Dear El Paso ISD:

We all enjoy many freedoms in the United States that are often taken for granted. We can vote for our leaders! We can gather with family and friends, as we will in a couple weeks when families come together for Thanksgiving! The examples of our hard-earned liberties go on and on. We owe a huge debt of gratitude to the brave and selfless men and women who have given so much for these freedoms, including numerous El Paso ISD alumni, past and present educators, and community members.

 The district will therefore pause to reflect on the noble service of millions of courageous men and women throughout the years. We will be closed Friday, Nov. 11, in observance of Veterans Day. This is a solemn opportunity for us to honor the incredible sacrifice of those who contributed to the preservation our freedom. November also is National Veterans and Military Families Month. We extend our sincere appreciation to the families of our approximately 5,000 military-connected students. El Paso ISD will continue its commitment to serving you.

Service is at the core of what we do. We exist to serve our students and empower them with the tools they need to reach their fullest potential. We took a big step toward that goal this week with our final Hopes and Dreams 2.0 listening session. With these sessions complete, we now turn our attention to finalizing our strategic blueprint and presenting it to the Board of Trustees. Stay tuned for news on this front in the coming weeks. Additionally, I want to extend my utmost appreciation to our teams in Warehouse Services, Instructional Technology, Fine Arts and others who were part of the massive effort it took to put this series of successful events together.   

Good luck to all our teams! Tennis, golf, swimming, wrestling and basketball teams throughout the District compete this week. On the field, seven of our high school football teams will play in the bi-district round of the state football playoffs. We bid good luck to all our teams and hope to see our football squads advance to the area playoffs next week.

El Paso ISD Fine Arts excelled in Middle School Region 22 of the Texas Music Educators Association Orchestra with 149 All-Region qualifiers. Congrats to our talented performers!

This week, we kick off our first El Paso ISD Board Leadership Academy. The academy is designed to provide participants with an understanding of the role of a Board Member and how they govern to advance the mission and vision of the school District. We look forward to working with this group and listening to the input they share with us.

Lastly, this year’s Read Across the District is scheduled for Nov. 18. At precisely 10 a.m. Friday morning, students throughout the District will drop everything they are doing, pick up a book and read for 30 minutes for pure fun. No tests or grades, just the love of reading. Civic leaders, business partners, celebrity readers and other volunteers will join us and share with our students their fondness for reading.

Please be safe during this extended weekend and let’s come back Monday ready to continue the positive momentum we have generated so far this year. We are El Paso’s District!

It starts with us.

Sincerely,

Diana Sayavedra
Superintendent of Schools

Nov. 10, 2022