A Holiday Message - An attitude of gratitude

Posted Date: 12/10/2024

Dec 2024

Topic: A Holiday Message- An attitude of gratitude

As we approach the holiday season, I want to take a moment to reflect on the incredible journey we’ve shared during the first half of the 2024-2025 school year. We have navigated some challenges, celebrated some outcomes, and strengthened the bonds of our great community through many community service projects. Just a few of these will be shared at the end of this blog.

The holidays are a time for gratitude, and I am extremely thankful for the dedication of our wonderful staff, the enthusiasm of excellent students, and the unwavering support of our community and school board. Each of these groups plays a vital role in creating a culture and environment where students can thrive academically, socially, and emotionally.

This season is also an opportunity to pause and appreciate the values we hold—kindness, love, generosity, and the sense of family among ourselves. Hudson is a special place where we observe these values daily. I hope that these alone bring you some peace and joy. And most importantly, I hope that each of us stops to reflect on the most important reason for the holiday season. I pray that the holiday time brings you full peace and joy. I wish each of you a special time with your family, friends, and others.

On behalf of our district, I wish you and your family a safe, restful, and joyous holiday season. May this time be filled with love, laughter, and meaningful memories.

As we look to the new year ahead, I am filled with optimism for more great things we will accomplish together. From exciting new initiatives to continued academic growth, the future is bright for our students at Hudson ISD. Here are just a small sample of reflections and happenings from the semester.

Peavy Primary:

• Social-emotional learning (SEL) is essential to every student’s development and should be taught daily. To support this, SEL lessons are integrated into the curriculum to help students better understand their emotions, demonstrate empathy, and strengthen self-control. These lessons build essential interpersonal skills, fostering positive relationships that will benefit students throughout their lives.
• In the spirit of giving, Peavy students are making a meaningful difference by participating in community service initiatives. Two of these are the collection of canned goods for the local food drive and providing meals to help families in need.
• Additionally, students are gathering toys for the Angel Tree program, bringing holiday joy to children in the community who might otherwise go without gifts. This project teaches them about empathy, compassion, and the joy of giving, reinforcing the values learned in the SEL lessons

Bonner Elementary:

• We have increased parent and community involvement. This includes our Fall Festival, community sock drive, canned food drive, Angel Tree, Bonner Choir performances within the district and community, adoption of 25+ families for Christmas, and the use of ParentSquare to keep families up to date on the daily happenings of the campus.
• To help improve attendance and performance, the campus implemented a campus-wide attendance race, which has increased our daily attendance rate and held one another accountable to be here as part of the family every day.
• Academically, the campus initiated a Math Response to Intervention (RTI) program to service more students struggling in the area of mathematics. We are proud to see some wonderful effects of this initiative.

Hudson Middle School:

• Did you know that Hudson MS was ranked by the U.S. News & World Report as being one of the best…Top 5% in Texas? Yep, great things are happening in all of your schools, but this is amazing.
• Hudson MS is tackling a new initiative this year. If you have a MS student, you may have heard of the new ‘house’ system. Let’s just say you will be hearing more on this subject. It’s a means to be more inclusive, develop relationships, increase school spirit, and accountability for all.
• While academics are a huge focus, let’s not forget about the importance of school spirit. Hudson MS has several initiatives going on to boost school spirit, which will have an impact on every part of our students’ lives.

Hudson High School:

• Let’s start this one with the most controversial topic of the year. You will be amazed at the change in our culture and climate with the new cell phone policy. While there are still a few naysayers on this idea, we strongly believe this may be the greatest initiative of all time. The daily interactions and what we see happening are simply amazing.
• Hudson High School has also focused on improving student attendance. Did you know that 106 of our nearly 800 students had ABSOLUTE perfect attendance? Wow! This may very well be a record.
• Hudson HS is also implementing the first steps in building a professional learning community. More to come on this topic as well.

There are some great things happening in your local public school district! I am so proud of the accomplishments and initiatives that are not all focused on academics. In just these few examples, you will see a sense of what the holiday is about—family, giving back to others, selflessness, empathy, compassion, and sharing the love of Christ.

May God bless you this holiday season!

Merry Christmas!!

Donny Webb, Superintendent