District Holds Ribbon-cutting Ceremony for New La Promesa Campus

Chief Transformation Officer Adrian Bustillos, Assistant Superintendent Dr. Fabiola Cantú, Aldine HS Principal Walter Stewart, Board Trustee, Dr. Viola M. García, Board Trustee Steve Mead, Santiago Ramos, Ángela Santana, Board Trustee Paul Shanklin, Wensly León, Fabio de Alejandro, Superintendent Dr. LaTonya M. Goffney, Board Trustee Connie Esparza, and La Promesa Principal Ana Fernanda Flores-Bolívar take part in the ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Nearly two months after opening on August 16, the district held an official grand opening and ribbon-cutting ceremony for its newest school La Promesa on October 5.

Special guests present included Sergio Hernández with State Senator Carol Alvarado’s Office, State Representative Armando Walle, Amanda Rodríguez with State Representative Jarvis Johnson, Dr. Archie Blanson, President of Lone Star College-North Harris; Dr. Quentin Wright, President of Lone Star College-Houston North; Richard Cantú, President of the Aldine Education Foundation and Harris County Department of Education Trustee; Tanya Rivera, Director of Government Affairs, Office of Adrian García Harris County Precinct 2, Mariana Sánchez, Chief Operating Officer of Bonding Against Adversity, Alex Elizondo, Chief Executive Officer of Good Reason Houston; Delicia Jones, Chief Strategy and Transformation Officer; Myriam Saldivar Saldivar, President of Lone Star College System Board; Jose Rivera, Center Executive Director- Outreach Initiatives at YMCA of Greater Houston; José Rivera, David Herrera, News Reporter With Univisión, and business and community partners.

La Promesa has been a two-year journey, with Superintendent Dr. LaTonya M. Goffney first mentioning the newcomer school at the 2020 State of the District.

Univisión 45 featured La Promesa on October 5, 2021. Reporter David Herrera interviewed several Aldine ISD leaders, including Superintendent Dr. LaTonya M. Goffney. Click on the image to view the story in Spanish.

“I promised that we would create a school dedicated specifically to students who were new to our country. We wanted our newcomers to have a space to be accepted and get the support they need to thrive academically and socially. So much thought and care have gone into this school. Our communities continue to become more diverse as immigrant populations from multiple countries grow and bring with them a wide array of skills and cultures to our classrooms. Their stories of resilience and survival are amazing, and they inspire us all with their grit and perseverance. This school, this environment, will further support them as they journey towards success,” said Goffney.

Aldine ISD Board Trustee Paul Shanklin shared how his grandmother was Venezuelan, but she could not speak Spanish like many other Spanish speakers in school. As a result, a part of his family’s culture was lost. La Promesa encourages students not to lose their identity. Shanklin stated that La Promesa is among the numerous projects Aldine ISD has been working on to increase students’ access to high-quality schools.

“La Promesa is one more example of the direction we are moving forward with. When we talk about equity, it is more than money. It is about ensuring every student can thrive and giving them the resources, tools, teachers, and environment that works best for them.

This is a great moment for the district. I am excited for our students to have the opportunities that La Promesa provides. The school has the highest standards and emphasizes collaboration, creativity, and small-group learning. Again it is just so powerful what it can do for our students. I invite you to partner with the school in creating or expanding partnerships to create more experiences that benefit our students.”

Chief Transformation Officer Adrian Bustillos shared that he creates new choices and opportunities for Aldine ISD students in his role with the district’s leadership team. He develops partnerships and pulls groups together, bringing resources to make these new choices and opportunities a reality for our students and our families.

La Promesa is a stand-alone school housed within Aldine High School. Students will graduate from La Promesa. Working with Aldine HS, La Promesa students have the opportunity to expand their horizons through the activities they share as a school within a school. La Promesa focuses exclusively on students new to this country, specifically students who have lived three or fewer years in the U.S. and are from non-English speaking countries or have limited English proficiency. The curriculum addresses their unique social, individual, and academic needs. The school is like any other campus, including having fully-equipped science labs and classrooms.

The district partnered with Internationals Network and many others in creating a program specific to newcomers. Every course will have English learning instruction embedded in its lessons. The intent is to have students working to improve their literacy skills all day, every day. In addition to English as second language services, Aldine ISD also addresses students’ special social-emotional needs, such as leaving family behind in their family in their country of origin.

“We opened this school year with 150 ninth graders. That was a number we thought we would not reach until December 2021. That is something to celebrate, knowing that there is a need for La Promesa. We will add a grade level each year to eventually be a ninth- through 12th-grade campus. At La Promesa, we have five pillars. Students will: graduate with a growth mindset, graduate college- and career-ready graduate with a Seal of Biliteracy, graduate technologically literate, graduate with a high school diploma, college hours, and certification in in-demand career tracks. Parents can also benefit. We will offer opportunities for them to take ESL classes and GED classes, hoping that they serve as examples for their children and give the entire family an opportunity to thrive.”

Click on the image to view a video about La Promesa. Astor López (right) and Yorkelis Fernández (left) are two of several students featured in the video.

La Promesa has students from 12 countries, including Argentina, Honduras, Mexico, and Venezuela. The school also has staff from various Latino and Vietnamese backgrounds. Vietnamese is Aldine ISD’s second-largest newcomer student group. During the ceremony, guests saw aISD’so featuring a few of the students — Yorkelis Fernández, Santiago González, Astor López — and staff at La Promesa. They also heard from Ángela Santana, Santiago Ramos (speaks Indigenous tongues spoken in Honduras), Wensly León, and Fabio de Alejandro, who shared what the school and its teachers mean to them and what they aspired to accomplish. The ninth-graders then shared their stories in English. All of the students’ stories brought some in the crowd to tears and laughter at their joy of looking toward the future.

