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AISD PORTRAITS 

VOLUME 8 | 2018

CONTENTS

More:

22

 / National Merit Scholars       

24

 / State of the District – AISD 2018

27

 / District Accountability Scores       

36-37

 / School Calendar and Map

Inclusion Revolution

What is so special about STEP? Go inside the club 
helping turn this middle school into one big, 
happy family

Summer Oorah

Superintendent Dr. Dana West spends a great deal 
of time asking students, “What’s your plan?” but 
when she talked to scholars about their next steps 
after high school, she didn’t feel confi dent in her 
knowledge of the military. So, she enlisted in the 
U.S. Marine Corps…. Sort of. 

New Again

From tattered stage curtains to drainage 

problems and ramshackled restrooms, 

School Board President Jim Austin 

didn’t like what he saw in schools, so 

he took it to voters. Now with the com-

munity’s backing, AISD’s $100 million 

school bond goes to work. 

Safer Sports

Fewer students nationwide are participating in 
sports amid concussion concerns. But in 
Amarillo ISD, high-tech devices and highly-
trained staff  are a game changer. “Our number 
of athletes is skyrocketing,” says Assistant Athletic 
Director Dr. Justin Hefl ey.

AISD’s Open 

Concept School

Popular estimates suggest as many as 65 percent of jobs today’s 

kindergartners will hold don’t exist yet. With the District’s recent 

purchase, Amarillo ISD forges into education’s new frontier and not 

a moment too soon.

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20

ON THE

COVER

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