Dr. John Chapman, superintendent of COMAL ISD, told participants at Comal U that the district’s five‑year collaborative vision, adopted by the board in August 2023, centers on four priority initiatives: early literacy, MTSS, technology and college‑career‑military readiness (CCMR). "Our district's vision of growing greatness is not just in the student success, it starts with you," he said.

Early literacy: Jennifer Johnson, director of early learning and Title, outlined pre‑K expansions and curriculum changes. She said the district will add more than 150 pre‑K seats this year (at SPECT and Mayfair), launch the Frog Street curriculum districtwide, and expand the Pegasus Pals program to bring 3‑ and 4‑year‑olds into district settings. Johnson cited assessment gains for pre‑K students: "For our pre k students, they started the year at 46% and ended the year at 77%" for rapid letter naming, and phonological awareness moved from 56% to 84%.

MTSS and discipline: Mandy Chapman, director of MTSS, said the district scaled tier‑1 behavior supports last year and that pilot sites produced measurable reductions in removals. "We had 1,054 fewer ISS and OSS placements," she said, which the district calculated returned about 7,378 instructional hours to classrooms. The district plans a Panorama education rollout at elementary campuses next year to centralize social‑emotional and behavior data; secondary campuses will follow in 2026–27, and the district will expand tier‑1 implementation to all teachers with tier‑2 and tier‑3 interventions phased in later.

College‑career‑military readiness (CCMR): Tammy Pinkham, executive director of CCMR, said COMAL ISD will open a Pathways in Technology Early College (P‑TECH) program at Hill Country College Preparatory High School this fall, offering students opportunities to earn an associate of science focused on computer science, cyber technology and artificial intelligence along with industry‑based certifications. Pinkham said the district is extending CCMR work into middle and elementary grades through revised course guides and a fifth‑grade rollout of the SchoolLinks platform for early career exploration.

Why it matters: The initiatives tie early childhood access, classroom behavior supports and career pathways to district goals for graduation readiness and postsecondary success. Chapman framed the plan as a multi‑year effort with campus‑level implementation and professional learning supports during Comal U.

Ending: District leaders urged teachers to use Comal U sessions to build implementation plans for their campuses. "Whatever is learned here, leaves here," the director of professional learning said, asking educators to identify takeaways and implementation steps during breakout sessions.