NJHS hosted a Chili Cookoff among staff to celebrate the Rodeo.🌶🌶 It was a tough call as we found out we have some really good cooks on campus! After long deliberations here are the Top 3.
1st Place- Mrs. Crain
2nd Place- Ms. Harris
3rd Place- Mrs. Castillo
Long live the Chili Queens!! 🌶👸
The clock is ticking!
Our 2025 Cultural Arts Fair Cover Design Contest is still open, but the deadline is quickly approaching! This year's theme, "Mosaic of Cultures | Mosaico de Culturas," was inspired by 1st grade student Bradley Gonzales. Whether it’s a construction paper mosaic, painted tiles, or even photography, encourage your child to get creative and submit their artwork.
Don't miss the chance for your child's design to be featured on this year's Cultural Arts program cover!
Loteria, fun, and culture were held this last Tuesday after school, sponsored by Besito and Club de Español at Leal Middle in the library. 🎉📚
Close to 50 students stopped by to brush up on their Loteria skills, build camaraderie, share smiles, and maybe even win a prize or two while enjoying some delicious Frito pie snacks. 🍽️ Thank you to our Principal, club sponsors, and Ms. Sevilla, Ms. Harris,and Ms. Braun for all their help and for making this cultural event playing Loteria so magical...!
¡Lotería, diversión y cultura se vivieron este pasado martes después de la escuela, patrocinada por Besito y el Club de Español en Leal Middle en la biblioteca! 🎉📚
Casi 50 estudiantes pasaron a poner a prueba sus habilidades en la lotería, crear compañerismo, sonrisas y tal vez ganar algún premio, además de disfrutar unos deliciosos bocaditos de Frito pie. 🍽️
Gracias a nuestra Directora, los patrocinadores del club y a Mrs. Sevilla, Ms. Harris y Ms. Braun por toda su ayuda y por hacer de este evento cultural jugando lotería algo tan mágico...!
BUENAS CON EL APACHE. 🏆
NJHS would like to congratulate some of the teachers that have been awarded teacher of the week in the month of January.
Ms. Guerra has been a valuable asset to our school. Not only is she a wonderful social studies teacher that works hard to create engaging lessons for her students but she also sponsors the Student Council club. One of her recent contributions have been her attendance incentives where she creates fun games and incentives to get students excited to come to school. 6th grade would not be the same without you Ms. Guerra
Another teacher we would like to congratulate is Mr. Perez. He has been a Pilar of our fine arts department. He consistently goes above and beyond for his students. Last week was eventful as he dedicated his time to prepare for the 5th grade symposium to show the incoming apaches the wonderful band and choir program here at leal. Thank you for your commitment and passion, your work does not go unnoticed!
Tomorrow!!!!!
Yesterday our 7th grade students had the opportunity to visit the Alamo and the Briscoe Western Art Museum. Our students enjoyed the augmented Alamo experience, touring the grounds viewing the exhibits and so much more! Special thanks to the Briscoe Western Museum of art for providing our students with free life time admission tokens!
Attention 8th grade students!!! The STEM Early College Application is now open! The application window is open until February 28th. Please see the flyer below for more information and click on the link to apply!
https://www.harlandale.net/o/sechs/page/class-of-2029
The 2025 Cultural Arts Fair Cover Design Contest is now open! "Mosaic of Cultures | Mosaico de Culturas" is this year's theme courtesy of 1st grade student Bradley Gonzales.
From construction paper mosaics to painted tiles or even photography, encourage your child to take part in the contest and their artwork could be featured on this year's Cultural Arts program!
Yesterday our 8th grade students had an amazing time learning about the many career and technology programs HISD has to offer. Don't forget that tonight our parents have the opportunity to learn about them as well! The parent expo runs from 5:00-7:30 at the Makerspace center! See you there!
Two days until our 8th grade CTE expo! Please help us to make sure all 8th grade students have brought back their permission slips by tomorrow!!!
Today our entire Leal campus had the pleasure of hearing motivational speakers and brothers Jonathan Medina and Joshua Perez. The brothers shared the different adversities they faced growing up, shared how they persevered, and were able to not only be first generation college students, but both of them were division 1 college athletes. Here are just a FEW quotes that stuck out from today.
💚PUSH (Persevere until success happens)
💚If you want to go fast, go alone, but if you want to go far, go together!
💚You don’t get to the big dreams without accomplishing the little ones. 💚It’s going to take years, it’s going to take a fight.
💚Luchar
💚We believe in you!
We are so thankful that we were able to kick off 2025 on such a positive note!
We'd like to take the time to introduce you to our Leal Middle School 2024-2025 Teacher of the Year, Mrs. Ester Saenz! Mrs. Saenz is a 6th grade ELA teacher and she has spent over FOUR DECADES inspiring, leading and teaching students in our community. Not only does she work tirelessly for our students, but she decorates the hallways for campus moral and she is always willing to help other teachers and staff. Please join us in congratulating her and if she was your teacher, please share your favorite memory of her! She will LOVE to read them! 🥰
We are behind on doing our teacher of the week posts, but before we go into the break, we have to take the time to recognize these 3 amazing educators.
Ms. Diaz goes above and beyond as an 8th English teacher and a club sponsor for various clubs, she inspires her students and supports her colleagues with dedication and passion. She is one truly amazing teacher!
