For thousands of El Paso Independent School District students returning to classes, seeing welcoming staff and teachers ready to guide them to their new classrooms was the first step.
The cacophony of tears, laughter and surprise at seeing old friends rose from the pristine courtyard at Mesita Elementary School, located at 3307 N. Stanton St., on Monday, Aug. 3.
"We hope she makes friends and learns a great deal," said Pedro Valiviezo, whose eight-year-old daughter was entering third grade. "We want her to be a good student and a good member of the community. We prepared by having her supplies ready early and being prepared early so she doesn’t struggle."
For others like Meghann Head,
whose eight-year-old daughter will be entering third grade, it was a prepared international experience.
"This year, she will be participating in the dual language program, and we’re very excited about the possibility of her learning another language," Head said. "We took a mission trip to Paraguay so she could have total immersion into the Spanish language for 10 days, and we did all the back-to-school shopping and got her a special breakfast this morning."
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: El Paso ISD students head back to class with hugs, tears and hope
