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DONNA — The M. Rivas Primary Discovery Academy at Donna ISD in its second year of operation won the H-E-B Excellence in Education Early Childhood Award thus receiving $25,000, a testament for cultivating students.
Getting the award at the 22nd annual H-E-B Excellence in Education Awards Ceremony in Houston last weekend, the academy competed against other early childhood program finalists from across the state, even its neighbors at Harlingen CISD.
Created in 2002, the H-E-B Excellence in Education Awards program honors outstanding public school professionals to thank them for their dedication and commitment to serving their students.
Donna’s M. Rivas Primary Discovery Academy nomination as a finalist resulted in $5,000 and garnered another $25,000 for winning the award.
Invited for a tour of the facility and how it operates, The Monitor spent a morning going in and out of classrooms, speaking to the principal, Rosalinda Navarro, teachers at the academy and the bright and talkative students.
The academy focuses on students from pre-K through second grade but the school originally was a traditional campus.
Students at the academy discover a whole world of subjects and themes in their classes through traditional classroom instruction and multiple hands-on activities.
Navarro said in just the school’s second year of operation, enrollment has increased to 413 students.
Also along for a part of the tour was Donna ISD Superintendent Angela Dominguez.
Being proud of the whole staff at the academy for winning the award, Dominguez said it was a team effort from the teachers, staff, school board and parents to focus on providing kids an enriching learning experience in just two years time.
“This was one of our lowest enrolled campuses two years ago,” she said. “Since the transformation, they’ve gained over 150 additional students and we anticipate next year, we’re going to be completely full and at capacity. So when parents are desiring the program, that speaks volumes to me as well.”
Navarro said students have a room for instruction and also for “specials” where children get to discover different subjects and themes through hands-on activities.
“What (teachers) teach over there, then (teachers) allow them to explore in here through discovery, purposeful play, which allows our students to learn, grow and explore.”
Alicia Chavez, a kinder teacher at the academy explained what each station inside the special classroom teaches the students.
Having a station for dramatic play with costumes, to build structures, to make art and even a station with ducks, animals and plants that the students are helping to care and raise. Chavez said each station incorporates some kind of reading, writing, math, science or social studies component.
Raising ducks and some chickens as well, students learn the cycle of life. From incubating eggs, learning the differences in male and female ducks to even learning to take care of the pets and providing a healthy diet.
Growing multiple plants as well, such as pumpkins, peaches and cucumbers, students get a first-hand look at what it takes for certain plants to go through before being consumed and will soon enjoy the fruits of their hard work.
“The setup is different (between grade levels),” she said. “Because here we integrate the math, the writing, the phonics, everything together here, so (other grade levels) setup is going to be different. (Pre-K) is more socialization, getting along, making good choices.”
With almost everything around the classroom in English and Spanish, Chavez added that everything is taught in dual language, another benefit of the academy for the students.
Pre-K teacher Gracie Yarrito said in her classroom, pairs of students will rotate the stations and will put them in bilingual pairs.
“They’re picking up a lot from each other, like the English and the Spanish students,” Yarrito said. “They’re kind of forced to and they’re learning it. I’ve seen my English language learners pick up from the Spanish learners.”
Yarrito added another benefit is that students become more confident in themselves.
“I have kids at the beginning that were super, super shy, and I feel like it helped them come out of their little shell.” she said. “They’re more happy, they’re a lot more talkative … it’s supposed to be loud. I’m not going to tell them to quiet down. This is their time to express themselves.”
Winning $30,000 through the award, Navarro said the money will be used toward outside learning such as improving the garden and to provide incentives for the teachers and students.
At the end of the tour, students excitedly saw the two ducks they raised get to swim in a kid-sized pool for the first time ever.
Answering questions as to why ducks have webbed feet and what is a healthy duck diet, students feed the two ducks pieces of banana and apple with faces full of joy and minds hungry with curiosity.
