EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — The Ysleta Independent School District kicks off the new school year next Monday, July 29 with the district’s Career and Technology Center at Riverside High School now fully completed, which nearly 500 students will attend.
“We did see an increase in enrollment, so now we’re expecting 500 students from across all of our seven comprehensive high schools here at YISD,” said Victor Lara, the principal for the Ysleta ISD Career and Technology Center, and Riverside High School.
It’ll be the center’s second year since opening. It had just over 400 students enrolled in the first year.
The center was constructed as part of YISD’s 2019 Bond Projects that has seen the development of new facilities and improvements made district-wide.
The state-of-the-art facility offers 11 different programs of study exclusively for juniors and seniors across the district:
Architecture
Culinary Arts
Cosmetology
Automotive Collision Repair & Refinishing
Automotive Technology
Teacher Prep
Diesel Technology
Solar & Electrical Technology
Real Estate
Video Game Design
Welding Technologies
Each program offers different certifications required in the respective field, including Level 1 certifications for the Architecture and Electrical Technology Programs.
Architecture Design level one certification in AutoCAD Inventor and Electrical level one certification in NCCER Core.
“Our goal is to make sure they experience that and they understand what is out there so that when they transition to the real world, well, the college is not for them, then they have this to fall back on and they’re prepared for that specific career,” Lara said.
According to Lara, all programs offered were chosen because of their high demand across the Borderland, and through the CTE Center they have been able to form partnerships with top-level institutions in the career fields taught.
They have partnerships with Marathon, EPCC, AutoZone, Viva Ford, Advanced Auto Collision, FSG Electrical, and Century Fire Systems.
Students who want to enroll in any of the programs are screened based on their academic standing, and if approved get to select a program of their choosing.
They are half-day programs, so students enrolled at the CTE Center spend half the day in their home-schools and the rest at the center.
The courses are taught in three-hour blocks, mornings from 8:30-11:30am or in the afternoon from 1 p.m. – 4 p.m.
YISD shared with KTSM statements made by students who were enrolled in the programs offered at the center during its first year.
“I like every part, whether it’s washing dishes, cooking, prepping…We (are given) instructions but I can add my own creativity in there, whether it’s plating food, adding more ingredients,” Angel Herrera said.
According to YISD, Herrera graduated in the spring of 2024 with a certification to work as a restaurant manager, and he intends on pursuing a career as a chef.
“If you don’t want to go to college and you want a good-paying job, then this is perfect for you,” said Love Vera, an architectural engineering student at the CTE. “With this program, we get an engineering certificate through EPCC, and that looks good on college applications and resumes.”
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