Gatesville ISD honors Kim Strickland for 16 years of service

Kim Strickland’s steady hand in Gatesville Primary School’s pre-K classrooms was recognized before the Gatesville ISD school board, marking the end of a 16-year run that helped shape the first school experience for hundreds of local children.

The tribute came during the board’s regular April 27 meeting at 5:30 p.m. at the Gatesville ISD Administration Building, 311 S. Lovers Lane in Gatesville. District leaders and campus staff described Strickland as a dependable presence in the earliest grades, where the tone set by adults can matter as much as the lesson plan.

Superintendent Dr. Barrett Pollard opened the recognition by describing Strickland as one of the nicest, most supportive and upstanding people a person could meet. Primary Assistant Principal Tamela Eary called her an incredible asset to the campus and the heart of the pre-K team, saying Strickland loved every student who walked through the door and brought a calming influence to a classroom that can be hectic.

Primary Principal Van Collins said Strickland was more than a paraprofessional. Collins described her as the heart of the classroom, someone who helped Gatesville’s littlest Hornets start school with a steady, loving hand and kept a positive outlook even on the most chaotic days.

That kind of consistency carries extra weight at Gatesville Primary, which serves pre-K through second grade at 308 Hornet Way and uses the slogan, “Where little kids learn big things!” Gatesville ISD says children must be 4 years old by Sept. 1 to enroll in pre-K, and eligibility is tied to income, language or military-family criteria. For many families, that makes the primary campus the first formal school setting a child ever knows.

The district’s enrollment profile helps explain the reach of that work. Gatesville ISD serves 2,557 students across five campuses, and Gatesville Primary has 274 students. In a district this size, the adults who help children learn how to line up, share space, listen and feel safe can influence a large share of the community’s children before they ever reach the older grades.

Staff members said Strickland also knew colleagues, families and children beyond their names, and that she cared about the broader school community in a way that made the campus better. Her retirement closes a long chapter for one of the people who helped define the daily rhythm at Gatesville Primary, where stability and kindness are part of the educational work itself.