Crowds of students converged on campuses in Ector County ISD Wednesday for the first day of the new school year.
Superintendent Scott Muri visited Bonham Middle School, Odessa High School, the YMCA prekindergarten program and Buddy West Elementary School.
As of midday Wednesday, Muri said it had been a good first day of school so far.
“… I think the biggest thing we’ve seen today is larger numbers. We heard that here (at West). I was at Bonham Middle School and they have sixth-grade only,” and Muri said the principal told him there were 40 more students than they were projected to have just in that grade.
“That’s what we’re seeing today is just larger numbers. That’s not every school. We could have some with smaller numbers, but (that’s) just an unofficial observation,” Muri said.
He added that ECISD projected 33,500 students for the year.
“We could be there right now; maybe a little above it. We’ve seen some larger numbers already, but we wait several weeks before we get final numbers. … Over the next, believe it or not, month, people will trickle into school. Our numbers every day will continue to grow. And of course Monday, being the next first day of school, we’ll see another group of kids coming in,” Muri said.
Schools on Wednesday welcomed prekindergarten through sixth grade and ninth graders. On Aug. 14, seventh and eighth-graders and sophomores through seniors return.
“Today is about relationship building, routine and expectation establishment. We know in education that one of the primary factors that affects a student’s learning is the relationship they have with their teachers. At the elementary level, middle school and high school today, a lot of emphasis is on building those relationships between teachers and students, and then establishing routines; what are the expectations that we have in school? Everything from walking in a line to being in a classroom environment. What does learning look like? How do we behave in order to make sure that we learn …,” Muri said.
This will be West Principal Nora Gonzalez’ third year as a campus chief and her third at Buddy West. She will be starting her 16th year with ECISD. She was a teacher and assistant principal previously.
Gonzalez was expecting 714 students, but as of Wednesday there were 741 present in class. The campus has kindergarten through fifth grade students.
“We enrolled 20 new students who will start tomorrow, so that brings me up to 761,” Gonzalez said.
Asked how she was feeling about the first day, she said, “We survived.”
“I know it’s not over. It’s 12 o’clock. But if we survived arrival, it’s going to be a good day. I’m feeling excited. I was anxious to start the new school year and just get the year going,” Gonzalez said.
For her, preparation takes all summer. She had summer school at Buddy West and attended many professional development opportunities.
She’s looking forward to a positive, successful year and said she has no teacher vacancies.
Lesslie Ronquillo is a first-year teacher. She went through the OC2UTPB Teaching in 3 program where students attend Odessa College for a year and a half and University of Texas Permian Basin for a year and a half. After successful completion, students earn an associate of arts in teaching degree from OC, followed by a bachelor of arts in multidisciplinary studies, (early childhood through sixth grade) from UTPB.
She graduated in May and said she would recommend the program to anyone who knows they want to pursue education.
Ronquillo also was a UTPB teacher resident at Goliad Elementary School in fifth-grade math. That is the subject she’s now teaching at West.
“So far, I have enjoyed being able to teach the students and see their … growth,” said Ronquillo, who is from Fort Stockton.
With one of her classes, she talked about classroom expectations and procedures. Ronquillo told the students her favorite color is red, her favorite foods, desserts and places to shop. She added that she loves spending time with her family.
Santiago Grijalva, a 10-year-old fifth-grader at West Elementary, was happy to be back at the school he has attended since kindergarten. His favorite subjects are math or science.
“It’s been fun. It’s been it’s been really fun switching and learning everything — science, math, reading. This school is awesome. I can’t imagine what I would do if I didn’t go to this school,” Grijalva said.
Muri reminded families and community members that school has started, so there are buses on the road and there will be more traffic. There will be a lot of children walking around neighborhoods in the morning and afternoons and around school zones.
“Just reminding all of us that drive to be extra vigilant as we travel through a school zone and as we’re driving around neighborhoods. Just be on the lookout for kids that are learning new ways of walking around streets and areas. Just being mindful that safety is important right now,” Muri said.
