Graduate
Ready eNews
From AISD's Redesign to You
The new Graduate Ready eNews
will keep parents, students, and community leaders informed about
AISD's High School Redesign. It will highlight campus efforts
to improve student performance and ask for your input and ideas every
month. We want to hear from
you - so please
participate in our May "Question of the Month" or send your
comments to officeofredesign@
austinisd.org
Stories in upcoming
issues
of Graduate Ready eNews:
- Advisory - What Do Students
Think?
- Faith and Education
Collaboration - Linking
Churches to College Readiness
- Music Internships at LBJ
- Green Tech/Global Tech at
Eastside Memorial
- Block Schedule at Anderson - How will it work?
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Message
from
Superintendent
Pat Forgione
High School
Redesign: Progress Now
And More to Come
As
I depart AISD on June 30, I look back at the ambitious plan we launched
to fundamentally change the way high schools educate
students. From the beginning, our vision was to change
systems at all of our comprehensive high schools so that every student
at every
high school had the opportunity to graduate on time, ready for a
successful future. We wanted to make these opportunities
intentional and systematic for every student, not random or by
luck. Our approach was unique because many school districts
choose to redesign only one or two struggling high schools, while AISD
believed that we should raise the bar for all
of our students on all 11 AISD's comprehensive high school
campuses.
This month will be the end of my work with AISD and the High School
Redesign Initiative. But for our high school students, it is really just the
beginning. As we
complete the second year of Redesign at our high schools, we are starting to see
concrete results.
We've created new, innovative schools and academies like Global Tech
and Green Tech at Eastside Memorial, the Academy of Global Studies at
Austin High and the New Tech Academy at Akins, as well as
the Ann Richards School for Young Women Leaders, already an
Exemplary school. Travis High School beat the odds, going
from Academically Unacceptable on TAKS to Acceptable in 2008 in only
its first year of Redesign. Bowie has created a 9th grade
academy and is launching a student leadership elective for upper
classmen to mentor struggling 9th and 10th graders. Lanier and the
International High School have launched a school-wide intensive program
to improve performance of English Language Learners.
Importantly, all high school students have an advisor dedicated to
helping them navigate to successful graduation.
With a mission statement of "Graduate
Ready.
College. Career. Life,"
AISD's Redesign now moves into its next phase with more to come for
students. Some of the new campus efforts include:
block scheduling at Anderson to provide opportunity for more college
level classes; student support "houses" at Crockett and McCallum where
students receive wrap-around services from advisors, social workers,
and counselors; Project 2013 at LBJ to transition incoming 9th graders
into the small learning communities, and new centers at Reagan to
provide targeted instruction, one for struggling students and one for
recent immigrants.
We know there is more work to accomplish and not every student is on
track to graduate at this time. Changing the way high schools
have operated for over 100 years cannot happen in only
two. But staying the course for High School Redesign is
critical. It will take focus, commitment, resources, and
resolve, along with support from parents and community
leaders. But with your help, and a wonderful new
Superintendent, we can anticipate more good news and even greater
increases in student performance in the future.
Pascal
D. Forgione, Jr., Ph.D.
Superintendent
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Focus on Travis High School
In
its first year of Redesign (2007-2008), Travis High School earned the
Academically Acceptable rating on TAKS and has launched an exciting new
program for students. Read
more below.
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Travis
Turns Around-
TAKS Success in First Year of Redesign
Just
two years ago, Travis failed to meet the state standards on TAKS and
was rated Academically Unacceptable by TEA. As an
urban high school with multiple challenges such as poverty, language
barriers and student mobility, Travis faced an uphill battle to achieve
an Acceptable rating. Under the leadership of
Principal Rene Garganta, Travis met the state standard on TAKS in 2008
and achieved the Academically Acceptable rating from TEA.
TAKS scores in 2009 are not yet official, but Garganta hopes to see
continued improvement in student performance.
Garganta credits his teachers for the turnaround of Travis.
He also recognizes that progress would not have been possible without
the fundamental changes that began at Travis in 2007 when the campus
implemented the First Things First reform model as part of its campus
Redesign. Read more
about how Travis High School turned around.
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Real
World
Connections -
Business and Community Leaders Network with Students
Bringing
real-world experiences into the classroom is the purpose of a new
program launched by Travis High School and the Office of
Redesign. Real World Connections
provides the opportunity for students to interact first-hand with
professionals who work in career fields related to the career-themed
academies at Travis. In this way, students better understand
how their classwork connects to their future.
Over 40 community leaders have participated in 2009 including
Austin Police Chief Art Acevedo, State Representative Eddie Rodriquez,
District Judge Orlinda Naranjo, Travis County District Clerk Amalia
Rodriguez-Mendoza, attorneys, police officers, and representatives from
public relations firms, media outlets, colleges and universities, and
Austin businesses. For a complete
list of participants, click here.
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Question of the Month
We
Want to Hear From You!
Has
advisory had an impact on your student
this
year, or
helped her/him navigate through challenges or a difficult
situation?
Reply to this email to share
your answers!
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Flashpoints
- The District has announced
an opportunity
for all incoming 9th graders to sign-up for the Eastside Memorial New
Tech High Schools for the 2009-2010 school year. To find out
more and to get a choice application, click here.
- The AISD Trustees approved
the Late Start
dates for 2009-2010 click here for
a list of Late Start days.
- The Austin Area Urban
League hosted a
Redesign Impact Leaders luncheon in collaboration with AISD's
Office of Redesign on May 27, 2009. District 1 Trustee Cheryl Bradley
welcomed the community leaders on behalf of the AISD Board.
Principal Rene Garganta and Assistant Principal Darnell Horton
discussed the success of the Redesign plan at Travis High School.
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