Former Alta Vista Elementary School students next month will step into new and renovated schools equipped with new gyms, cafeterias and the latest technology.
But some Alta Vista families are worried about what their children might lose as they are split between two schools.
They worry about losing a sense of identity and connection with a historic school that has served the tight-knit Alta Vista neighborhood for some 115 years.
The old school at 3637 Alta Vista Drive closed this spring as part of a school consolidation program that followed the $355 million bond election Waco Independent School District voters approved in 2021.
Alta Vista’s population of about 530 will be split between the renovated and expanded South Waco Elementary and Kendrick Elementary, which was torn down and replaced. Each school will have a capacity of 750 students.
In the last few years, Waco ISD has rebuilt or renovated several schools using a $355 million bond approved by voters in November 2021. A citizens bond advisory committee had found that several schools were outdated and should be replaced and recommended closure of Alta Vista.
Alta Vista was among the district’s oldest schools, with much of the construction dating to the 1950s but some thought to date to 1910.
It was a majority Hispanic school where families felt comfortable asking for help.
“They felt really welcome,” said Cynthia Frias, an Alta Vista resident whose son Teo, is switching from Alta Vista Elementary to Kendrick as first-grader.
“We always had someone from the staff ready to translate or to help them, in case they needed help,” Frias said.
“We were so used to having a small campus, just knowing everybody, and now I’m not really sure how many students Kendrick will be allowed to have (or) the sizes of the classes. Everything seems like it’s going to be double, basically. So it’s going to be bigger, and we’ll see how that works for us.”
Avoiding a family split
For Claudia Piedra, the plan to split the Alta Vista school attendance zone threatened to split her family. Her daughter, Sephora, 9, was scheduled to switch from Alta Vista to South Waco Elementary, while her son, Josue, 4, was to attend Kendrick.
Those assignments appear to have been based on the school district’s attempts to send children who would have qualified in Alta Vista’s dual-language bilingual program to Kendrick Elementary, which offers that program. Josue qualified for that program, but Sephora was no longer in the bilingual program.
South Waco Elementary offers only an English as a Second Language program.
This month Piedra learned that the transfer application she submitted in April was approved to send both children to Kendrick Elementary. Still, she is sad to lose the community they had at Alta Vista.
“As a parent, you feel at peace,” she said in an interview conducted in Spanish. “You are in your home, or what you do for a living, but you have the sense of safety that your kids are in a place that is in reality like their home.”
Another thing Piedra will miss is walking her daughter home from school, often with her son in tow. Kendrick is across Interstate 35 from her neighborhood and walking there would be impractical.
A reset for South Waco
Several former Alta Vista parents interviewed also raised reservations about South Waco Elementary’s reputation. The school received an F on the most recent report card from the Texas Education Agency in 2023, and Waco ISD has approved a turnaround plan for the campus.
Piedra said she has heard “negative things” about South Waco Elementary.
“If you ask me what people who have their kids in the school have expressed to me, they say they don’t like it,” she said. That’s scary.”
However, she said she felt better after meeting the new principal, Amy Atnip.
Jose Vidaña, Waco ISD Board of Trustees president, disagrees with the negative perception of South Waco Elementary. The increase of more experienced teachers coming to South Waco is a sign things are improving, he said.
Vidaña said his children got a good education at South Waco Elementary, and he believes recent improvements at the school will ensure a good experience for students.
“There’s examples of kids coming through … that had a great education, no matter what part of the district they were in,” Vidaña said.
Atnip, the South Waco principal, notes the school has improved staff retention. For the upcoming school year, all but two South Waco teachers will return, she said.
“Our babies are absolutely amazing,” she said. “They want to learn. Our families are extremely supportive, and it’s just an incredible community and incredible student body. And our staff are awesome, the way they pour into kids. So we were able to make some really, really good gains with campus culture.”
Atnip is excited to welcome Alta Vista Elementary School students to the school. She is expecting 150 to 200 new students in the fall.
She hopes parents feel they are part of the school through bringing some of Alta Vista’s traditions to South Waco, such as Alta Vista’s second grade market. In addition, 11 Alta Vista teachers and five paraprofessionals will be starting at South Waco in the fall.
“It’s really exciting that we’re not only welcoming those students, but we’re also welcoming the teachers so that everybody has a face that they know that first day coming in,” Atnip said.
Communication questioned
Parent Juanita Rueda feels the district has not communicated well with parents about attendance plans. She learned about the closure this past school from her son Rafael’s kindergarten teachers at Alta Vista. She had many questions: Where will her son’s teachers go? What street is the new school located on?
Rueda learned from the school district’s website that her son is going to Kendrick.
Rueda grew up in a nearby rural school district and has found life as a Waco ISD parent difficult to navigate.
She said Rafael had great teachers at Alta Vista who were sad they would no longer be his teachers next school year. They often provided updates on his progress and passed along books when they noticed he was advanced for his age.
“It was a beautiful connection,” Rueda said. “I give thanks to God that he got teachers that were very friendly, that he mattered to them, not just inside as a kid but also his education.
Rueda said her son did not initially understand why he had to go to a new school and did not want to go. He would be separated from the teachers and friends he knew.
“His heart broke at first,” Rueda said.
But Rueda explained he would make new friends and have new teachers. She hopes with her son attending a new school, there will be more support and ways to get involved.
Alta Vista Elementary hosted a legacy celebration in May to celebrate generations who went to the neighborhood school. The Piedra family was among those who attended, including 9-year-old Sephora. She took a stone and buried it on the school grounds so she could find it years later, a memory of connection and pride at her beloved school.
