By Dr. Shelley McKinley, Sr. Director of Education —
The theme for the Lone Star School District’s 2025 – 2026 school year is “Be Mindful of …Mission, Milieu, Momentum, Motivation, Mastery, and Morale.” Each word will be aligned to a grading cycle and will serve as the focus for students and staff. Mindfulness is a module of DBT and teaches us how to focus our attention, and increase our awareness of the present rather than on distracting thoughts. During the first grading cycle, August 18 – October 2, we will be mindful of our mission of transforming young lives and creating safer communities through education.
Additionally, we added a ‘C -Day’ to the A-B block schedule to deepen professional development for teachers each Wednesday that began on August 20, 2025. Every first and third Wednesday, teachers and staff are engaging in Texas Model training that can be reinforced in the classroom. The second Wednesday of each month will feature best practices to incorporate reading instruction across content areas, and the fourth Wednesdays will be dedicated to learning instructional technology to increase student engagement. While half of the teachers are participating in professional development in the morning, the other half will provide instruction for students.
Along with learning, teachers will also have increased opportunities to participate on Youth Service Teams (YST). We have already seen huge benefits from education staff and youth on these developmental days.
Regulation Room Progress
This year, our district achieved an impressive 52% decrease in referrals to MAPS (Making A Plan for Success), compared to the 2023-2024 school year. This reduction is related to our cultural shift towards teamliness, not only in education but across the agency. Plus, the added effective implementation of DBT skills lessons that our students are actively learning and utilizing. This can also be attributed to the collaboration between case managers and teachers during YST and ITP meetings. These meetings have made an impactful difference in promoting effective teamliness and student desired behavior change.
Our dedicated educators utilize tools within our systems of supports to help maximize effective teaching strategies, and regulation techniques to ensure students stay focused, on task, and engaged.
Ultimately, less time in MAPS means more time dedicated to enriching learning experiences for our students. We are excited to see continued progress throughout the academic year.
If you have comments or questions about TJJD’s educational programming, please contact Dr. Shelley McKinley at shelley.mckinley@tjjd.texas.gov.