H-E-B announced Alamo Heights ISD, Pre-K 4 SA, and the Schertz-Cibolo-Universal City school board as finalists for its Excellence in Education awards Friday.
The grocery store chain and education advocate grants awards to teachers, schools, districts, and school boards each year. This year H-E-B will award $85,000 to finalists in the school district, early learning center, and school board categories. Finalists in the large district, early childhood center, and recognized school boards categories will each receive $5,000. Small school district finalists get $2,500.
Finalists will go on to compete for larger prizes at the state level. Teacher and principal finalists will be invited to Austin on May 6, 2017 to an award ceremony for the announcement of cash prizes totaling more than $400,000.
This is the 16th year that H-E-B has hosted the Excellence in Eduction Awards. Three years ago, in recognition of the importance of district leadership, it added the school board recognitions. To date, the program has awarded $8.5 million to Texas educators.
Candidates are nominated by their community and undergo an in-depth review process by a panel of their peers, past winners, university leaders, and community leaders to select semi-finalists and finalists. A statewide panel of judges, which is not affiliated with H-E-B, conducts a personal interview with each finalist to select winners.
The 2017 school district and early childhood finalists, as well as recognized school boards, are as follows:
Large School Districts
Allen ISD – Allen, Texas
Brownsville ISD – Brownsville, Texas
Grand Prairie ISD – Grand Prairie, Texas
Northwest ISD – Fort Worth, Texas
Socorro ISD – El Paso, Texas
Small School Districts
Alamo Heights ISD – San Antonio, Texas
Hutto ISD – Hutto, Texas
Lake Travis ISD – Austin, Texas
Early Childhood Education Facilities
Vogel Alcove – Dallas, Texas
Dalton Early Childhood Center – Uvalde, Texas
Victoria ISD – Victoria, Texas
John H. Cherry – Bay City, Texas
Pre-K 4 San Antonio Education Center – San Antonio, Texas
Public School Boards
Harlingen ISD – Harlingen, Texas
Dripping Springs ISD – Dripping Springs, Texas
Fort Bend ISD – Sugar Land, Texas
Hurst-Euless-Bedford ISD – Bedford, Texas
Schertz-Cibolo-Universal City ISD – Schertz, Texas
