Environmental Scan - Los Fresnos, Texas

Los Fresnos, Texas – Environmental Scan

Research is a major part of our lives, whether we may realize it or not, and our environmental surroundings also play a role in our research, our digital tools, and ultimately, our foundation of knowledge.

Los Fresnos, Texas, without a doubt, resides in an extremely unique area in our entire country. We live in an area next to Brownsville, whose motto is “On the border, by the sea.” This proximity to both the ocean and an entirely different country, provides us with 2 languages, both English and Spanish, and an overall culturally rich area. There is so much to offer here in the Rio Grande Valley and Los Fresnos. From the food to the music to the cost of living and job opportunities, the RGV is a gold mine of culture and comfort.

For most people who live in the RGV, the highest employers are “healthcare 16.5%, educational services 11.97%, and retail trade 11.46%,” based on the information from RGV Health Connect. However, there is a lot, and I mean a lot, of farming and ranching in many RGV towns, especially in Los Fresnos. Almost every subdivision has its little farmland or ranching acreage neighboring the homes. It never fails to be woken up with the sound of the watering airplane or the big tractors picking up wheat, fruits, vegetables, cotton, or whatever else may be planted. Part of the reason why farming and ranching is so successful here is because the sun is always shining, and the soil is very fertilized. Our proximity to the ocean provides high humidity, which is ideal for growing crops. Surrounding our beautiful crops and beach, we have a lot of public schools in each town, with Los Fresnos having 9 elementaries, 3 middle schools, and 1 9th and 10th grade academy, and 1 11th and 12th grade campus. Now, it’s not to say that we don’t have drawbacks to living in rural areas, as it may sometimes cause lack of internet reach or dead spots with no signal; however, our districts do their best to provide plenty of solutions for the lack of WIFI or signal – anything to help them submit their work and still receive a quality education. While these public schools are amazing options for students to attend and grow in, there are other options of magnet or charter schools such as IDEA Public Schools, Harmony Science Academy, and South Texas ISD. All of these choices that parents have in which to enroll their students keeps the districts in a competitive mode to be innovative and offer nothing but the best to the parents, students, and community. 

Given all of these characteristics of the city, according to Bandwidth Place, “In Los Fresnos, Texas, there are several options for broadband internet access, including fiber, cable, 5G home internet, satellite, and fixed wireless.” These various options allow for users to have a choice in how they want to access the internet based on their needs. Whether it be for school, their homes, a small business, or simply to watch Netflix, it’s good to know that the citizens of Los Fresnos are safe with options such as Spectrum, AT&T, T-Mobile 5G Home Internet, and so on to choose from. To zone in specifically on the student and school broadband internet access, in 2020, during the COVID Pandemic, the Los Fresnos CISD sent out a survey in an effort to improve internet access, as everything was shifting to an online basis. This survey was “part of a Broadband Planning Process organized by the City of Brownsville [which neighbors Los Fresnos, TX] to bring better broadband to Los Fresnos and the surrounding areas.” The purpose of the survey for families was to “help determine the challenges confronted by residents who have poor or no internet access,” as mentioned in the LFCISD website.  

Focusing more on the actual findings of the school district in regards to internet use, according to the United States Census Bureau, about “89.8% of households [have] broadband internet subscriptions, percent, 2019-2023,” along with at least about “98.1% of households with a computer, percent, 2019-2023.” Thankfully, most students and households seem to have access to devices and the internet at home as well as in the classrooms. It’s safe to say that when students step out of their homes and into schools in the district, students have access to the internet, as well as their own personal device assigned to them for use during the school day. Most campuses in LFCISD have a 1 to 1 ratio of student to personal laptop or access to the internet. There are various lines of defense where something happens to their personal devices such as an IT technician or the school librarian. If the issue with their personal device cannot be fixed or troubleshot immediately, students are often either given a loaner for the assignments they have during the day or they are able to use a laptop from the COW (computer on wheels) or simply using the desktops available for use for the students in the computer labs. Regardless of the issue, there is a solution. Our students in the district are very blessed in the aspect that they never have to worry about missing out on learning or completing their assignments due to lack of internet access. 

Because most students and teachers have internet access and tech tools in the classroom, there has been a shift of using that technology in various ways in the classroom that supports learning, especially since COVID. There are almost infinite strategies and methods of learning that are supported through the use of technology in the classroom such as Google Classroom, Canvas, Padlet, etc. Projects, group work, presentations, and more are all now transformed through helpful websites and apps. Not only do students benefit from the access to the internet, but so do the teachers and the entire school staff. In professional developments, we are able to collaborate, create, analyze, evaluate, and manipulate information into assignments, and everything is facilitated with the new technology tools and access to the internet. 

References

Connect, R. H. (n.d.). RGV Health Connect. RGV Health Connect :: Demographics :: Region :: Rio Grande Valley :: Employment. https://www.rgvhealthconnect.org/demographicdata?id=281259&sectionId=939 

Families urged to complete survey to improve internet access. Los Fresnos Consolidated Independent School District. (2020, October 22). https://www.lfcisd.net/apps/news/article/1323210 

Top internet providers in Los Fresnos, TX. (n.d.-a). https://www.bandwidthplace.com/internet/texas/los-fresnos 

U.S. Census Bureau quickfacts: Los Fresnos City, Texas. (n.d.-b). https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/losfresnoscitytexas/PST045224