(Geronimo) – It’s the first day of school for the Navarro ISD. Navarro students make up the last batch of kids to return to school in Guadalupe County for the 2021-2022 school year. Seguin ISD started Monday, Marion ISD on Tuesday and the Schertz-Cibolo-Universal City ISD last week.
Navarro ISD Superintendent Wendi Russell says she’s grateful to be able to welcome back all students to campus. She says although things are still challenging, the district is committed to making things not only successful but safe for all students.
“Our goal is to create an environment of learning that is safe for our students and that is going to look different as we move along, and we know that. Right now, masks are not required. We have masks at every campus, in the office. We have our temperature checks set up as students walk in. They can choose to do temperature checks. Our nurses are utilizing their forms that they used last year. We will be monitoring students and if they present any type of symptom that we think could be COVID-19 related, we will be contacting parents and sending that child home for monitoring status. We will continue to monitor and stay on top of this and stay in touch with our doctors that are in the area, the hospital and the county – we are on community calls at least one a week so we stay in touch with them and hear what’s going on but our goal is to create a learning environment and make sure that our kids are actively engaged and present everyday of school,” said Russell.
Taking ownership in helping keep kids safe will again be the teachers. Russell says teachers and other staff members have remained the frontline workers in ensuring that kids continue to get the education they deserve.
“Our teachers worked hard last year. We were the only profession that really put our staff in the mine field of COVID. Our students were coming in and it wasn’t a controlled subject. At the hospital, they were controlled. They would come in, have surgery. So, they were there, they knew who had contact with them. They would test them before they would come in – the whole nine yards. At school, students came in every day. They left. They went home. They would go out to eat. They would go to the shopping center. They would go wherever and would come back the next day. We didn’t know where they had been. So, we really put our teachers in the mine field and our teachers were resilient. Some were worn out and tired at the end of the year and we know that, and we tried to make sure that they all rested during the summer,” said Russell.
Russell says she’s even more optimistic this year in student success. She says despite all the obstacles of the COVID-19 pandemic, evidence last year showed that Navarro ISD teachers and students never stopped working.
“We’ve been able to dissect our data. STAAR scores really didn’t exist. We weren’t scored on them but we were able to look at them and despite everything, our scores were higher than the region center, Region 20 and they were also higher than the state in almost every category and so that made us all very proud but our staff has worked hard and we will continue to support them this year and make sure that if they have concerns, that we address them immediately,” said Russell.
Russell says another key component of ensuring a successful school year is making sure parents get involved.
“Last year, it was hard on parents. We didn’t invite parents into the school hardly at all and so I want parents to know that when they send their children to us, we know that they are sending their precious cargo to us, and we are going to work with their children. We are going to do our best to keep them safe. We are going to do our best to keep them well. We are going to give them engaging activities for their children to participate in, but we also want the parents to know that we are opening our doors this year. Now, if they are feeling ill or if their children are feeling ill, we don’t want them to come to school or come up to volunteer but we are looking for volunteers. We are looking for parent interaction. So, I encourage the parents to reach out to their child’s school and see how they can get involved because we’ve got all kinds of ways. We’ve been brainstorming that because we know parents want to be involved this year and so we are welcoming them and we’ll find a way to get everyone that wants to be involved — involved,” said Russell.
With the start of school in the Navarro ISD, all drivers and not just parents are encouraged to slow down and expect possible delays with traffic near the campus on State Highway 123. Guadalupe County Sheriff’s Officials are especially reminding drivers to be on the lookout for the school buses which will have multiple stops along highway. They say it is illegal to pass any school bus that is stopped and operating a visual signal. That includes either flashing red lights or stop sign.