Students are more than just a number at SMCISD

Superintendent Cardona gives annual recap at State of the City and District

“Creating pathways for kids maybe doesn’t reflect in the scores, but it does reflect in opportunities for students who traditionally haven’t had those opportunities,” San Marcos Consolidated Independent School District Superintendent Michael Cardona said. “And now all our kids have those opportunities.”

Cardona was speaking at the annual State of the City and District, hosted by the San Marcos Area Chamber of Commerce. It is an opportunity for local leaders to inform the public about progress and goals related to the particular sector they oversee.

Cardona started his presentation bragging about the local community’s commitment to SMCISD highlighting recent grant and scholarship activity.

The San Marcos Education Foundation issued $22,578 in grants for teachers, and local scholarships, which only accounts for scholarships issued from local businesses and organizations and does not include scholarships granted by institutions, totaled $170,000 for the class of 2024.

“San Marcos Education Foundation [is] a group of dedicated people who, like the chamber, really bought into what we were trying to do for kids. And they recognize the effects of teacher innovation and collaboration,” Cardona said. “And we have community members from all over coming together to award scholarships to our graduating seniors. This is just from community members this year.”

Cardona said there were 40 San Marcos High School Students who will be graduating with an Associate Degree through Coastal Bend College as part of the Early College High School program. Additionally, 90% of SMHS students are currently enrolled in Career and Technical Training courses.

“Leslie Prysmont, if you don’t know she is, [she is a] phenomenal teacher who organizes the early college with Miss Olivia Short [who] is the principal and who gets these kids through using GEAR UP [Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs] and AVID [Advancement Via Individual Determination] to support the students,” Cardona said.

According to the SMCISD website, GEAR UP is a competitive grant program of the U.S. Department of Education that increases the number of low-income students who are prepared to enter and succeed in postsecondary education by providing community-education partnerships, and AVID is designed to help close the opportunity gap for students by providing students with the skills and support needed to be successful in rigorous academic classes.

Cardona also said that eligible junior and senior students will now be able to concurrently enroll in college classes at Texas State University starting in the 2024-25 school year, which the district had been trying to achieve for a long time.

Kelly Damphousse, president of Texas State University, and Thillainatarajan Sivakumaran, TXST Global vice president at Texas State University, helped get the program rolling.

“In a matter of six and a half minutes [they] did what we couldn’t do in seven years, and that’s tear down walls,” Cardona said of a conversation with university leadership that allowed the program to get started. “They are movers and shakers, and they 100% support the school district.”

Cardona boasted about the achievements of the district’s Athletics and Fine Arts departments. There are 12 student athletes from the senior class who are committed to playing their sport at the collegiate level. He said that in the past school year, 19 of the 20 music programs in grades six to 12 for band, choir and orchestra received superior ratings at UIL concert and sight-reading, and there were 11 top sweepstakes ratings. He said 71.1% of SMCISD students participated in a Fine Art program this year, which is up from 62.8% in 2023. The Mariachi program continued to compete at the State level, and the Marching Band advanced to the UIL Area Marching Contest for the 3rd consecutive year.

“That is an impressive feat,” Cardona said. “We continue to believe in them.”

Cardona then brought up four high achieving seniors to the stage to talk about their experiences and show off the “wholechild development,” as opposed to just looking at STAAR scores. The first student to speak was Kutter Gage Webb, and he bragged about moving to San Marcos when he was just six weeks old. He started as quarterback on the football team, was shortstop on the baseball team and will stay in San Marcos as he is committed to play baseball for Texas State University next year. He said he is part of the Early College program and is graduating high school with 60 college credit hours and an Associates Degree.

Walter Navarro, the Class of 2024 Valedictorian, was part of the EMT program, and he will graduate with an Associates Degree as well.

“I feel like it puts me a step ahead,” Navarro said. “... I’m majoring in biomedical engineering, and I’m excited to represent San Marcos and the type of community that we are.”

Navarro will be attending Vanderbilt University pursuing a Biomedical Engineering degree with the hopes of becoming a surgeon.

Rosario Castro-Rosas’ list of accomplishments left those in the crowd wondering when she had time to sleep.

“I was born in Waco, Texas, and I moved to Mexico when I was just three months old,” Castro- Rosas said. “ I moved back to San Marcos to start first grade, so I attended Crockett Elementary and Miller Middle School, and I’m currently a senior at San Marcos High School. San Marcos has given me so many opportunities, and I’ve taken advantage of every single one of them to get to where I am today. I’m currently the president of the Student Council. I’m Vice President for the class of 2024 and I’m also vice president of the National Honor Society.

“Besides that, I’ve also been a part of the CNA and EMT certification programs, so I received my Certified Nursing Assistant certification last year, and I’m currently working to get my Emergency Medical Technician.”

Castro-Rosas will also be on the Dance Team for Rice University as she majors in Sports Medicine and Kinesiology on the Pre-Med track.

Eva Moore was the final senior to speak. Her parents worked for the school district for 20 years. She talked about how being able to start Algebra in middle school allowed her to eventually advance far enough to take two Advanced Placement classes in math. In addition to her 30 dual-credit hours, she is also an AP Scholar with distinction meaning she scored a 3 or higher on five or more AP exams. She too had plenty of success in avenues beyond the classroom. Beyond dance, she is the secretary for the Health Occupation Students of America and earned second place in the state as a Home Health Aide. She is going to Texas A&M to study Biomedical Engineering.

The program concluded with a performance by the San Marcos High School Diamond Line Dance Team.