Jose Borrego Middle School secures six TEA designations and advances two letter ratings

About Jose Borrego Middle School

Monte Alto ISD

Nestled in the heart of the southernmost region of Texas, Jose Borrego Middle School is the only middle school in the small rural community of Monte Alto.

This middle school includes 199 students, one principal, a counselor, an instructional coach, and 16 teachers.

In 2019, the last year of a TEA rating before beginning its partnership with E3 Alliance, the school received a “D” accountability rating.

The Challenge

In 2021, school administration continued to cope with the ongoing challenges of the pandemic, including low morale and significant learning gaps among students.

Teachers and staff were concerned that their work was not making the impact needed to move students forward. Preparing students for state testing after school closures and test suspensions amplified the difficulties.

School leaders envisioned preparing students academically and socially for the years ahead; however, the pandemic stunted development and devastated learning. Leaders desperately wanted to catch up, excel, and restore pride for students and the Monte Alto community. 

The Process

Discovery Phase

Campus leaders engaged with E3 Alliance experts in a collaborative needs assessment, which allowed the E3 team to design tailored professional development for campus leaders and teachers.

This included learning new protocols and processes for leading and monitoring instruction. 

In-Person Coaching

Campus leaders attended in-person coaching, focusing on leadership systems and instructional practices to guide change.

The Process - Transformation Phase

Transformation Phase

Led by the E3 Alliance team, Jose Borrego’s principal and instructional coach created systems for leadership and instruction that served their campus best. 

The school’s limited leadership staff required a different set of approaches. Together, they crafted a purpose-built methodology that suited the school’s unique circumstances.

The Process - Sustainability Phase

Sustainability Phase

We continue to collaborate with the Jose Borrego leadership team to evaluate their improved systems and plan for the upcoming school year. 

Now that the leadership team has expanded to both administration and teachers, the foundation at Jose Borrego is strong.

They developed a plan to sustain the changes they created, then accepted and implemented their plan. 

At the same time, they continue to build instructional capacity, campuswide confidence in leading effective instruction, and the ability to reflect on outcomes and improve when necessary.

The Results

The impact of this work has been astounding. Through collaborative work with E3 Alliance coaches, Jose Borrego’s leadership aligned their efforts and developed an instructional framework that supports the needs of their distinct student body. 

“Working with E3 Alliance is the right choice; they don’t come in and tell you what to do. Instead, they look at your campus, your strengths and goals, then help you develop a plan with clear focus that meets those goals.”

—Ruby Gonzalez, Principal, Jose Borrego Middle School

They developed a system to monitor and support efforts to improve Tier 1 instruction.

As a small rural campus, the principal tailored a system that supported ongoing work while successfully managing the duties of overseeing a rural middle school. 

Today, teachers and staff operate more efficiently, working smarter, not harder. Students reap the most benefits – learning well and preparing for the next part of their educational journey.

With E3’s coaching support, campus leaders aligned their district and campus initiatives.

Campus leaders:

• Identified rising needs and offered opportunities for further professional learning and refinements using the E3 Alliance School Leadership Systems Checklist.
• Created a Campus Instructional Playbook to structure instruction.
• Learned new protocols and processes for improving the quality of instruction.
• Developed a walkthrough system to monitor and support instruction.
• Designed a collaborative learning environment for staff.
• Built instructional capacity across all grade levels.
• Protected staff time that strengthens their professional learning community, allowing leaders to spearhead staff development and data talks that refine instructional practices.
• Trained teachers for leadership roles to benefit an expanded campus leadership team.
• Developed, accepted, and implemented a plan to sustain the changes created.
• Created a culture of continuous improvement for practices that would impact instruction and perfect the school’s leadership team efforts.
• Evaluated to improve upon systems and plan for the upcoming school year.
• The team expanded to include teacher leaders who can identify and carry out high-quality instruction for their students today.

TEA Results

Jose Borrego exceeded all expectations. 

After the 2022 STAAR testing, Jose Borrego improved the overall school rating, moving from a “D” in 2019 to a “B” in 2022. They received six out of seven distinctions, including:

• Academic Achievement in Math, Science, and Social Studies
• Top 25 Percent: Comparative Academic Growth
• Top 25 Percent: Closing the Gaps

Most importantly, they have experienced a school-wide transformation that will continue to support all students on their campus for years to come.