Tag Archives: Ysleta ISD

More than 700 school volunteers and staff celebrated their hard work and dedication at YISD’s annual Volunteer Recognition Luncheon  at Region 19 Head Start earlier this week.

The event honored and recognized volunteers and staff for their generosity and hard work at their individual campuses throughout the year.

According to YISD officials, more than 3,800 YISD volunteers have logged more than 278,000 volunteer hours so far this school year, resulting in a savings of more than $2 million in labor costs to the district.

Awards presented at the luncheon included:

Outstanding High School Volunteer of the Year:
Hope Gomez, Bel Air High School

Outstanding Middle School Volunteer of the Year:
Claudia Martinez, Rio Bravo Middle School

Outstanding Elementary School Volunteer of the Year:
Darrin Domko, Pebble Hills Elementary School

Years of Service Awards:
40 years –
Maria Vitela, Ysleta Pre-K Center

35 years –
Mirella Herrera, Rio Bravo MS

30 years–
Maria Elena Barrangan, Desertaire ES
Wanda Collins, Hanks HS

25 years –
Josefina Banda, Marian Manor ES
Christine Cooke, Eastwood MS
Maria Corona, Ysleta Pre-K Center

20 years –
Amparo Hernandez, Ascarate ES
Socorro Hinojos, South Loop ES
Raul Nuñez III, Lancaster ES
Maria Rosales, Marian Manor ES
Hortencia Serna, Marian Manor ES

Top Achievement Volunteer Hour Awards:
Alma Bustamante, Parkland HS
Margaret Chaffino, Scotsdale ES
Mirella Herrera, Rio Bravo MS
Ricardo Jauregui, Hacienda Heights ES
Concepcion Portillo, Pasodale ES
Elizabeth Rocha, Pasodale ES
Dora Molina, Dolphin Terrace ES\
Sandra Galvan, Edgemere ES
Denise Juarez, Edgemere ES
Bianca Molina, Dolphin Terrace ES

Top Ten School Awards:
Del Valle High School
Parkland High School
Hanks High School
Rio Bravo Middle School
Parkland Middle School
Del Valle Middle School
Pasodale Elementary School
Cedar Grove Elementary School
Dolphin Terrace Elementary School
Scotsdale Elementary School

As part of as part of the Operation College Bound Initiative, officials with El Paso Community College and the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) partnered with Ysleta Independent School District (YISD) to assist seniors in registering for college.

“EPCC is proud to partner with the school districts and UTEP to ensure graduating seniors in our region go to college,” EPCC President Dr. William Serrata said. “Operation College Bound helps students enroll and receive the information they need to make a successful transition from high school to higher education.”

Operation College Bound day at the YISD high schools provided seniors the ease and convenience to enroll in college in a familiar environment with assistance from representatives from the college and university.

“The success of our students is of paramount importance at the Ysleta Independent School District,” said YISD Superintendent of Schools Dr. Xavier De La Torre.

“It is our privilege to partner with UTEP and EPCC to host Operation College Bound Days at our high schools, which supports our work to provide students with the opportunity, academic skills, and access toward realizing their dreams of postsecondary education. This allows our students to begin the transition from high school to college in a setting that is familiar to them, with resources for one-on-one assistance that they might not otherwise seek out on their own.”

Operation College Bound took place for Parkland High School on April 15th, the remaining YISD schools will be visited during April.

The Ysleta ISD Board of Trustees honored Hanks High School senior Kristen Apodaca with the President’s Award for March.

“Kristen is a kind-hearted student leader whose commitment to service extends far beyond her campus to the youngest and most vulnerable children in our community,” YISD officials shared Monday. “But what makes Kristen exceptional is that she has purposefully learned the name of EVERY student at Pebble Hills Elementary. In one semester, she has gotten to know the students on an individual basis, and is able to pinpoint when they are struggling so she can give them help and attention when they need it most.”

Kristen volunteers in the library at Pebble Hills Elementary School, helping with a variety of tasks that include reading to students, helping students with their homework, or finding and checking out books students will enjoy.

Teachers and administrators say that Kristen is all heart, and never misses an opportunity to highlight the “awesomeness” of others. Her compassion, kindness, and devotion to community service makes her a stand-out among her peers.

Kristen also volunteers at El Paso Children’s Hospital and the Center Against Family Violence, where she dresses in costume as “Elsa” from the popular Disney movie, “Frozen,” and sings to the children with her twin sister, Kayla.

The President’s Award is given by the President of the Board of Trustees to a YISD student who has demonstrated exceptional and/or innovative, out-of-the-ordinary service to others, particularly those within the YISD community.

