SAN ANTONIO – Pershing Elementary School on the East Side has made a dramatic academic comeback, jumping from an F to a B in the latest Texas Education Agency (TEA) accountability ratings — and missing an A by just one point.
The school earned an 89% in the ratings released in August.
The TEA’s A-F accountability system provides families a way to evaluate a school’s performance, with results based mostly on the STAAR test.
Pershing Elementary School principal Shelene Livas said the improvement reflects years of work focused on academics, school culture and family engagement.
“It’s about school being a place where we nourish students,” Livas said. “We educate the whole child academically, socially, emotionally.”
Livas has led the elementary school for four years. During her first year as principal, she focused on improving enrollment after the campus was included among 19 schools considered for closure under a rightsizing plan.
From there, Livas worked to strengthen campus culture, identify academic strengths and track focused areas for improvement.
Parent Jacene Rodriguez said the progress is visible beyond the school’s state grade.
“Last year, he was struggling, end of third grade, going into fourth,” Rodriguez said of her child. “He was struggling academically. He really had a hard time staying on track, following directions.”
Rodriguez said teachers have been more proactive about reaching out to parents for academic and attendance support.
She said that communication has helped motivate students to come to school and do their best.
Livas said the school’s success did not come from a single change, but from consistency.
“The magic sauce is your goal, having a specific plan, communicating and executing that consistently every single day and never giving up,” she said.
When Livas saw the school’s B rating, she said the moment was emotional.
“My heart jumped,” Livas said. “I screamed. I literally took a moment and just sat, like, wow, this has really happened. And then I started texting all my teachers.”
Pershing Elementary School’s enrollment remains below 300 students, with a goal of reaching 304. Livas hopes the improved rating will encourage more families in the area to return to their neighborhood campus.
