Tori Harris is excited about going to first grade.

The little girl, wearing a bright pink dress with denim vest, and her mother Jessica Harris, were on hand to celebrate the opening of the brand new Bob Hope Elementary School on Monday.

“I like that they have a dual language program, small classes and good test scores,” mom Jessica Harris said during a reception held after the ribbon cutting at the campus, 4301 32^nd St. “And they’re very strict. I love that.”

School Superintendent Bobby Lopez greeted a crowd of teachers, staff, chamber of commerce members, school board trustees and more saying the campus has already finished enrollment and has a waiting list for students wanting to attend the school.

Board president Bobby Martin told the group they made the decision to buy the property six to eight months ago.

“We knew we had the money in the bank to start and also knew there would be an unbelievable timeline,” Martin said.

The elementary campus is certified for prekindergarten through fifth grades but during this first school year will only house PK through second grade with additional grades being added as the years progress.

The main campus for grades 6-12 is at 2849 Ninth Ave.

Campus director Virginia Roberts explained that the elementary campus will focus on the Montessori approach of teaching where each child is taught at their own proficiency level.

“For example, is a child knows a lesson you wouldn’t hold them back, you let them progress. Or if a child is in the first grade and reads on a kindergarten level, you work with them,” Roberts said of the child centered approach. “Students will work independently as well as in groups.”

All public schools in the state must abide by the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills curriculum standard and those will be taught at the new school as well.

Roberts is especially excited about the dual language program.

“It’s not about trying to make every student speak only Spanish or English. It’s about helping every student be bi-literate; to speak, read, write and think in both languages,” she said.

One’s native language usually takes about seven years to learn and once the phonemes are learned then other languages can be built.

Currently there are 80 PK students, 110 K-1^st grade students and 65 second grade students in addition to the waiting list. Those are divided up into two morning and two afternoon PK classes, five K-1 classes and three 2^nd grade classes.

Officials with the Bob Hope School closed on the purchase of the new building at the former Trinity Baptist Church on May 5 and several weeks later got news from TEA about the acceptance of their application for expansion to the elementary grades.

The main campus for grades 6-12 is located at 2849 Ninth Ave.

Twitter: @MaryMeauxPANews