Brownwood Middle School (BMS) welcomes students for the 2022-2023 school year, continuing its tradition of offering students a wide variety of educational choices. Sandra Richardson returns for her third year as BMS Principal, her passion for the district stronger than ever. “Brownwood has been my district of choice to raise and educate my own children, Cody, Cory, and Carlee, who are all proud Brownwood Lion graduates, and are now members of the Fighting Texas Aggie Classes of 2019 and 2025. Whoop!” stated Richardson. She joined Brownwood ISD in 2008 as a high school assistant principal and Career and Technical Education (CTE) Coordinator. “Previously, I was principal at Priddy ISD and before that, I was CTE Director for Marble Falls ISD,” Richardson said. She has been an educator for twenty-nine years, instructing English, Theatre Arts, Business Education, Computer Programming, Accounting, and Career Investigations classes.

Richardson’s appreciation for BISD runs deep, with her children having been deeply involved in many of the choices the district offers. “All three were able to take advantage of the great programs at BISD and represented Brownwood in football, drill team, theatre, choir, basketball, volleyball, and track,” said Richardson. “Cory served four years in the Navy before he headed back to land and A&M, so he is on track to graduate the same year as Carlee. We are so grateful to the BISD teachers and administrators for providing a wonderful education and a successful foundation for our own children. Being a part of the BISD pride is very important to me.”

Richardson begins the BMS 2022-23 year with the help of a new assistant principal. “Our Assistant Principal is Mykia Anderson,” said Richardson. “This will be her first year as an administrator at BISD. She brings a lot of experience from her time as an assistant principal at Clyde High School, but even more experience working with students and parents as a head coach for several years, as well. She grew up in Brookesmith, so she already knows many of our staff and Brown County community members. It feels like she has always been here.”

The campus continues to add programs students enjoy, and this coming year the administration plans to continue that trend. “This past year was the first year we offered Soccer, and it was a huge success,” noted Richardson. “We plan to continue that program and build on it each year. Brownwood is leading the way on having soccer in middle school, and our hopes are that surrounding districts will see the benefits and add a soccer program to their middle schools as well. This will expand our opportunities to play and compete locally.”

“We are adding a student advisory committee to our campus leadership team to give our students a voice in campus decisions about courses, school safety, campus and classroom needs, and ideas for improvement,” said Richardson. “This is going to be another great opportunity for leadership and community involvement for our middle schoolers.”

BMS students will have plenty to look forward to as they start school in August. “We are so excited about our elective offerings and activities planned for the upcoming school year,” said Richardson. “Our A/V classes produce all of our announcements each day, our Teen Leadership and Human Development Classes participate in some awesome community outreach days and learn about giving back to our town and community. Middle school is a time of transition—it is a time when our ‘littles’ turn into pre-teens and teens with lots of opinions and energy that they channel into being great leaders and kind citizens.” Richardson reiterated the award-winning mental health department’s involvement in the campus as well. “Our counseling team provides many great opportunities for group sessions, and learning about surviving and thriving in middle school,” Richardson said. “Mrs. Cox and Mrs. Bertrand make a great team. They take good care of our teachers and students and are also wonderful resources for our middle school parents.”

The coming school year will bring some new teachers, along with a few familiar faces. “One of my favorite positive impacts in our middle school is the return of some fairly recent BISD graduates. They chose to return to BISD, to teach middle school,” said Richardson. “Ashley Gomez, Shay Thompkins, and Audrey McKillip are all former students of mine when I was an assistant principal at the high school. Ashley teaches English, Shay will be teaching Ag, and Audrey will be teaching Theatre Arts. They are fantastic role models! What a testament to our town and school district to have young adults choosing to become teachers and choosing to teach in their former school district.”

Brownwood Middle School students return to their campus at 1600 Calvert Road on Wednesday, August 17. Additional information regarding procedures for drop-off, pick-up, schedules, and more is available in the Back to School ROAR magazine, now available online at https://www.brownwoodisd.org/backtoschool. Print copies of the magazine can be picked up at BISD Central Support Center, on each campus, and various retail outlets in Brownwood.