Bel Air High School senior Vanesa Carrillo is one of 12 students in Texas – and the only student from El Paso – to be selected as a 2019 Coca-Cola Scholar.

Carrillo is also one of 500 students in the country to be awarded the prestigious 2019 Dell Scholarship, bringing her postsecondary funding so far to $40,000.

“I feel blessed, grateful, and excited to have been chosen among an extensive number of applicants for the Coca Cola and Dell scholarships,” said Carrillo. “Being able to represent my Hispanic community and becoming a role model for many students is a privilege, and I am beyond grateful for the support that my family, teachers, and advisors provide for me.”

As a Coca-Cola Scholar, Carrillo will attend a four-day Leadership Development Institute at the Coca-Cola Company’s International Headquarters in Atlanta next month, where she will participate in activities and workshops to develop leadership skills, as well as tour local landmarks and participate in a group community service project.

The Dell Scholarship will not only provide Carrillo with $20,000 towards college tuition, but will also provide academic, financial, and emotional support throughout her college career, as well as funding for textbooks and a new laptop computer.

This award is funded by the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation.

Carrillo, who is also a finalist for the Terry Foundation Scholarship, plans to study marketing and psychology this fall.

This is the second year in a row that a YISD student has been selected as a Coca-Cola Scholar.

Each year, students across the region celebrate the 100th day of the school year with creative and imaginative events.

Students at Tierra Del Sol Elementary School celebrated “100 Days of School” with an event to learn about the importance of this large, three-digit number.

Preparation for the special day began prior to the designated day by creating their individual “100” project at home. Everything from cheerios and sequins, to stickers, seeds, Legos, and gumballs were used to create their unique set of 100 objects.

When the 100th day arrived, students participated in a 100-day parade chanting “100 days brighter.”

Special guests included the Hanks High School drumline, cheerleaders, Renaissance dance team and Pikachu from Los Amiguitos.

The students spent the day refining their math skills by participating in a variety of games and activities centered around this very important number.

Each of the activities reinforced the point that hands-on activities not only actively engage children in the learning process, but also prove that learning can be fun

The Elementary Destination Imagination (DI) team from Alicia R. Chacon International School won 1st place at the regional DI competition recently held at Eastlake High School.

Destination Imagination is a global creative problem-solving organization that prepares kindergarten to high school students for college, career and life through 21st century thinking and learning principles.

More than 145 teams and about 28 districts from El Paso County participated in the day-long event. Teams competed in academic challenges in the fields of technical, science, fine arts, improvisation, engineering and service learning.

Students took part in two challenges: a central challenge, which they have been working on months prior to competition, and an instant challenge, which is spontaneous and they learn about on day of the contest.

Participants solve challenges by generating ideas with team members through research, exploration and presentation of solutions.

The Alicia R. Chacon School opened its doors in 1995  as a dual language program for kinder to 2nd grade. As the years passed, the school gradually added grade levels until reaching its current kinder through 8th enrollment.

The team will now represent the area in the state competition held at Corpus Christi, later this year.

The 2019-2020 campus Teachers of the Year at the Ysleta Independent School District (YISD) were honored during a reception at Central Office Wednesday evening.

During the ceremony, YISD officials also announced 10 finalists for the district’s top two teaching awards: the Elementary Teacher of the Year and the Secondary Teacher of the Year.

All campus Teachers of the Year, as well as all campus Support Employees of the Year, will be honored at the YISD Teacher and Support Employee of the Year Masquerade Ball that takes place at 6 p.m. May 3 at the Centennial Conference Center & Banquet Hall at Fort Bliss.

At this event, the top two YISD Teachers of the Year will be named, as well as the top Support Employee of the Year.

The top five finalists for the 2019-2020 YISD Elementary Teacher of the Year are:

Dolphin Terrace Elementary   |  Veronica Aguirre
East Point Elementary  |  Gaylynn Caraveo
Glen Cove Elementary   |  Laura Fonte
Pebble Hills Elementary   |  Lisa Martinez-Medina
Ramona Elementary   |  Fernando Arriaga

The top five finalists for the 2019-2020 YISD Secondary Teacher of the Year are:

Bel Air High   |  George Padilla
Hanks High   |  Casey Rangel
Riverside High   |  Jasmine Estrada
Desert View Middle   |  Jessica Pussman
Parkland Middle   |  Michelle Sandoval

A list of all 2019-2020 campus Teachers of the Year and Support Employees of the Year can be found by clicking here.

