Ken Williams, founder and chief visionary officer of Unfold the Soul, encouraged members of the BEST cohort to strive for greatness.

HOUSTON – Dec. 13, 2016 – Spring ISD administrators, Tier I school principals and teachers gathered Dec. 7 to kick off the Building Excellent Schools Together (BEST) cohort class. Established this year by the district’s Professional Learning and Workforce Development team, the program is designed to show support for schools that consistently perform well academically and encourage them to reach even higher.

Tier I representatives from Anderson, Burchett, Cooper, Northgate Crossing, Smith and Winship elementary schools and Twin Creeks Middle School gathered to celebrate moving from good schools to great schools. They were selected for having strong systems in place, meeting the state academic standard and even exceeding in targeted areas. Kimberly Fonteno, professional learning and workforce development officer, helped create the program that is committed to improving and promoting education achievements across the district. She said it all started with meetings of the district’s principals and discussions on barriers, challenges and successes.

“We have schools with strong systems and structures,” Fonteno said. “Those schools have good initiatives; they have good support and good leadership. They are good schools. But … we are not trying to simply be good schools; we want to create great schools.”

The evening was not just focused on training but included great entertainment as well. At the beginning of the event, guests were serenaded with a performance from the musical “The Wiz” by Westfield High School’s theater department. One of the most popular moments was when keynote speaker Ken Williams, founder and chief visionary officer of Unfold the Soul, encouraged guests to strive for greatness.

“This cohort, this entire group will spend the year studying, learning, visiting successful campuses and together making sure that we can have excellence in every single school,” Dr. Lupita Hinojosa, chief academic officer.

As the event came to a close, many of the cohort leaders expressed that they felt inspired. “I feel like we are getting the extra assistance that we need to help move us to that next level,” said Leticia Gonzalez, Cooper principal. “The professional development that is coming up will help us grow as educators.”