Sixth grade students at Wilson & Young Medal of Honor Middle School had their first day of school Tuesday and they had the building to themselves.
Ector County ISD Superintendent Scott Muri said it was like that at all the middle schools because the school year is being phased in.
Tuesday was for prekindergarten through sixth grade and ninth grade and Thursday will be for seventh, eighth, 10th, 11th and 12th grade, Muri said previously.
Instituted because of the pandemic, the district found last year that the phase-in process worked well.
“… The sixth graders will spend two days on their own working with teachers getting to know each other and really building healthier relationships. We’re doing this at all middle schools. Our high schools have freshmen only; all five high schools, just working with their freshmen, again, to build relationships, and we’re excited about that,” Muri said Tuesday.
“On Thursday, we have the second first day of school. We will welcome seventh graders, eighth graders and then 10th, 11th and 12th graders,” he added.
The media was invited to Wilson & Young, but not other campuses.
Muri started his day Tuesday at Carver Early Education Center, Burnet Elementary School, Odessa High School and Wilson & Young.
Muri said he spent some time at Odessa High School meeting with freshmen, talking with the teachers and listening to the principal welcome students to the school and get to know them.
“So we’ve had a very healthy and a very busy day in ECISD,” Muri said.
As of Tuesday, ECISD has 77 teacher vacancies, which is much better than where the district was a month ago, or even a week ago.
“(I’m) really pleased with the work of our human resource department in recruiting and attracting people to our area; pleased with the work of our principals and administrators in hiring those individuals, but glad that the majority of our classrooms are filled today. In fact, we’ve set some records this year from the hiring perspective. Over 15 of our elementary schools are fully staffed and that hasn’t been the case in nine years at ECISD …,” Muri said.
The district has 31 elementary campuses including the early education centers and the YMCA.
He added that they know that the transition from fifth to sixth grade and eighth to ninth grade is difficult.
“… They’re in a new school, different expectations, getting to know new people, new places, and it can be a little nerve racking. We wanted to give our sixth graders and ninth graders that opportunity to be a bit more comfortable, so that once academics start for them they’re successful and we’re seeing that today; a lot of (healthy) relationships are being built all across these campuses,” Muri said.
When students are in elementary school, they typically spend the day with one teacher and student options are defined by the school. In middle school, you have choices.
“The kids got to see that today. The gymnasiums are filled with opportunities for children. I can choose clubs in which to participate; I can choose different athletic events in which to participate; I can choose courses. In fact, I was talking to one little girl and the Spanish teacher. Here at Wilson & Young Middle School, they offer high school level Spanish to their students. … The little girl realized, I’m in middle school, but actually, I can actually earn high school credit by taking courses at Wilson & Young Middle School. All of those opportunities were explained. They were shared with the middle school students today …,” Muri said.
As a superintendent, Muri said it makes him feel proud that ECISD provides a “plethora of options for our children.”
“We educate the whole child. When you walk into the gymnasiums here at Wilson & Young when you see the options for kids, you understand that we educate the whole child. The musical child has an opportunity at Wilson & Young. The athletic students; certainly the mathematician and the scientists, but also those that are interested in literature. All of those opportunities are available in our middle schools,” Muri said.
After being online for a good chunk of last year, being able to see students in person was one of the things Muri said teachers were most glad about Tuesday.
“… The last year and a half has been difficult for our teachers. They missed having their kids with them, in front of them, around them. And they know that for the last year and a half life has been difficult for students and so … the joy on our teachers’ faces today as they welcomed kids … sometimes for the very first time in a year and a half, it was pretty interesting to see,” Muri added.
Teacher preparation programs don’t prepare teachers to instruct virtually.
Muri said the switch from in person to online in March 2020 was dramatic, and in some cases traumatic.
“… For many of our kids, it was traumatic as well. They need the connections. They need the collaborations with their peers that you’re seeing today. They need those connections they make with teachers in a face to face environment. Kids have missed that, and today they got to rekindle some of those relationships so this is the right thing to do for kids,” he said.
By Thursday, Muri said ECISD expects to tip the 30,000 student mark. Masks are not required, but strongly encouraged, hand sanitizer is available and many of the same precautions implemented last year are still in place.
Wilson & Young Principal Anthony Garcia said he projects 1,250 students at his campus.
Along with Noel and LBJ Elementary, Wilson & Young is taking part in a School Action Fund Grant through the Texas Education Agency.
