Crespo's History
Manuel Crespo was born in Lona del Monte, Balocia Spain, on November 12, 1903. He came to the United States in 1920 and moved to Houston three years later. He settled in Magnolia Park. Manuel earned his living by sharpening knives in a peddler's cart. He injured an eye and he immediately had an operation. The doctor recommended another line of work. In 1931 Mr. Crespo managed the Mexican funeral home on Navigation for $15.00 a week. He studied for his mortuary license and eventually bought out the three original owners of the funeral home. Manuel renamed the business Crespo Funeral Home in in 1934. The business was relocated to a two-story house on Canal. In 1934, Manuel married Emily Meyers; they had two sons and soon moved the business again to 2516 Navigation Street, where they remained for the next fifty years.

In 1940 Manuel took a leave of absence to recover from an infection on his hands and then later became one of Houston's first Hispanic homicide detectives. During Manuel's life he was involved in many community organizations, which addressed such issues as health, education, language, citizenship, employment and equal opportunity.

Some of the organizations he was involved in were as follows: Federacion de Sociedades Mexicanas y Latino Americanos, League of United Latin American Citizens Council number 60, Political Association of Spanish Speaking Organization and Mexican Chamber of Commerce. Manuel ran for city council district D. Manuel was an active parish member of Our Lady of Guadalupe Church and Blessed Sacrament Church.

In the early 1980s' vice-president George H. Bush presented Mr. Crespo with an award for being a "Pioneer of Houston". Manuel Crespo's picture hangs in the Houston Police Academy Museum.

On July 14, 1989, Manuel Crespo passed away, however his memories continue with his family, friends, businesses and of course our school, Manuel Crespo Elementary (Fine Arts Academy).

The community of Manuel Crespo Elementary is proud to have his name, because he was an active builder of the Hispanic community in Houston, Texas.

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School Hours/Drop-off & Pickup Procedures

1. Students should not arrive at school before 7:00 am. Breakfast begins at that time. There is no supervision outside of the school until 7:30 am.
2. Third, Fourth, and Fifth grade students arriving before classes will begin lining up in the multi-purpose room. Kindergarten through Second grade will line up in the cafeteria. Adults will supervise these posts starting at 7:30 am.
3. All students should go home immediately after school at 3:15 pm and at 12:45 pm each Friday unless they have tutoring or magnet classes. Pleases make arrangements for your child if you cannot pick him or her up at 3:15 pm (No student will be released early during 3:00-3:15 pm or 12:30-12:45 pm on Fridays.)
4. Students must be picked up promptly at dismissal. If there is a delay, please notify the school with a written or personal notice.
5. All parents should inform teachers in writing to specify how their child will arrive and depart from school.
6. Students walking to school should use the crosswalks. Parents dropping students off by car should use the main entrance driveway.
7. Students are expected to obey all school rules from the time they arrive until they leave.
8. Students arriving after 7:50 am will need to go to the office to get a late slip.

Special Programs
Crespo is a school wide Title I school. Our curriculum focuses on higher-level thinking skills, as well as building student confidence and creating a love for learning. The Special Education Department provides services in the following areas: a speech pathologist that provides speech and language therapy for identified students, two classes for students with multiple impairments, a behavior service class, Resource pull-out, and Inclusion.

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Bilingual Program
Crespo has a Bilingual Developmental Instructional Program to serve the LEP student population. These students are allowed to fully develop and maintain their native language in the early grades (PK-3). English instruction increases gradually throughout the elementary grades until reaching a level of proficiency in both languages that leads to a 50% native language curriculum and 50% English curriculum at grades 4-5.

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Volunteer Information
Crespo's parents are actively involved in our school community. We have a very successful VIPS program that provides instructional support by assisting the classroom teachers through mentoring, preparing instructional materials, serving as chaperones on field trips, and contributing to the beautification of our school. Crespo has a strong PTA membership that works cooperatively with the school to plan and implement fund-raisers, coordinate celebrations for the students, help reach consensus on site-based decisions, and furnish financial support for various school programs.

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Fine Arts Program
Crespo also has a school-wide Magnet Fine Arts Program. All students at Crespo, kindergarten through fifth, receive instruction from the fine arts faculty through a daily enrichment program. The Magnet Program encompasses the fine arts areas in art, band, drama, dance, choir-general music, piano and violin. We also provide a science lab and a computer class for our students. Research has shown that students who participate in the arts develop higher order thinking skills as well as an increase in problem solving abilities.

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Reading Program
We are also proud to have the Texas Reading First Federal Program at our school. This program is based on No Child Left Behind (NCLB). The goal of this K-3 program is to ensure that all our children read well by the end of third grade.

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Dress Code
Parents, teachers, and the Shared Decision-Making Committee have all voted in favor of the following dress code:

Boys:
White or light blue shirts with collar
Navy blue pants or shorts
Belt

Girls:
White blouse with collar
Light blue shirts with collar
Navy blue pants, shorts, or skirts
Belt for pants or shorts

**No blue jeans are allowed.

***The school principal is the only authority who may change the uniform policy for any given school day or school related activity.

All students are encouraged to wear no brand white tennis shoes.

Hair Grooming:
Hair should be kept out of the eyes.
Hair should be clean

ANY TYPE OF CLOTHING OR HAIR DRESS THAT DISTRACTS OR CAUSES A STUDENT TO BECOME A DISTURBING INFLUENCE IS NOT PERMITTED.

Students who do not wear the school uniform are in violation of the Code of Student Conduct.

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Curriculum
Crespo provides many extracurricular activities such as Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, Safety Patrol, and other enrichment activates by our After School Achievement Program so that our students may become well-rounded citizens with a broad range of interests, abilities, and experiences. Furthermore, Crespo provides Family Reading, Science, Math and Technology Night to bring communication and understanding to families so they can better assist their children with homework. Crespo also participates with the DARE Program every year. This program increases student's self-esteem while teaching them to recognize the many faces of peer pressure. In addition, the curriculum followed by Crespo includes Model Lessons, Sights, Project Clear, TEKS, and a lead teacher to represents this subjects as follow: Language Arts, Mathematics, Social Studies, and Science. These programs helps each students reach their higher potential and have No Child Left Behind.
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Enrollment Procedures
The following list contains the forms that must be turned by students at the beginning of the school year:

• Enrollment cards
• Lunch application
• Student Code of Conduct Acknowledgement form
• Rainy Day form
• Media Release form