Chapa Middle School basked in national recognition recently, having been named one of 13 Texas “Schools to Watch” by the National Forum to Accelerate Middle-Grades Reform. While attending the forum’s national conference, Principal Lisa Walls and Assistant Principal Julio Vela, accompanied by Hays CISD staffer Rod Walls, enjoyed a visit at the U.S. Capitol with Congressman Lloyd Doggett. The smiling group (left to right) is Assistant Principal Vela, Doggett, Principal Walls and her husband, Rod Walls. (Courtesy photo)
by JIM CULLEN
When the Chapa Cougars were last in a major celebratory mode, they were in the friendly confines of their own gym earlier this spring. The full student body, faculty, staff, and contributing community basked in a district-first selection as one of 13 Texas “Schools to Watch” by the National Forum to Accelerate Middle-Grades Reform. Superintendent Dr. Jeremy Lyon led an enthusiastic contingent of administrators to the five-year-old campus to join in the celebration.
In his upbeat comments to the happy throng, Lyon termed the recognition “a remarkable achievement,” noted the district’s pride, and told of his appreciation for the fact the school has demonstrated it can “meet high academic expectations while preserving a commitment to healthy development and equity for students.”
It was all heady stuff for the Chapa community and Hays CISD as a whole, but the celebration didn’t end there. Moving on to the next dose of recognition, Chapa Principal Lisa Walls and Cougar Assistant Principal Julio Vela recently accepted the next level of recognition and congratulations offered at the National Schools to Watch Conference in Washington, D.C. Walls, Vela, and Walls’ husband, district staffer Rod Walls, made the trek to the nation’s capital to take part in the conference and, in fact, to share Chapa’s success with other award-winning schools.
Walls says of the national schools’ gathering, “It was an honor to be there with all the other high-performing middle schools from across the nation.”
The local contingent was drawn to so many great sessions, it was difficult to choose which to attend. Walls says that she and Vela “learned a lot and will bring some new things back” for their Cougars this fall.
Texas is one of 11 states currently taking part in the “Schools to Watch” program and Walls indicates the program sponsors, including the National Middle Schools Association, encourage the award-winning schools to network, learning from each other and building on each other’s strengths. She says Chapa’s goals are being re-designated, including consideration of a list of recommendations offered by the national program.
While in Washington, Walls and her contingent got the chance to visit with U.S. Congressman Lloyd Doggett, who represents the Hays CISD area in the 25th Congressional District. Doggett fondly recalled being at the dedication ceremony that opened Chapa Middle School five years ago and called it “especially fulfilling to see this kind of success from the Cougars.” Doggett terms the current state government policies a “cut-and-run approach” to the state budget, making “this kind of success even harder to achieve,” but predicts “with schools like (Chapa) leading the way, we can overcome the roadblocks to helping every student achieve their God-given potential.”
For Walls and her party, the visit to the capitol afforded an opportunity to leave a little from the Cougars behind, presenting Doggett with Chapa t-shirts and a package of miscellaneous logo-marked items, as well as a copy of the campus “Recipe for Success.”
