Celebrating 113 Years

In 1912, Natalia ISD started with three school board members, four teachers, and a small two-story building. With the town just putting its organization together, the schoolhouse functioned to educate many of the farmer’s children, including the canal workers. It was this same year that Dr. Fred Stark Pearson founded Natalia.

Natalia ISD started as a school for younger age children. It was not a senior high, which forced high school kids to graduate from other area schools that were well underway, like Devine. The first graduating class from Natalia High was in the mid-1940s. Natalia serves children from the City of Natalia, Forrest Woods, Mustang Estates, the Chacon Lake area, Pearson, Lytle Ranch Acres, part of Great Oaks, and other parts of Medina County.

Natalia ISD continues to grow and gear toward the future: In 2025-2026, the numbers are slightly different from those back in 1912. Natalia ISD now includes the Early Childhood Center, Natalia Elementary, Natalia Junior High, as well as Natalia High School. As of October 2025, there are currently 1,307 children attending Natalia Schools: 272 - ECC, 290 - Elementary, 376 - Natalia Jr. High, and 369 - Natalia High School.

Board of Trustees

Natalia ISD School Board of Trustees are Mr. Eric Smith, President; Mrs. Tiffany Brown, Vice President; Mrs. Danielle Alderete, Secretary; Mr. Paul Almendarez, Trustee; Mr. Jaime Gomez, Trustee, Mr. Fernando Garza, Trustee; and , Trustee. The Natalia ISD Board of Trustees meets the fourth Monday of each month at 7:00 p.m. in the Natalia Jr. High Cafeteria.

Central Office

Dr. Lloyd Verstuyftt took over as Interim Superintendent in November 2025. With a new sense of purpose, the district will build upon the vision/tagline, “Building Lives Utilizing Education.” We will continue to define the expectation and understanding of our vision/tagline. “The Blue Way” will include several initiatives and programs that form a foundation to our work: Focused Professional Learning, Professional Learning Communities (PLCs), Literacy Plan (K-8), Early College Academy (ECA), and a viable and rigorous curriculum. The district supports college and career readiness by providing free access to the Texas Success Initiative (TSI) test, Preliminary SAT (PSAT), and the SAT with essays for all students at the appropriate grade levels. Furthermore, our incoming freshman students will now have access to 42 college hours at no cost to parents through our new Early College Academy.

The central office team includes the following: Dr. Elmer Avellaneda, Executive Director of Finance;  Ms. Leticia Buenrostro, Executive Director of Academic Services; Ms. Jeannette Roberts, Technology Director;  Mr. Jason Reynolds, Athletic Director; Mr. Jerry Jass, Director of Operations; Ms. Tiffanie Sagia PEIMS Coordinator.

Schools

Natalia Early Childhood Center is under the leadership of Principal Ms. Rebecca Rendon.

 

Natalia Elementary School is under the leadership of Principal Ms. Nichole Speer. The campus is unique because it increases teacher effectiveness and student opportunities, and students receive specialized instruction through the teaming model from second through fifth grade. The focus of Natalia Elementary is literacy and numeracy while supporting the children’s social and emotional learning.

Natalia Junior High School is under the leadership of Interim Principal                     . NJH offers high-quality core classes and enhances its college readiness curriculum with AVID and Pre-AP classes. NJH has business and robotics electives, and for students who wish to get a head start in high school, courses to earn high school credit are offered, such as Spanish and Algebra 1.

Natalia High School is under the leadership of Principal Dr. Fernando Torres. Mrs. Carmen Lopez as assistant principal and Ms. Carmen Maglievaz as Academic Dean. The NHS staff provides a full range of programs of study designed to prepare students to be college-ready and or to enter the workforce. Natalia High School has plenty of ongoing clubs and activities, not to mention the Fighting Mustang Athletic Programs.

Programs

 

The Natalia Athletic Program, consisting of both Junior High and High School athletes, continues to reinforce competitiveness, structure, accountability, and team bonding across all sports which include; Football, Volleyball, Cross Country, Cheer, Basketball, Powerlifting, Golf, Track & Field, Softball and Baseball. For the 2025–2026 school year, the program proudly serves 267 student-athletes from grades 7–12 in both boys’ and girls’ athletics. 

Following a year of maximum participation and a strong 2024–2025 competitive season, Natalia athletes advanced to postseason play in multiple sports, including Volleyball, Boys and Girls Basketball, Boys & Girls Powerlifting, Softball, Boys & Girls Track, and Cross Country.

