In celebration of their commitment to helping Ysleta ISD students thrive, Eastwood Heights Elementary School and Eastwood Middle School have earned top awards from the Lone Star State School Counselor Association (LSSSCA) for strong, comprehensive school counseling programs.

Eastwood Heights Elementary School earned LSSSCA’s 2026 Silver Award while Eastwood Middle School won the 2026 Bronze Award, signaling that the campuses have established a solid foundation in their school counseling programs or demonstrated substantial progress and effectiveness in their counseling initiatives, officials said.

Additionally, Eastwood Middle School Counselor Rose Ponce de Leon was among a handful of school counselors named semifinalists earlier this year in the 2026 Lone Star School Counselor of the Year competition.

Advancing Excellence in School Counseling

The Lone Star Awards recognize effective and outstanding school counseling programs in the state of Texas, and serve to prepare school counselors to apply for the nationally Recognized ASCA Model Program (RAMP) award.

It recognizes comprehensive counseling programs that are data-driven, developmentally appropriate, and delivered to all students with the goal of improving student outcomes, closing achievement and opportunity gaps, and preparing students for post-secondary success.

LSSSCA’s awards system consists of three tiers: Bronze, Silver and Gold. Each award has increasing levels of rigor designed to elevate school counselor programs to national recognition through the Recognized ASCA Model Program (RAMP) award. This is a progressive award system, requiring applicants to apply for each level in sequential order.

Celebrating Success on the State Stage

As award-winning counseling programs, both Eastwood Heights Elementary School and Eastwood Middle School will be recognized during the 2026 LSSSCA annual conference/gala in November in Frisco. For information, visit https://www.lonestarstateschoolcounselor.org/lonestaraward