Madisonville CISD school year starting with leadership changes, safety enhancements, high expectations

MADISONVILLE, Texas (KBTX) – It was an early start for Madisonville CISD students Thursday as they started a new school year. Many will see some familiar faces in new roles.

The 2023-2024 school year will be Keith West’s first full year as the district’s superintendent. He took on the role in March 2023 after previously serving as the assistant superintendent. He said he’s looking forward to providing a positive and stable experience for students this year.

“This is certainly a big change for me, and it’s one that I’m really excited about,” West said.

At Madisonville Intermediate School, Joey Renner started his first year as assistant principal Thursday and said he’s ready to be back in the school routine.

“Two months is a long time to not see some of your kiddos, so excited to have them back on campus,” Renner said.

Across the district’s four campuses, a lot of work has been done to ensure students have a productive and safe school year. Assistant superintendent CK Smith said safety continues to be top of mind for him and other district leaders. Increased campus security, emergency door locks and vestibules among other things have been added to each campus.

“Just ensuring that everything is safe and the kids are safe and the parents feel safe that their kids are here,” Smith said.

Academically, Madisonville Junior High School principal Casey Dean wants to continue to see his students advance and learn a skill set that they can use in high school and beyond.

“That’s why we have so many different electives to try to enhance their capabilities and just make them a high commodity when they go into high school,” Dean said.

One of the top priorities for principal Rhodena Townsell Brooks and her staff at Madisonville Elementary School is making sure students are reading and performing on grade level in math and language arts.

“Then we want to work with them on building positive relationships,” Brooks said.

Positive relationships are also something teachers and staff members at Madisonville Intermediate School want students to have. They hope to help students achieve this with the school’s theme “Bee the Difference.”

“We want to be here to help them be creative, be honest, be kind, be helpful, be knowledgeable,” Madisonville Intermediate principal Tawnya Nail said.

To learn more about the 2023-2024 school and to stay up-to-date with everything happening in the district, click here.