Chris White moves to Westmoreland Academy directorship within Huntsville ISD

Aug. 12—HUNTSVILLE — A calling to work with others and a passion to serve brings Chris White into the director position at Westmoreland Academy, a DAEP campus offered through Huntsville ISD.

"It's kind of a program that it doesn't get a lot of attention, so a lot of people aren't familiar with it," White said, adding that it's in no means new.

Disciplinary Alternative Education Programs were adopted by Texas school districts in 1995 through the Texas Safe Schools Act, requiring that the state's public schools provide DAEP options for struggling students.

"It's basically for kids who struggle on their campus and their campuses have exhausted all of their resources to try to help them be successful, so they recommend that they come and get placed here. We can kind of have a more flexible schedule and we're fortunate enough to be able to work with them more individually, so we can provide more targeted support for them," White said.

Working in a DAEP school is a first for White, however, he's no stranger to the struggling students that Westmoreland Academy caters to.

"I have had the opportunity to work with students that are similar to the students that we serve in this program, so they're students that are typically underserved. Throughout my career in education, I've found that it's become a passion of mine to work with these students and try to help provide them with the skills they need to be successful. I've been able to successfully build relationships with those students and just kind of find the common ground where we can relate to one another, and I think that's really the foundation to being able to work with our students here," White said. "It's very important to build relationships with any students, but especially with those that come here to Westmoreland Academy."

White has been in education for nine years, serving in Pasadena ISD, Conroe ISD and Spring ISD. Most recently, White has spent the past two years in Huntsville ISD as the assistant principal at Mance Park Middle School, where he established systems, including disciplinary processes, to help manage behaviors in the classroom.

"A lot of those systems and processes that we put in place, I am able to look back at those experiences to help establish successful systems here going into the school year at Westmoreland," White said.

For his first year with the school, White is looking forward to observing, building relationships with students and incorporating social emotional learning, as well as dedicating time for targeted academic support, to fill not only pandemic gaps, but generational losses.

"I do think that the pandemic has increased some of the learning gaps for students, but I think generally speaking in the 21st century, just due to technology and the way that students are able to communicate, that they're lacking some of the social skills that some of the students in the past have had more of an opportunity to refine," White said.

"Now, I think the 21st century learner is kind of at a disadvantage with regards to those social skills that students in the past naturally developed growing up, so that in of itself is a deficit, but then the pandemic definitely added to that. That's why we're placing an emphasis on that, because it is so important. Once students graduate and enter society, many of them are going to have to work in teams and they'll have to have social skills and know how to successfully collaborate with people in a face-to-face setting," he added.

The school year will start with nine students from Huntsville High School that will be continuing their placement from the previous school year. As the year progresses, more students from all campus levels could potentially be assigned to the school for as little as 30 to 60 days. Depending on their circumstances, others may be assigned to the alternative campus for the entire school year, however, White adds that the goal is always to equip students with the tools they need to eventually return to their main campuses.

"It's bittersweet, because when you build a good relationship with a kid, it's always sad to see them go, but it's sweet in the sense that you know you successfully prepared them to go back to their campus and eventually back out into society to one day be successful. It's just a great feeling to know that you helped them in that way," White said.