Last year, Polk Middle School was declared a national Demonstration Site for AVID. Other campuses and districts have already been touring Polk to learn from the school-wide AVID culture. Today, CFB learned that Polk Middle School was awarded “Schoolwide Site of Distinction.” This is the highest level of AVID certification and is based both on Staff criterion (“Process Metrics” such as routine use of WICOR, the percentage of school leadership on the AVID Site Team, etc.) as well as Student criterion (“Impact Metrics” such as the percentage of students taking courses of rigor/pre-collegiate exams).
AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) is a program offered in 47 states designed to engage students, build equity, and promote college-going culture for students who are traditionally underrepresented in the university setting. Nationwide, 93% of AVID students complete four year college entrance requirements, 90% who apply are accepted into four year colleges, and 85% persist into the second year of college, far exceeding the national averages for these statistics. AVID involves teacher training, leadership training, engaging strategies rooted in best practice, college exposure, SAT/ACT readiness, and engages college-age tutors to work with students on study skills and preparation under the supervision of the classroom AVID teacher. CFB has AVID at all secondary campuses, with the exception of Barbara Bush Middle School (due to the International Baccalaureate Program).