Biography of Hope Appel, EdD

From Teacher to Superintendent:  I have been training school personnel for the past 24 years.  I retired from Texas public schools with 30 years of experience ranging for small 1A Six-man school of Higgins, TX, where I taught science grades 6-12 and became the IT Department (of one).  Yes, I was the only science teacher in Higgins.  After 13 years of teaching I became the school superintendent for five years.  I then moved to Texhoma, TX, where I was superintendent for four years.  My final move in Texas was to Vernon, a small 4A, where I was the sole Assistant Superintendent for 7 years.  While in Vernon I pushed our campuses to become certified in High Reliability School through Marzano.  Two of the five campuses reached Level 1, Safe, Secure, and Collaborative Culture, Level 2: Effective Teaching in Every Classroom, and Level 3: Guaranteed Viable Curriculum.  All five campuses achieved Level 1 giving  the distinction of being a District Level 1.  As a result, I spent a lot of time in training for each level as well as providing training to our staff.  AVID was also a highly valuable program for our students. Our secondary schools were recognized as School Wide Certified within 2 years and maintained it until year five when the program was dismantled.  As the District Director I saw our students achieve beyond what THEY thought was possible.  The teacher s and I learned how to implement the strategies for their content for raising student confidence and camaraderie as they grew into an AVID Family.   I also have considerable training in Fundamental Five which utilizes meta-analysis of the best research-based strategies of DuFour, Marzano, and Daggett's 3 Rs (Rigor, Relevance, and Relationships).  As a result, I began to share my knowledge at state conferences in Texas and Oklahoma.  I typically try to stretch at least one person out of their comfort zone and get her/him to present at the conference.  Because of this you may see more names on the trainings than just my name.

Railroads:  After I retired I became an an active owner of Innovative Rail where I have learned to utilize abandoned railroads and create a beautiful trail for every outdoor enthusiast.  I have great consultants (with over 50 years experience) to help make your eyesore into a beautiful accessible trail.

After Retirement:  I began my new career as an instructional coach at Altus Public Schools in 2023. Currently, I work with seasoned and unseasoned teachers and administrators with just about anything you can think of including, but not limited to, classroom management, student engagement strategies, building relationships, and leadership.  I love seeing teachers learn from each other through instructional rounds by allowing the new teachers the opportunity to learn tricks of the trade to increase their own pedagogy.

I have posted a variety of Educational Google Slides I have presented from educational leadership to instructional strategies.  

If you need help implementing any of these trainings, just email or text me, I won't answer a phone call if I am in a classroom, but you can always leave me a message.  Additionally, if you would like to bring a team to be involved in any of these trainings in Altus or if you would like for me to travel to you, just let me know.  I am grateful for the opportunities to serve your staff, students, parents, and community.

Fees may apply to train your staff at your district/campus.