KATY (Covering Katy News) – There are three new schools opening in the Katy Independent School District this fall. Paetow High, Stockdick Junior High and Bryant Elementary. Here are some facts about each school’s namesakes:
Paetow High School
Patricia E. Paetow was a lifelong educator who dedicated nearly 30 years to Katy ISD before losing her battle to cancer in July 2015. Mrs. Paetow began her career in Katy ISD in 1987 as an educational diagnostician. She then spent the next three decades working in different capacities, including assistant principal, principal, and director of campus administration and support, before retiring as Katy ISD’s assistant superintendent of administrative support.
During her tenure, she led Wolfe Elementary to be recognized as a National Blue Ribbon School by the United States Department of Education for the 1989-1990 school year, and opened Betty Sue Creech Elementary in 2000.
Address: 23111 Stockdick School Rd. Katy, TX 77493
Principal: Mindy Dickerson
Mascot: Panthers
Stockdick Juior High School
The Stockdick family has contributed to public education in Katy for more than a century. In 1895, the Stockdick family was among one of the first families to arrive in Katy and played an instrumental role in opening a one-room schoolhouse on what is now known as Stockdick School Road.
Since then, several generations of Stockdicks have attended Katy ISD schools and have served as teachers, coaches, counselors, administrators and board members. They have also devoted countless hours as volunteers in our schools.
Address: 4777 Peek Rd. Katy, TX 77449
Principal: Mark McCord
Mascot: Sabercats
Bryant Elementary
Felice and Bob Bryant began their teaching careers in Sudan, Texas; Bob as band director in 1974 and Felice in 1976, as the Kindergarten teacher.
In 1983 Bob became the head band director at Katy High School, also serving as Fine Arts Department Chair before being promoted to Executive Director of Fine Arts for Katy ISD in 2000. During his tenure, the Katy HS band reached annual enrollment numbers of over 400 students while earning top honors at numerous UIL and Music Festival competitions.
Felice devoted 29 years teaching kindergarten and first grade students, 25 of those in Katy ISD. She was named the Katy Elementary Teacher of the Year in 1997.
Bob was named the 2006 Texas Tech University Distinguished Music Educator, the 2007-2008 Texas Music Administrator of the Year, the recipient of the 2015 Jacob L. and Sophia Meyer Farb School Bell Award for Lifetime Achievement in Music Education from the Houston Symphony, and also the recipient of the 2015 Texas Bandmasters Association Lifetime Administrator Achievement Award. Bob now serves as the Music Director of the Lone Star Symphonic Band, based in Katy, and works as a consultant in fine arts education with Fine Arts Solutions of Texas, LLC.
Felice and Bob both continue to serve Katy ISD as Keep Encouraging Youth toward Success (KEYS) Mentors, each with two students at two different campuses.
Together, the Bryants have dedicated over 70 years as public school educators in Texas.
Address: 29801 Kingsland Blvd. Katy, TX 77494
Principal: Dr. William H. Rhodes
Featured Image: Teachers and staff of Katy’s ISD’s new Bryant Elementary School pause for a group photo during a recent gathering at the Cane Island Amenity Village event center. Residents of the Katy master-planned community of Cane Island will attend the new school.
-Dennis Spellman