2008 Woodie Awards
Travis to transform into academy
By Ryan Johnston
Issue date: 2/29/08 Section: News
Originally published: 2/28/08 at 5:15 PM CSTLast update: 2/29/08 at 7:54 AM CST
A string of students walk slowly out of the front doors of Travis Elementary grasping onto a thin white rope looking for their parents to take them home.
Standing with their teachers, many have questions about the fight their parents are waging to keep the students' school open.
The parents have passed out fliers, started a Web site and posted signs around the school that state "Travis is my friend," "close a school, kill a neighborhood," and "closing Travis is closing me."
However, Monday the San Antonio Independent School District decided to close six schools, including Travis, because of the declining enrollment in the district over the past decade,.
Trustees also chose to close Bowie Elementary School, Carroll, Pfeiffer and Mann academies and Cooper Middle School by the end of the school year.
On Tuesday, Gene Garcia, a former school board member of the district, passed out forms to teachers of the campus that stated Travis would come back as a college preparatory academy for pre-K through sixth grade students.
However, Carmen Vasquez-Gonzalez, executive director of communication for SAISD, said that at the moment, nothing is set for what will happen to the school, but the district would like the property to be a college prep facility.
She added she was unsure what level the facility would be, high school or middle school, but would hope to know by summer.
"The facility would provide more rigor for students for preparation in college," she said.
Two mothers of children attending Travis have different opinions on the switch of Travis into an academy, but teachers were silent; they were told to refer inquiries to the district's news and publicity office.
"It was such a miracle that the school didn't close," mother Necia Mendez said. "Everyday we were passing out fliers and we put our lives on hold."
Mendez is part of the community group that had a big impact on the school remaining a part of the community. In 20 days, she said, they started a Web site and rallied outside the school, giving reasons the school should stay open.
Standing with their teachers, many have questions about the fight their parents are waging to keep the students' school open.
The parents have passed out fliers, started a Web site and posted signs around the school that state "Travis is my friend," "close a school, kill a neighborhood," and "closing Travis is closing me."
However, Monday the San Antonio Independent School District decided to close six schools, including Travis, because of the declining enrollment in the district over the past decade,.
Trustees also chose to close Bowie Elementary School, Carroll, Pfeiffer and Mann academies and Cooper Middle School by the end of the school year.
On Tuesday, Gene Garcia, a former school board member of the district, passed out forms to teachers of the campus that stated Travis would come back as a college preparatory academy for pre-K through sixth grade students.
However, Carmen Vasquez-Gonzalez, executive director of communication for SAISD, said that at the moment, nothing is set for what will happen to the school, but the district would like the property to be a college prep facility.
She added she was unsure what level the facility would be, high school or middle school, but would hope to know by summer.
"The facility would provide more rigor for students for preparation in college," she said.
Two mothers of children attending Travis have different opinions on the switch of Travis into an academy, but teachers were silent; they were told to refer inquiries to the district's news and publicity office.
"It was such a miracle that the school didn't close," mother Necia Mendez said. "Everyday we were passing out fliers and we put our lives on hold."
Mendez is part of the community group that had a big impact on the school remaining a part of the community. In 20 days, she said, they started a Web site and rallied outside the school, giving reasons the school should stay open.
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Christy Woodward Kaupert
posted 2/29/08 @ 8:12 AM CST
Clearly, the demographic changes (population shift/decline) in many urban centers will force many school districts to reconsider boundary configurations---SAISD is not alone in this quandry. (Continued…)
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