Pineywoods Community Academy

Pineywoods Community Academy, also known by the abbreviation PCA, is a PreK–12th grade charter school district located in Lufkin, Texas.

Pineywoods Community Academy
Naranjo Auditorium located at the school
Location
602 South Raguet, Lufkin, Texas,

United States
Coordinates31.332602°N 94.732178°W / 31.332602; -94.732178
Information
Other namePCA
TypeCharter
Established1998
School board
DirectorDr. Ken Vaughn
PrincipalLacey Coleman
GradesPreK–12th
Enrollment1,020[1] (2017-2018)
Student to teacher ratio15.86
Websitepcacharter.net

Curriculum

Pineywoods is a Pre-K through twelfth grade charter school. Students in Angelina County, Texas and surrounding areas are open for enrollment.[2] The student teacher ratio is 1 teacher per 15.86 students,[3] and the graduation rate is 100%.[4]

Starting in the 2020-2021 school year students will only attend 4 days per week[5][6]

Overall, Pineywoods was rated "A" by the Texas Education Agency.[7]

Academics

High school students are able to take dual-credit courses available through Angelina College. Students are issued their own laptop that can be used at school as well as at home. The ECHS program allows for students to earn up to 60 college hours towards an associates degree.[8] Pineywoods states that their curriculum goes beyond state-mandated TEKS.[2]

Athletics

Athletic programs offered by the school include:[9]

  • Swim & Dive
  • High School Boys Basketball
  • High School Girls Basketball
  • Middle School Boys Basketball
  • Middle School Girls Basketball

History

Pineywoods Community Academy opened in 1998.[10]

Merilyn Sessions-Netherly the principal for Pineywoods ECHS program was arrested was charged with theft. Sessions-Netherly was stealing college text books from the school and selling them to students at Angelina College. She resigned in June 2019.[11]

School shooting conspiracy

In April 2019, several students alerted school officials of a possible "hit list," school officials turned this into the Lufkin police. However, the police stated that there was a lack of evidence to form a criminal case. On November 14, 2019 police were made aware of incriminating text messages inciting a possible school shooting, and shortly after the students involved were expelled. A probable cause arrest warrant was issued for 18 year old student Ty Hodges, shortly after he turned himself in. Hodges had previously been investigated by police in April 2019, but there lacked evidence for an arrest. The messages on Hodges cell phone dated back to January 2019, they contained a map of the school and photographs of firearms. Additionally, there was a note entry titled “Shooting plans suicide one” with a subtitle of “(Juvenile name omitted) and Ty’s suicide/shooting plans.” The note indicated a school shooting followed by suicide, the language of the note was similar to the language used by the shooters at the Columbine High School Massacre. Hodges is charged with criminal conspiracy. Due to the other suspect being a minor limited information is available, the minor will be dealt with by the juvenile system.[12][13][14]

Revenue

Pineywoods obtains $9,332,000 annually of which $531,000 is from the federal government, $475,000 from local government, and $8,326,000 is from the state government.[3]

Staff and student body
Enrollment by race
Race Percent of student
White
 
 54.1%
Hispanic and Latino
 
 25.6%
Black or African American
 
 16.4%
Asian
 
 1.4%
Native Americans and Alaska Natives
 
 0%
Native Hawaiians and Other Pacific Islanders
 
 0.1%
Two or more races
 
 2.5%

Student body

There is a total of 1,020 students enrolled in the school in the 2017-2018 school year.[3][7] The student body of Pineywoods is 54.1% White, 25.6% Hispanic, 16.4% African American, 1.4% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, and 2.5% two or more races.[4] 50.7% of students are economically disadvantaged and 49.3% are non-educationally disadvantaged. Of the 82 students with disabilities 50 or 61% have an intellectual disability, 18 or 22% have a physical disability, 7 or 8.5% have autism, and 7 or 8.5% have a behavioral disability.[15]

Staff

Teachers at Pineywoods make $48,574, which is lower than the state of Texas average.[4] The school director is Dr. Ken Vaughn and the principal is Lacey Coleman.[16]

School board

Members of the school board include:[17]

  • J. Neal Naranjo, PhD (President)
  • Linda Robbins (Vice-president)
  • Charlie E. Grumbles (Secretary)
  • Louise LaVane (Treasurer)
  • Joe Douglas, III
  • Dr. Josefa Santiago, M.D.
  • Sarah Strinden, PhD (Member Emeritus)

References
  1. "Search for Public School Districts - District Detail for Pineywoods Community Academy". nces.ed.gov. Retrieved 29 January 2020.
  2. "Pineywoods Community Academy : About PCA". pcacharter.net. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
  3. "Search for Public School Districts - District Detail for Pineywoods Community Academy". nces.ed.gov. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
  4. "Pineywoods Community Academy". Texas Public Schools. 8 December 2015. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
  5. Randall, Stefante. "Pineywoods Community Academy looking to start 4-day school week". www.ktre.com. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
  6. Button, Sara (29 April 2019). "Pineywoods Community Academy in Lufkin, TX will move to a 4-day school week for the 2020-2021 school year. The 2019-2020 school year will be a 5-day week with "several Friday staff development days included." Memos went home with kiddos today, although is dated last Thursday.pic.twitter.com/FKOFguAjCq". @i. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
  7. "PINEYWOODS COMMUNITY ACADEMY | Overview | Explore Texas Schools". txschools.gov. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
  8. "Pineywoods Community Academy : Paramus". pcacharter.net. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
  9. "Pineywoods Community Academy : Students : Athletics". pcacharter.net. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
  10. "Pineywoods Community Academy". pcacharter.net. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
  11. Awtrey, Jeff. "Pineywoods Academy principal accused of illegally selling textbooks". www.ktre.com. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
  12. "Vigilance by administrators, cooperation with law enforcement averted tragedy at Pineywoods Academy". KETK | FOX51 | EastTexasMatters.com. 12 December 2019. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
  13. "Lufkin police: Charter school students texted each other about shooting, suicide plans". www.ktre.com. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
  14. "POLICE: High school students in Lufkin arrested for allegedly conspiring to plan school shooting". KYTX. Retrieved 4 January 2020.
  15. https://rptsvr1.tea.texas.gov/cgi/sas/broker?_service=marykay&_debug=0&single=N&batch=N&app=PUBLIC&ptype=H&_program=perfrept.perfmast.sas&level=district&search=distnum&prgopt=2018/tapr/student.sas&namenum=003801. Retrieved 2 January 2020. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  16. "Pineywoods Community Academy : Staff : Staff List". pcacharter.net. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
  17. "Pineywoods Community Academy : About PCA : Admin & Board Members". pcacharter.net. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
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