At the Oct. 6 Montgomery ISD special meeting, principals from all district campuses updated the board of trustees on initiatives for the 2026-27 school year and reviewed recent STAAR scores.

What's being done: Creekside Elementary School reported improved STAAR scores for economically disadvantaged students. However, Montgomery Elementary School's score dropped to a 79 from an 88. Principal Robert Ingalls noted that three student groups are performing lower than their peers:

• economically disadvantaged students

• special education students

• emergent bilingual students

To address this, the campus hired a new reading instructional coach and teachers are meeting weekly to review data and lesson plans.

The other side: The DEN Career and Technical Education Center saw its student population grow from 409 students last year to 520 this year. Its dual-credit program through Lamar State College grew to over 450 registered students after adding new programs of study.

According to an Oct. 6 filing with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, AutoZone will be bringing another location to the Conroe area.

What we know: Per the filing, the new AutoZone will be located along Hwy. 105 in Conroe east of Loop 336. The new storefront will be 7,381 square feet and cost $908,509 to construct.

Construction is estimated to begin in late November 2027 and be complete in the first quarter of 2028.

What they offer: The auto parts store sells items such as car batteries, brake pads, alternators, engine oil, lighting and spark plugs. AutoZone also offers a variety of car accessories including air fresheners, wheel covers, floor mats and liners, speakers and windshield sunshades.

Pappadeaux Seafood Kitchen is celebrating 40 years in business across the Greater Houston area during the month of October, business officials confirmed.

The details: The first Pappadeaux Seafood Kitchen opened its doors in 1986 on Westheimer Road in the Galleria area, per the restaurant website.

During the month of October, restaurant officials announced in a Sept. 29 news release that several new and returning menu items will be available for a limited time, including:

• Crispy Shrimp Spring Rolls: shrimp, ginger cilantro cream cheese and sweet & sour sauce

• Praline Cheesecake: creamy cheesecake layered with pecan praline crumble, topped with warm praline sauce

In their words: "For 40 years, Pappadeaux has been a place where families celebrate and friends gather to let the good times roll," Pappas Restaurants Chief Marketing Officer Christina Pappas said. "This anniversary is a celebration of our guests and the generations of team members who have made Pappadeaux the destination it is today.”

In 2015, the Texas Legislature passed a law changing the amount of time students are required to spend in public schools from 180 days to 75,600 minutes per school year.

More than a decade later, some state senators are considering again mandating the number of days schools are open, citing concerns about student performance in districts that use condensed weekly schedules.

The details: At least 181 districts and 572 campuses used four-day school weeks in the 2024-25 school year, per Texas Education Agency data.

A TEA study found that during the 2022-23 school year, students attending school four days per week had lower performance in certain subjects on the annual State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness than students at five-day schools.

"There is not a benefit that I see for a four-day school week for the child," Sen. Donna Campbell, R-New Braunfels, said. "We know there's learning loss. What is the advantage of a four-day [week]? Because I see none except to please somebody who wants to be off more days."