Season Highlights

  • Volleyball: The Lady Mustangs captured the Bi-District Championship and finished an impressive 26–15 overall season.
    Cross Country: One athlete advanced to the Regionals and finished 29th overall.

  • Track & Field: Both the Boys and Girls Track teams advanced to Area, with one athlete qualifying for Regionals in long jump.

  • Basketball: Both the Boys and Girls teams delivered strong seasons, each advancing to Playoffs.

  • Powerlifting:

    • Boys: 3 lifters qualified for Regionals—with all three advancing to State.

    • Girls: 14 lifters qualified for Regionals, with 4 advancing to State.
      The team earned Regional Runner-Up, with standout performances including:
      1 Regional Champion, 2 Regional Runner-Ups, Two 3rd-place finishes, Two 4th-place finishes
      At State, the team secured 5th place overall, highlighted by:
      1 State Champion, One 3rd place finisher, One 4th place finisher and One 5th place finisher.

  • Baseball & Softball: Both programs celebrated successful seasons on our new turf fields, with Lady Mustang Softball continuing its strong tradition by once again advancing to the playoffs.

The Natalia Athletic Program remains committed to excellence and the continued development of student-athletes both on and off the field.



The Natalia Band Program has had another successful year despite the many challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. The year began with the Natalia High School Marching Band as it does every school year, but this year was vastly different. From wearing face masks in the Texas heat to placing bell coverings on all instruments and social distancing 6 feet a part and more in some cases, the band experienced a very non-traditional marching season. Also, non-typical in this year, marching season lasted until December 12, where the band gave their final performance of the season at the UIL Area E Marching Contest. Even with these challenges, the Natalia High School Band received their seventh consecutive first division in marching, which allowed them to advance to the Area contest, for the fourth time in school history.

The Natalia High School Band also had several students make the ATSSB Region 11 Band. Thirteen students auditioned and earned a spot in the region band and nine of those students advanced to Area. One student also qualified for the ATSSB All State Band, the third time in school history. As the school year continued, the UIL Solo and Ensemble contest quickly approached and eight of the nine student participants received a first division rating and six participants qualified for the UIL State Solo and Ensemble contest. The final contest of the year for the High School Band, UIL Concert and Sightreading, proved to also be another  huge success for the band, as they received both a first division in concert and in sight reading, thus earning them the UIL Sweepstakes award. This award is accomplished by receiving a first division in marching, concert, and in sight reading. This is the second year in a row that the high school band has achieved this great accomplishment.

FFA is a dynamic student-led leadership development organization for students of agricultural education. The FFA makes a positive difference in the lives of students by developing their potential for premier leadership, personal growth, and career success through agricultural education.

Natalia FFA is a student led organization that is run by student officers and advised by Madison Flores and Raul Flores. 

There are many ways to be involved with Natalia FFA like through SAEs. The Supervised Agricultural Experience (SAE) program involves practical agricultural activities performed by students outside of scheduled classroom and laboratory time. SAEs provide a method in agricultural education for students to receive real-world career experiences in an area of agriculture that they are most interested in. The most common SAE that Natalia FFA members participate in is raising a livestock project, such as swine, sheep, goats, steers and heifers. But SAE projects can also be: making a welding project, conducting research, and so much more. 

Students are also able to participate in LDEs and CDEs! Leadership Development Events focus on creating situations for members to demonstrate their abilities in public speaking, decision making, communication and their knowledge of agriculture and the FFA organization. Team and individual events are used to reinforce what is taught in agricultural science classrooms. LDEs that Natalia FFA participates in are: Creed Speaking, Spanish Creed Speaking, Agricultural Quiz, Radio Broadcasting, Agricultural Advocacy, Chapter Conducting, and Agricultural Skills. 

Career Development Events build on what is learned in agricultural classes and encourage members to put their knowledge into practice. These events are designed to help a member prepare for a career in agriculture by testing and challenging the student's technical, leadership, interpersonal and teamwork skills as well as their knowledge of the subject matter. Natalia participates in several CDE contests, such as: Veterinary Science, Nursery/Landscaping, Cotton Classing, Environmental and Natural Resources, and Meat Evaluation.



Career and Technology Education has expanded, adding a Medical program of study. With a certified teacher/nurse on staff, students at Natalia High School have the opportunity to earn a PCT Leve 1 Certification. Students can also choose programs of study in Business Marketing and Sales and Programming & Video game Design.

At Natalia, we love our kids and will always cherish that Fighting Mustang Pride! Go Big Blue!