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burnham WOOD and Vista Charter schools Spring 2019, Volume 1, Number 1 Burnham Wood and Vista Make the “A” Honor Roll + TUITION FREE TEA ranks us among the best in the state in: l Accountability l Financial Management l Closing the Gap Howard Burnham Elementary School p.2 A Message from our Superintendent Greetings fellow citizens, to the students who attend our will not only maintain, but improve parents and students! schools. our level of excellence. It is with excitement that I As noted elsewhere in this Further, the discipline and share with you this magazine that publication, the Burnham Wood worthy character of the student we at Burnham Wood Charter Charter Schools have been body cannot be allowed to be Schools believe will be an effective classified as exemplary, with an“A” comprised. We must continue to communications instrument rating from the Texas Education insist that all adult members of this between the schools and you, the Agency (TEA), a highly sought- educational initiative provide safety community. after and prestigious honor. and stability for all our students. I have been a member of the How did this come to be? Burnham Wood Family of Charter First and foremost, we must Schools for nearly two years. During recognize the tremendous vision “The discipline and worthy that time, I have become aware of and service that our schools’ character of the student Dr. Joe E. Gonzales Superintendent the great education that is provided founders, Mrs. Iris Burnham and body cannot be allowed to her husband, Mr. Howard Burnham, be compromised. exhibited by establishing this We must insist that all state- and nationally recognized table of contents adult members of this educational enterprise. educational initiative pro- Without their fortitude, vide safety and stability determination and persistence, for all our students.” Howard Burnham Elementary, Vista Superintendent’s Message ..............................................2 Elementary and Da Vinci Middle and Ms. Iris Burnham .................................................................3 High School would not exist today. My vision for our school district, Thus, hundreds of El Paso for both now and the future, include: A-plus Accountability Rating ...........................................4 students would have been denied District Athletics .................................................................5 the “World Class” education that * A strong partnership with parents. District Art, Theatre and Dance .......................................6 they have experienced. The winning * Continued emphasis on academic traditions that have become excellence. District Music ......................................................................7 “the culture” of our schools are * Further additions to our extra- Da Vinci School for Science and the Arts ......................8 unmatched anywhere. curricular activities. So, a big thank you, first and * Greater exposure of our students InSPIRESS/Engineering .......................................................9 foremost, to Mr. and Mrs. Burnham. to colleges and universities through UT On-Ramps/Dual Credits ..............................................10 Now the present challenge: on-campus visits. Alumni Stories ....................................................................11 How do we maintain and * Greater opportunities for student safeguard the established levels leadership experience. Internship/Community Relations .....................................12 of excellence and prestige that * Greater student intern placement Cornell University Student .................................................13 we have been handed? experiences. Scholarships .......................................................................14 I believe the answer is in the personnel who are allowed to I hope you will join us in Quality Staff/Recruitment/Retention ..............................15 work with our students. We must providing our students the best Howard Burnham Elementary .........................................16 retain our best employees and be educational opportunities possible, certain that any new employees are and hang on because We’re Vista del Futuro/Blue Ribbon School ...............................17 properly screened so that only the Moving Forward!!! Robotics .............................................................................18 most competent are hired. District Improvements .......................................................19 If those of us who are entrusted with the “hiring process” are diligent Summer Camps ................................................................20 and detail-oriented with all the important hiring responsibilities, we THE BURNHAM WOOD SCHOOLS OF EXCELLENCE Educational Woman Pioneer p.3 Ms. Burnham Insists on STEM By Rod Santa Ana Retirement has deprived the El Paso community of The saga moves west its legendary pioneering Iris then moved to California to pursue woman in local education. graduate studies at UCLA and California After a stellar career that State University where she earned a included opening El Paso’s Masters of Arts degree in English. first charter school, Iris While in California, she met her future Burnham, of the Burnham husband, Howard Burnham, in 1968. Wood Charter Schools, Burnham was involved in social work. has retired to a life of less The family would eventually include a work and more leisurely daughter, Esther, and a son, Leonard. travel. The family then moved to Buffalo, New Iris Burnham was born York, where Iris taught Adult Literacy and educated in New York City, surrounded by the and the Study of Folklore at State constant and vibrant display of the arts and humanities University of New York. that have always been a large part of her life. But after four years of “very cold” As a young girl, she was attracted to all things culture: weather, they moved to El Paso in 1975 music, dance, poetry and art, to name a few. She was where she began teaching English at both a fan of the humanities from a very young age. UTEP and EPCC. Despite the family’s economic hardships, her parents In order to address the individual learning encouraged participation in the arts. needs of students of all ages, she started the School for Educational Enrichment Parents were a driving force (SEE). Her father, Edward, the son of farmers, labored in many jobs, including as a welder at the Brooklyn Naval Literacy expands in El Paso Shipyard. Since 1979, El Pasoans have used SEE’s He often proclaimed to his daughters how valuable a services to learn English, improve their good education is in reaching one’s true potential. writing and speaking skills in many languages, Iris’ mother, Ida, was an immigrant from Poland who prepare for college entrance exams and endured the hardships of war and dislocation before receive high school course credits, including she, her mother and siblings were able to journey high school diplomas. across the Atlantic Ocean to join her father in America. In 1997, Ms. Burnham applied to the Texas Her parents both lamented their limited educational Education Agency for a charter and opened what engineers and Professor Shamsnaz opportunities, and encouraged their daughters to would become El Paso’s first charter school: Burnham Virani, a UTEP Systems engineer. select professions that would serve others. Wood. Iris chose the life of educating children and adults as The elementary school eventually became Howard Da Vinci’s reputation reaches far and wide her personal pathway to fulfillment. Burnham Elementary in honor of her husband and co- What followed was international recognition by Her take on education now included something she founder, Howard Burnham. professional engineering associations. Ms. Burnham, considers paramount: exposure of visual and musical Dr. Virani and Da Vinci teachers have presented arts to El Paso youngsters in the public school setting. Da Vinci is born papers on the school in Vancouver, Canada, Louisville, She attended public schools in New York City, including Ten years later, The Da Vinci School for Science and Kentucky, San Antonio, Dallas, and Amherst, Hunter College of the City University of N.Y where she the Arts was created when the Bill and Melinda Gates Massachusetts. earned a Bachelor of Arts in English in 1964. Foundation approached Ms. Burnham to design a One invitation to present at a conference came from After graduation, her first job in education took her prototype of the first STEM (science, technology, as far away as Capetown, South Africa. to the only academic high school in Harlem that was engineering, math) high school. The hard work of so many, under the direction of Ms. considered “tough,” certainly no place for a young lady During the planning phase for this new school, Ms. Burnham, has paid off in immeasurable ways, she to be teaching school. Burnham proposed to the Gates Foundation that the said. But Iris was determined that regardless of their STEM school begin in grade six, and that it include “When Da Vinci students applied to colleges and backgrounds, her students would get the best the Arts. universities across the country,” Ms. Burnham said, education possible. The foundation resisted at first, but Da Vinci was “institutions of higher learning were so impressed She taught English with the help of real actors from opened as one of the first of three STEM schools in with their STEM education that scholarships were New York’s Broadway stage whom she enticed to visit Texas. offered to almost

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