Week of February 27

The San Marcos Education Foundation (SMEF) Grant Committee reviewed applications for their March grant awards and selected 7 San Marcos CISD teachers to support for the month of March. These teachers will utilize funds for STEM projects, Physical Education, Social-emotional Learning tools and much more! We are so grateful for the ongoing support and generosity SMEF brings to our staff and students. For more information, to make a donation or apply for the next set of SMEF Grant Awards, please visit smeducationfoundation.org.

The San Marcos Lady Rattlers honored their Class of 2023 Seniors on Tuesday, March 7. Congratulations to Coach Hormuth, Coach B and our student-athletes for securing a spot in the 27-6A playoffs.

San Marcos CISD’s Child Nutrition Department celebrated National School Breakfast Week on March 6-10. All SMCISD campuses participated in the celebration with themed menus throughout the week. This year’s theme for NSBW was Get Your Day in Gear with a Healthy School Breakfast.

To our 2022-2023 Rattler Boys Basketball team,

We thank you. Thank you for the artistry you all displayed on and off the court. The journey you all took us on will forever be cherished. We recognize and respect the countless hours you all dedicated, behind the scenes, to your craft. As fans we enjoyed seeing it all come together for 32 minutes, twice a week, yet we know the diligent preparation that came before. You 100% altered the narrative of San Marcos CISD. You have forever left your mark on your teachers, coaches, peers and future generations of Rattlers to come. Your efforts epitomize what it means for outsiders to no longer bypass San Marcos, Texas. Your achievements defied the odds and reminded those that when in doubt, they shouldn’t.

San Marcos CISD's Pre-K and Elementary campuses celebrated National Read Across America Week with theme days, character parades, guest readers and a delicious green eggs and ham breakfast of champions. Shoutout to the SMCISD Child Nutrition department for creating these unique memories for our Rattlers!

Our SMHS TAFE (Texas Association of Future Educators) Chapter attended the TAFE Teach Tomorrow Summit in Round Rock, Texas, last week. A total of 11 students competed and 8 of those students qualified for Nationals which will take place in Orlando, Florida, this upcoming summer.

Congratulations to the following students for advancing to Nationals!
Ethical Dilemma – Varsity Division: Carmen Bley, Abby Calkins, Kaya Jensen, and Kai Lee
Ethical Dilemma – Junior Varsity Division: Lila Lingner and Georgia Recio
Interactive Bulletin Board Elementary – Varsity Division: Xavian Harris and Savannah Magallanes
Children’s Literature K-3 – Junior Varsity Division: Georgia Recio

Congratulations to the following students for representing San Marcos High School and Area 3 at the State conference.
Chapter Yearbook – Gold Award: Carmen Bley and Abby Calkins
Job Interview: Abby Calkins
Researching Learning Challenges: Axle Franks, Sadie Helgeson, Colton Hill, and Natalia Torres
Teacher Created Materials – Silver Award: Kaya Jensen and Sadie Helgeson
Interactive Bulletin Board Middle/High School – Bronze Award: Chase Clark

To top it all off, our SMHS local chapter was awarded Outstanding Chapter for the 4th year in a row and Colten Hill will represent San Marcos CISD as an Area 3 Officer for the 2023-2024 school year!

Congratulations to all students and TAFE Advisor, Emily Buchtien!

Current assistant principals from campuses across San Marcos CISD provided advice and shared their experiences at the Aspiring Assistant Principal Institute meeting. Members of the institute heard from Assistant Principals Walker Cleveland, Goodnight Middle School; Blair Hartley, San Marcos High School; Suzanne Perkins, DeZavala Elementary; and Shannon Voigt, Travis Elementary during a panel discussion on Wednesday, March 8.

Audiences took a journey down the yellow brick road and into the magical land of Oz as the Crockett Superstars performed their production of “The Wizard of Oz.” Crockett presented their show to packed audiences across several performances, beginning on February 24. San Marcos CISD would like to congratulate all of our young performers, the theatre tech students and Crockett Theatre teacher, Kirsten Boyd, on a job well done!

San Marcos CISD students took part in the Annual Fun Fish Day at the A.E. Woods Fish Hatchery on February 24. The event, which was hosted by the City of San Marcos Parks and Recreation Department, provides SMCISD students with physical and intellectual disabilities with a fun-filled experience that will change their physical and social skills

The Hernandez Heroes took part in Literacy Week on Wednesday, March 1, by dressing up as their favorite superhero. The theme for the day was "Reading is a Superpower," which was a no brainer for the Hernandez Students. Being super is their specialty!

San Marcos CISD would like to recognize Shanna OBrien, City of San Marcos Environmental Health & Safety Manager, and her team for their ongoing support for our Rattler students and families. The City of San Marcos has made it their mission to work closely with those in need. The City of San Marcos recently hosted a donation drive for household items and furniture to ensure support for homeless individuals as they made a transition into permanent housing. The City of San Marcos is proud to open their donation warehouse to anyone within the community that has a need and work with a variety of non-profit organizations that provide services to our citizens and are happy to guide families to resources.

