Hermelinda Rodriguez Elementary School

Hermelinda Rodriguez Elementary School is named after the Austin Independent School District's (AISD) first female, Mexican-American principal. Over the course of her lifelong career as an educator, Hermelinda Rodriguez was a pioneer in bilingual education who left a tremendous footprint upon Austin's school system. As a principal, she developed a bilingual curriculum that later became a state curriculum requirement, and she went on to serve as the district's director of elementary school management, making history as the institution's highest ranking Mexican-American woman.

It is in the spirit of its namesake's commitment to education that Hermelinda Rodriguez Elementary School approaches teaching. The school serves students Pre-K through 5th grade, including free Pre-K for qualifying families, and is committed to the growth of each student as a whole, rather than just academically. As a participant in AISD's Creative Learning Initiative, Hermelinda Rodriguez Elementary School incorporates fine arts into each grade level's curriculum. Further, the school offers robust after-school programming.

In 2004, Hermelinda Rodriguez Elementary School implemented the innovative technological program KidBiz3000 for its students. The platform is a web-based reading and writing instruction program for 2nd through 8th grade students designed to integrate with the teacher's lesson plans and curriculum. The program allows every teacher to assign individualized reading and writing assignments according to each student's personal level, offering personalized coursework that can help improve proficiency.