Principal Ana Fernanda Flores-Bolívar can relate to the students at La Promesa. As the daughter of a former Mexican Ambassador, she spent my childhood and adolescence traveling and living in several countries, including the United States. Because of her father’s work, she had an interesting childhood. By the time she was 19, Flores-Bolívar had attended seven different schools in six different countries.

State Representative Armando Walle (center, forefront) listens attentively during the ceremony.

Flores-Bolívar stayed that her native Mexico taught me the power of family, culture, and identity, and she has always rooted myself in those values. In Peru, she experienced the struggles of a country plagued by terrorism and poverty, but I also found the friendships that I hold most dear to this day. By the time she got to high school in Nicaragua, the country was desperately trying to recover from decades of political unrest. It was governed by a strong woman, Doña Violeta de Chamorro, who fought for democracy. They welcomed Flores-Bolívar and taught her the impact of giving back and understanding my social responsibility.

When her family moved to Lebanon, Flores-Bolívar found herself in a country destroyed by civil war, in which their citizens were recovering the greatness of their history. Flores-Bolívar started that she is forever grateful to have been there, at that time, to learn the value of resiliency and multiculturalism.

These experiences taught Flores-Bolívar that even amongst the change and pain, there is beauty. And that even when life as you know it disappears around you, you can raise yourself back up and find joy again.

“I understand what the students are going through. Being in a different country can be scary and intimidating, learning a new language, culture, and school system. Some of our students have left their home countries out of necessity. Some are here without their families. Some have stories so powerful that they bring you to tears. They all come here with the goal. A dream. A promise of something better — a better life for their future and their families. At La Promesa, it is important that every student feels like family, accepted, and supported. We know that it takes a village to raise our children. We are working closely with our families and community partners to give our students opportunities to thrive.”

Flores-Bolívar’s goal is to empower our students to live with pride in their native language and heritage, alongside learning and adapting to a new culture and language. She promises that everyone at La Promesa will build a solid foundation that prepares students for their future. She thanked the local community’s support for public education in our local public schools. Without your support, La Promesa, which offers newcomers a one-of-kind experience, would not have become a reality.

As Principal Flores-Bolívar stands with pride, Ángela Santana, Santiago Ramos, Wensly León, and Fabio de Alejandro (l-r) shared what La Promesa means to them.

The overjoyed principal described how she sees that joy in students’ eyes as they walk our hallways with confidence. Flores-Bolívar shared that students know every staff member at La Promesa has their back and is rooting for them. I can speak for the whole team when I say this is not a job; this is a calling. Every teacher here has their story, their own experience, and their reason for being at La Promesa.

The principal emphasized that all the decisions and opportunities at La Promesa for students to benefit from were not by chance. Nothing about this school was left to chance from its conception and vision. This included thought-provoking conversations with former newcomer students and their families to the research and learning to develop the best instructional experience for students in the community.

Flores-Bolívar thanked Superintendent Dr. Goffney, the district’s Leadership Team, and School Board Trustees for making the dream, this promise, a reality. When the border situation made Houston the city receiving the highest number of unaccompanied minors in the country, district leaders had to do something and be ready. The journey to La Promesa’s fruition included an Aldine coalition of multiple departments that saw the need in the district to do something different for newcomer students and families.

Board Trustee Paul Shanklin and Superintendent Dr. LaTonya M. Goffney pose with Ángela Santana, Wensly León, and Fabio de Alejandro (l-r).

The need was not new and not exclusive to Aldine either. Thank this coalition that allowed these children to have a safe place here in Aldine. The groundwork earned the district the Texas Education Agency’s trust, as an awardee of both planning and implementation School Action Fund grants and a national philanthropic organization New Schools Venture Fund, with an implementation grant. In total, La Promesa will receive a total of $2 million for the next three years.

The principal described La Promesa as a one-of-a-kind school in Texas. A love of students guides their decisions and belief that a second language should never be a barrier to success. Just like language acquisition should not be a condition for rigor. We love our students, and the best gift we can give them is to push them, support them and empower them to reach their full potential. They are smart, resilient, thoughtful, and curious. And they came to us that way, that is not on us. But here they are, finding a new community and a new family that sees them for who they are and will work tirelessly to ensure they get to live their American Dream.

Flores-Bolívar added that La Promesa is creating a family and a bridge for students as they integrate into a new American society and guide them as they grow to become leaders in their new communities. She and her staff see teaching as an honor and privilege in knowing that they are shaping future generations both academically, socially, and individually. Flores-Bolívar has no doubt know that community members are going to hear many success stories from La Promesa.

“The story of the United States of America is, in many ways, a story of immigrants. We all know or have read of so many individuals or families from different backgrounds who, one way or another, ended up here, in this country of opportunity, of dreams. Like the musical, Hamilton says, ‘Immigrants, we get the job done.’ With Houston being the most diverse city in America, we know the power of diversity very well. At La Promesa, we have 12 countries proudly represented. That is something to celebrate. Diversity is our superpower. Because despite the differences, we are united by our collective experiences and our desire to honor those who gave us the opportunity to be in this country today. But there is more to do. We know there is more diversity in our Aldine community, not just Hispanic. The vision of La Promesa is to be a learning environment that celebrates multiculturalism.”

For Flores-Bolívar, multiculturalism is the future. Not just here, in the world. The principal and district leaders see La Promesa as an opportunity to be the blueprint for the future. The principal believes that Aldine ISD and La Promesa are creating something special. Everyone is aware that “history has its eyes on us, and we are not going to disappoint.”