Carrillo Leverages English Learning, Gifted and Talented Programming Ahead of NES Adoption

This is the last article of a three-part series focused on the expansion of Houston ISD's New Education System (NES). Read the first article to learn what the new designation means for the nine campuses joining the model this year and the second article spotlighting how Foster Elementary plans to grow under NES. 

Carrillo Elementary is preparing for a landmark year as it officially joins Houston ISD’s New Education System (NES) and welcomes students from the merging Briscoe Elementary community. 

Principal Taren Land cited the need for additional classroom aides to serve a wide range of learning needs, including support for English learners and Gifted and Talented (GT) programming. 

“Human capital by far is the top resource that I could ask for,” Land said. “We were already running the NES, and we know it works. Now, we can do it even better.”

Supporting a Diverse Community

With a student population that is 69% emergent bilingual, the NES model’s structured curriculum is seen as a vital tool for narrowing achievement gaps. 

Krystal Castro-Saavedra, a fourth grade English as a Second Language (ESL) teacher at Carrillo, said the NES curriculum includes built-in learning tools such as vocabulary flip books, sentence stems, and visuals required for English learning. Because these resources are already embedded in the curriculum, she has more time to focus on helping students strengthen their language skills. 

She added that the support of a learning coach also strengthens differentiated instruction—which includes “second teach” for students who may need more support—while she is leading the class. 

“Those who are English language learners have a larger learning curve to assimilate to the to the school, to the country, to the language,” Castro-Saavedra said. “At the same time, having that differentiated learning so that those who aren't English language learners and are proficient already are still pushed a little further.” 

Land said that Carrillo currently has a learning coach—which is assigned to ESL—and two teacher apprentices. Under NES next year, the presence of classroom aides will grow with five teacher apprentices and four learning coaches placed across the campus to ensure “there are no learning gaps.” 

Expanding the Gifted and Talented Program 

Julieta Ortiz is the Gifted and Talented coordinator at Carrillo Elementary. She has staffed the campus for 25 years.

As one of 12 Vanguard Magnet campuses in HISD, Carrillo is expanding opportunities for GT students through advanced, interdisciplinary learning experiences that go beyond the traditional classroom. GT coordinator Julieta Ortiz said multilingual students often demonstrate strong academic performance, making Carrillo’s combination of a large emergent bilingual population and Vanguard programming especially valuable.

“We are creating problem solvers from a young elementary age,” Ortiz said. “We teach them there’s always more than one solution to a problem."

After school, GT students participate in “Genius Hour” under the guidance of Ortiz and fellow teacher Julayne Fenner, engaging in six-week, research-based projects that encourage creativity and critical thinking. Their most recent project connects the novel they are reading in class with personal interests in science, math, or social studies. 

(Left to right) Amelia Gamboa Avila and Penelope Martinez are both part of Carrillo’s Gifted and Talented programming, where they take multidisciplinary approaches to research-based projects.

Fifth grader Amelia Gamboa Avila analyzed "Don Quixote" through a social studies lens, comparing the reality of 17th-century Spain with the medieval world imagined in the protagonist’s delusions.

“I wanted to help people learn about the past and what actually happened in the 17th century instead of what Don Quixote thinks is happening,” Gamboa Avila said. 

Gamboa Avila is herself a creative writer, even writing fictional stories for her middle school choice application. Next year, she will attend Lanier Middle School, an HISD magnet campus, where she hopes to continue her love of creative writing and music.  

Meanwhile, fourth grader Penelope Martinez and her project partner, Gracie, chose to explore the novel “Treasure Island” through a scientific lens by constructing a detailed model of the fictional Caribbean island and its underwater environment.  

With the full implementation of NES, all students will have access to opportunities that resemble the enrichment offered to GT students.

The student schedule will alternate between a weekly Art of Thinking (AOT) class—which focuses on critical thinking—and dyad periods—where community experts lead enrichment courses separate from elective classes. Ortiz said she hopes that the dyad courses offer more Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) exploration or music courses, extending the campus’ music program that begins in preK. 

Land said the NES programming will strengthen the school’s Vanguard mission by helping students build critical thinking, problem-solving, and information analysis skills. 

“We want to be a GT magnet that brings in students who are ready to be challenged academically,” Land said. “That’s why this new programming is so important.”

Welcoming Briscoe Elementary 

The transition comes as Carrillo Elementary prepares to welcome students from neighboring Briscoe Elementary, slated to close at the end of this school year. To ease the transition, Land has hosted parent tours and met with Briscoe families to answer questions

“Our families love the Carrillo community,” Land said. “I know the Briscoe parents will feel the same excitement as they bring their children here as well."

The move is a "full circle" moment for some staff members, like Castro-Saavedra who grew up in the East End and began her education career as a Briscoe preK teacher aide. This coming year, she will see the same students in her fourth grade classroom. 

“Having taught them in preK and then circling back and seeing them now as fourth and fifth graders is a wonderful thing,” she said. 

Martinez, who has attended Carrillo since preK, said she has appreciated the school’s growing enrichment offerings

“Carrillo has changed a lot over the past couple of years,” Martinez said. “My favorite thing about Carrillo is every single school year it brings more opportunities.”