[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 81 (Tuesday, June 12, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1070-E1071]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          TO HONOR ELVIRA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL IN TUCSON, ARIZONA

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. ED PASTOR

                               of arizona

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 12, 2001

  MR. PASTOR. Mr. Speaker, I rise before you today to pay tribute to an 
elementary school in my district that has an outstanding record of 
commitment to its children and the community. The accomplishments of 
this school recently received national recognition from the Department 
of Education, which named it a Blue Ribbon School. I'd like my 
colleagues to take a moment and join me in paying tribute to Elvira 
Elementary School in Tucson, Arizona.
  Elvira Elementary School is a kindergarten through fifth-grade school 
in the Sunnyside Unified School District in the southwest portion of 
Tucson, Arizona. It is a school that has welcomed many challenges and 
been described as the ``best of the best in public education,'' by one 
of our local newspapers in Tucson. In addition, it is one of only three 
elementary schools statewide to be awarded the coveted ``A+'' ranking 
by the Arizona Educational Foundation's Model Schools Program in 1999. 
Selection for this honor was based on Elvira's exemplary student focus 
and support, active teaching and learning environments, powerful 
community and parent partnerships and strong educational leadership.
  Let me tell you a little about the student body at Elvira. Currently, 
88.6 percent of the school's 690 children participate in the federal 
freereduced breakfastlunch program, which qualifies Elvira as a Title I 
school. Almost 48 percent of the students are Limited English 
Proficient, 10.4 percent receive Special Education services and the 
student mobility rate is nearing 30 percent.
  But as I said, Elvira welcomes challenges. The culture of Elvira 
values all stakeholders and has high expectations for each of its 
members. A strong sense of devotion is exhibited by staff, parents and 
community members who join together to advocate for children.
  While most of the families in Elvira are in a lower socio-economic 
strata, and while the school community has dealt with numerous adverse 
circumstances and incidents in the past several years, Elvira's 
resiliency holds, and the community has reacted with caring and 
commitment to children and their promise for the future. Elvira 
continually seeks avenues for close analysis of programming in order to 
improve and expand upon learning environments which nurture the 
development of the full potential of each child. High expectations

[[Page E1071]]

for student behavior and learning have been manifested in mandatory 
daily homework, advocacy of parents for school uniforms, and family 
support enabling Elvira to became a pioneer school for the well-known 
violence prevention program known as PeaceBuilders.
  The examples of commitment and dedication at Elvira Elementary School 
are numerous. That is why I am so proud of this school and its 
principal, my friend Mary Jane Santos. Thanks to her commitment and the 
dedication and work of parents, community and staff, Elvira Elementary 
School is continually elevating student achievement and moving toward 
its vision of creating learning environments that empower all students 
to reach their full potential. For these reasons, I respectfully ask my 
colleagues to join me in paying tribute to Elvira Elementary School.

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