Dr. Catherine Kennedy, Ed.D, associate superintendent of middle schools at the Ysleta Independent School District, will be honored for her wide-ranging contributions to education this month when she is inducted into the 2019 El Paso Women’s Hall of Fame.

With a career spanning 29 years as a teacher and administrator, Kennedy oversees nine middle schools, two international schools, and the Young Women’s Leadership Academy at Ysleta ISD, which serves 41,000 students at 60 campuses.

She holds a bachelor’s degree in science, a master’s degree in educational administration, and a doctorate in educational leadership from the University of Texas at El Paso.

The El Paso Women’s Hall of Fame was established in 1989 by the El Paso Commission for Women to honor outstanding women for their long-term contributions to the community.

Kennedy will formally be inducted into the El Paso Women’s Hall of Fame during the El Paso Commission for Women’s Induction Ceremony and Luncheon on March 30.

This week, officials with Ysleta ISD announced the 2019 – 2020 Campus Teachers and Support Employees of the Year.

“These dedicated teachers and support staff were selected by their campuses to represent the hard work and a determination to help all children succeed,” YISD officials shared. “They are honored for outstanding leadership, excellence, and inspiration to students, their colleagues and the community.”

The campus Teachers of the Year will be honored at a reception on March 6 where the top ten teachers will be announced. The finalists will undergo another round of interviews to compete for the top spot as Elementary and Secondary Teacher of the Year.

Ten finalists for Support Employee of the Year finalists will be announced at a later date.

Five finalists will be named and the Ysleta ISD Support Employee of the Year will be announced at the gala in May.

All employees will be honored at the 2019-2020 Teacher and Support Employee of the Year Gala on Friday, May 3, 2019 at the Centennial Conference Center and Banquet Hall on Ft. Bliss. The program will begin at 7 pm. Tickets will go on sale on March 11 for $30 per person. For ticket information, call 434-0690.

The 2019-2020 Teachers and Support Employees of the Year are:

Students at Young Women’s Leadership Academy enjoyed an eventful day, full of learning, teamwork, and cooperation during a STEAM E-Day.

The 6th – 9th grade students participated in campus-wide enrichment activities as they rotated among a variety of projects that included robotics, science experiments, and hands-on activities. This enabled them to engage in activities, extending their knowledge of scientific concepts.

The activities included chromatography, designing their own race car using recyclables, and a homopolar motor, to name a few. 

In the chromatography activity, the students used coffee filters with colored markers dipped in water to explore the rate at which different colors separate.

In the race car activity, students were given recyclable materials such as water bottles, rubber bands, balloons, and skewers to design a functional, self-powered race car. Lastly, for the homopolar motor, they were given magnets, an AA battery, and copper wire.

The objective was to bend the copper wire in order to create a rotating conductor around a fixed axis.

STEAM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math.

A group of Eastwood Middle School students visited the Bioscience Research Building at the University of Texas at El Paso to get an up-close look at studies conducted by the facility.

After UTEP’s Biological Science chair Dr. Bruce Cushing spoke to the students about the types of research they conduct, the students toured different labs and visited with several doctoral and graduate students from UTEP about the research they are conducting.

Many of the research projects are linked to curing diseases and cancer.

In addition to their roles as teachers, faculty members are also actively engaged in research in their areas of interest, with opportunities for undergraduates to participate in these research programs.

The faculty’s research covers areas of interest in Immunology and Infectious Disease, Neuroscience, Toxicology, Cancer Biology, Epidemiology, Ecology, Environmental Sciences, and Evolution Biology.

UTEP Officials shared tat the University’s location in the northern part of the Chihuahua Desert, the valley of the Rio Grande, and the border between the United States and Mexico all provide a unique research and instructional setting.

The Department of Biological Sciences is housed in two buildings, the Biology and Bioscience Research buildings. The Bioscience Research Building is about 92,500 square feet of research, office and conference space.

The student’s visits took place last week.

Ysleta ISD Superintendent of Schools Dr. Xavier De La Torre, in his role as chair-elect of the Texas Urban Council of Superintendents (TUC), testified before a state education committee in Austin to share the importance and benefit of increasing state funding toward the areas of early childhood education and English language learners.

Dr. De La Torre’s testimony addressed the Commission’s recommendations and possible financial impact in a general sense, as they have not been specifically incorporated into any filed bills.

However, the recommendations most likely to have an impact at Ysleta ISD are those regarding increased state funding for dual language programs, at-risk students, third-grade reading performance, and full-day pre-K programs.

Dr. De La Torre testified about the need to direct more resources to early education, as well as students with challenging economic circumstances at home who need to learn English to the level needed for rigorous academic instruction and achievement.

