DISTINGUISHED SCHOOL AWARDS — Pictured front row, from left are Carmen Gonzalez, Bishop Elementary Principal; Christina Gutierrez, Bishop CISD Superintendent; Rick Gutierrez, Petronila Elementary Principal; back row, Dr. Eden Hernandez, Assistant Superintendent of Instruction, and John Harris, counselor at both campuses. Bishop Elementary and Petronila Elementary School, two of Bishop Consolidated Independent School District’s campuses, were selected by the Texas Education Agency (TEA), as Title I, No Child Left Behind Act, as distinguished schools.

These awards are granted to schools that have shown high achievement historically on their TAKS scores.

“I am extremely proud of our students, parents and school personnel. These honors are reflective of our school community and the leadership on the campuses,” Christina Gutierrez, Bishop CISD superintendent, said.

“Definitely empowering the staff to take ownership of the campus and trusting the teachers’ decisions on how to better meet the needs of our students has made this award possible,” Carmen Gonzalez, Bishop Elementary Principal, said.

“The teachers are in the classroom on a daily basis working with the students and best know their learning styles. I appreciate everyone working together and thank each one for their hard work,” she said.

“Hard work and dedication on the part of the students, staff, and parents has truly paid off. I am so proud of everyone’s efforts in helping us achieve this great accomplishment,” Rick Gutierrez, Petronila Elementary Principal, said.

John Harris, the counselor for both schools, was given the honor of receiving the TEA awards on behalf of the two campuses, and attributed the students’ success to the collective efforts of the central administration, the campus administration, the teachers, the students and the community.

“In the letter, advising us of the award, the letter asked for each recipient upon receiving their award to share what made the most difference on their campus,” he said.

“Mrs. Gonzalez, and I looked at each other, and immediately said, ‘It’s the teachers.’ Bishop CISD would have been ringing the bell even if only one campus had been selected,” Harris said.

Dr. Eden Hernandez, Assistant Superintendent of Instruction, also praised the teachers.

“The Bishop CISD teachers really care about the kids, and they’ll do whatever it takes to facilitate student achievement,” he said.

“Their ownership of student achievement starts with them writing the curriculum and goes through planning and implementation year after year. The kids, parents and teachers in Bishop and Petronila really work hard and it shows through awards like this,” Hernandez said.

Out of 240 campuses, in the 42 districts and 7 charter schools that are part of the Region 2 Education Service Center, only 18 campuses were selected, by TEA, as Title I, Pt. A, Distinguished Performance Schools.

Bishop was the only 1, 2 or 3A school district in Region 2 that had two or more campuses selected. Other districts with 2 or more campuses selected included Calallen ISD (2), Gregory Portland (3), while CCISD had (5). There were 6, Region 2, districts which each had one campus selected.