Tijerina Faculty and Staff

Our school has a strong, positive school climate, which is attributed to its staff. Tijierina’s school staff shares a sense of what is important for the students, school and community. There is a commitment to helping students learn. Teachers and staff pour their hearts out to teaching everyday. They are hard workers, collegial and seek improvements in their teaching.

Presently, Tijerina Elementary School has 44 classroom teachers, three self-contained exceptional education classes, one resource teacher, six ancillary staff members, one part-time counselor, a nurse, a Title I coordinator and two administrators. This year, we have a full-time Community in the Schools Project Manager who will help promote parent education and community involvement through education, counseling, extra-curricular activities, mentoring and tutoring. In addition, we have eleven educational assistants who work with the different programs. Our special education department has four assistants who work with the students full-time. The remaining assistants are assigned to Kinder, and the third through sixth grade classrooms. They work in small groups or one-on-one with students.

We are a diverse group of representatives from many states in the United States and different countries. The majority (55%) of the staff has one to five years teaching experience, 13% has six to ten years experience, and 30% has taught eleven or more years. This diversity gives us the opportunity to share and learn from one another in order to provide a quality education for our students.

The school takes pride in being known for its contribution in the area of teacher training. Staff members have provided training locally and presented at local and state conferences. Tijerina is also known for achieving computer excellence with four consecutive Apple Computer Programming champions. This school year the librarian was named HISD Librarian of the Year.

Lead Teachers

Presently, there are four teachers who are the lead facilitators in assuring the implementation of Project Clear. These teachers provide training to staff members in the areas of Science, Language Arts, Social Studies and Math. They have played an integral part in our staff development this school year. Throughout the school year, modules were introduced to familiarize the staff with the goals and objectives outlined in Project Clear. Also, they meet with teachers in small groups and individually to assure that everyone understands and implements the objectives. Our school goal is to implement a curriculum, which best meets and addresses the needs of our students. Lead teachers also attend inservice training throughout the year.

Grade Level Chairpersons

Teachers are selected by their grade level colleagues to serve as grade level chairperson. It is the responsibility of the chairperson to plan collaborative meetings among their grade level. The chairperson leads the team in planning, sharing and developing lessons that can help their students achieve mastery.

The teams collaborate weekly to discuss and select the objectives and targets which will be taught the upcoming week. These weekly sessions are also used to discuss student assessment and students who may be "at-risk". Teachers are encouraged to help one another by providing strategies, which have been successful with their students. The chairpersons meet monthly with the principal to discuss issues and concerns. They serve as a liaison between the administration and other school staff.