Against the Odds: Chris Smith and Melissa Vera on Setting High Expectations in a High-Poverty District to Achieve Record Graduation Rates

Chris Smith, Superintendent of Schools at Brownfield ISD, and Melissa Vera, Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum & Instruction, have spent nearly two decades turning a district where 86% of students are economically disadvantaged into a model for what's possible, including a 99.2% graduation rate and a teacher retention rate of 85% in a climate facing a major teacher shortage.

In this episode, Chris and Melissa share how they built a culture, rallying around their "CS Rise" mindset, that holds every student to high expectations, regardless of background. They dig into the systems behind their success: a dual-credit program that sends students to associate's degrees before high school graduation, a "Grow Your Own" teacher pipeline built in partnership with Texas Tech, and a district-wide commitment to equity for special education and emergent bilingual students. Chris and Melissa also open up about their personal "whys,” the moments and people that pulled them into education, and why they've turned down opportunities to lead elsewhere to see this work through in Brownfield.