According to information from the district, Wilson & Young, Noel and LBJ were not rated in 2019-2020 due to the pandemic, but based on campus data, Wilson & Young would be presumed an F based on campus data. Noel would be presumed an F and LBJ, a D.
The grant will provide customized planning and support to improve teaching and learning experiences for students at campuses that expressed interest in change, a previous Odessa American article said.
Muri said prekindergarten was offered at Burnet Elementary, but it was shut down.
“We did some shuffling to put pre-k classrooms in places that have the greatest need. Some of our schools did not have a significant pre-k demand and other schools had a pretty significant demand. Our pre-k centers, Carver and Lamar, they’re reaching their capacity. The YMCA, we’re seeing a lot of 3-year-olds at the YMCA. That’s why we partnered with the Y to bring in more kids. But yes, we want every single 3 and 4 year old in our community to be a part of our pre-k program,” Muri said.
Watching health data will determine whether the protocols change.
“We’re really watching what’s happening in our own organization,” Muri said. “That’s going to be pretty critical. We’ll be monitoring our health data at the end of every day to see what’s happening; listening to our medical community. While a doctor, I’m a doctor of education and not a medical doctor, so I rely on our local medical community, our physicians at both hospitals, our health department. We rely on the Texas Education Agency and the state health agency, and then also the CDC; all of those entities. We listened to their guidance and then use that to inform any changes or adjustments that our medical community makes because they have new information, we want to be responsive to those changes. And in addition, again, monitoring our own local data to see what’s happening in our schools every day. We have to be agile. If we see something that we need to do better, something that we need to do differently, then we need to have the agility to adjust on a dime. What’s in place today, we feel confident with but if we need to make an adjustment for tomorrow then we’ll certainly do that,” Muri said.
He added that the majority of what they have heard from parents is that they are grateful that the safety of their children is a top priority.
“I feel really good today because like our teachers, I am a teacher, and just seeing kids busy in the hallways, seeing kids engaged, now watching a full classroom of students and the teacher has that sense of relief. Finally I have kids with me and so that makes me feel really good as a superintendent, and then knowing that our community has high expectations for the way that we educate our children and being able to meet and exceed the expectations of our community; watching the work of our principals and teachers in action, gives me great confidence with what we’re creating for kids in ECISD,” he added.
Garcia said he thought the day had gone well so far.
“I think kids are excited. I think teachers are excited. I think parents are a little nervous,” but when parents and students arrive they are assured that the school will be taking care of their students, Garcia said.
He added that he might have been a bit more nervous than the students.
“Sometimes they don’t know what’s happening behind the scenes; the little small things that we need (to do) that go awry. So I know I was more nervous than kids are, but from the reaction of our students I can see they’re excited; teachers are excited, and I still am a little nervous because I want today to be successful once a day,” Garcia added.
He said he thinks the teachers and students enjoyed having the campus to themselves.
“… They’re working together as a team because we do have the upper-class seventh and eighth grade teachers working with our sixth grade students, so it’s an all-hands-on-deck. It’s a lot of good energy; a lot of good teamwork; a lot of good collaborating. I think that they’re doing well and I think they enjoy it a lot,” Garcia said.
Devon Vasquez is a first-year eighth grade science teacher.
“… It’s really exciting and everybody’s been really great to me and I’m really excited to be here, focusing on not just the classroom but our culture and our community, too,” Vasquez said.
She added that it was good to have fewer people on campus Tuesday to work out some of the kinks and learn her way around campus.
“I love science. I knew I wanted to teach science, for sure, and I was really attracted to Wilson & Young because of Mr. Garcia. He’s the principal here and just his policies, like I said, with community and culture and working with the classroom and everything,” Vasquez said.
Nancy Garcia is the nurse for Wilson & Young. This is her second year at the middle school and she has been with ECISD for 20 years.
Garcia said she would expect to see more students this year than last because there will be more youngsters on campus.
There are rapid COVID tests available.
She recommends good handwashing and that parents continue to monitor symptoms.
If you don’t have soap and water for hand washing, use hand sanitizer.
“I highly recommend wearing a mask. It’s a CDC recommendation. And then of course if you are feeling sick, you test positive for COVID to stay home until you meet criteria to return. If you are having to quarantine, we highly recommend that you stay home in quarantine for CDC guidelines,” Garcia said.
A successful school year would feature continuing to have a healthy staff and student body in class.
