Zavala Elementary School

By Tatiana Rodriguez

In 1925, Zavala Elementary School opened its doors and has been educating the children of South Central El Paso for almost 100 years. Zavala School is named after General Lorenzo de Zavala, who was born in 1788 in Tecoh, Yucatán in Mexico. During "the 1830s, Zavala became involved in the Texas fight for independence from Mexico," and in 1836, he was the first Vice President of the Republic of Texas. He was also "a signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence and an author of the Constitution of the Republic of Texas."1

Since its founding, Zavala Elementary has grown from having only eight classrooms to a campus of with more than twenty classrooms, a cafeteria with a theater stage, a multipurpose center, and more with over 50 dedicated faculty and staff members meeting the educational needs of 300 students.2 The campus has two of three classes in each grade and offers a multi-age kindergarten class for parents who did not want to enroll their children in the dual language kindergarten class. Meanwhile, fifth grade students can "participate in a medical breakthrough group and compete in an event at El Paso Community College."3

On September 15, 2010, poet and author of children's books Pat Mora visited Zavala School. She is also the founder of El Dia de los Ninos - Dia de los Libros (Children's Day - Book Day), or commonly known as Dia, a literary fiesta famously celebrated yearly at Washington Park on April 30. Dia highlights the importance of literacy for children of all cultural and linguistic backgrounds4, and Mora spoke about her commitment to connecting children and their families to various books during her visit. She expressed how storytelling and books can bridge gaps between generations and bring people closer together.5 In March 2011, the Zavala School library had a family literacy month, during which two hours of storytelling performances and read alouds took place at Washington Park every Saturday. Students were given the opportunity "to create their own folktales and perform [them] using marionettes"6 at Dia's 2011 celebration, its fifteenth anniversary since its founding. Library staff then recorded their performances to create a digital storytelling presentation showcased on campus.

In 2016, the El Paso Independent School District (EPISD) committee recommended a bond initiative to build, close and renovate schools. The recommendations included "closing and rebuilding schools to address the district's outdated and under-capacity schools."7 Zavala was suggested for renovation by the school board that would expand it to house students from Beall Elementary School, which was suggested for closure due to its decrease in enrollment and population in the Chamizal area. Beall School was on two acres of land, while Zavala School sits on 6.5 acres, leaving space for a parking lot and playground.8 This recommendation was eventually approved in 2019 and Beall students were moved to Zavala or Douglass Elementary School.