Weslaco ISD ACE Program

09/03/2026

CREATIVITY IS GLOWING AT SAM HOUSTON ACE!

There are so many ways for students to discover what they enjoy beyond the school day, and our Sam Houston Elementary ACE students are getting opportunities to do just that!

Glow-in-the-Dark Portraits
Our young artists put a bright twist on creativity by creating their own glow-in-the-dark portraits! Activities like this allow students to experiment with artistic expression, make creative choices, and take pride in creating something uniquely their own. And seeing their artwork come to life in the dark makes the experience even more exciting!

Esports
Meanwhile, our Esports students are putting their gaming skills to work! Esports provides an engaging environment where students can practice communication, teamwork, strategic thinking, problem-solving, and good sportsmanship while participating in something they genuinely enjoy.

This is what enrichment in Texas ACE is all about, giving students opportunities to explore interests they may not always have time to experience during the traditional school day.

Whether they’re holding a paintbrush or a controller, our students are creating, thinking, collaborating, and having FUN beyond the bell!

Great things are already happening at Sam Houston ACE, and we’re just getting started!

Weslaco ISD Sam Houston Elementary School

09/02/2026

The music is playing, the energy is high, and our Silva Elementary ACE Dance Club is officially underway!

Dance is so much more than learning steps and choreography. Through this exciting enrichment opportunity, our students have a chance to move, create, express themselves, build confidence, and work together as a team all while having FUN!

As our dancers learn and practice new routines, they’re also developing important skills such as:

• Rhythm and coordination
• Physical fitness and endurance
• Focus and memory
• Teamwork and cooperation
• Confidence and self-expression
• Creativity and a love for the performing arts

That’s what makes enrichment such an important part of the Texas ACE experience. After working hard during the school day and participating in academic support, students deserve opportunities to discover new interests and talents and experience learning in completely different ways.

Who knows? We may even have some future performers discovering their passion right here at Silva ACE!

We can’t wait to see what our dancers learn and eventually show us as the year continues.

Keep dancing, Silva ACE!

Weslaco ISD Silva Elementary

09/01/2026

🌟 ACE STUDENTS OF THE WEEK – WEEK 3! 🌟
📚 August 24–28, 2026 📚

We are so excited to celebrate our Week 3 ACE Students of the Week!

🎉 These outstanding students have demonstrated hard work, positive attitudes, participation, responsibility, and a commitment to making the most of their ACE experience. We are incredibly proud of each of you! 💙🧡💜

🏆 Congratulations to our Week 3 Honorees! 🏆

🎓 K–1st Grade: Shelby Guerra
🎓 2nd Grade: Ana Sofia Zuniga
🎓 3rd Grade: Jerimiah Velez
🎓 4th Grade: Joel Cavazos
🎓 5th Grade: Armani Guajardo

🏆🌟 STUDENTS OF THE MONTH 🌟🏆

⭐ Kinder–2nd Grade: Rosemary Duran
⭐ 3rd–5th Grade: Martin Mendez

Our Students of the Month have demonstrated outstanding character, leadership, responsibility, positive attitudes, and a commitment to excellence throughout their ACE experience. They consistently make positive choices, encourage others, participate actively, and serve as wonderful examples for their peers. 💙🧡💜

👏 Congratulations, Rosemary Duran and Martin Mendez! We are so proud of you and all that you continue to accomplish!

👏 Congratulations to ALL of our amazing ACE Stars! Keep shining, keep growing, and keep reaching for the stars! 🚀🌟

💜💙🧡 Inspiring Growth. Empowering Success. Launching Futures!

08/29/2026

FUN FRIENDSHIP FRIDAY AT GONZALEZ ACE!

It’s never too early in the school year to begin building something that will make a difference all year long, relationships, friendships, and a sense of belonging!

Our Gonzalez Elementary ACE students wrapped up the week with a very special Fun Friendship Friday, an afternoon intentionally designed to give students time to connect, laugh, create, and simply enjoy being together!

