Copperas Cove administrators learning new curriculum

By tHaddeus iMerMan Killeen daily Herald

Copperas Cove ISD is getting ready to welcome students back to campus with the district’s nearly 8,200 pupils scheduled to return on Aug. 16.

As the district prepares for the students, they have been learning a new curriculum over the summer.

In April, the CCISD Board of Trustees approved an expenditure of $265,550 at its monthly board meeting to provide additional support to students through the implementation of Capturing Kids’ Hearts.

Copperas Cove High School Principal Jimmy Shuck said he is excited to have this framework for his staff to continue to cultivate relationships, improve school culture, and strengthen trust between students and staff.

“Having a solid foundation for staff will assist with consistency throughout CCHS from custodial staff to administration,” Shuck said in June. “CCHS remains committed to the development of a campus culture of dignity and respect which leads to high-quality, rigorous instruction, producing future-ready citizens.”

The program touts results that increase student achievement, increase school attendance rates, increase graduation rates, decrease discipline referrals, and increase teacher satisfaction. Secondary administrators and district leadership trained in the Capturing Kids’ Hearts curriculum earlier this month.

Crossroads High School Counselor

Audrey Trahan said the curriculum will benefit students by improving relationships with teachers, peers, and family members as well as improve the students’ academics.

“I learned how to become a better campus leader and learned about my own constraints, how those constraints can be a positive thing as well as a negative, and how I can work

PLEASE SEE COVE, 18 on those to better myself and my leadership skills to better support our students,” Trahan said.

CCISD board members, Deputy Superintendent of Instructional Services Amanda Crawley, and secondary campus leadership attended flagship training in April. Administrators learned to make meaningful connections with students, the importance of body language, greeting students by name, empowering students to make positive choices, and appropriate responses when students do not make positive behavior choices.

Copperas Cove ISD also begins the year with a new assistant superintendent of operations and support.

The district hired Damon Adams to the position earlier this year, and he officially started in June.

Most recently, Adams served as the Marble Falls High School campus principal for the last six years. He has served also as an assistant principal at the high school level, a special education teacher for all grade levels, and an elementary teacher, working both in a large fast-growing district and a smaller rural district.

He also served as a member of adjunct faculty with Texas State University, educating students with mild disabilities.

Adams succeeds Rick Kirkpatrick, who served in the same role for the district prior to his acceptance of the top job at Florence ISD.