Dickinson ISD

Shaping Student Success: The Gator Way

Situated in a Fast-Growing Region, This School District is Expertly Keeping Pace

Dickinson ISD is a growing school district, located in one of the fastest evolving regions of northern Galveston County. Covering more than 68 square miles, the district serves the  communities of Dickinson, Bacliff, and San Leon, along with portions of League City and Texas City. Although these areas each bring their own character, they come together under a unified identity. Every student is a Gator. From pre K learners to high school seniors, that shared spirit represents a district committed to opportunity, community, and legacy.

Each year, Dickinson ISD embraces a new theme which acts as a guide and a focus. This year, the theme is “Legacy in Every Gator.” To shape that, the district also turns to its mission which states, “Dickinson ISD will equip and empower all learners with skills and experiences to achieve academic excellence and make meaningful contributions to our world.”

While the mission stays constant, the theme allows the district to highlight a new area of focus each year. “We’re really trying to figure out what that looks like for our students, how every day is impactful to the legacy that they’re going to leave,” says Jenna Simsen, Executive Director of Public Relations.

“It’s the same for our staff as well, the impact they are leaving on our students and the impact students are leaving on us. Aside from that, we’re also engaging our local alumni and our community groups to talk about the legacy of our district overall, and the impact it’s made on the community year to year.”

Whole-Student Support Through Gator Wellness

Dickinson ISD takes a holistic approach, recognizing that academic success and well-being go hand in hand. “Almost six years after COVID we still see learning loss in our students. We still see social emotional issues, not only with our students, but with our adults and parents,” acknowledges Superintendent Dr. Rebecca Brown. In response to this, the district has introduced Gator Wellness, a program designed to help with the challenges many families face.

“It goes beyond just the counseling that we do in the schools,” she shares. “We ensure that our students’ needs are not just being met in the classroom, but outside, with community help.” Through 24 hour crisis prevention and support, parent engagement programs, and community partnerships, Gator Wellness improves academic outcomes and quality of life. “It’s a whole support for our families during not only times of crisis, but everyday living. We are at 75% at risk in our community. Over 70% of our students are on reduced and free lunch. So we know that help beyond academics and the classroom is really important for our students to be successful in our schools.”

Planning for Growth

Dickinson ISD currently serves approximately 12,500 students, but projections indicate that the number could grow to 20,000 within the next decade. Much of the growth is tied to new housing in the Texas City area, driven by industries such as oil, gas, and petroleum.

This growth requires planning, and a 2023 bond is funding two major projects that are set to open in August 2026. The first is a new pre-K through fifth grade elementary school in a fast growing Texas City neighborhood. “It is right in the heart of the homes that are in that area, and so we’re super excited about that elementary school,” relays Dr. Brown.

Another exciting addition is a new state of the art Career and Technical Education center located next to Dickinson High School. “We are planning for future jobs and future development for students in terms of robotics, health science, technology,” she says. “We are super excited about these two buildings with the bond that we had, because our goal is always to plan for the future. We see the immediate needs, but the immediate needs are just part of the planning.”

STEM, CTE and Hands On-Opportunities

At Dickinson ISD, students are exposed to STEM in the early grades, allowing them to explore their interests long before they begin selecting formal career pathways. “Our program focuses on student interaction and interactive activities. It is really about discovery,” Dr. Brown says. “In our district, STEM is a combination of our fine arts, performing arts, as well as our math and science. But it is also lighting that fire in our students to see beyond what’s on the paper and to discover ideas, to look at what is, and what could be.”

One of the defining principles of the district is that every student graduates with a plan. The intent is to prepare learners for the next step, whether that is a four-year university, military service, a technical field, or immediate entry into the workforce.

Director of Career and Technical Education Dr. Melissa Everett underscores the district’s strategic approach to preparing students for high wage, high demand careers in the Houston Galveston region. “When we start designing something, we don’t do it just based on theory. It’s really data driven,” she maintains. “We have a great opportunity to offer students lots of programming that other districts don’t have. Our biggest challenge right now is scheduling and space. So that’s why we’ve got this new building coming on. It’ll be great for us.”

Diverse Pathways

Dickinson High School offers 12 programs of study, giving students exposure to a wide range of fields from engineering to veterinary medicine to culinary arts. Among the district’s most popular pathways are health science and information technology. The health science offerings are especially robust and include a groundbreaking imaging program developed in partnership with Galveston College. Dickinson ISD is the first in the state to offer this type of program to high school students.

“I’ve never seen a program in all my 14 years in career and technical education grow this fast. It’s really unique,” conveys Dr. Everett. “They’ll get their limited medical radiologic technician certification, and then through Galveston College they’re able to stack another credential on top of that. They have employers reaching out to the college right now, they want to hire our students.”

Agriculture remains one of the district’s largest pathways. Courtney Ramirez, Principal of Dickinson High School recounts, “When I started here in 2019, we had three Ag teachers, and we are up to 10 now. But Ag looks very different. It’s very broad, because they can teach a lot of different things.” The options include courses in Ag mechanics, floral design, Vet Med, equine science, small animal management, and soil science. “We had to add a second barn in order to keep up with the growth of raising animals on our property as well,” she notes. “That’s something kids do before and after school, not during the school day.”

Collaboration, Community and Opportunity

Industry partnerships are vital to Dickinson’s career readiness programs and pathways. “We have really robust partnerships across all program areas, and I would also say that they are authentic partnerships,” Dr. Everett expands, noting that these opportunities often lead to future employment. “We have some students who are working right now at hospitals, and after six months or so, if the students are worth their salt, the hospitals are actually paying for that. We have examples of this across all of our program areas, from automotive to engineering to healthcare,” she says.

Dickinson ISD educators and leaders also remain active in the community, serving on Rotary, city council, and committees in all five cities the district serves. “One of the biggest, strongest pieces of public education is that partnership with the community,” stresses Dr. Brown. “We have to ensure that we are at every one of these different cities to let them know about Dickinson, let them know that our students need partnerships, that our students need wellness programs. That is essential to our success as a district.”

Students First, Always

Moving forward, Dickinson ISD’s focus is clear. “It is always students first,” Dr. Brown reflects. “That will never change. Every decision based on finances, every decision based on programming, everything is based on what is best for our students.”

Second to that, the emphasis will be on community engagement, and involvement. “It takes a village to educate a child, and we believe that wholeheartedly,” she asserts. “We want to ensure that every part of Dickinson, where our students are living and thriving, are supporting our mission and our vision.”

As a district that relies on residential property taxes, finances are also top of mind. “We do not have industries that help with our local funding, so we want to build up our finances to provide and prepare our students for what they need,” says Dr. Brown. “There are things that are really expensive, but financially, we want to ensure that this district continues to grow and provide our students with all the necessary instructional resources and real life resources so they can be successful.”

This student centric approach culminates in graduates who are confident, capable, and ready to contribute to the world around them. The legacy in every Gator continues to expand, one student at a time.

AT A GLANCE

Who: Dickinson ISD

What: A growing K-12 school district serving 12,500 students

Where: Galveston County, Texas

Website: www.dickinsonisd.org