Authors:
cfletcher
Earlier this month, I had the pleasure of sitting down with Marble Falls ISD’s new superintendent, Dr. Chris Allen, for an introductory discussion about vision, partnerships, and community. Also present at the meeting were school board president and vice president, Rick Edwards and Kevin Naumann, respectively, and Bill Rives from the Chamber of Commerce.
During our time together, we covered topics ranging from the district’s assets and challenges to our unique opportunities. We batted around ideas related to Marble Falls’s identity and contemplated how competition shapes that discussion. We talked about ways to improve upon some specific programs as well as ways to better promote the areas in which we are seeing some success.
Dr. Allen made a great point when he said that our high school, for example, is just the right size for our teachers and administrators to know each student by name and by need. Later, he summarized his thoughts in an email with the subject line “Why Marble Falls ISD?”:
With all of the options available to provide students and families with education services, one may be interested to learn about the uniquely positive aspects of Marble Falls ISD. Nested in the Hill Country just beyond the frenetic pace of Travis County and anchored near the constant level shores of Lake Marble Falls, Marble Falls ISD offers the academic excellence and extracurricular success of a dynamic school system, and the opportunities for involvement and intimacy of a home-town school setting. With more than four thousand students, Marble Falls ISD involves the diverse voices and perspectives reflected in the great State of Texas, while being proud to maintain the family values and traditional ways that have consistently served as the foundation for this thriving community. When attending Marble Falls ISD, one also connects to an interdependent community that cooperates in the effort to develop strong relationships, keen minds, healthy bodies, and well-shepherded spirits. Marble Falls ISD offers a premier school experience for those who desire the best of a progressive school system that is rooted in community, traditional values, and the faith that comes from working for something beyond self. Welcome to Marble Falls ISD where we are “Learners Today…Leaders Tomorrow…and Mustangs Forever.”
From what I’ve learned from Dr. Allen directly—and based on what I’ve heard from employees in the district—the Marble Falls School Board hit a home run by hiring him. Along with some other great personnel additions and the recent release of accountability ratings by the Texas Education Agency that showed our district to be the largest in Central Texas to have every campus achieve at least one distinction, Marble Falls ISD is off to a great start this fall.
