Whether it’s on the field or in the classroom, something is drawing students to Bishop CISD this school year. The district has seen a significant increase in student enrollment of 122 students.
KRIS 6 spoke to three new students about what caught their attention when picking a school. All three students used words along the lines of supportive, welcoming and helpful.
“After touring all the high schools and keeping an open mind with all of them, I noticed Bishop was a better fit for me,” freshman Ella Reyna said.
Ella came from Ricardo ISD. Ricardo ISD doesn’t have a high school, so middle schoolers have to choose between other area schools to attend. Ella said it was the staff and coaches she met that made her decision easy.
“In sports and academics, they help you out with everything and anything. They’re there for you as a student, as an athlete, as a person,” Ella said.
Ella’s older brother Matthew Reyna is a sophomore but also new to the district. He plays football and baseball and said for him, it was Bishop’s athletic reputation that made him ready to join the team.
“I could see myself going here. This year Bishop is going on to the next round, football is doing good. I kind of heard it from everybody so I knew it coming in,” Matthew said.
Matthew’s friend Xavier Garcia is also a sophomore and a transfer student. He transferred to Bishop from a smaller school. He said that Bishop’s health/medical career pathway, athletics and academics drew him in.
“It was overwhelming ,but when I got into it, they were very friendly. It’s a good environment here,” Garcia said.
Bishop Athletic Director Michael Davila said all the schools in the district have seen an increase in enrollment. Opening up a pre-k 3 and pre-k 4 has also helped enrollment numbers.
“We’re a family here. We take as many kids as we can. We want to take care of our own but we also want to invite other students from other areas and take care of them as well," Davila said. "Retention is a big word in Bishop and we want to make sure that when they start at pre-k three we keep them all the way til their graduating years. We want them to have a great experience from the time they get here to the time they leave,”
But the change isn’t only in enrollment for this school district. Bishop’s Athletic Booster Club is now in full swing after five years.
“It’s a lot of involvement from the community, parents and we have a very strong board. Small communities have a big tight-knit sports environment so we try to support all that,” Vice President of the Booster Club Joe Montalvo said.
Montalvo said that their booster club does their best to fundraise for students in their district to make sure they are able to have resources similar to that in which bigger schools have.
“We try to be the supplemental income to alleviate some of the things students may need. Sometimes families don’t have the outlets to get help. Bishop’s good in putting a lot of effort into doing it all in house. Everybody has the students best interest at heart,” Montalvo said.
Community members in Bishop voted earlier this year to pass a bond that would benefit students in the district even more moving forward.
That bond is in the works as the new Badger Developmental Center. It will be an indoor facility with turf that athletics, academics and fine arts can use. The center is in the early stages of design.
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