Rockport Fulton ISD honors teachers, highlights Fulton Elementary programs and spring academic push

Trustees of the Rockport Fulton Independent School District on March 20 recognized campus teachers of the year, rookie teachers of the year and a large group of Teacher Incentive Allotment (TIA) designees, and heard a campus report from Fulton Elementary principal Linda Cox and updates from the teaching-and-learning and human-resources staff.

"Our slogan for 2025 is 'together we learn, grow, and thrive,'" said Linda Cox during her campus report, outlining classroom activities, a new mentoring program pairing high-school athletes with elementary students, and celebrations for student science-fair winners. The board observed several staff recognitions in the meeting chamber, where dozens of TIA acknowledgements and campus awards were announced.

Cox described programs that school staff highlighted in prepared slides: hands-on science activities in third grade, cultural celebrations and map-reading lessons in fourth grade, a 50-point growth club in fifth grade, and elective courses teaching ukulele, coding and robotics. She said the new cafeteria and stage space is already being used by the campus and that an initiative called "Pirate Playmakers" brings high-school athletes to the elementary campus twice weekly as mentors and tutors; Cox said the program currently serves 32 students.

Teaching-and-learning director Jessica Robbins told trustees the district had scheduled a full-day learning lab for principals and instructional coaches to review interim-assessment data and build action plans. "It's all about the work now. The work, the monitoring, the follow-up, the coaching," Robbins said, describing intensive data reviews and classroom support ahead of spring assessments.

Human-resources and other department reports highlighted staffing adjustments tied to a move to an eight-period day, recognition events for district employees and upcoming budget-workshop topics. Kathy Henderson, in business office remarks, reported tax collections are running slightly ahead of last year and recapped a prior decision to leave $462,746 in local funds rather than reimburse immediately from bond funds; she said staff recommended keeping available bond funds for urgent facility and technology needs but offered to place reimbursement on a future agenda if trustees prefer.

Ending

The board took no formal action on instructional or personnel initiatives at the March 20 meeting; trustees thanked staff for the recognitions and the campus-level reports and moved to the consent agenda and to an executive-session recess later in the meeting.