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The academic programming of a potential future high school in South Austin was the focus of an Austin ISD committee presentation and community discussion Feb. 21.
At this point, the committee is only charged with coming up with an academic program; the school's location will be determined later, said Rhonda Boyer, the district's administrative supervisor for advanced academic services.
About 20 people came to the event, where AISD staff briefed members of the community on the five proposed scenarios for academic programming at the school. Attendees had the chance to ask questions and write down comments that will be reviewed while developing recommendations.
Potential programming options
Each school design centers on specific programming options.
An international baccalaureate diploma program for grades 11 and 12 would emphasize six advanced studies courses in language, literature, language acquisition, individuals and societies, math and computer science.
An international baccalaureate career-related certificate for grades 11 and 12 would require the international baccalaureate diploma program to be in place and would provide two advanced studies relevant to a career-related field in addition to second-language studies.
An early college high school design would serve grades 9–12. The programming would emphasize college readiness and provide the opportunity to complete an associate degree or up to two years of transferable college credit.
Career and technical education for grades 9–12. A career and technical education–focused school would emphasize career-related academic skills in fields such as automotive technology, computer programming, architecture, video game design and the biomedical field. Students would have the opportunity to earn industry credentials and possibly college credit.
Another design would focus on science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) with Project Lead The Way curriculum and would serve students in ninth through 12th grade. The design would emphasize critical connections between STEM principles and real-world solutions, and provide opportunities for partnerships, internships and mentorships with local technology and medical arts businesses.
Linda Klar was one of four members of AISD's South High School committee who answered questions about the different proposed designs.
She explained the STEM school design to attendees.
"The two pathways being discussed are engineering and biomedical sciences," she said, adding that such a STEM-based curriculum already exists within a comprehensive high school design at Akins High School as well as at Eastside Memorial High School, and the curriculum is being introduced to middle schools feeding into those vertical teams.
Rodney Jones, AISD Advanced Academic Services Coordinator, explained that if the district decides on one or both of the international baccalaureate programming options, it would have to apply for international baccalaureate status.
Community feedback
A few attendees expressed concerns with the district's plans to develop academic programming before determining the site for the school and suggested issues such as overcrowding should be considered while developing the academic programming.
Patricia Elphert, an AISD parent, said she thinks it would make more sense to buy the land before deciding on whether the school should be a comprehensive high school or a more specialized design, such as the international baccalaureate diploma program for only two grades.
"They've got to buy land for the school. They're going to burn their bridges if they don't buy enough land for a comprehensive school," she said. "I couldn't get anybody to come [to the meeting] tonight. They're saying, 'It doesn't matter. The district is putting it off; they're not buying land.'"
Elphert added she thinks the length of the process is frustrating, as a district representative said the school might not be constructed for several years.
The funding to acquire land for a future south high school comes from the 2008 bond program, while funding for a feasibility and design study up for consideration by the AISD board of trustees as part of the district's proposed scope of work for a potential May 2013 bond.
Choosing the location will be a big issue, AISD Chief Academic Officer Pauline Dow said.
"That will be the next phase; this is the time to kind of nail down options around the academic programming, and then the operations people will come in and start really looking at demographics and the percentage of overcrowding," she said.
