EPISD presents mid‑year pre‑K progress and a major expansion of internships and practicum opportunities
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Summary
District leaders reported mid‑year early childhood assessment results showing progress relative to state peers and outlined a planned expansion of internships and work‑based learning (targeting 125+ six‑week internships and currently tracking 751 placements across practicum/work‑based/internships).
El Paso ISD leaders on March 24 briefed trustees on middle‑of‑year early childhood Circle data and on plans to expand work‑based learning and summer internships.
Chief Academic Officer Al Garcia and Early Childhood director Liz Marquez presented MOY Circle progress monitoring across five measures — rapid letter naming, rapid vocabulary, early writing, social‑emotional learning and mathematics — and said EPISD’s pre‑K results are comparable to peers statewide using the CLI Engage assessment framework. "We are making good progress," Garcia said, and Marquez explained that middle‑of‑year cut points are higher than beginning‑of‑year baselines, which can make MOY percentages appear lower even as growth continues.
Trustees asked for disaggregated data by special education and English‑learner status; board members requested that future academic presentations include that breakdown.
On internships and work‑based learning, Jason Long (Executive Director, Advanced Academics), Fernando Marquez (CTE director) and Al Garcia outlined current placements and plans to scale. Long said the district currently lists 678 practicums, 32 work‑based placements and 41 internships — 751 total — and is targeting at least 125 six‑week internships for 11th graders in health care, IT, engineering, business and trades.
Long and Marquez described employer partnerships (150+ employer slots reported), pre‑internship supports (resume and interview preparation, financial literacy) and monitoring plans: district staff will check in, visit sites and coordinate with host employers so placements benefit students and partners. Trustees praised the effort and asked about employer selection, monitoring and alignment with CTE and P‑TECH pathways; staff said rollout will be phased and aligned to program study areas.
District leaders said internships will be matched to student area‑of‑interest selections via the application QR code and that the program will seek to ensure equity of access across campuses.
