McALLEN— Quinta Mazatlan is pitching the McAllen ISD School Board on contributing $4 million to a park expansion that the urban sanctuary says will give students here access to unique learning experiences, and to bring a one-of-a-kind ecological project to the community.
Representatives for the project told the board at its Aug. 9 meeting that the $4 million stake would fund the MISD Discovery Center, a 5-acre outdoor park with teaching pavilions and outdoor classrooms.
Administration is recommending the board approve a memorandum of understanding moving that project forward during its Monday meeting.
The district would use federal Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Funds to pay for its contribution.
That park is part of a 14-acre expansion project for the Center for Urban Ecology at the sanctuary, with an overall price tag of about $35 million, they said.
If the board signs off on the project they’d join existing partners that include the city of McAllen, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley.
Pre-design for the expansion began in 2018. It’s now at the construction and bidding phase, with a plan to open by 2023.
“I sincerely believe we have a historic educational opportunity to create the best center for urban ecology in the nation, involving and inspiring MISD students at a young age,” Quinta Mazatlan board member Dr. John Gerling said.
Although the board was generally receptive toward the idea, they did press Quinta Mazatlan representatives on what exactly their $4 million would be buying.
The sanctuary and its facilities will still be open to students from neighboring districts, who are not partners in the project.
“I think that’s why I’m a little bit passionate about why I’m asking these questions, because I want an answer to convince every taxpayer that their money that we’re gonna invest in this project is for the kids that attend McAllen ISD,” MISD board member Marco Suarez said.
Colleen Hook, executive director for the sanctuary, said the investment will buy McAllen ISD discounted booking and the ability to book visits first, which she said could result in the district’s students occupying the majority of the available time slots.
Showing a rendering of a rather grand looking sign bearing the McAllen ISD logo that could be erected at the site, Hook said the district would hold naming rights for the park in perpetuity and that it would serve as a valuable marketing tool for the district, which has faced declining enrollment for years.
“You know, there’s a lot of competition today with private and charter schools, and this project will help exemplify the progressive leadership of McAllen ISD,” she said.
The real appeal described by district and Quinta Mazatlan representatives is the ability to develop a unique curriculum for McAllen students based on the partnership.
McAllen school Superintendent J. A. Gonzalez said that curriculum would mostly center on sciences and mathematics. He described the partnership as a pipeline to higher education, one that would enrich the district’s established curriculum unlike “anything ever seen.”
“What we believe this learning space will do in working in conjunction with UTRGV, is it will develop a situation now where we can make the learning experience more authentic,” he said. “We have the outdoor learning space, we have the connection to the sustainable development and the urban ecology center, connection to the university professors, connection to the medical school, connection to the research.”
That UTRGV connection seemed like the most significant lure to trustees.
Parwinder Grewal, executive vice president for research, graduate studies and new program development at the university, described what his institution’s involvement will look like.
He said the university will offer place-based courses in things like biodiversity, environmental studies and creative writing.
The facility is also expected to host a variety of research projects, primarily in sustainable development, but also in areas that range from cultural and environmental studies to biomedicines and biomaterials.
Grewal said he was stunned by faculty interest in the project.
“Our faculty — including the school of medicine faculty — have shown interest and they will do all these different kinds of projects using Quinta Mazatlan as a site, either as a control, for nature, or as a main site for all kinds of fundamental research activities,” he said.
Students from McAllen ISD will be able to benefit from displays, demonstrations, interactive labs and community engagement projects, Grewal said.
Students in grades kindergarten through 12th will be able to observe, interact and even participate in university-level labs.
“These are mostly focused on unleashing sustainable development movements in the region,” Grewal said. “We are a growing region, we are developing, we are expanding, and this is where we need to be focusing on sustainable development as well.”
The board took no action on the partnership last week, but several trustees voiced their support for it.
“For us to be able to do something with a university at the level of UTRGV and UTRGV medical school, and doing the research, and have our students at the forefront,” MISD board member Debbie Crane-Aliseda said. “I mean, these are the kinds of things that make McAllen ISD number one and make McAllen ISD lead.”
View Monitor photojournalist Joel Martinez’s photo gallery of Quinta Mazatlan below:
