Tag Archives: EPISD

A new food pantry organized by the El Paso Independent School District in partnership with El Pasoans Fighting Hunger will kick off this week to help families in need.

After seeing a call for food assistance, Raymond Telles Academy organized a fresh food pantry will operate from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. every other Friday starting this week at the schools Central El Paso campus.

The pantry will serve the families of students at Telles, as well as those from EPISD’s College, Career & Technology Academy and the Region 19 Head Start program adjacent to the Telles/CCTA. The campus is located at 2851 Grant in the building that once housed Houston Elementary School.

To qualify, families must complete a registration form and participate in a one-time nutrition class available between 1:30 – 2:30 p.m. before the Telles food pantry opens every other Friday.

“Students started coming in asking for food for their families,” Telles’ parent liaison Elsa Torres said. “They are worrying about what their families are going to eat for the weekend, and we know that students can’t learn if they’re hungry or concerned about meals.”

Torres and the Telles social worker Ari Medina quickly saw the high number of students struggling with food insecurity and organized a small food pantry with donations from teachers that fed at least 80 people.

“We had a family that came in who needed food, so they filled out the application, and they were able to get food for these couple of days and told them to come back for our grand opening,” Torres said.

According to Feeding America food data, nearly one out of four children and one out of every seven adults in the state of Texas struggles with hunger.

“Unfortunately, some live paycheck to paycheck and don’t have the money saved for important things like a car repair, which takes them to school and work,” Torres added. “So a lot of times they have to make a difficult choice: groceries or things like car repairs.”

The school transformed an empty classroom into a small grocery store with colorfully decorated sections dividing the food items, and fundraised to purchase refrigerators and freezers to offer families meat and dairy.

“I had a young mom who had just had her baby when she came in,” Torres said. “She was grateful for what she said was our little store and she did a little ‘shopping.’”

The pantry was stocked for its initial week with the help of many people at Telles. Security guards, custodians, paraprofessionals and even student helpers moved a truck-full of food from a trailer into the pantry.

“It makes me happy to think how people have kindness in their heart to unite and do this for students,” said eighth-grade student Michelle Gabrieles, one of the students who helped stock the shelves at the pantry.

Telles Academy and CCTA teach students from different areas of the city and struggle with transportation. Medina hopes that having access to food options at their school will allow them to stay healthy.

Families can fill their bags or carts with organic sandwich bread, frozen meat, canned fruit and vegetables and fresh produce and will have access to bilingual healthy meal recipes.

“The students are very happy, so grateful. It’s a very rewarding service we are providing here,” said Medina, the social worker at the school. “We want to make the food pantry homey so that everybody can feel welcomed here.”

Story by Liliana Gonzalez | Photos by Leonel Monroy – EPISD

The top assistant principal in all of West Texas is Putnam’s Hillery Smith, who was recently named the Region 19 Assistant Principal of the Year.

The title gives her a chance to be named the 2020 Texas Assistant Principal of the Year.

“It is an honor for me to represent my school and the District, which was given me numerous opportunity to serve the K-12 community of El Paso” said Smith. “I was raised to value education as the foundation of a meaningful life, and having the chance to share these values as an educator and an administrators is truly a blessing.”

The peer-based award is given by the Texas Elementary Principals and Supervisors Association and recognizes assistant principals for their commitment to student learning as evidence by exceptional school leadership.

Smith began her career at EPISD 23 years ago after earning her bachelor’s degree in interdisciplinary studies and later completing her master’s degree in educational leadership at the University of Texas at El Paso.

“Our entire campus promotes kindness, teamwork and support every day,” she said. “It makes for more than just a memory for our kids … It makes for an enriching experience.”

Her talent as an educator gave her the opportunity to open and teach at three schools who were at the time new in EPISD: Kohlberg, Tippin and Lundy elementary schools.

During her tenure at EPISD she has as a second-grade teacher, a staff member in the professional development center, a curriculum writer and an instructional coach.

“Public education provides children a gateway to opportunity and success. As an elementary educator, I strongly believe that it is essential to ignite a passion for learning while students are young, to inspire and motivate them through graduation and into post-secondary success.”

Eight Silva Health Magnet students began exploring careers in the mental health field this school year with a new internship program at the Paso Del Norte Child Development Center.

The seniors started the internship in February under the guidance of the center’s registered behavioral technicians doing rotations in applied behavior analysis, an evidence-based therapeutic intervention for children with autism.

