Sabine recognized as best rural school
By JIM EPPERSON News Herald staff

Sabine ISD has been recognized as one of the best rural school districts in Texas and could possibly become a national example of how 1A and 2A schools are successful, according to a study by Stephen F. Austin State University.

Lee Stewart, professor at Stephen F. Austin, said the university studied TAKS scores and compared them to a school district's social-economic standing in Texas. Sabine ISD came out on top.

"Sabine is one of the best rural schools in the state as far as statistics," Stewart said, who is an assistant professor of Secondary Education and Educational Leadership.

Stephen F. Austin State University will begin interviewing board members, administrators and teachers on how the school has been successful. The results will be used as an educational tool for educators.

"What it seems like at Sabine, of course, is you have a caring administration who knows the community," Stewart said.

Stacey Bryce, who took over as Sabine ISD superintendent three years ago, said the secret to their success is forming important relationships with the community and providing many opportunities for students.

"You have to build relationships with your kids and teachers," Bryce said. "You've also got to find out what makes the kids tick."

Stewart said most of the credit is due to the school administration change when Bryce took over. Studies support that after a superintendent is in a school district for three, test scores and other statistics can be contributed to the superintendent.

In the 2006-2007 school year, Sabine received a "recognized" mention from the state because their TAKS Test scores were so high. However, the two years before that, the school only received an academically acceptable rating.

However, Bryce believes the number one reason the school has been so successful is because the district has close relationships with teachers, students and parents.

"We are a pretty close-knit group."

Stewart, who specializes in rural-schools studies, said some of the challenges many small schools face is funding issues, but the upside is that the community is more involved.

Eddie Shawn, principal of Sabine High School, believes part of the secret to school success is competition. As former coaches, both Shawn and Bryce have made great efforts to get their kids compete in state competitions.

Since the two school administrators started to lead the school two years ago, they have seen a dramatic jump in UIL Academics, Shawn said. This year, the school had about 50 students at the district academics, 12 students in region academics and three at state. Before Shawn and Bryce took charge of the school, no kids went to state and only three students participated in UIL's regional academic competitions.

Shawn said that if the school district did not have such active students and teachers none of this would be possible.

"I'll put my kids up against any with any academic endeavor," Shawn said.