Along with teaching social studies and art, Ms Hill coaches volleyball, basketball and soccer. She always finds time to help out another teacher or lend an ear for a past or current student. Ms. Hill consistently puts the needs of her students above her own and we are beyond grateful to have such a wonderful teacher on campus for our students.
Mrs. Aguilar, our librarian, is always willing to lend a helping hand or accommodate her space to support student learning. Whether it’s transforming the library into a fun Hogwarts experience, or welcoming our science students into the library to help them prepare for their exam, she is always your go-to person. In addition to her library responsibilities, Mrs Aguilar coaches volleyball and softball and leads our Apache book club. She is a true educator at heart! Go Mrs. Aguilar!
SAVE THE DATE!!!!!!
‼️‼️Update!! New band performance time is 6:00!!!‼️‼️
Hosted by our Texas A&M Partners and Leal's Ms. Harris, Mrs. Aranguiz, and Mrs. Sevilla, our BESITO Club Tamalada was a memorable cultural experience that brought our community together to celebrate the rich traditions of tamales and the legacy of maíz (corn).
Students learned about the fascinating history of corn, which dates back to 7000 BCE when it was first cultivated by Indigenous women as an offering to the Gods. They also had the chance to get their hands messy, practicing how to untar masa on husks ("embarrar tamales") and enjoy some delicious tamales! 😋🌮
This festive event was not only about food and culture, but also about building camaraderie and fostering connections. 🎁 Students even had a chance to win special door prizes! 🎉
We were honored to have special guests join us, including Barbara Carrion, ASAP2Teach Program Manager, Dr. Hsiaoping Wu, Dr. Garza, and Dr. Emma Savage-Davis, Dean of the College of Education and Human Development at Texas A&M University. 🌟 Dr. Wu and Dr. Garza are part of the Department of Educator and Leadership Preparation at Texas A&M- San Antonio. We also welcomed two bright future bilingual teachers and current TAMUSA students who are on track to make an impact in the world of education. 🌍📚
What a special time of festivities, culture, and bonding it was! Thank you to our TAMUSA partners, students and our bilingual teachers-in-the-making for making this event unforgettable! ❤️
🎉🌽 BESITO Club Tamalada: ¡Una Celebración de Cultura, Tradición y Camaradería!
Organizado por nuestros socios de Texas A&M y las profesoras de Leal, Ms. Harris, Mrs. Aranguiz y Mrs. Sevilla, nuestra Tamalada del BESITO Club fue una experiencia cultural memorable que unió a nuestra comunidad para celebrar las ricas tradiciones de los tamales y el legado del maíz.
Los estudiantes aprendieron sobre la fascinante historia del maíz, que se remonta a 7000 a.C., cuando las mujeres indígenas lo cultivaron por primera vez como ofrenda a los dioses. ¡También tuvieron la oportunidad de meter las manos en la masa, practicando cómo untar masa en las hojas de maíz ("embarrar tamales") y disfrutar de unos deliciosos tamales! 😋🌮
Este evento festivo no solo se trató de comida y cultura, sino también de construir camaradería y fomentar conexiones. 🎁 ¡Los estudiantes incluso tuvieron la oportunidad de ganar premios especiales! 🎉
Nos sentimos honrados de contar con la presencia de invitados especiales, como Barbara Carrion, Gerente del Programa ASAP 2Teach, Dr. Hsiaoping Wu, Dr. Garza, y Dr. Emma Savage-Davis, Decana de la Facultad de Educación y Desarrollo Humano de la Universidad Texas A&M. 🌟 Dr. Wu y Dr. Garza forman parte del Departamento de Preparación de Educadores y Liderazgo de Texas A & M- San Antonio. También tuvimos el placer de contar con dos futuras profesoras bilingües y estudiantes de TAMUSA quienes están en camino de hacer un gran impacto en el mundo de la educación. 🌍📚
¡Qué momento especial de festividades, cultura y unión fue este! ¡Gracias a nuestros socios de TAMUSA, estudiantes y a nuestros futuros maestros bilingües por hacer de este evento algo inolvidable! ❤️
Today the 7th grade Texas history honors students spent the day learning more about San Antonio’s indigenous and revolutionary history at the Alamo and Mission San Jose. Students saw artifacts and tried their hands at ancient hunting techniques. Lots of fun and learning was had by all!
Leal's BESitO club invites you to join TAMUSA for Lights of Esperanza
Don't miss our Fall Play
"The Best/Worst things about Middle School"
Friday, December 6th at Harlandale High School Auditorium
Doors open at 5:30, curtain rises at 6:00.
Invite your family and friends!
The last 2 weeks of school before the break, our 6th grade students participated in an attendance incentive. Each day our students showed up to school, they were given a feather and they used that feather to vote for a 6th grade teacher or staff member that volunteered to participate in the Leal Turkey Trot. The staff member with the most feathers was to wear a turkey costume or turkey hat on the last day of school before Thanksgiving break. Coach Pacheco-6th Grade Math, took 3rd place, Coach Guerra-6th Grade Math, took 2nd place, and Coach Gonzales was the chosen one in 1st place! Thank you to Mrs. Guerra, Ms. Hill and Mrs. Abundis for organizing, funding, and leading this incentive for our students. We appreciate all staff members who were willing to participate, but special thanks to our coaches for being such good sports. Last and most importantly, thank you to our parents for sending your child to school every single day! We will see everyone back on December 2nd! Have an amazing Thanksgiving week off!
