As part of our effort to recognize and celebrate Special Programs staff, the Booster for Special Programs was pleased to donate Feedstore BBQ for the department's year-end party. Morale boosters such as these help our hard-working staff know how appreciated they are, and it is our pleasure to help them celebrate all their work this year. Many thanks for all you do! And many thanks to Feedstore for their support of the Booster and Special Programs as well.

For the last six years, we've ended each school year with a sweet tradition: popsicles at Bicentennial Park. Now expanded to include pizza, too, our gathering has a little something for everyone. We loved celebrating another year of hard work with Special Programs students, parents and staff. Best wishes to all for a happy and healthy summer! 

Our third annual Family Fun Night was another night of recognizing, investing in, celebrating and supporting CISD Special Programs. Thanks to event sponsor Whitley Penn and the 200 attendees who showed up, we raised almost $15,000 to better support students and staff while enjoying a beautiful night and a beloved community. `Many thanks to our donors who supplied us with $6000 in raffles, 1956 pizza who kept us well fed, Sweet & Sassy who made us sparkle, and School of Rock who entertained us with live music while enjoying yard games, inflatables and each other. Please enjoy the video to relive the fun and join us again next year! 

The Booster for Special Program's mission is to recognize, invest in, celebrate and support students in pursuit of excellence in academic achievement and personal development. While we strive to do this in a number of ways, one of the most immediately impactful is our grants program. Throughout the year, any CISD Special Programs teacher or therapist can submit a grant request to help fund classroom supplies, therapy tools, sensory items, flexible seating, curriculum aids, teacher resources and more. The Transition Students recently received a new food service curriculum to help hone their culinary skills. They were proud of the delicious meals they made!

On Wednesday, March 4, Moms and Dads gathered for a much-deserved night out! We enjoyed appetizers at Ferah's Tex-Med while sharing stories and support. Sometimes it helps to chat with other parents who "just get it," so if you're looking to connect with other parents, please contact us! 

One of our favorite events returned on November 8, when Special Programs families met at White's Chapel's Methodist Church for our second annual Fish & Cookies event. It was a beautiful, sunny day and many were successful in snagging catfish and bluegill from the stocked pond.

Craig Rowley, White's Chapel's Fishing Ministry, and several members of the Carroll ISD Bass Team were kind enough to assist our young fishermen and women and donated prizes. Those who were lucky enough to make a catch went home with new fishing poles, gear bags, tackle boxes, lures, stickers or CISD hats. 

When they hung up their fishing hats, families proceeded inside the church to decorate cookies and enjoy an afternoon snack together. 

Thanks to everyone who was able to join us! Hope to see you again next year!

The CISD Booster for Special Programs hosted a tradition like no other: our 4th-annual tailgate! Designed with our families in mind, we tailgated in the relative quiet of the NW corner of the parking lot, where we served up carnitas and barbacoa tacos, hamburgers, and hotdogs, and all the fixin's. Thanks to a generous sponsor, we also had an ice cream truck for sweet treats. We had our biggest crowd yet and were pleased to meet so many new faces, too. Thanks for helping us keep the tradition alive!

The Booster for Special Programs was delighted to make our staff's return a little sweeter, thanks to donations from Corner Bakery and Chiloso Mexican Bistro. Thank you to these valued sponsors for their generous support of CISD special programs staff and students!

Breakfast tacos are always a hit! Thanks for helping us kick off a great year!

As we close the books on the 2024-25 school year, we are filled with gratitude for everything we were able to accomplish thanks to the generosity of our members and donors. Thank you!

We hosted three community-wide socials: our annual tailgate, a fishing and cookie decorating event, and our annual year-end celebration, popsicles and pizza in the park. In its second year, our Family Fun Night fundraiser was even more successful, raising almost $15,000 for the department, and we hosted several spirit nights throughout the year as well. We are proud of how well we took care of Special Programs staff this year, with morale boosters and treats during training days and 13 fulfilled grants. We helped provide a light table, laminating machines, field trips, sensory toys, art supplies, adaptive aids, flex seating, Job Olympics supplies, classroom supplies, conferences, books and resources for teachers in dyslexia, behavioral interventions, ABA, AAC and more! This year we revamped also our website, continued to build our presence on social media and in the community, including the opportunity to present at at School Board meeting to share more about the work we do. 

Of course, none of this would be possible without YOU. Thanks for helping us in our mission to recognize, invest in, celebrate and support the faculty, students and parents of the Carroll ISD Special Programs community!

As per our annual tradition, we ended the 2024-2025 school year with a celebration at Bicentennial Park. Thanks to Papa John's, who generously donated some pizzas, we were able to make this event bigger and better, and it drew a crowd of students and staff - including some new faces, which we always love! Thanks for coming out to cap the year off with us. See you next year!