{"id":233684,"date":"2025-09-17T11:22:29","date_gmt":"2025-09-17T11:22:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/233684\/"},"modified":"2025-09-17T11:22:29","modified_gmt":"2025-09-17T11:22:29","slug":"san-antonio-isd-places-18-schools-on-watchlist-for-targeted-intervention","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/233684\/","title":{"rendered":"San Antonio ISD places 18 schools on watchlist for targeted intervention"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sign up for TPR Today<\/a>, Texas Public Radio’s newsletter that brings our top stories to your inbox each morning.<\/p>\n

The San Antonio Independent School District has placed 18 schools on a watchlist for targeted intervention. The schools have all received unacceptable academic ratings from the Texas Education Agency for at least two years in a row.<\/p>\n

SAISD officials consider half of the campuses on the watchlist \u201chigh priority,\u201d because TEA has rated them D or F for three years. The state could take over district management or close the schools if they don\u2019t improve by 2027.<\/p>\n

Despite the elevated attention and focus, Superintendent Jaime Aquino said SAISD is on track to turn the campuses around and avoid state sanctions.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have actually provided significant support for these schools,\u201d Aquino told the district\u2019s trustees during a board meeting Monday evening.<\/p>\n

The superintendent also said the district\u2019s ratings were trending in the right direction compared to 2024, when half of SAISD\u2019s schools were rated D or F.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have reduced the number of campuses rated D or F by 35%,\u201d Aquino said. \u201cBut I also want to be very clear that we must accelerate our efforts, because we still have too many campuses in that category, and our students deserve better, and we cannot settle for anything less.\u201d<\/p>\n

The district as a whole received a C rating from TEA in 2025.<\/p>\n

In addition to turnaround plans and support facilitated by the state, Aquino and Deputy Superintendent Shawn Bird pointed to this year\u2019s adoption of uniform, districtwide math and science curriculum as the key to improving academic performance and moving campuses off the watchlist.<\/p>\n

SAISD has also adopted new reading curriculum at some campuses.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we will start to see more rapid improvement now that we have a common curriculum, and we’re training our teachers on common curriculum,\u201d Bird said, noting that many SAISD students move during the school year.<\/p>\n

\u201cParticularly like in mathematics, they could be on a different unit when they move from one school just two or three blocks away,\u201d Bird said. \u201cSo now we have a uniform curriculum, and we have common assessments for that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Aquino estimated that a third of SAISD\u2019s students move within the same school year.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was not continuity of instruction,\u201d Aquino said. \u201cI actually describe this sometimes (as) being the Wild West. I mean, you would have gone in the past to the same school and from one classroom to another in the same grade. It was night and day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Aquino said the uniform curriculum also enabled SAISD to give model lessons before the start of the year and weekly math assessments that give teachers feedback on what steps to take based on the results.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we presented this to all the principals, they applauded,\u201d Aquino said. \u201cAnd one of the reasons that we were not able to do that before \u2026 is because we didn’t have a uniform curriculum. \u2026 The fact that we have a uniform curriculum in mathematics and science allows us to be able to do the same weekly assessment.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s not really for us so much as it is for the school to have data so that the teachers can act on how their students are doing on a more frequent basis,\u201d Bird added. \u201cAny school will have access to that. But for the watch list schools, it’s a mandatory thing. There’ll be a dashboard where they can see their data every Friday morning.\u201d<\/p>\n

SAISD also plans to do walkthroughs of schools on the watchlist in October. Instructional leaders who don\u2019t directly oversee the schools will observe and provide feedback.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The 18 SAISD schools on the district’s watchlist for targetedd improvement, as presented in a slideshow to the board on Sept. 15.<\/p>\n

Four SAISD middle schools and five elementary schools are on the district\u2019s high-priority watchlist, with three consecutive years of unacceptable ratings.<\/p>\n