When Christina Balbuena arrived at Juarez Academy of Engineering and Technology as the school’s new principal back in 2013, she felt the school was lacking an identity. “The very first meeting I had with the staff, I kind of asked like, ‘Let’s make a list of what are the things we’re proud of,’” Balbuena said. “And it was really like crickets. It was hard for them to come up with some of those things. And not because there weren’t things happening at the school. But I think that definitely the culture needed to shift a little bit.” What followed was years of hard work and dedication to turn the school into a place focused on both innovation and social-emotional learning. “I would say we are just now getting to the point where we’re going to break stride and turn a corner because we’ve really ... figured out what is important to us,” Balbuena said. “Our motto is innovation, collaboration and empathy — and those are the three things that we realized that we are standing for and we hope to foster in our students.” Recently, Balbuena and her staff welcomed the ACSA Elementary Education Council to the school for the group’s annual site visit. Council President Eveline Huh says the decision to visit Juarez Academy was an easy one. “They’ve been doing a lot of good things about social-emotional learning,” Huh said. “They have a social worker on site. They have a lot of different kinds of programs and initiatives at their school. We just thought that would be a great way for our council members to come and visit.” Council members spent the morning visiting classrooms and interacting with students and teachers in hopes of taking back a few lessons to their own districts. “I’m kind of looking to get some golden nuggets that I can use and pass along,” Twin Lakes Elementary Principal Jennifer Lawson said. “To be able to see something that’s working really well for students and to get something where the student seems really engaged, I can grab that and share it with my kids.” Buck Roggeman is the principal at Forest Grove Elementary. He was on just his second site visit as part of the ACSA Elementary Education Council. Roggeman said these professional development opportunities bring encouragement and excitement. “You always come back inspired by something that you’ve seen,” he said. “And for our teaching staff, it’s almost like shining a light on a little area of our instruction thanks to schools like this. Just to see the faces on the young learners as you go from room to room.  “My favorite part of the daily job are those times when I get to drop in on classes and actually see the teaching and learning taking place.” Balbuena said she knows how formative the years in elementary school can be for students. Her hope is that they will not only remember the strong academics, but also the strong culture.

“I think it’s nice when you can hear from students about what makes this place special to them,” Balbuena said. “For some students, it’s not always about the academic piece. When we think about what we want kids to remember when they leave elementary school, they may not remember the test they either failed or did well on. But they’re going to remember the environment. They’re going to remember the people.”