Stronger Connections: Our Committment to Student Safety & Well-Being

At El Paso Leadership Academy, nothing is more important than the safety, health, and happiness of our scholars. We understand that scholars learn best when they feel secure and supported. That’s why we’ve launched our Safe and Healthy Students Program with funding from the Texas Stronger Connections grant. This program is helping us create an even more positive, nurturing environment on campus – and we want you, our parents and guardians, to be a part of it!

Our Promise: The Stronger Connections grant has given us an amazing opportunity to enhance what we already strive to do – keep your children safe and thriving. We are committed to transparency and continual improvement. If something isn’t working, we will adjust. If a strategy is showing great results, we’ll expand on it. And we will always welcome your input. Together, as a school-family team, we can ensure that every scholar at El Paso Leadership Academy is supported to reach their full potential, free from the distractions of vaping, bullying, or violence.

For more information or if you have any questions about the Safe and Healthy Students Program, please contact our program coordinator at eavalos@epla.org. You can also find details about specific initiatives and resources here on our website. Thank you for being our partner in this important work.

Key Features of the Program (How This Helps Your Child)

We now have a dedicated team – including school counselors, a positive behavioral support specialist, and support from our local regional service center– available to scholars. If your child is struggling with stress, peer pressure, or any problem at school or home, they have trained professionals they can turn to. No scholar has to handle challenges alone.
Our school is taking strong steps to combat the vaping epidemic. Students will participate in age-appropriate lessons about the health risks of vaping, e-cigarettes, and tobacco. We’re also offering small-group sessions for scholars who want help quitting these habits. If a scholar is caught with a vape, we focus on educating them (and connecting them to resources to quit) in addition to enforcing our school rules. We want to work with scholars and parents to break nicotine addiction and keep our kids’ lungs healthy.
To reduce fighting and bullying, we’ve implemented new programs to teach respect, empathy, and conflict resolution. All scholars will receive guidance on how to handle disagreements without violence. We’ve started a peer mediation program, where our counselors support scholars in positive conflict resolution skills. Our staff are also receiving ongoing training in de-escalation techniques – meaning they are better prepared to calm situations and guide scholars toward safe resolutions. Your child will be stepping into a school culture that actively promotes kindness and handles discipline in a constructive way.
We’ve also increased hallway supervision and established an anonymous reporting system where families can report concerns confidentially. These measures are here to ensure that any potential safety issue is addressed immediately. Every scholar should feel physically safe at school, and we’re working hard to make that a reality.
We truly believe families and school must work together. As part of this program, we will host Parent Information Nights on topics such as teen mental health, vaping prevention, and internet safety. Please review our Stronger Connections Newsletter and subscribe for monthly updates. We encourage you to talk with your child about what these programs mean for them and to share any concerns or ideas with us.