Dear Canutillo Community,
Earlier this week we made the exciting announcement that Canutillo ISD will launch the first public Montessori program in El Paso County at Garcia Elementary School later this month. The news made headlines throughout the city and even the country and it once again reinforced the notion that Canutillo ISD is the Best Small District in Texas.
The Montessori program in Canutillo will start with our PK-3 kiddos at Garcia and grow each year. Our program will have the additional benefit of being a dual-language classroom, which will further help meet the needs of our families. Of course, as with all of our programs, Montessori in Canutillo will be free of charge. As you can see, we are excited to be able to offer another layer of support and service to our children and community.
To help us get this program off the ground, Canutillo has hired two Montessori certified guides. Guides are (what teachers in the Montessori Method are called). Patricia Vasquez and Lorena Gutierrez-Quiroz are the guides that will help our pre-kinder students embrace and thrive using the hands-on, self-paced Montessori methods.
Help me welcome Ms. Vasquez and Ms. Gutierrez-Quiroz to Canutillo and learn a little bit more about their background and the work they’ll do.
Patricia Vasquez has 22 years experience as a Montessori educator in both Mexico and El Paso. She not only serves as a Montessori guide but raised her own child following the Montessori approach and has adopted the principles as part of her way of life.
Lorena Gutierrez-Quiroz began her career guiding children through Spanish language children’s literature. She got interested in the opportunities the Montessori method of education provided to both children and adults. She received training as a Montessori guide and has spent the past decade helping children learn, explore and thrive in a Montessori environment.
As you can see, our new Montessori kids are in good hands. Vasquez and Gutierrez-Quiroz join the team of educators in CISD that already is the best in El Paso.
If you are excited about Montessori at Canutillo ISD as we are, join us for an informational session and open house at 5 p.m on Sept. 13 at Garcia Elementary. For more information about the program, visit www.canutillo-isd.org/montessori.
Remember there will be no school for students on Monday, Sept. 5 and District offices will be closed to commemorate Labor Day. We honor and pay tribute to the many contributions of our wonderful CISD teachers and staff who all work so hard on behalf of our students each and every day. Thank you for all you do! We are the best because of you. Enjoy the long weekend.
Pedro Galaviz
Superintendent of Schools