Levelland ISD's

Levelland ISD’s 2023-2024 journey has begun. As I made my way to each campus during the

first few days and weeks of the school year, I felt a sense of pride at the excitement our

students showed. It is obvious how important all of the students are to the campus leaders and

staff at Levelland ISD. They make all the students feel welcome, loved, and special. Since

schools are for kids, this is how all students should feel.

At Levelland ISD, we have begun to work with a group of community individuals who are

volunteering their time to assist us. As with most districts across the state, Levelland ISD owns

facilities that are aging, with some having been in use for 70+ years. Even our newest facilities

are approximately 17 years old, which means repairs and upgrades are needed across the

district. The newly created community facility committee is charged with developing

recommendations for our future facility needs. The committee is reviewing all currently

available facility study information and conducting facility tours. The committee has been asked

to provide recommendations to the Board of Trustees in January.

This week, the Texas Education Agency announced a temporary delay in the release of the 2023

accountability ratings for school districts. We have been anxiously awaiting the results, which

have now been delayed by at least a month. While the state accountability ratings will be

important to Levelland ISD, we know that our campuses and district are much more than a

letter grade. We know that our students, staff and community are greater than a rating and we

will continue to work diligently to prepare our students for the future.

The school year is in full swing, and as we think about the many activities our students will

participate in, the words or Dwight D. Eisenhower come to mind. “Accomplishment will prove

to be a journey, not a destination.” The journey we will travel this year will prove that Levelland

ISD will excel and continue to “Expect Excellence.” I look forward to Levelland ISD’s numerous

accomplishments this year.

Go Lobos.

Becky McCutchen

Levelland ISD Superintendent of Schools

Expect Excellence

Mrs. Katie Pena's Child Guidance Class took a field trip to ABC to observe Preschool students and teachers. Mrs. Pena's class had learned about the developmental stages of preschoolers as well as appropriate teaching strategies for preschoolers. This class observed different classes for an hour and took notes on the teachers and students. The high school students enjoyed this field trip and believe it helped them get a clearer understanding of the importance of preschool development. Mrs. Pena's students send out a big thank you to Mrs. Howard & the ABC educators for allowing them to visit ABC!

LHS students in Mr. Russell Hill's Computer Maintenance Class are breaking down some old computers, identifying the parts, and reassembling the computers as one of their first tasks of the semester. They enjoyed having our LISD IT professionals drop in on the lesson too! Students in this class acquire and apply technical skills to address the IT industry technologies, opening a door to their future after high school!

4th-Grade students in Mrs. Clara Sanders' Science classes are learning about states of matter. These Capitol kids understand the different forms of matter and enjoyed this hands-on-learning lab of what happens when matter are mixed together. Boom! You can tell that these students loved this lesson!

LMS students in Mrs. Passmore's classes did personality testing to get an idea of what their personality says about them: what their strengths & weaknesses are, how they might work with other personality types, & what careers might be a good fit for their personality type. Then they did an exercise with M&M's to see how well they could work with like personalities and different personalities. They were given a cup of M&M's and asked to work with their like personalities to ”build” a house using the M&Ms. Then the groups were mixed and asked to work together to build anything the group wanted. This activity specifically illustrates differences between the Perceiving & Judging types. In short, Judging types look at their environment & see decisions to be made. They tend to prefer structure, & deadlines & are more comfortable with routine & clear expectations. In contrast, Perceiving types look at their environment & see things to experience & explore. They tend to prefer open-ended situations, are not in love with deadlines, & are more comfortable with uncertainty & general guidelines. Because we live in a “J” world, it’s easy for “P” types to be dismissed. The "J" groups first color-coordinated their M&Ms and built a picturesque scene of the house exactly as asked. The "P" groups got to work immediately using all M&Ms to build a "mansion with a pool and a Lamborghini." Both demonstrate that both groups have great qualities & strengths! Of course, they got to eat the M&Ms for their hard work in building those homes! What a fun way to learn to cooperate with others, Mrs. Passmore!

Capitol Elementary students got to use their new parachutes in PE with Mrs. Kristy Sanders. Mrs. Sanders purchased the parachutes with the Community Foundation Grant she received. She said, "They are beautiful and so fun! The kids always love it! My students worked on teamwork, collaborative learning, and good sportsmanship in a variety of games we played." Mrs. Sanders, you are always thinking out of the box to get kids moving!

South third-graders have been learning about Communities in Social Studies. Mrs. Sarah Gomez had Officer Simcik & Officer Moore come from the Lubbock Police Department K-9 Unit to teach how K-9 dogs help our community stay safe. K-9 Dog Yako showed the students obedience and bitework. Thank you, Mrs. Gomez, for this connection to community helpers!

Have you ever been in the dark? Well, these 36 students always are. On National Video Game Day our students in the LHS eSports class were hard at work. ESports Coach Mrs. April Austin is busy preparing these students for their first eSports Competition. Our LHS eSports classes are a growing phenomenon. In the world of eSports, anyone can become a champion, regardless of their age, gender or physical ability. Of course, in order to become the best of the best, our students have to practice intensely & put in the extra time because participants are not equal in the digital world either. This class is amazing & surprisingly enough, helps prepare kids for a career after high school!

Capitol Elementary hosted their Parent Read Night on the first cool day of the year! What a fun way to experience 3 awesome books on an outdoor Book Walk! There was a great turn out and it was a really neat idea, Mrs. Alexander!

LMS students in Mrs. Kayla Kelly & Mrs. Diane DeLuna's Science classes were caught experiencing hands-on science labs. They were comparing mixtures and solutions, and learning about magnetism and conductivity. We love catching our students engaged in learning every day! Thank you, Mrs. Kelly & DeLuna for a job well done!

LHS is proud to share that our FFA kids represented well. They helped the Levelland Chamber of Commerce Ag Committee with the Ag Appreciation Shrimp Boil last week. There's nothing better than high school FFA students asking how they can help at the ag appreciation event! We are so proud of these responsible leaders in our LHS community!

On the day before Mexico's Independence Day Mrs. Saenz’s Kindergarten Bilingual Class celebrated the holiday! These lucky students studied their culture as they learned about the five senses, listened to cultural music, tasted delicious treats, and saw the alphabet in another language. What a great way to learn about Mexican culture and kick Mexican Heritage Month into gear! Thank you, Mrs. Saenz!

Cheer Coaches Northcutt & DeMerritt are pleased to announce that our Levelland Cheer Squad were named the KLBK Spirit Squad of the Week! Congratulations to our hard working girls!
https://files.gabbart.com/456/levelland_cheer_squad_of_the_week.mp4