Barron 'Bigcats' Proudly Invite
Community to Rededication

November 24, 2009

The "Bigcats" of Barron Elementary School proudly invite the community to their school's "rededication" celebration to be held at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, December 3, at the school, 3300 Avenue P in Plano (map).

Barron Principal Michele Loper and Assistant Principal Debbie Ordoñez (top row, l-r) and students show their 'Bigcats" pride.

Barron is being rededicated in celebration of its reopening this year as an elementary campus serving students in grades K-5. For the past seven years, Barron served as an early childhood school. With the opening of Isaacs Early Childhood School in August, Barron was converted back to an elementary campus, its original and longtime purpose after first opening in 1971.

The December 3 rededication ceremony will be hosted by the Plano ISD Board of Trustees and Superintendent of Schools Dr. Doug Otto and will feature student performances and videos, guest speakers, a City of Plano proclamation, refreshments, building tours and much more.

Barron Bigcats Family

The Barron Bigcats include the bobcats (kindergarten), leopards (first grade), cougars (second grade), panthers (third grade), tigers (fourth grade) and lions (fifth grade). Teaching team mascots include the lynx (special education teachers who help link education for students and teachers) and the understated "cats" (curriculum and teacher support), the school's teaching specialists for literacy, intervention, bilingual, ESL (English as a second language) and PACE (Plano Academic and Creative Education).

Barron Principal Michele Loper enthusiastically explained that, "As Barron Bigcats, we embrace the uniqueness of each individual student while working together as one family to accomplish our goal of student success. Listen to students sing the Barron Bigcats school song (MP3).

Students Creatively Envision Their Futures

"Barron has a very creative group of students who respond well to active learning," noted Principal Loper. "They are a fun and engaged group, and our faculty and staff enjoy figuring out what 'gets them rocking' about learning."

Involving students in the rededication program is critical to Ms. Loper and her staff. Each student brainstormed his/her favorite things about the school. The activity resulted in a "Top 10 things we love most about Barron" list to be shared at the rededication event.

At the top of students' list is the "Barron Morning News," a live video program broadcast in every classroom daily that is operated by a crew of 10 students who rotate roles such as news anchor, camera operator, weather forecaster and lunch menu reader. One crew member reads Principal Loper's "Score 4," a teacher-to-teacher kudos that celebrates with a cat paw "four" instead of a hand "high five."

Barron students eagerly anticipated the first day of school.

Students on the Morning News crew will broadcast a special "Late Night with the Barron Bigcats" for guests at the rededication ceremony, during school tours. Guests will also have the opportunity to enjoy refreshments and view a student art gallery with works that depict students' visions for their future careers.

"Pictures are worth a thousand words," said Ms. Loper. "The students have amazing aspirations. I tell them, 'If you can see yourself in the future, you know how to get there.'"

Bigcats - It's a Pride Thing

Student & Teacher Pride

Individual student management is celebrated by the Barron Bigcats each week as names are drawn from the "Pride" bucket. Winning students from each class have their picture posted in the front office and are celebrated on the morning news as Principal Loper plays James Brown's song "I Feel Good" and performs her signature dance which students have learned well to mimic.

Barron Teachers Allison Kaplan, Kasey Garcia and Fab Leon posed with props at the school's Red Ribbon Week student assembly.

Parent & Family Pride

Parents are also celebrated at Barron, taking pride in attending morning and evening classes called "Ingles Sin Barreras" (English Without Barriers). "Our parents attend classes faithfully," said Ms. Loper. Led by the school's parent liaison and PACE teacher, parent classes focus on parents serving as role models for their students.

Family nights are also celebrated at Barron, with the first held on November 4 and attracting 300 family members to the literacy event, "Bedtime Story Night," to read together and hear from guest readers from the school district. Each student enjoyed cookies and milk and took home a favorite book.

An upcoming family event, to be held in January, will involve make-and-take math and science projects for students and parents to take home and work on together.

Proud Partners

Ask any Bank of America (Legacy and Corporate drives location) employee about the Barron Bigcats, and they're likely to purr with pride about their project that helped open Barron in August. Bank employees donated nearly 400 student backpacks and school supplies to fill them. Barron faculty and staff met bank employees after Plano ISD's Employee Convocation in August and filled a school bus with the donated backpacks and supplies.

Bank of America employees with Barron faculty and staff

Plano Retired Teachers Association members are another loyal partner, providing each Barron teacher with a "survival kit" during teacher inservice and baked homemade treats to start the school year. The group also plans to bring snacks to Barron teachers during testing week. "Retired teachers taking care of current teachers is a beautiful thing," beamed Principal Loper.

The Plano West Rotary Club and Plano Sunrise Rotary Club have also provided snacks for teachers for tutoring sessions and staff development days. And, members of the nearby Collin Creek Church are active volunteers at Barron.

Proud School Legacy

Principal Michele Loper and the Barron faculty, staff, students and parents are celebrating their school's new beginning and bright future, as they also embrace Barron's nearly 40-year legacy in Plano ISD.

J.M. Barron Elementary School was opened in 1971 and was named for James M. Barron, a former Plano ISD School Board and Plano City Council member. Mr. Barron, married to Virginia Routh, served on the first Plano School Board from 1899 to 1903 and on the Plano City Council in 1891. During his tenure on the City Council, Ordinance 84 was passed by the citizens whereby the City Council would act as a “board of directors” of the school system. Mr. Barron was named as an ex-officio member of the school board, and at this time the Plano Independent School District was formed.

From 1971 until 2002, J.M. Barron Elementary School served elementary students. Ray Hopper opened the school and served as Barron’s first principal from 1971 to 1975. Charles Cooper, Norma Hill, Sharon Gunn, Mary McKenzie, Debbie Saviano and Jacque Meziere are all past principals at Barron Elementary School and have contributed to its rich history.

In 2002, Barron was converted to Barron Early Childhood School to serve three- and four-year old children. Dr. Elaine Schmidt served as principal of Barron ECS from 2002 to 2009. During the summer of 2009, Barron was renovated and once again opened as J.M. Barron Elementary School. Michele Loper is the principal of the newly renovated elementary school, which proudly serves the Barron community.