As she bobbed her head up and down, dancing along to band music and imploring a crowd of teachers, district staff and Castleberry High School cheerleaders and band members to get loud, Smith-Faulkner’s optimism for the new school year needed no podium to take center stage. 

While Go for the Gold may just be a moniker, it’s also a symbol that the district is committed to continuing its upward trajectory, she said.

“We had growth in our STAAR scores, with 16 out of 24 subject-grade levels showing improvement,” Smith-Faulkner said. “We attribute that to our summer programs and the dedication of our teachers.”

Matthew Sgroi is an education reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at matthew.sgroi@fortworthreport.org or @MatthewSgroi1. At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.

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