Background & Context
Corpus Christi ISD sits on the Texas Gulf Coast and serves more than 32,000 students across 54 campuses. The district is 95% Hispanic and 75 to 78% economically disadvantaged. Close to 3,000 of its students are Emergent Bilingual learners, spread across every neighborhood. With high student and staff mobility, the district faces a daily challenge: how do you keep instruction strong and consistent when so much around it keeps changing?
Dr. Sandra Clement, Deputy Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction, oversees curriculum, teaching and learning, assessment, student services, special education, and state and federal funding. Her philosophy is simple. Build capacity at every level — from the superintendent’s office to the classroom — so that every student is supported, no matter which campus they walk into or which teacher stands in front of them.
The Challenge: 89 Vacancies and Students Who Were Slipping
A few years ago, Corpus Christi ISD was facing a real crisis. The district had 89 certified bilingual teacher vacancies. That meant EB students were attending their neighborhood campuses without access to the specialized instruction they needed. Even the most caring general education teachers did not have the right tools to support EB learners alongside their general ed, special ed, and 504 students.
The result was predictable. EB students were falling behind. Not because teachers did not care — they did — but because the system was missing the precision, the consistency, and the purpose-built resources to move students forward. The district needed a solution that could be used the same way at every campus, that could scale, and that could give teachers real data while there was still time to act on it.
The Solution: A Redesigned Program and a True Partnership
Corpus Christi ISD made two big decisions. First, they redesigned the EB program. They created program centers in areas with smaller EB populations. Students living within a two-mile radius of their home campus were bused to a center where certified bilingual teachers could focus only on Emergent Bilingual learners. Second, they brought in Summit K12 as the instructional backbone for the whole program.
This was not a typical vendor relationship. From day one, the Summit K12 team stayed close. They shared usage data in real time. They had honest, sometimes hard conversations about what the numbers showed. They came to campuses when teachers needed them. Instead of waiting until the end of the year to see if the program was working, the district and Summit K12 sat down together every six weeks to look at the data, make changes, and celebrate the wins.
“We didn’t have enough certified bilingual teachers — and that teacher didn’t need to be a bilingual specialist. We needed a system that gave every teacher the tools to support every student.”
— Dr. Sandra Clement, Deputy Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction, Corpus Christi ISD
Most Impactful Features
- Real-time usage reports shared throughout the year, not just at year end
- A teacher dashboard that gave educators daily visibility into student progress
- Personalized emails sent to teachers every six weeks celebrating individual wins
- Leadership buy-in driven by visible data — principals and teams came on board as results appeared
- A partnership built on trust, transparency, and shared accountability
Results: EB Students Outpace the District
The results were better than anyone expected. In the 2023–2024 school year, EB student scores rose sharply. In many areas, EB students were outperforming the overall student population districtwide. The 2024–2025 data was even stronger. Dr. Clement said the results blew everyone away.
But the change went deeper than test scores. Teachers who had been hesitant became some of the program’s loudest advocates. Students were so engaged that attendance improved. The personalized emails — sent every six weeks by teaching and learning specialists, supervisors, and even Dr. Clement herself — built a culture of recognition that kept teachers going.
“K12 Summit came in to partner with us, and we saw the gains. One key area that lifted dramatically was our Emergent Bilinguals. They actually surpassed our overall student population in many areas. That’s not something you see every day.”
— Dr. Sandra Clement
The Power of Partnership
What stands out most in Dr. Clement’s story is not the platform. It is the relationship. She does not describe Summit K12 as a vendor or a client. She describes them as family.
The Summit K12 team’s willingness to have hard conversations about data, to stay engaged all year long, and to shape the program around the district’s needs built a trust that went beyond what most vendor relationships ever reach. As the district changed, Summit K12 changed with them.
“K12 Summit feels like family for us. It’s not only been our success — it’s been theirs too. We grew together.”
— Dr. Sandra Clement
Advice for Other Districts
Dr. Clement’s advice is short and direct. Do not wait. Start watching the data from the very first six weeks. Build capacity in your teachers and your campus leaders. Celebrate your wins loudly and often. And find a partner — not just a product — that is willing to take the journey with you.
“If you’re struggling with your EBs, you need to call Summit K12. Just listen to them. Trust them. They’ll go on the journey with you, and the results will follow.”
— Dr. Sandra Clement, Deputy Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction, Corpus Christi ISD
