April 2023

For thousands of Denison ISD students, successful futures in college, careers and the workplace don’t just happen. They’re carefully planned and orchestrated down to the last detail in a variety of opportunities that provide vital information and guidance for parents and students throughout their school careers. One of the most productive opportunities proving key to helping kids find success in high school, college and beyond are called PEP (Pre-Enrollment Planning) Conferences. The annual PEP sessions for eighth grade students and parents are conducted by trained counselors, teachers and administrators each year at Scott Middle School for intense three-day periods in March. This year’s conferences attracted 98 percent attendance by eighth graders and their parents. The PEP conferences allow students and parents the opportunity for one-on-one planning of their high school schedule and their post-secondary plan. SMS Principal John Parker has immense praise for Denison’s PEP program.

A few scaly friends took up residence inside Piner Middle School, much to the delight of students, after science lead teacher Devin Turk introduced turtles and fish into two new aquariums recently to provide an innovative way to illustrate biological systems.

Doing well on Grayson County Health Department inspections earned a majority of those March inspected decent grades. Sanitarians from the Grayson County Health Department routinely inspect all businesses that serve food to the public.

The late 1800s was the age of the railroad. Trains steamed across the hills, valleys, and plains of a growing United States, steadily bringing distant communities closer together. Thousands of miles of track were laid down by thousands of men to build a rail network that brought people and goods from one end of the country to the other. One of the most important figures in Texas railroad development was business titan Jay Gould.