On Friday, the Richardson Independant School District Board of Trustees named Kay Waggoner, Ph.D its only finalist for the Superintendent position. She is currently superintendent of the Grapevine-Colleyville Independent School District.

Neil Matzen, the founder of Richardson's competitive swimming team, died on Saturday, December 12, 2009. We have updated this story with a more complete description of Coach Matzen's accomplishments.

The Richardson Echo is proud to announce a new section dedicated to the preservation of local Richardson history. The purpose of this section is to preserve and exhibit pieces from local history. The materials on display are all a part of a private collection of printed materials and ephemera. You can contribute to the collection.

Governor Rick Perry chose Berkner High School's STEM Academy as a place to make an announcement of his new 160 million dollar science and math education initiative. Perry said he would push a four tiered proposal to extend already existing programs. However, the press wanted to focus on the Willingham arson investigation.

Richardson High School held their 50th annual Homecoming Parade last Friday. We have pictures, pictures, pictures.

Miss Michelle Grzybowski, a student at Richardson High School, was honored as one of the Top Students at the Youth Leadership Conference by Military Order of the World Wars.

With Texas strengthening its laws on child safety seats, State Farm will host free child seat inspections this Saturday in Richardson, TX. At this event, parents will be educated about the importance of properly buckling up kids. These events focus on the significance of infant seats, booster seats and seat belts for children riding in motor vehicles.

The Texas Education Agency’s annual Accountability Ratings for schools were released on July 31, 2009. The Richardson Independent School District (RISD) showed improvement for the second year in a row. RISD's high schools saw great upward improvement. Of the 11 schools of the Plano Independent School District (PISD) that serve portions of Richardson in Collin County there was also an increase in ratings.

If you found yourself around the geographic heart of Cottonwood Heights on the evening of May 21st, you likely noticed the Texas size celebration. That celebration was officials, alumni, parents and hundreds of very proud K-6th Grade students honoring the fifty years that Dover Elementary has been educating Richardson children. There was a formal ceremony complete with student performances and nostalgic remarks and commendations by RISD Assistant Superintendent Bob DeVoll, Richardson City Council Member and neighbor Steve Mitchell, and Dover Principal Fernando Medina.

The Texas Educations Agency's (TEA) Accountability ratings were released on August 1 and the Richardson Independent School District (RISD) showed improvement in the ratings. The district’s overall rating remained at “Recognized” while the number of schools rated as “Exemplary” in the district increased. In the eleven schools of the Plano Independent School District (PISD) that cover parts of Richardson, an upward improvement was seen.

Carol Kent, candidate for State Representative in House District 102, is demonstrating her commitment to equipping Texas students for the job of learning with a unique service project titled Giving Back to our Schools. Kent’s campaign has plans to collect more than 200 backpacks for the schools districts within District 102, which includes Dallas, Garland and Richardson.

On the sixth of October at the Texas Tech Homecoming game against Iowa State, this writer, an ex-Richardson High School Cheerleader, most likely performed as the oldest cheerleader on the football fields of Texas, maybe even America! Tech hosted a reunion of all ex-cheerleaders complete with reception, recognition, Texas Tech tee-shirts and a full two quarters cheering opportunity on the field.

This past July two J.J. Pearce High School seniors, David Rehfuss and Paul R. Miller, won outstanding student awards from the Military Order of the World Wars, a national organization for military officers.

We have gotten a great response since we unofficially launched a few weeks ago. In this article, we will tell you about our plans for the next few weeks.