School Is Back In Session

September 19, 2014
Our students have been back at school for about a month now and it’s good to see all the fall activities in full swing. Sul Ross is higher in enrollment and Alpine Independent School District has a wonderful group of kids this year. We also have several thriving private schools in our community.

Learning is important because to achieve anything in life you need to know where to start, what to do and how it is going to affect you and the people around you. The institutions we have here in Alpine continue to work to meet these goals to build a better community.

I have been asked many times since we returned to Alpine – ‘how do the Alpine schools compare to other districts your children have attended?’. My response always resonates around three points:

Learning at the Secondary education level is a reflection of parental involvement. The more we are involved as parents, the better result our children will have.

We have kids coming out of Alpine going to Ivy League schools, the Naval Academy, all the top tier schools in Texas…enough said.
Most importantly, our teachers and administrators care about the children personally. In larger communities, you may get a handful of folks who care, but in Alpine, it’s cultural and helps set us apart. We are fortunate.

Sul Ross State University has done a wonderful job at being a pillar in our community for almost a century. Having a thriving university presents many additional opportunities for the youth and adults in Alpine. Dual enrollment for our high school, theater programs, countless seminars, and many other programs are some of the ways we see the university enrich the community.

I urge the community to support our youth in their learning endeavors. Participate, engage and continue to help in the process. Those efforts help shape Alpine.

And remember, learning is not limited to the young. As Henry Ford once said “Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young. The greatest thing in life is to keep your mind young.”

Erik Zimmer, City Manager

Back to School