Ortiz Elementary...An Introduction

Welcome to Ortiz Elementary!  We are beginning this blog to chronicle our journey to become a Lighthouse School as part of Sean Covey's Leader in Me program.  Let me tell you just a little about our school.  Ortiz Elementary opened its doors in August, 1992 and currently has a student population of 641, 63 faculty and staff members and an occasional rattlesnake or two.

This little guy was trying to get into the computer lab, but his rattles got stuck on the other side of the door.  That was one computer lab session the kids won't ever forget.  And neither will their teacher!

We are a Title One School and 92% of our students participate in the free and reduced lunch program.  We have a thriving bilingual program and many of our children are African refugees, so our days are never boring. Ever.  We have even been on the news once or twice!

One of the best things about our campus is our faculty. Let me just say that we have the greatest teaching staff in the whole state of Texas.  Really.  We come early and stay late and always have each other's backs.  We work hard to perfect our craft and stay current on the latest research and practices.

Our kinder teachers sold t-shirts and pickles after school to earn money to go to a national kindergarten convention.  They were so excited when they finally had the money to go.  I'm sure that the fact that the convention was held in Las Vegas had nothing to do with their excitement. We share ideas, laugh a lot and cry together, but best of all, we are NICE!

During the summer we meet for lunch, work out together, go to movies together, play bunco and sometimes we pull out our old lady swim suits and spend the afternoon at the pool.

Some of us even take summer vacations together! Heather, Wanda and Charlotte toured Boston and had a great time!


Our turnover is low, because once you are a part of the Ortiz Family, you just don't want to leave.

We have an office staff that is hard to beat!

Suzanne Fulkerson is our principal and she is a blonde ball of fire and enthusiasm!  She is Ortiz's most vocal cheerleader, but even Suzanne was looking a little ragged by the end of May last school year.  Kriste O'Dell Farias is our Curriculum Coordinator and that woman knows her stuff!  It should also be mentioned that she is our resident snake wrangler.  Well, maybe not THE snake wrangler, but she knows where to find one...fast.  Our Powerhouse Trio is rounded out with Kami Winter who serves as our counselor, who always manages to remain calm and cool in every situation (No really, I've never seen her ruffled... ever).  Tamera Holland is our office secretary and she keeps the wheels from falling off our school each and every day with a smile and we love her for it!

As wonderful as Ortiz is, it's not all bunnies and rainbows... our standardized test scores really stink.  As in "Last School in the District" stink.  While teachers generally are not fans of high stakes standardized testing, it still feels really bad to have the lowest scores in the whole district.  And I don't think I'm betraying an confidences in telling you that our faculty and staff is just a bit demoralized.  And frustrated.  Albert Einstein said that insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.  Smart guy.  What we are doing is no longer working, so its time to do something different.  Something radical.  Enter the Leader in Me. (Drum roll, please.  Cue Rocky Theme music montage.)

Ortiz Elementary is embarking on a journey to change the paradigm from a teacher centered school to a child centered school.  Our goal is to teach our little guys and girls to be leaders.  Leaders in our school, leaders in the community and leaders in their homes.  Leaders who are responsible, confident and imaginative.  Its going to take a lot of hard work and patience, but we are excited to try.  Part of this process includes revamping our teaching practices, increasing our rigor and holding our students to a higher standard.    We are excited to begin this journey, but a bit overwhelmed too. Okay, very, very overwhelmed but we are ready, and honestly we have nothing to lose.  Perhaps the only good thing about being on the bottom is there is no where to go, but up!

Our community partners are the good folks at Arrow Ford, Community Foundation of Abilene, WalMart, Templeton Equipment, The Medical Alliance, Pleasant Hill Country Church, Hardin Simmons University, and Abilene Christian University. They are our super heroes... but without the capes.  In order to accomplish the monumental task of revamping our schools, we need support from not only the faculty, staff and parents, but from the community as well.  We just can't do this alone. Our community also has a vested interest in our schools producing children with good leadership qualities because someday these kids will be the leaders of our community.  No one wants a whiny mayor who can't read very well.

Well, that's all for now. We have a work day Saturday and I hope to have some spiffy before and after pictures inside the building and out.