Horizon Dec 2023 - Flipbook - Page 5
which helps students with the songwriting process from
start to finish. Each class period had their own assembly to
watch six to eight students’ lyrics performed by Nashville
songwriters Chris Moyse and Savannah Keyes. Thanks to
Speech-Language Pathologist Lauren Magee for her work on
this program!
• #WinAtSocial: Third-12th grades participated in
#WinAtSocial, an initiative geared towards learning digital
citizenship.
• Eleventh- and twelfth-grade students attended Shelton’s 21st
Ethics Symposium, “Evolving Ethical Standards in the Digital
Age,” on March 1. Thanks to our Upper School leadership
team, including Zac Ladd, Jenny Cheatham and Christy
Fowler, and our Director of Communications and Marketing
Lisa Kresl for making that happen.
• Bass Fishing Club: We were excited to begin the Shelton
Bass Fishing Club for Upper School students. Students met
on Mondays at Bent Tree Country Club. The team sponsor is
Tripp Givens and the coach is Ken Addington.
Summer at Shelton
Summer, The Shelton Way took place on June 12-June 30.
Thank you to Summer School Director Sara Harris and Summer
School Assistant Jennifer Drake and all the teachers and staff
who helped make the program a success, whether it was an
academic or enrichment class, the Scholars program, a speech
course or a sports camp. More than 760 students attended
summer classes, sports clinics and Scholars with 99 teachers
and 20 assistants. Ninety-five students took part in Back-toSchool Prep Week on July 31-August 4.
Shelton Speech & Language Center
Director of Speech & Language Center Krista Norwood and
her team of six speech and language therapists, plus three
traveling therapists, completed about 6,600 therapy sessions
on six campuses and 2,000 screenings at 14 schools during the
2022-2023 school year.
Shelton Evaluation Center
Under the leadership of Dr. Laure Ames, the Evaluation Center
completed close to 200 evaluations during the 2022-2023
school year. They worked with families from Tyler, Shreveport,
Houston, Amarillo, Waco, Tulsa, Midland, Fayetteville, Austin,
Little Rock, Oklahoma City, Texarkana, Tuscaloosa, as well as
many public and private schools in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
Shelton Outreach Training Program
Under the leadership of Director of Outreach Training
Christine Bedenbaugh, Joyce Pickering and Gulzar Babool,
Shelton Outreach reached 5,106 people in 2022-2023 through
training, presentations, workshops and conferences.
Media Coverage about Shelton
Shelton was featured in Invest: Dallas-Fort Worth, which
provides in-depth business intelligence through its annual print
and digital economic reviews. In addition, Shelton was included
in The Dallas Morning News 2023 Guide to Private Schools.
Shelton’s Director of Admission Meghan Miller was interviewed
in the Guide to Private School’s article “When Should You
Apply to Private School” and Shelton’s Chief Financial Officer
Kelly Van Den Handel was interviewed in its article “11 Ways to
Make Private School More Affordable.” Finally, Anne De Haro,
Public Affairs Director with iHeartMedia, interviewed senior
Charles Mitts and me on Oct. 12, 2023. This aired on all six
iHeart radio stations in commemoration of Dyslexia Awareness
Month.
Beckley Wilson Act for Dyslexia Education
We were thrilled when Gov. Greg Abbott signed into law the
Beckley Wilson Act for Dyslexia Education, which is named
for Shelton ninth-grader Beckley Wilson. The law improves a
student’s eligibility for special education services provided by
a school district, including services for dyslexia and related
disorders. Beckley, who used this platform for the past several
years to speak out for dyslexic children in public schools, says
she’s grateful that she is able to attend Shelton because she
knows that not all kids in Texas are able to do so. In her video
testimony, Beckley said, “I am hopeful that this bill will pass and
that every kid who is suspected of having dyslexia, regardless
of their color and economic background, will receive a full and
individual evaluation under IDEA. I am hopeful that when we
are identified as having dyslexia that we are allowed to have
an Individualized Education Plan that clearly states dyslexia.
I am hopeful that the most qualified dyslexia therapists
will be helping to do the evaluations and remediation. But
mostly, I am hopeful that every kid can learn to read.” We are
grateful to Beckley and her mother, Elizabeth Wilson, for their
representation and advocacy.
CHADD’s ADHD Educator of the Year Award
Shelton’s Instrumental Music Teacher Ken Utz won the
2022 CHADD ADHD Educator of the Year Award. CHADD,
which stands for Children and Adults with Attention Deficit
Hyperactivity Disorder, is an organization that seeks to improve
the lives of people affected by ADHD. Ken has worked at
Shelton since 2003 with the Upper Elementary, Middle School
and Upper School Band students. He began working with
Lower School and Upper Elementary General Music in 2014.
Ken received Shelton’s SPARK (Shelton Parents’ Association
Recognition Kudos) Award for the 2020-2021 school year. In
addition to his time at Shelton, Ken is the Vice President of the
Music Learning Band Program, where he works closely with
Jerry Bishop and their team providing instrumental, vocal and
general music programs to more than 40 different schools.
Thank you for your support and partnership as we work
together to educate our intelligent and resilient students so
that they can continue to pursue their academic, athletic and
artistic dreams.
SHELTON SCHOOL
THE HORIZON
DECEMBER 2023
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