Dear El Paso ISD:

Hello, December! We have begun the holiday season and our El Paso ISD Fine Arts programs have been busy preparing for concerts and performances for our community to enjoy throughout the month. Check out El Paso ISD Fine Arts’ social media pages for updates on events at your student’s campus.  

Our Fine Arts students have benefited this year from the district’s Accelerated Learning Project, which has allowed us to hire nearly 150 high-impact fine arts tutors that offer extra expert instruction from professional musicians, dancers, performers, and advanced college students. Learn more about the program here.

In Athletics, 26 El Paso ISD high school football players have been selected to participate in the Greater El Paso Football Showcase All-Star Game on Dec. 17. It’s a great opportunity for our student-athletes who have worked hard on the field and in the classroom throughout the season. Before taking the field, these players will join their counterparts from other districts this weekend to provide mentorship to more than 100 middle-school students who will be in high school next year. It’s a wonderful way for our older students to provide guidance to the younger generation as they take the next step in their academic journey.

During our Teacher Advisory Council meeting this month, we shared how district leadership has begun implementing solutions that address teacher morale survey feedback on the topics of compensation, class sizes, and resources/technology. District leadership is diligently working to compensate employees competitively. We also shared how we are consistently evaluating class sizes and addressing class loads that exceed established thresholds. Adjustments to class sizes will be made in the spring semester with minimal disruption to student schedules. The district is also implementing solutions to ensure all students have access to their own technology device. In addition to practices already implemented, we also discussed how campus leadership is co-designing steps with campus teachers to ensure sufficient time for teachers to plan, develop lessons and review student work. Campus leaders also are prioritizing a plan for the issuance of regular, timely communication for staff and campus website updates to keep the campus community informed. Lastly, campus leaders are engaging in ongoing conversations that will help schools find efficiencies and reduce time spent on paperwork, thus eliminating redundancies.

Creating pathways to success is what we do at El Paso ISD. We were reminded of that throughout this week. I joined state Rep. Lina Ortega – who serves on a state higher education committee – in a legislative listening tour at El Paso Community College’s Rio Grande Campus. We heard about the efforts that EPCC, the University of Texas at El Paso, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso, and local hospitals are taking to address the health care needs of our region. El Paso ISD is proud to be part of that effort. Our Franklin and Silva Magnet nursing programs provide a trajectory-widening opportunity for our students to enter a field that is in high demand and offers high wages. The district also offers training for certifications and students can take college-level courses during high school that can help them save money on college tuition.

Thank you to all our teachers and staff who have helped us enjoy a safe return to our campuses this week. Let’s prepare for a strong two weeks of work before our holiday break.

It starts with us.

Sincerely,

Diana Sayavedra
Superintendent of Schools

Dec. 2, 2022