Northside ISD leaders, teachers and staff ready for new year

John Craft started his first whole school year as Northside Independent School District superintendent with flair. He capped off a week back for teachers with a celebratory convocation Thursday while donning a pair of custom Northside Nike Air Force 1s, and rallied teachers with a “spirit stick” before students’ return to class Monday.

“We have to be prepared and … ready because our future and our state’s economy and livelihood is going to be very, very contingent upon us preparing the next generation of leaders,” he said.

Early last week, in less expensive shoes, Craft joined local and state elected officials and hundreds of teachers who visited the houses and apartments of students attending Sul Ross Middle School and all the elementary schools that feed into it.

“We felt like we really need to reach out to families, introduce ourselves and let them know we’re here to support anything we can do to help them because their education is so important,” Craft said.

The block-walking has been happening for more than a decade — now in its 13th year — and has become a key driver of family engagement and student success in the high-needs area, according to Irene Alvarez, the community school coordinator for Ross.

Over that time, Alvarez said families have become more aware of the outsized role the neighborhood school can play in their lives.

“We believe that the lights never turn off,” she said. “The taxpayers pay for this, [so] the light should be on after hours.”

While children go to learn and grow, parents also go to the school for information, help with their taxes and even health care and immunizations.

“I feel like we’re the center of the community,” Alvarez said.

Valerie Cepeda, one of many parents who were visited, opened her door on Aug. 21 morning smiling — but a bit surprised — to see officials like Texas State Sen. José Menéndez and City Councilwoman Marina Alderete Gavito alongside Sul Ross Principal Faustino Ortega and Craft, handing out backpacks and sharing information about the upcoming year.

“I thought it was really cool,” Cepeda said. “It really does help a lot.”

Klani Muniz, who will be attending Ross next year, received a brand-new backpack from the group.

“I’m excited to get back to school to see all my friends,” she said.

Ortega, who was an assistant principal when the block-walking tradition started, said instead of telling parents what the school can provide, more importantly, school officials are asking parents what they need.

“A lot of times, they don’t know that we do have something specific,” he said. “So when they come and meet with us, or meet with our community coordinator, she starts developing relationships, seeing what else they need.”

Beyond school supplies, the school could help connect families with resources to help with electricity or water, Ortega said.

Menéndez has been accompanying school officials on the block-walk for years. The tradition expanded from the middle school to the elementary schools that feed into it over time, something he said is critical.

“It’s important for me because I know for a fact that the children of immigrants don’t have a real chance at fulfilling their potential without an education,” he said. “Being out here in these parts of the city that sometimes people have to be because of their financial situation … they may not know how important it is for them to be [in school].”

Targeting families with younger children is essential, Menéndez added, to prevent students from having trouble later in their academic careers.

“In those early grades is where you lose a lot,” he said. “The early grades are so important to the foundation of an education, and we know that the dropout rate increases exponentially if you’re not reading on grade level by third grade.”

Those earlier grades are also the focus of outreach by the district, Craft said, due to lower enrollment numbers.

Some could be due to lower birth rates, cited by many districts as projected enrollment declines.

But despite those trends, the district is opening three new campuses, including a new elementary school to accommodate growth, with 102,000 students expected to return this week.

Teachers who participated in the block walk said it energizes them and the students before the first day of school.

Lena Ruiz, a second-grade teacher, said, “It gets us excited to go back to school and the kids to come back, you know, get back in the groove of things.”

Hillary Vincent, a first-grade teacher, explained that the door-to-door outreach is meant to connect with students and families and inform them about upcoming events, like the back-to-school bash and meet-the-teacher events.

The outreach also allows teachers to glimpse into students’ daily lives and identify ways the school can help.

“When we come out here, I think that kind of gives them a little bit more familiarity,” Montserrat Rodriguez, a fourth-grade teacher, said.

The teachers also spoke about the importance of being present every day for school, noting the rise in chronic absenteeism after the pandemic.

During Thursday’s convocation, Craft acknowledged the difficult time the teaching profession finds itself in and urged teachers to stay updated with the legislative moves that could impact them in an expected upcoming special legislative session. To cheers, he called out efforts to use public dollars for private education through vouchers or education savings accounts.

“We need appropriate funding, so that not only can we compensate our incredible staff, but we want to make sure that we continue to provide the services that our students so desperately need,” he said. “Which is why we will continue to remain in opposition to any form of public dollars being funneled toward a privatization of education.”

Isaac Windes is an award-winning reporter who has been covering education in Texas since 2019, starting at the Beaumont Enterprise and later at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. A graduate of the Walter Cronkite... More by Isaac Windes