February 28, 2006 - New School Names  
 
Austin School Trustees have honored five outstanding Austin citizens, bestowing these names on new schools opening in 2006 and 2007 as part of the 2004 Apple At Work Bond Program:

• Lance Corporal Nicholas Samuel Valdez Perez Elementary School, located at 7500 S. Pleasant Valley Road. The school will open in August 2006. Lance Corporal Perez graduated from Travis High School in 2003 and joined the U.S. Marine Corps in July 2003. He was killed in action while conducting military maneuvers in Iraq’s Al Anbar Province in September 2004. He is the first Austinite killed in the Iraqi War.  
 
• Nan Clayton Elementary School, located at 7525 La Crosse Avenue. This campus will also open in August 2006. Ms. Clayton served on the AISD Board of Trustees from 1978-92, was the longest-serving Board Member, and only the second woman elected to the Board. She is active in a variety of local and state organizations dedicated to education, civic involvement, and quality of life issues.  
 
• Volma Overton Elementary School, located in the Colony Park area. The campus is scheduled to open in 2007. Mr. Overton was a civil rights activist who, as president of the NAACP, led the fight against segregationist practices in Austin. In 1971, he filed a lawsuit to desegregate Austin Schools. He was awarded the 2004 LBJ Award for Leadership in Civil Rights. He died in October 2005.  
 
• Gustavo L. "Gus" Garcia Middle School, located at 7414 Johnny Morris Road. This new school also will open in 2007. Mr. Garcia was a member of the AISD Board of Trustees from 1972-78 and was the first Hispanic elected to the Board. He also served as a member of the Austin City Council and was Mayor and Mayor Pro-Tem of Austin from 2001-03 and 1996-98, respectively. He has served on numerous community boards including the Community Action Network, Greater Austin Chamber, Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. He has earned numerous awards including Humanitarian Award of the Martin Luther King Association and the Businessman of the Year Award of the Texas Association of Mexican American Chamber of Commerce.  
 
• John C. Blazier Elementary School, located in the Goodnight Ranch area. This campus opens in 2007, as well. Mr. Blazier founded the Travis Community Education Foundation and contributes significant time to supporting its educational initiatives, including the establishment of the Institute of Hospitality & Culinary Arts at Travis High School. He served as chair of Austin Partners in Education in 2002-03, implementing a number of initiatives such as seeking logistical technology support for schools from governmental entities and private businesses. He has been awarded the District’s Partner of the Year Award and the Mentor of the Year Award, as well as the KVUE-TV Five Who Care Award.  
 
New School Principal Appointments  
 
Trustees also named three veteran principals to open new schools in 2006 and 2007. The new schools are part of the 2004 Apple At Work Bond Program:  
 
• Dr. David Kauffman, principal of Becker Elementary, will open Perez Elementary School in August 2006. Dr. Kaufman joined the Austin School District as an Elementary Programs Supervisor in 2004. Prior to that, he was a school improvement coach and teacher with the Boston Public Schools, and also taught in Houston ISD. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Stanford University, and both a master’s degree and his doctorate from the Harvard University Graduate School of Education.  
 
• Dora Fabelo, principal of Cook Elementary since 2000, will open Blazier Elementary School in 2007. Ms. Fabelo joined AISD in 1987 and was a Bilingual/ESL teacher at Harris, Allan, and Boone elementaries, and an instructor at the Spanish Academy for adult Spanish education. She was an administrative intern and assistant principal at Summitt and Wooldridge elementaries, respectively. She is a presently doctoral candidate at the University of Texas, having already earned a master’s degree from UT, and a bachelor’s degree from Loyola University in New Orleans.  
 
• Gilbert Hicks, principal of Oak Springs Elementary School, will open Overton Elementary School in 2007. Mr. Hicks was a teacher at Webb Middle School, beginning in 1993. He served as an administrative intern, an assistant principal at LBJ High School, a summer school principal, and principal of Winn Elementary School. He earned both bachelor’s and master’s degrees from UT.  
 
Last month, Trustees named Dru Robinett as principal of Clayton Elementary School, also scheduled to open in 2006.  
 
125th Anniversary Observance  
 
Trustees approved a plan of activities celebrating the Austin School District's 125th Anniversary Observance in 2006-2007. Chaired by Gus Garcia, Tommy Cowan, and Ada Anderson, the Anniversary Committee will host an Alumni Hall of Fame Gala on August 26, a parade on Congress Avenue featuring all high school bands on September 16, and numerous other events throughout the 2006-2007 school year.  
 
The Austin School District was founded on September 12, 1881.  
 
Realizing our 2010 Vision  
 
Trustees continued their discussion of a proposal by Superintendent Pat Forgione to repurpose various school facilities. The proposal, referred to as Realizing Our 2010 Vision, would:  
 
• Designate the Lucy Read campus as a Pre-Kindergarten Demonstration School in 2006, relieving overcrowding at nearby Cook, Walnut Creek, and McBee elementaries.  
 
• Repurpose the Porter Middle School campus as a Young Women’s Leadership Academy in 2007. Dr. Forgione has proposed that Porter be closed for sixth grade in August 2006. The Professional Development Center, currently housed at the Lucy Read campus, would move to Porter in 2006, sharing the campus with grades seven and eight in 2006-2007. Porter would close as a regular middle school for seventh and eighth grades in August 2007, and the Young Women’s Leadership Academy would open in August 2007. Enrollment at the YWLA would be phased-in beginning with grades 6-7 in 2007-2008, adding a grade each year until it reaches an enrollment of 800 students in grades 6-12 in 2012-13. The first YWLA graduation would take place in May 2013.  
 
Trustees are schedule to vote on the above initiatives on Monday, March 6.  
 
The next Regular Meeting of the Austin School District Board of Trustees is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Monday, March 6, in the Auditorium of the Carruth Administration Center, located at 1111 West Sixth Street. All Board meetings are carried live on Time Warner Cable Channel 22 and the AISD website at http://www.austinisd.org.