District officials shared that “Ysleta ISD has focused existing resources into these areas and seen overwhelmingly positive academic results, particularly among its English learners, who are outperforming their peers in the region and state on annual STAAR tests and End Of Course exams. This demonstrates the merits of the School Finance Commission’s recommendations if the Legislature opts to increase overall school funding.”

The Commission’s recommendations also call for increasing the per-student “basic allotment” and eliminating certain other categories of funding.

While the financial impact for Ysleta ISD ultimately depends on the basic allotment amount adopted by the Legislature, the Commission’s intent to increase funding in the target areas is very positive for Ysleta ISD and other TUC districts.

The TUC represents the nine largest urban school districts in Texas, which collectively educate 20% of all students in Texas who are economically disadvantaged or English Learners.

Dr. De La Torre was invited to the February 12th session to present comments to the House Public Education Committee of the Texas Legislature regarding recent recommendations by the School Finance Commission, a group tasked with analyzing education funding in Texas.

In December, the Commission approved dozens of recommendations that include increasing school funding by more than $1 billion to help improve student performance and the way the state distributes school funding, among others.

The Christian Science Monitor has published a story highlighting Ysleta ISD as the top school district nationwide for students who take and successfully pass Advanced Placement (AP) exams.

According to the Monitor, five Ysleta ISD campuses made its Top 10 list of large U.S. high schools where a high percentage of students pass an AP exam, and whose populations consist of more than 90 percent of a specific minority group.

“Ysleta’s high schools suggest that poor, minority students have the ability to master the rigors of AP if they are encouraged to take the courses and taught by well-qualified teachers,” the Monitor story states.

Specifically, Del Valle High School was recognized as the highest-performing school in the study.

Del Valle students, teachers, and counselors are featured in the story, as well as Superintendent Xavier De La Torre (quoted below.)

“The students here are aggressive and relentless about doing well in school,” says Ysleta Independent School District Superintendent Xavier De La Torre. “It’s all about helping kids understand that the trajectory that your life will take is directly tied to how hard you work now, and what you achieve now,” he explains.

Click here to read the story.

The Ysleta Independent School District (YISD) will introduce its “supper program” for the first time at Bel Air and Del Valle middle schools beginning January 28, primarily to provide free and nutritious meals to students who remain on campus for extracurricular activities after classes have been dismissed.

The program, which is funded through the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Child and Adult Care Food Program, is already in effect at six high schools, Eastwood Middle School, and the Young Women’s Leadership Academy.

It provides supper meals on school days – generally at about 4 p.m. – that are free of charge to children 18 years and younger, and available for purchase by adults.

Given the large numbers of older students who stay on campus after school for sports, theater, band, or other clubs, the supper program gives students access to a nutritional meal in the cafeteria before rehearsal or practice.

Beginning Monday, January 28, the supper program will be offered at the following 10 schools:

Bel Air High School
Del Valle High School
Hanks High School
Parkland High School
Riverside High School
Ysleta High School
Bel Air Middle School
Del Valle Middle School
Eastwood Middle School
Young Women’s Leadership Academy

Officials say this program is part of YISD’s overall efforts to “increase student access to healthy meals, which includes free breakfast for all students at every YISD campus throughout the year.”

The supper program was first piloted two years ago at Ysleta High School, and expanded to include four schools in September 2017, and eight schools in September 2018.

In an effort to provide assistance to federal workers who are impacted by the government shutdown, Ysleta ISD officials announced that they will prioritize applications for currently furloughed workers to serve as substitute teachers.

“These furloughed workers, some of whom are parents in our district, deserve to have an opportunity to provide for their families during the government shutdown,” said Superintendent Xavier De La Torre. “Our students will benefit from their professionalism, experience, and dedication to our country by having them serve as substitute teachers while negotiations between the President and Congressional leaders continue.”

In an , the Ysleta Independent School District has

Affected federal employees must complete and submit an online employment application at www.yisd.net. Candidates must meet the following criteria to serve as substitute teachers:

• A minimum of 60 credit hours from an accredited college and/or university;
• Command of the English language;
• Ability to instruct students and manage their behavior;
• Strong organizational, communication and interpersonal skills.

Employment with the Ysleta Independent School District is contingent on passing a criminal background check and availability to work as stated in their contract with their current employer.

If selected as a substitute teacher, furloughed workers will be given priority for placement at the schools on an as-needed basis. Substitute teachers earn $85 per day if they have 60 college credit hours, and $100 per day if they possess a bachelor’s, master’s, or doctoral degree.

For more information, contact the Ysleta Independent School District Human Resource Department at 915-434-0407.