As most of you already know, our Superintendent, Mr. Pedro Martinez, will leave us at the end of the month and return home to Chicago. So this week, our SAISD board will be interviewing for a new superintendent. So, parents, I encourage you to email any questions to our district board trustee Ms. Perry at (aperry2@saisd.net). We must let her know what we’re looking for in a new superintendent. We need to ensure that the next superintendent will help all of our teachers, students, staff, and communities with every aspect of the educational process.
Now this month, from September 15th to October 15th, is National Hispanic Heritage Month, and you can find more resources on the SAISD page, which can be found on this website https://www.saisd.net/page/HispanicHeritage ). Then this website will also share what your campuses will be doing to celebrate this month. If any of our teachers are looking for resources to help our kids celebrate, you can go to Hispanic Heritage Month /NEA- National Education Associate at (https://www.nea.org>student-engagmnet>tools-tips). This website has activities for grades K-12th, so I hope that some of our teachers can find something to help our children understand what it means to celebrate this month.
As this school year moves forward, I know that all of us are tired of dealing with all this pressure to help our children catch up academically. So this week, I would like to get some feedback from teachers and parents about what type of resources would help your child close their learning gaps. It’s also vital that we find a way to help our children with any social issues that might affect their grades. If TEA’s priority is to raise our child’s STAAR scores, we need them to understand that our children’s well-being takes precedence over state tests. This past legislation passed HB 1603, making the Individual Graduation Committee Meetings (IGC) a permanent law for our students. Now this applies to our high school’s children when they’re unable to pass their End of Corse Exams or EOC’s. Parents know that this doesn’t guarantee that all students will be able to graduate through this process. If the committee decides that your child will not graduate, you can’t appeal their decision. Although this has been made a permanent law, TEA has stipulated that if any districts graduate more than 10% of their students through this process, they will be investigated. Then TEA would like us to report on where these children go after high school, for instance, do they to college or into the workforce. Parents know that I have seen many students who do great on their STAAR tests throughout the years, but some are still not ready to go to college. The bottom line is that during this pandemic, our children have lost more than education. Our children are suffering every day from the loss of a family member to not knowing if their parents will find a job to pay the rent or put food on the table. Unfortunately, this pandemic has caused all of us so much pain, anxiety, and stress as it’s hard to make plans for our futures. Parents, I strongly encourage all of you to communicate with all your child’s teachers. So, don’t be afraid to ask questions and request a conference so that you can work with the teachers to ensure all of our children are successful this school year.
Lastly, if anyone needs help or has questions or concerns, please email me at lena.lopez@saobserver.com. Please stay safe and remember that we’re still living in a time where people are still getting sick, so wear a mask, wash your hands often, and practice social distancing.
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