Students celebrated with:

• Friendship bracelet making
• Dancing and music
• Games with friends
• Face painting
• Tasty snacks
And plenty of smiles and laughter!

While the afternoon was certainly filled with FUN, experiences like these serve an important purpose in our ACE Program. Building a strong program begins with building strong relationships.

When students feel welcomed, connected, and valued, we create an environment where they are more comfortable participating, trying something new, asking for help, working with others, and being themselves. That sense of belonging becomes part of the foundation upon which both academic and personal growth can happen.

And those relationships extend beyond student-to-student friendships. Fun Friendship Friday also gave our ACE staff another opportunity to get to know their students, strengthen connections, and continue building the positive culture and climate we want our students to experience every afternoon.

Because ACE isn’t only about what our students learn after the bell, it’s also about the friendships they build, the memories they make, and knowing they have a place where they belong.

What a wonderful way to end the week, Gonzalez ACE! Here’s to many more Fridays, and an entire school year filled with friendship, learning, laughter, and ACE spirit!

Weslaco ISD Justice Raul A. Gonzalez Elementary

08/29/2026

STEM Thinking in Action at Sam Houston ACE!

What can you create with something as simple as a piece of paper? At Sam Houston Elementary ACE, our students put their creativity and problem-solving skills to work with an engaging Paper Chain STEM Challenge!

Students were challenged to think like engineers as they planned, created, tested, and improved their paper-chain designs. While the materials may have been simple, the learning happening behind the scenes was anything but!

Through hands-on STEM challenges like this, students practice important skills such as:

• Planning & Design — thinking through an idea before putting it into action
• Problem-Solving — figuring out what works and what needs to change
• Engineering & Construction — turning everyday materials into a working design
• Collaboration — sharing ideas and learning from one another
• Creativity & Innovation — discovering that there can be more than one solution to a challenge
• Persistence — testing, adjusting, and trying again when something doesn’t work the first time

This is one of the things we love about enrichment in Texas ACE. Students have the time and space beyond the regular school day to experiment, create, take risks, and learn through doing.

Sometimes meaningful STEM learning doesn’t require complicated equipment, it starts with a simple challenge, a few materials, and the freedom to ask, “What if I tried it this way?”

Way to put those engineering minds to work, Sam Houston ACE!

Weslaco ISD Sam Houston Elementary School

08/28/2026

Learning Takes Off at Memorial Elementary ACE!

Our Memorial Elementary ACE students are already showing how academics and enrichment work hand-in-hand to create meaningful afterschool learning experiences!

Kinder Enrichment
Our youngest learners explored the exciting world of spaceships and space travel before using their creativity to design and build their very own spaceships! Activities like this help strengthen imagination, fine motor skills, problem-solving, and curiosity while making learning fun and memorable.

3rd Grade High Impact Tutoring
During academic time, our 3rd graders participated in an engaging Math Match activity as part of High Impact Tutoring. This additional instructional time gives students opportunities to practice important math skills, reinforce concepts from the regular school day, and build confidence through active learning.

At Memorial ACE, we love creating a balance where students receive the academic support they need while also having opportunities to create, explore, and discover new interests.

From math matches to missions into space, learning is always an adventure at Memorial ACE!

Weslaco ISD Memorial Elementary School

08/27/2026

Book Club Has Begun at Rico Elementary ACE!

Our 3rd and 4th grade Rico ACE students have officially started their first day of ACE Book Club, and we are excited to see where these stories take them!

From now through the end of September, students will dive into a chapter book alongside their classmates and teachers. But Book Club is about much more than simply finishing a book. Students will have opportunities to read, think, question, discuss, make connections, share perspectives, and explore the story together.

4th Grade Book Club
Students in Mrs. Fabela’s class are reading Wonder by R.J. Palacio, a powerful story that opens the door to meaningful conversations about kindness, empathy, acceptance, friendship, and seeing the world through someone else’s perspective.

