Texas Monthly 'best of' list includes THS

Troup High School joins a handful of other Smith County school districts with a campus on the list of "Best Public Schools in Texas," a feature of the December 2007 issue of Texas Monthly magazine.

Already holding the distinction of Smith County's only "Recognized" high school, THS was cited in the Higher Performing Subjects category for Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills results in the areas of social studies and science.

Other Smith County campuses on the list include Bullard High School, Brownsboro Elementary, Chapel Hill Middle School and, from the Tyler school system, Caldwell Arts Academy Elementary, Woods Elementar y and Hubbard Middle School.

"The success at the high school is directly attributable to the high school principal, Mr. Derek Driver," said Supt. Marvin Beaty. "He made it a definite priority to upgrade the teaching staff upon his arrival two years ago, and the product speaks for itself."

Principal Driver said the high school's TAKS results have improved significantly. In 2006, the campus was barely "Regognized," he said. Last year (2007) his campus missed "Exemplary" status by two kids.

"This is a great honor for our students and teachers," said Driver. "Our teachers really care about the kids here and do a great job."

Driver added that this was definitely the result of a "team effort," including parents, teachers, tutors and admin staff, and that any success on his campus was "well-paved at the middle school and elementary level."

Troup Middle School and Troup Elementary are both "Recognized" campuses, with the middle school earning that mark three years in a row.

"The success at all of our schools has been phenomenal," said Beaty, who joined Driver in sharing the praise with principals Ava Johnson and Debbie Moxley, as well as curriculum director Dr. Katie Preast.

This is the fourth time Texas Monthly has published a list of the top public schools in the state, and the second consecutive year that the higher performing schools are ranked according to the number of subjects in which they excel.