By: Brian Avery

One of the reasons PHS runs so smoothly is because we have so many people working behind the scenes to make sure it runs smoothly. One of them includes Mrs. Downs, our academic dean, who assists teachers in making sure their instruction is smooth.

Mrs. Downs went to CT High School, just north of Austin. She was very active within her school, as she was a cheerleader,  and in academic clubs such as Spanish and Science. After high school, she went to Angella State University, where she got a degree in Elementary Education.  She later got her masters in Curriculum and Instruction, which brought her to PISD.

Mrs. Downs started working at the Middle School campus, back when it was known as the PIC. She worked as an Instructional Coach-which is the same as an academic dean-and assisted teachers with their instructional process and lessons. She moved up to the Central Office, where she continued the same job for five years, before she joined us at PHS. She has been working on our campus for 10 years, and 20 years overall at PISD.

Mrs. Downs stated that her favorite part of working at PHS was being around so many people, and seeing how everything is changing everyday, adding that she was remorseful that she couldn’t see the change happening faster and being able to see the end result quicker.

Our campus would not be the same without Mrs. Downs working behind the scenes to make sure we have the best education possible. Thank you Mrs. Downs!