Legacy Traditional Schools—Texas Welcomes New Principals Dr. Terrica Young and Chantrese Rainey

Legacy Traditional School playground | San Antonio Charter Moms

We are proud to share this guest post by two new principals at Legacy Traditional Schools—Texas: Dr. Terrica Young at Legacy Traditional School—Cibolo (opening in August 2022) and Chantrese Rainey at Legacy Traditional School—Saenz Junior High School.

New Principals and a New Neighborhood School

As newly named principals of the new Legacy Traditional School—Cibolo campus and the recently renovated Saenz Campus, we are thrilled to bring news about our schools to the Charter Moms community.

For starters, it will be helpful for you to know that Legacy Traditional Schools has been in the San Antonio area for the past year, having taken over the former School of Excellence in Education, which was a well-known San Antonio K–12 provider with four campuses. 

At Legacy Traditional Schools—Texas, the visionary school board wanted to bring education to communities and parents seeking high-quality education. They sought out Legacy, and in fall 2021, the existing campuses were renamed to Legacy Traditional Schools. Since that time, more than $7 million has been dedicated to facility improvements across all campuses, and a brand new Legacy campus will be opening this fall in Cibolo.

What Is a Legacy Traditional School?

As a charter school network with a great reputation that began in Arizona more than a decade ago, we’re thrilled to introduce Legacy to the San Antonio area. It’s also humbling to be chosen by the board to be among the first principal leaders serving as founding administrators.

And what a privilege it is as we seek to do a multitude of things!  On our list of To-Dos: hire/retain a dynamic staff; train, develop, and support new staff; establish a healthy school culture; onboard new students and families; seek community stakeholder input on school decisions, and establish a common understanding of what transformational teaching and learning looks and feels like. Yes, this can be done in Year One!

Not only is that a tall order, but it gets even more exciting. As we speak, a new 87,000 sq. ft. facility on ten acres of land in Cibolo is going up. Over the summer, all of our existing campuses are being renovated to provide updated classrooms and restrooms, along with state-of-the-art amenities including basketball courts, turf areas, and playgrounds.

Again, this dream was able to come true because of our forward-thinking board members, our hands-on superintendent, and a committed teaching staff with deep connections in our community.

News of LTS—Texas coming to San Antonio was well publicized with far-reaching leadership and teacher recruitment efforts. In our case, as long-time advocates of school choice, both of us saw an opportunity to fulfill lifetime missions. For Dr. Young, it was about a charter school coming to her own neighborhood and being able to impact students where she lives. For Ms. Rainey, it was about being able to connect with families in the greater San Antonio area and changing the dynamic of education in underserved communities. For both, it was about being on the ground floor of establishing school cultures conducive to learning and being able to leave a legacy—happy pun intended—in greater San Antonio.

What Awaits the Legacy Student?

Our mission at LTS—Texas is to provide a learning culture where all students thrive and excel through innovative and adaptive 21st-century skills, using research-based, data-driven methods. We maintain the vision that all students will graduate from college or a trade school and are career-ready, prepared to compete in a global society.

We use a three-pronged approach where we create partnerships with the students, parents, and teachers to ensure every student is safe, engaged, supported, and challenged. At Legacy, student success comes from more than just classroom study which is why the three-prong approach works. Legacy aims to develop and graduate well-rounded kids who are ready to take on the world.

Direct Instruction and Back-to-Basics Learning at Legacy

We are a holistic school community that teaches the basics of reading, writing, and math through a neo-traditional methodology that incorporates a love of learning with character building, patriotism, and social-emotional learning to prepare youth for the future.

At LTS Texas, we offer a traditional approach to learning with whole group, uninterrupted, teacher-directed instruction. All instruction is delivered by the teacher, not by other students.

We also foster citizenship with a focus on patriotism by offering weekly themes related to citizen responsibilities, facts, interests and symbols related to our nation. Each morning we host a Flag Ceremony where we recite the pledge of allegiance to the American and Texas flags, giving us an opportunity to build community with our staff, students, and parents.

