HARLINGEN — Young Valleyites are capturing the attending of local leaders in a big way.
RGV FOCUS revealed in its annual report yesterday local school children and recent high school grads are outperforming the rest of the state.
“We have some wonderful news to share about the achievements of a cross section of the population,” said Harlingen school superintendent Art Cavazos.
That news involved achievement in nine out of 11 categories such as reading, high school graduation rate and AP/Dual Credit Completion. Children throughout the four-county Valley performed better than the state average in those nine areas, said Adan Garcia, executive director of Pollux Castor Advertising in McAllen.
“The really bright spots are third grade reading and eighth grade math,” Garcia said. “If students do well in that, it’s a big indicator students will do well in college and beyond.”
Education and business leaders from throughout the Valley hailed the success of local students.
“I think RGV FOCUS is a classic example of bringing people together,” said Alda Benavides, La Joya school superintendent and co-chair of the RGV FOCUS Leadership Team.
La Joya was one of numerous educational institutions represented yesterday at the RGV FOCUS presentation of its report. The presentation took place at the Harlingen Consolidated Independent School District. More than 100 people attended.
So why did the whole Valley do well?
“I think there a lot of partnerships in the Valley,” said Shane Strubhart, spokesperson for the Harlingen school district.
He credited the Harlingen district’s Strategic Plan for student success.
“That has transformed the district,” he said. “We’ve created a lot of academies which has created more opportunities for students. We’ve also created specialty schools such as the Harlingen School for Health Professions.”
The IDEA Academy does follow-up of its graduates attending college, said Elizabet Garza, executive director for IDEA in the Upper Valley.
“We have an alumni team that works with seniors graduating from high school,” she said. “They assist them in whatever they need.”
The next task is to increase the scores in the other two categories: college-ready high school graduates and better graduation rates from four-year colleges.
“We’re changing the story to make certain our Rio Grande Valley students find success in high school, college and in the workforce,” said Eduardo Infante, co-chair of the RGV FOCUS Leadership Team.
“To do this, we’ve brought together a diverse leadership from the education community, business and philanthropic sectors,” he said. “There is still much work to be done, but we are very proud of the progress of our students.”
Infante is also the superintendent of the Lyford ISD.
WHAT IS RGV FOCUS?
It works to improve educational outcomes across the region by aligning resources that create a cradle-to-career educational pathway enabling all Rio Grande Valley learners to achieve a degree or credential that leads to a meaningful career.
HOW DID RGV FOCUS BEGIN?
Educate Texas, an educational arm of Dallas-based Communities Foundation of Texas, partnered with Valley-based leaders to establish the collective impact initiative RGV FOCUS in 2012.
GOAL OF THE INITIATIVE
The initiative’s goal is to transform college readiness, access and success throughout the four-county Rio Grande Valley region through cross-sector collaboration of key stakeholders representing education, business, workforce, community-based organizations and philanthropies.
Nine categories in which Valley children out performed the rest of the state
– STAAR 3rd Grade Reading
– STAAR 8th Grade Mathematics
– 4-Year High School Graduation Rate
– Completion of FAFSA
– AP/Dual Credit Completion
– Higher Education Immediate Enrollment Rate
– Public Higher Education Graduate Rate – two years
– Higher Education Graduates Employed or Enrolled two – year college
– Higher Education Graduates Employed or Enrolled – four – year college
