[caption id="attachment_118243" align="alignright" width="460"] Source: Texas Early College High School/Community Impact Newspaper[/caption] The Round Rock ISD board of trustees is considering creating several new schools aimed at focusing on specific areas of study as well as a school intended to boost college enrollment. In October the board gave district officials the go-ahead to explore an elementary and middle school fine arts academy; a world language institution for kindergarten through eighth grade; and a science, technology, engineering, arts and math, or STEAM school, among others. “As we grow, we need to find unique ways to serve all of our kids,” said Daniel Presley, the district’s chief of schools and innovation. “It’s exciting times in Round Rock [ISD].” Presley said the district is still in the early phases of exploring school options, but the district could potentially open at least one school of choice in time for the 2016-17 school year.

Exploring options

Presley said he and other district officials have been surveying schools of choice offered by other districts in Texas. He said he was particularly impressed with Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Dallas because it attracts students from outside Dallas ISD. “They’ve had many graduates with Emmy awards [and] Grammy awards,” Presley said. Texas Education Agency spokesperson DeEtta Culbertson said mostly larger, wealthier school districts in Texas are investigating schools of choice because educators require higher salaries and more classroom space is needed. “More districts are looking at getting those focused academies,” she said. Districts sometimes open a school with a specialized focus within a comprehensive school campus and then move the school onto its own campus as it becomes more successful, Culbertson said. “It all depends on what the district can offer,” she said. At an Oct. 8 RRISD board of trustees workshop, Presley said the district has bond funding available for a master plan for C.D. Fulkes Middle School on West Anderson Avenue in Round Rock, which it could use to make the institution a school of choice. Because the art scene is beginning to flourish in downtown Round Rock, Presley said C.D. Fulkes could be a good location for a middle school fine arts academy. RRISD has successful visual and performing arts academies at Cedar Ridge and Westwood high schools that the middle school students could graduate into, he said. At the workshop trustees and RRISD staff members also discussed a world language-centered elementary and middle school. Trustee Terri Romere proposed having district staffers explore a vocational or career-path high school, and Superintendent Steve Flores proposed investigating a technical high school because of the district’s proximity to Dell Inc. “In no way are we abandoning the comprehensive school concept,” Presley said later in a phone conversation. Rather, the district wants to create opportunities for students it would otherwise lose to charter schools, home schooling or private schools, he said. [caption id="attachment_118244" align="aligncenter" width="700"] Source: Johns Hopkins School of Education/Community Impact Newspaper[/caption]

Early college high school

In September the board approved a proposal to explore an early college high school in partnership with Austin Community College. The school would allow seniors to graduate with a high school diploma and an associate degree or 60 college credit hours toward a bachelor’s degree. Flores and Charles Chadwell, who has served as school board president for the past year, have consistently expressed support for proposals that offer more opportunities to RRISD students. At the September board meeting, Flores said the district was losing students who want an early college high school opportunity. “There’s excitement from ACC, and there’s excitement from the district,” he said. “I need to give our students the choice.” Since then, Michelle Swain, director of gifted and advanced academic services, has been touring other early college high schools in the state, including those in Bastrop, Houston and Ysleta ISDs. Clear Horizons Early College High School in Houston ISD was established eight years ago and could serve as a good example for a similar program in Round Rock ISD, she said. “It’s a great way for students who might not otherwise see college as an affordable or an attainable option,” Swain said. “This is an opportunity for them, at no cost to them, to obtain their high school diploma and associate degree simultaneously.” The district must gain approval from the TEA to open an early college high school.

ACC facilitates programs

ACC’s first early college high school class graduated in May from John H. Reagan and Lyndon B. Johnson early college high schools—both of which  are AISD schools that serve a high percentage of low-income, minority and first-generation college-goers, according to ACC. Melissa Biegert, ACC director of early college high schools, said nine graduates received both a diploma and an associate degree; another four or five students were within a course or two of earning both. Overall, more than 60 students graduated high school with some college credit, which was a huge win for the schools, Biegert said. Almost all of those students intend to continue studying at local four-year colleges, she added. ACC serves more than 450 students in Austin, Bastrop, Elgin and Manor ISD early college high schools. Biegert said ACC President Richard Rhodes joined the college at the dawn of the early college high school programs. “He came from El Paso [Community College], which has a very strong early college high school system,” she said. “He was a huge advocate.” Even though the college technically loses money by offering the programs, Biegert said, it is part of ACC’s broader mission to serve the community. Biegert said there was some discussion on whether RRISD needs a school intended to help low-income and first-generation college-goers. Ultimately, Flores was adamant about making sure the district did not become complacent, she said. “There are pockets of students that really need this,” Biegert said. “You don’t want to become a district of haves and have-nots.” If the district decides to open an early college high school, Biegert said she anticipated it would be a strong one. “I think it’s probably going to be one of the best in our bunch,” she said.