Arlington ISD eighth graders can start off the New Year by trying a new path for high school in 2023-24. The district is opening two new Pathways in Technology (P-TECH) high schools at Sam Houston and Seguin high schools.
Students get transportation from their home campus, the chance to participate in extracurriculars at Sam Houston or Seguin, the opportunity to earn up to 60 hours of free college credits and workplace certifications in the fastest-growing fields in the state.
SAM HOUSTON P-TECH – At Sam Houston, the new curriculum focuses on mechatronics and logistics. Mechatronics, says Christy Sullivan, the assistant principal who oversees the program, “is like combining what you see in Iron Man or Transformers. It’s robotics meshed with computer software and electronics. Mechatronics is what you end up with.”
It is an easy sale to eighth graders, who are dialed in with technology. As a parent, the free transportation to school, free college credits and the chance to graduate from high school with certifications to go into the workforce are the pitch.
SEGUIN P-TECH – At Seguin, it’s all about engineering and computer-aided design and drafting.
“It’s the job market for what people are looking for,” says Andrea Hicks, the assistant principal over the Seguin program. People want an engineering path. It’s huge right now.”
For more: aisd.net/district-news/new-p-tech-high-schools. The deadline to apply for the 13 specialized programs is Jan. 18.
Arlington Classics Academy
A pair of teams from Arlington Classics Academy earned high honors in competitions outside the school last month.
The Fourth-and-Fifth-grade Chess Club brought home two trophies and won first place in the unrated games and 2nd place in the rated games.
In addition, the Robotics Club’s two ACA teams went to a robotics competition in Dallas, with one of the teams placing seventh and scoring enough to advance to the finals. The other team placed 27th. There were 36 teams in the competition.
St. Maria Goretti Catholic School
At St. Maria Goretti Catholic School, Justine Chapura’s art classroom didn’t go to Mardi Gras – Mardi Gras came to the classroom. The students poured their hearts into decorating, complete with glitter, paper mache, feathers, glue, plaster, markers, macaroni beads, hot glue, wire, cardboard, foil, markers, paper, ribbon, soda cans, yarn, lace, paint, popsicle sticks, tape and a giant parade. Noted Chapura following the festivities: “Phew, ready for lent!”
The Oakridge School
There’s learning. There’s doing. And then there are the students at The Oakridge School, who did some big-time learning – and participated in some even bigger-time doing last month.
Second grade Owls had fun exploring dinosaur skeletons, conducting science experiments, and discovering the wonders of outer space at the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History.
Meanwhile, the Oakridge family spent much of the time before the holidays garnering Angel Tree donations. Once the drive wrapped up, Student Council President Catherine Wang and Vice President Eshan Singhal presented a check to the Salvation Army Angel Tree to help families in the community.
Key School & Training Center
After serving as an educational hallmark in Tarrant County for five and a half decades, Key School has a new location and a new name: Key School & Training Center.
After finding the new home, directors and leaders of the school, which offers cutting-edge programs to meet the needs of some 78,000 Tarrant County children with learning differences teamed on the re-branding with The Cause Agency.
The result of that partnership produced a new tagline and logo to further recognize KSTC’s place in local education. It also wrought a new mission statement: Unleashing student and teacher success with individualized instruction, training, and advocacy.
Great Hearts Arlington
Schools have long enhanced lessons with ancillary curriculum, but Great Hearts Arlington recently took the endeavor to a new – and thoroughly entertaining – level.
Third graders at the school were treated to a trumpet concert that featured songs from the book, “The Trumpet of the Swan.” They had been reading the book, which is a renowned children’s novel by E. B. White published in 1970. It tells the story of Louis, a trumpeter swan born without a voice who overcomes this difficulty by learning to play a trumpet in order to impress a beautiful swan named Serena.
A novel symphony for actors and orchestra was adapted from the book in 2011, and Greats Heart Arlington enhanced the students’ learning experience by presenting the concert.
St. Joseph Catholic School
Learning about – and practicing – benevolence is one of the best lessons any student can experience. In November, students at St. Joseph Catholic School took part in H2O For Life Water Walk 2022.
H2O for Life offers a service-learning opportunity designed to engage, educate and inspire youth to take action to solve the global water crisis by raising awareness and funds to support implementation of water, sanitation and hygiene education projects for global partner schools.
The St. Joseph Catholic School students were part of a global effort that has seen some 512,000 acquire access to clean water.
Primrose School of N.E. Green Oaks
Students at Primrose School of N.E. Green Oaks (with help from their family members) raised $1,795 in three weeks for the Caring and Giving Chores for a Good Cause during the Thanksgiving season.
Then school administrators took the Pre-K class to shop for $1,795 worth of groceries that were donated along with the almost $800 worth of canned goods they already had in the school to Mission Metroplex/Mission Arlington.
The students did chores at home to help raise this money, the cumulative amount of which helped feed more than 2,000 of their neighbors in need.
