Vernon ISD

Our Lions defense is getting some love in the preseason!! Dave Campbell's Texas Football selected our linebacker corps as the No. 1 Linebacking Corps in the state in Class 3A! And, junior linebacker Tyce Payne came in at No. 7 in Rally Preps Pre-Season Texas High School Football 2028 LB Ranking. All linebackers on the list are juniors.
The following link has the story from Dave Campbell's, however you have to subscribe to to read it.
https://www.texasfootball.com/article/2026/08/06/ranking-the-five-best-lb-corps-in-classes-4a-3a-2a?ref=article_preview_title

To complete remaining stabilization work following a upgrade a couple of weeks ago, Skyward has schedule maintenance work over the next four nights. Starting tonight, and continuing Friday, Saturday and Sunday, maintenance work will be done from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. During these times, customers may experience brief service interruptions or periods of reduced performance while changes are applied. VISD apologizes for any inconvenience this may cause.

FRESHMEN!! Don't forget!!
Freshmen Orientation is set for 2:30 p.m., Monday, in the VHS cafeteria. Please make plans to attend!!

Get your first look at the 2026 Vernon Lions at their Midnight Practice!! The practice will begin at 12 a.m., Saturday. Due to work continuing to lay the new turf at Lion Stadium, the Midnight Practice will be held north of the stadium. We apologize for the inconvenience. Fans are encouraged to bring lawn chairs to sit in. Take a nap Friday evening and come on out at midnight Saturday to cheer on your Lions!!!

We will be welcoming all of our students to our campuses on Monday for Meet The Teacher Night! Between 4 p.m. and 7 p.m., students and their families can stop by their campus to pick up their schedules and meet their teachers! We look forward to seeing everyone! We are looking forward to the 2026-27 school year being a great one!

We are just 5 days away from the First Day of School for the 2026-27 school year!! Here are our campus start and release times. Please note that McCord has two release times -- one for pre-kindergarten and one for kindergarten and 1st grade. We're looking forward to a great year!!

We currently have a great employment opportunity for someone who likes working with youth and who wants to make a difference. Anyone interested in applying for this position can go to our website at www.vernonisd.org and click on the Employment Button.

DON'T FORGET!!! The Boys & Girls Club Back to School Bash is today!! It starts at 4 p.m., and will continue until 7 p.m. Stop by and pick up free school supplies, hair cuts, vaccinations, food, information about services and organizations available in the community and much more!!

Our Roarin' Lion Band has been hard at work as they prepare for the 2026 marching season. They began rehearsals on July 27, working on learning the songs they will play as well as marching. Marching practice is being held in the P.E. Gym due to new turf being put down in the stadium. To make the practices fun, there has been a theme for each day. Those Theme Days have included Pajama Day, Hawaiian Day, Camo Day and Color Wars Day.

Our Lady Lions continued to work on improving their basketball skills and court awareness yesterday afternoon in their second practice of the 2026 season. On Friday, they will travel to Childress for scrimmages with the Lady Bobcats, and Saturday they will head to Wichita Falls for scrimmages against City View.

Our Lions tennis team began its Fall season yesterday as they hosted Canyon Randall and Shallowater in dual matches. The Lions fell to Canyon Randall, but bounced back to knock off Shallowater. They are on the road today, traveling to Canyon to face Canyon High. Lubbock Monterey will be in town tomorrow for a dual match beginning at 9:30 a.m.

The Lions had another good practice this morning that was full of yells and cheers when there were big wins in position and unit drills. There were some battles in the trenches, as the offensive linemen gave their defensive counterparts all they wanted in the defensive line drills. But, that willingness to give it your all when it isn't your drill is what good teammates do and is what good teams do!! #Lion Express!NothingLess!! #family

Our Lady Lions volleyball players hit the court Monday afternoon for their first workout for the 2026 season!! They worked on all aspects of the game -- passing, setting, serving, defense, blocking and hitting -- during various drills. The Lady Lions will travel to Childress Friday for a scrimmages beginning at 10 a.m., and will travel to Wichita Falls on Saturday to take on City View in matches starting at 9 a.m. They will open the season at home on Monday when they host Christ Academy with the first match set for 1 p.m.

This morning Vernon ISD held the annual Convocation for all staff to officially kick off the 2026-27 school year in the Empire Room of the Wilbarger Auditorium. The morning started with a breakfast prepared by our Nutrition Services staff, and was followed by guest speaker Mike Daggs, who involved teachers and staff in a few activities before speaking on the importance of staying interested, engaged and committed to the students who will walk through the district's campus doors for the 2026-27 school year.

Today the Lions began two-a-day workouts as they prepare for the 2026 season! You could hear the enthusiasm from the players and the coaches as they worked their way through the morning drills. Practices are being held on the north side of Lion Stadium while work on laying a new turf field at the stadium continues.

Our Vernon Lion tennis players started their official workouts today as they prepare for the upcoming season. They were on the court and ready to go at 6:30 a.m. They worked on various drills including charging the net and volleying after a service return, and court awareness as to where your opponents, and your doubles partner, are during points. The team plays its first matches Tuesday, when they host Canyon Randall at 9:3 a.m., and Shallowater at 2 p.m., at the Ruben Vargas Tennis Courts.

Most of the general public was surprised earlier this week when news broke that starting on Aug. 1 the UIL was making Wet Bulb Globe Temperature monitoring mandatory for all outdoor athletics and marching band practices. However, the UIL had recommended districts follow these WBGT guidelines in 2023 and Vernon ISD has been following these guidelines for the last three years. There is a weather station located at Lions Stadium capable of taking WBGT readings. Vernon ISD Athletic Director and Head Football Coach Brock Payne said since 2023 around 8 to 10 football practices have had to be adjusted due to the WBGT reading. That adjustment involved pushing the starting time for practice back 15 minutes or more, and that twice practice was moved inside to the all-purpose room. Vernon Tennis Head Coach Carrie Castleberry also said there had been very few tennis practices that had to be adjusted due to the WBGT reading. Castleberry said Vernon's athletic trainer, Brian Weatherly, does a great job of keeping the coaches informed of the WBGT readings. Payne added Weatherly recently ordered several portable misters in order to help the athletes and coach stay cool during practices.

If you're over 65 and live in Vernon, or a VISD retired employee, we want to make it simple and easy to continue to support Vernon ISD activities. Stop by the Vernon Admin Building and pick up a Lion Express Club Card!!

VISD VOLLEYBALL!!
Please remember there is a parent meeting for junior high and high school volleyball players today at 5 p.m., at D.O. Fulton Gym at VHS. If you have a daughter in the seventh thru twelfth grade who is planning on playing volleyball please attend this meeting.

We welcomed our incoming 6th graders to our campus for the first time today, as they attended 6th Grade Orientation. The students were greeted by our VMS cheerleaders and then were broken into three groups. Those groups rotated through three different stations including: getting their locker and locker combination; hearing about lunches and Lion Bucks; and learning about campus policies, rules and expectations.