Our well-rounded curriculum and activities include music, library, PE, public speaking, Spanish, computers, after-school clubs, NJHS, Student Council, science fair, spelling bee, book reports, and fitness for life. Another unique component is that in grades 3-6, students will choose a pathway that appeals to their interests – either in sports through our Momentum program, or music through our Mozart program, where they can dive deeper into the learning of those areas. We have programs for all students, and we provide gifted services, exceptional student services, and ESL.

Is There Rigorous Study?

Legacy Traditional Schools Texas offers a back-to-basics curriculum with an accelerated pace of study. Learning at Legacy is a non-negotiable, and this is why students are motivated to do their best. LTS was founded on the principle that parents and staff work together as partners to provide an education that encourages students to pursue academic excellence to the best of their abilities. Positive disciplinetechniques, which focus on positive reinforcement of appropriate behavior, are used to maintain a structured, calm, and orderly classroom atmosphere.

What About Testing and Using Data to Inform?

Our school maintains a focus on high quality instruction by utilizing data to better understand individual student needs. This entails not only testing that is done throughout the year, but quick formative assessments to ensure students are mastering skills on a daily basis. We are committed to holding teachers accountable to use data to meet the diverse needs of their students. Teachers will be trained on research-based best practices that can be used to instruct their students and appeal to multiple modalities of learning. Additionally, we will celebrate student achievement throughout the school year during various assemblies, incentives, and fun school events.

A Last Word About School Choice

School choice is a distinct privilege. To have the ability to enroll in a charter school allows students, families, and educators to evaluate programs, curriculum, extracurricular activities, administration, school mission/vision, and other factors to determine which school type or organization best fits their child’s needs, interest, career goals, and work/life balance.

Making the Choice

For potential students and families, if a traditional back-to-basic approach to teaching fits your child’s learning style, we invite you to come check out and tour our school, meet the administrators, or simply enroll if you are confident that Legacy is the best fit for your family.

We want our student families to know that all decisions will be made based upon what is in their best interest. Students should know that our expectations will remain high and we will provide individualized support to ensure they are successful. Our school staff and administrators are always available to discuss any challenges or concerns that may arise as we are committed to continuous improvement.

We will provide a learning experience relevant to their lives and communities, allowing them to pursue their unique passions and nurture their strengths. We are committed to ensuring that our students will be prepared for successful college and/or professional careers.

Do You Want to Teach at a Legacy School?

We are seeking teachers who are prepared for the challenge of high academic expectations for our students and transformational teaching. We also are looking for individuals who are passionate about our values and ready to put in the work it takes to become great teachers.

We want teachers to understand and believe that we are not only “teaching” students, but we are molding well-rounded citizens who are prepared to go out and compete upon graduation. Our school encompasses the social and emotional aspects of learning, therefore, our staff must uphold positive discipline values that guide and encourage our students to learn from their experiences. This is evident in our daily practice of utilizing a social and emotional curriculum which increases self-awareness through asking reflective questions. The result is establishing a respectful school culture and community which sets clear expectations for positive behavior in and out of the classroom.

If you are a teacher or staff member who wants to provide students with the personalized instruction and support they need to thrive as individuals and foster their love of learning, we want to hear from you! Legacy teachers believe in the potential, purpose, and promise of every student.

Charter Moms Chats

Watch Dr. Terrica Young, Principal at Legacy Traditional School—Cibolo, and Chantrese Rainey, Principal at Legacy Traditional School—Saenz Junior High School, speak with Inga Cotton on Charter Moms Chats on May 10, 2022 at 4:00 PM Central live on Facebook and YouTube.

Dr. Terrica Young is the Principal at Legacy Traditional School—Cibolo. Dr. Young holds a Doctorate of Educational Leadership and Management from Capella University and Masters in Education Administration from Grand Canyon University. Dr. Young is a longtime educator, serving as teacher, principal, and administrator for more than 20 years. She has lived in Cibolo since 2009.

Chantrese Rainey is the Principal at Legacy Traditional School—Saenz Junior High School. Ms. Rainey holds a Masters of Education in Administration and Supervision from Liberty University. Originally from Virginia, Ms. Rainey has served as a teacher, Assistant Principal, and Principal in Residence with a previous charter school. Ms. Rainey is a lifelong learner, student advocate, and servant leader.

Read More About Legacy Traditional Schools—Texas

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