Jose Damian Elementary earns top state designation for supporting military-connected families
Students and staff at Jose Damian Elementary School (JDE) are super stars when it comes to supporting military-connected families. The campus earned the distinction of being named a 2023-2024 Texas Education Agency (TEA) Purple Star Designated campus.
JDE is one of 150 Texas public schools to earn the designation. Purple Star Campus Designation recognizes Texas public schools that provide high quality support to meet the unique needs of military-connected students and their families.
To be eligible, campuses must designate a campus-based military liaison, create and maintain an easily accessible web page that includes information for military-connected students and their families, institute a campus transition program for military-connected students and support a military family assistance initiative.
“We are honored to have earned this important designation because it demonstrates that we are excelling in our commitment to our military community,” said JDE principal Dr. AnaElisa Aranda. “We always want to make sure we are doing our part to support our military families to ease some of the challenges they face and make sure they feel welcomed and connected to our campus and their community.”
The campus military liaison at JDE takes an active role in connecting with military students and families, ensures they are informed and maintains training for staff to adequately support and advocate for military families. All incoming military-connected students are invited to participate in the Camo Kids Club where students are partnered with veteran military-connected students to receive an introduction to the school environment and processes.
The campus also hosts a variety of events and opportunities geared towards engaging with the military community and making sure they are connected to the campus.
Superintendent Pedro Galaviz said JDE’s designation as a Purple Star campus is proof positive of the District’s commitment to serve military families.
“Canutillo is a community that is proud of its ties to the military and many of our students go on to serve in the armed forces,” Galaviz said. “We will honor the service of our troops by continuing to grow our partnership with Fort Bliss and other organizations that help our military-connected families.”