If ever you have a need, please do not hesitate to reach out to the City of San Marcos, your student(s) school counselor or SMCISD Director of Student Support Services and Family Engagement, Dr. Elena Sanchez-Villanueva.

San Marcos High School’s CTE Computer Science Department received the College Board AP Computer Science Female Diversity Award, recognizing schools that achieve high female representation in AP Computer Science Principles and expand girls’ access to AP computer science courses. SMHS was among 832 schools that were honored with this award.

Dr. Seuss's birthday brought cheering and fanfare as students at DeZavala Elementary took part in a storybook parade. Students dressed up as their favorite book characters during the parade on March 2.

The Lady Rattler Powerlifting team had a strong outing at the Girls Regional Powerlifting Meet in Elgin on March 4.

Congratulations to the following student-athletes:

• Grace Hernandez, 5th place (97lbs.)
• Kaylynn Martin, 4th place (123lbs.)
• Maddie Morales, 5th place (259lbs.)
• Ezra Mendez, 1st place and Regional Champion (220lbs.)

The San Marcos High School Diamond Line and Dazzlers kicked off their competition season on February 4th and have been sweeping the competition, earning the title of Overall Grand Champions at both of their Regional competitions, thus far. Our Diamond Line & Dazzlers continued to shine, earning awards in every category they entered at the Alamo Dance Championship March 10-11. Dazzlers ended their season with a solo win by Captain, Sandra Thompson, an officer division win, and whole bunch of Judges awards.

Diamond Line had two solo finalists-Lexi Carpenter (1st runner up) & Merilee Olson (4th runner up), and judges awards in every category. DL was awarded a Platinum rating, earning high points in Choreography, Technique, Precision, & Showmanship. In the dance world, that is a big dang deal! You know what else? Only 5 teams out of the 24 earned a Platinum rating, and SMHS DL was one of them! Lastly, the SMHS DL team earned 2nd place in their division (5 teams) and placed 4th overall! Diamond Line will continue to train in the next few weeks to compete in the National Competition at the end of March.

Bowie Elementary hosted its Black History Month event on February 28. Bowie students learned about important African-American heroes. Students picked a hero and wrote why they are important. Bowie students played Black History Bingo, had coloring sheets based on African-American heroes, and made bracelets from pipe cleaners and beads.

San Marcos High School’s Health Occupations Students of America (HOSA) hosted its Spring Blood Drive on February 23. Two bloodmobiles were present from We Are Blood at SMHS throughout the day. Donors received a free We Are Blood T-shirt for taking part in the blood drive.

Over 30 San Marcos High School Rattler Band students competed at the UIL Solo and Ensemble contest. Twenty-five students received a first division. Sixteen students qualified for the UIL State Solo and Ensemble Contest. While band students were taking part in the solo and ensemble contest, Winterguard members debuted their 2023 contest show, "Strange and Unusual," at Hays High School. The guard finished in second place.

Thank you to the San Marcos Fire Department visiting our DeZavala Diamonds on Thursday, March 9. Firefighters gave students fire safety tips, showed off their gear and gave a tour of their fire engine.

Goodnight Middle School’s Dancing Stars shined at their competition on February 18.

Seventh graders, Emily Cadena and Camila Murillo, both received 1st runner-up in the solo competition; Vanessa Ortiz earned 2nd runner-up; and Alyvia Castanon was named 3rd runner-up. Eighth grader, Cloe Mireles, was the winner in the solo competition; Sam Jordan earned 1st runner-up and Gracy Raitt received 4th runner-up. Karli Aguirre and Cloe Mireles won their duet competition. Selena Silva and Skyler Ybarra received 1st runner-up, and Sam Jordan and Gracy Raitt earned 2nd runner-up. In the officers competition, the Dancing Stars' lyrical routine won first place; jazz routine was 1st runner-up as well as the contemporary routine. In the team competition category, the Dancing Stars placed 1st for their contemporary and pom routines and the jazz routine was 1st runner-up. Congratualtions to the Goodnight Dancing Stars and Director, Amy Wolff.

The Miller Middle School Dancing Diamonds recently competed at Canyon High School in New Braunfels on February 18. In the team category, the Dancing Diamonds earned 1st runner-up Grand Champions, 1st place for their hip-hop and lyrical routines; and 1st runner-up for their jazz and pom routines. The Dancing Diamonds also received the “Crowd Pleaser” award for their team jazz routine and were awarded the "Outstanding Artistic" award for their officer contemporary routine. Finally, the Dancing Diamond Officers received 1st runner-up Grand Champions, as well as 1st runner-up for their contemporary, lyrical and jazz routines. Way to go Miller dancers and Director, Macey Phillips.