Texas Border Business
Edinburg, Texas – Magee Elementary School from the Edinburg Consolidated Independent School District is being nationally recognized for exceptional student achievement in 2018, which makes the campus one of up to 100 schools throughout the country earning this prestigious award.
The National Association of ESEA State Program Administrators (NAESPA) recently announced that Magee Elementary School has been named a National ESEA Distinguished School by the Texas Education Agency (TEA).
“This award means so much to all our staff and to me as their principal. It is a symbol of the hard work we all put in as a team daily to ensure that our students are all successful,” Magee Elementary School Principal Marla Cavazos said. “To represent the State of Texas for student achievement among ESEA (Title I) schools is indeed an honor and a privilege. I want to thank TEA for recognizing our hard work. We are indeed humbled and proud to achieve such an honor.”
According to NAESPA (formerly the National Title I Association), the National ESEA Distinguished Schools Program publicly recognizes qualifying federally funded schools for the outstanding academic achievements of their students. It highlights the efforts of schools across the country making significant improvements for their students. The program has been in place since 1996, showcasing the success of hundreds of schools in one of three categories:
- Category 1: Exceptional student performance for two consecutive years
- Category 2: Closing the achievement gap between student groups
- Category 3: Excellence in serving special populations of students
“We have the mentality that if we work hard as a team, we can push all those obstacles out of the way to ensure each child makes progress,” Cavazos said. “Instead of thinking of the labels that are many times placed upon groups, such as “at-risk,” we think of the great possibilities each can achieve.”
The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) provides additional resources for vulnerable students and federal grants to state educational agencies to improve the quality of public elementary and secondary education.
The Association is a membership organization made up of State ESEA Program Administrators, and their staff from each of the states and territories, charged with managing their state federal education program. They ensure compliance with federal regulations, but more importantly work to see that all children — especially those living in economically disadvantaged conditions — have the opportunity to receive a high quality education.
NAESPA implements the National ESEA Distinguished Schools Program to highlight selected schools that have successfully used their ESEA federal funds to improve the education for all students, including economically disadvantaged students. More information about all National ESEA Distinguished Schools is available on the ESEA Network website: www.ESEAnetwork.org.