“This program is a stepping stone for the pathway for the registered behavioral therapists, so it really gives them a foundation where they can see where it can build into,” said Denise Galvez, Silva magnet coordinator. “A lot of our students are interested in working with kids, or in psychiatry and mental health, but we hadn’t really had that opportunity because it’s more difficult to get into. This is opening our doors to something new.”

The program is available to seniors enrolled in the HST Practicum II course, which allows them to identify a healthcare career and shadow a professional in their field. The seniors first completed online modules independently before they began the internship.

“I originally wanted to be a psychiatrist because I’m interested in mental health,” said senior Emely Muñoz. “There’s not enough focus on mental health, it’s all physical health. If you’re physically sick, you obviously go to the doctor but if mentally sick, nobody wants to go to the doctor. They’re too afraid because of the stigma.”

She’s enjoying the experience and it has solidified her desire to enter a mental health career even if it isn’t as a psychiatrist.

“Now, I’m experiencing applied behavior analysis. I never knew about until now and now I’m thinking I’d love to be doctor in behavior analysis,” Muñoz said. “I’m still between the two but I’m really considering this.”

Senior Estefania Varela likes the fact that the program offers a certification.

“This gives us more opportunities to look at other health fields,” Varela said. “I’ve never done anything like this before and I thought it was interesting to get involved and see something other than careers in the hospital.

Paso del Norte Child Development Center Executive Director Al Velarde, who also is the vice president for the EPISD Board of Trustees, said his team worked closely with Silva to offer this opportunity. It is being offered at no cost to EPISD.

“One of the things that has been so difficult for Silva is to find programs willing to allow high school students deliver direct service to clients,” he said. “With our program, the Silva students will be delivering interventions alongside our RBTs and gaining valuable experience as they move towards their futures.”

Velarde and his team have been working with UTEP and they have agreed to open a Board Certified Behavioral Analyst Master’s Program to be able to meet the extreme shortage in the city. The BCBA is the lead therapist among a team of technicians who leads the interventions for clients.

“The best thing about this partnership is that any student who enters the program can graduate with their registered behavior technician certificate and become eligible to work as an RBT at any clinic that offers applied behavior analysis upon graduation,” Velarde said. “With UTEP opening the master’s program, these students can work in the field and obtain their Board Certified Behavior Analyst accreditation in El Paso.”

Story by Reneé De Santos  |  Photos by Leonel Monroy  – EPISD

Communication officials from the EPISD and Ector County ISD shared their thoughts and experiences in collaborating in response to the mass shootings that plagued their communities just six months ago.

EPISD Chief Communications Officer Melissa Martinez and Ector County ISD Communications Officer Mike Adkins presented a session titled “West Texas Strong: How El Paso and Odessa Collaborated to Cope With Tragedy” at this year’s Texas School Public Relations Association conference in Austin.

The presentation outlined best practices in partnerships to deal with emergency situations, especially when it comes to public messaging and notifications.

El Paso was attacked on Aug. 3 when a shooter opened fire at a busy Walmart killing 22 people. The Midland-Odessa area was the victim of a mass shooting on Aug. 31 that took the lives of eight people.

The events shocked the nation and tested the area’s emergency response mechanisms – including those of the school districts.

“This is a situation you never want to be in,” said Martinez. “But when tragedy strikes, it is important to collaborate and work together with your colleagues so that our respective communities – our students and parents – get the information they need to stay safe and feel supported.”

On Thursday afternoon, officials with the El Paso Independent School District announced the appointment of Mary Arnold as the new principal at Aoy Elementary School.

Arnold has served as assistant principal at Aoy since 2015 after spending years as a classroom teacher and school counselor in several EPISD campuses. She replaces former principal Anabel Tanabe, who left the district last year.

“Aoy is one of our legacy schools and I am pleased that we have found a great leader in Ms. Arnold,” Superintendent Juan Cabrera said. “I am sure her experience, coupled with her understanding of the community around Aoy, will help teachers and students continue the positive achievement record at the school.”

Arnold has a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Texas at Dallas and master’s degrees in counseling and educational leadership from Webster University and the University of Texas at El Paso.

Her classroom experience began as a tutor at Moreno Elementary and then as a second grade and kindergarten teacher at Crockett Elementary, where she later served as a counselor.

Arnold is a former Crockett Teacher of the Year and a graduate;her appointment is effective Thursday, February 20th, 2020.