BELTON, TX — Three years ago, families walking into Belton ISD's Chisholm Trail Elementary faced a heavy reality: a failing "F" rating from the Texas Education Agency. For parents moving into the district, the uncertainty was evident.
"When I moved here from out of state and my kids transferred in, Chisholm was a lowly rated campus and I was worried, right? You worry about whether your child is going to get what they need," Jennifer Cherry Bohannon said.
Today, Chisholm stands as a "C"-rated campus, with current scores outpacing previous standardized benchmarks. Inside the hallways, a complete instructional and cultural transformation quietly took root.
"Everything rides on campus instruction and student performance, and culture matters too. Systems matter too; everything has to feed together to where students can learn." Principal Sydnie Sewell said.
Sewell said turning the trend around meant immense internal work, including leveraging state-supported grants.
"I was very excited when I found out I get to do school improvement work because school improvement work is very extensive and intensive and you learn alot as a leader and your campus really benefits from the support that you get," Sewell said.
The Belton Independent School District board recently approved more school improvement plans, executive coaching from the district and Region 12, along with gauging weekly data to ensure classroom instruction matches student success
Parents like Bohannon rallied, stepping up as supportive staff and volunteers to help the campus move forward.
"The biggest shift has been campus leadership. Two years ago we didn't have any room parents — this year we have fifty-four," Bohannon said.
For the educators and parents, the letter grade is just a milestone. The real victory is a thriving environment built for the kids.
"I think as long as we continue to keep the kids at the heart of everything that we're doing, then we will continue to improve and grow," Bohannon said.
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