3rd Grade Book Club
Students in Mrs. Martinez’s class are reading Stone Fox by John Reynolds Gardiner, an exciting story of determination, courage, family, and perseverance that is sure to keep our young readers turning the pages!

Through their Book Club experience, students will strengthen important literacy skills such as reading fluency, comprehension, vocabulary, critical thinking, and discussion skills while also discovering the joy that can come from experiencing a great book together.

One of the wonderful things about learning beyond the bell is having the additional time to create experiences like these where reading becomes something social, engaging, and enjoyable.

We can’t wait to hear the conversations, see the connections our students make, and follow their reading journeys over the next several weeks!

Happy reading, Rico ACE! Your next adventure begins with a turn of the page!

Weslaco ISD A.N. Rico Elementary

08/24/2026

🚀🌟 Dr. R.E. MARGO ACE STUDENTS OF THE WEEK — WEEK 2! 🌟🚀

We are so proud to recognize our ACE Students of the Week for August 17–21! 🎉 These students have shown great effort, positive attitudes, kindness, responsibility, and a commitment to making the most of their time in ACE. 💙🧡💜

👏 Congratulations to our Week 2 honorees!

⭐ K & 1st Grade: Matthew Flores
⭐ 2nd Grade: Eliany Rios
⭐ 3rd Grade: Charlotte Mendez
⭐ 4th Grade: Ismael Rizo
⭐ 5th Grade: Ximena Belmares

Your hard work and dedication are shining bright! 🌟 Keep reaching for the stars and being an example for others!

🚀Inspiring Growth. Empowering Success. Launching Futures!

Congratulations, Dr. R.E. Margo ACE Stars! 🌟👏💙🧡💜

08/20/2026

Bringing Stories to Life at Gonzalez Elementary ACE!

Our 2nd grade Gonzalez Elementary ACE students discovered that reading can become an adventure when you add a little imagination—and a few puppets!

During an engaging Reader’s Theater with Puppets activity, students stepped beyond simply reading words on a page and became the characters themselves. Using puppets to act out their stories, students practiced important literacy skills while having fun and expressing their creativity.

Through Reader’s Theater, our young readers worked on:

• Reading Fluency — developing smoother, more confident reading
• Expression — using tone, emotion, and character voices to bring text to life
• Speaking & Communication — practicing how to confidently share in front of others
• Reading Comprehension — understanding characters, events, and meaning within a story
• Confidence & Creativity — giving students a fun, supportive opportunity to express themselves

Activities like this demonstrate what makes learning beyond the bell so valuable. When students can read it, act it, experience it, and have fun with it, literacy becomes more than an academic skill, it becomes something they can enjoy! Way to go, Gonzalez ACE!

Weslaco ISD Justice Raul A. Gonzalez Elementary

08/18/2026

⭐️✨Way to go Margo ACE Superstars! Keep reaching for the STARS!!✨⭐️

🚀✨ DR. R.E. MARGO ACE — REACHING FOR THE STARS! 🌟

We are bursting with pride as we announce our very first ACE Astronauts of the Week! 🚀👩‍🚀👨‍🚀

These incredible students came to ACE ready to shine, lead by example, show kindness, and set a stellar tone for our very first week back! 🌟💙

🌟 Congratulations to our August 10–14 Honorees!🌟

🚀 Kinder / 1st Grade: Isaac Lozoya
🚀 2nd Grade: Riley Chavez
🚀 3rd Grade: Mia Lopez
🚀 4th Grade: Cody Mendoza
🚀 5th Grade: Eliza Tijerina

Your leadership, kindness, dedication, and positive attitudes helped make our first week OUT OF THIS WORLD! 🌎✨

Keep shining, keep leading, and keep reaching for the stars! 🌟🚀

Congratulations, ACE Astronauts of the Week! 🎉👏💫