Homestead named AVID national demonstration school

The Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) validation team pronounced Homestead a National Demonstration School after the last of multiple visits on Feb. 16.  AVID National Demonstration Schools are exemplary models of the AVID College Readiness System and promote schoolwide devotion to preparing students for college, according to the AVID website. National Demonstration Schools represent the top 150 of 5,000 AVID sites all across the country.

“This designation serves as external validation of our coordinated, school-wide effort to promote the success of all students,” Principal Brett Bowers said.

The AVID team awarded Homestead a three-year designation, which is the longest available for any school. According to Principal Bowers, Denise Wren, AVID’s Director of Professional Learning, informed the administration that “she has never seen such school-wide instruction of the caliber that she witnessed today.”

In order to be named a Demonstration School, AVID sites throughout the country undergo rigorous validation processes and are required to be revalidated every few years. According to the AVID website, when naming Demonstration Schools, the AVID team looks for schools that exhibit a want to increase college readiness, have evidence of high student achievement school wide, contain strong and committed leaders dedicated to the successful implementation of the AVID program and innovative classrooms that engage students at all school and district levels.

“There was a desire to become a better high school that motivated the AVID team to seek national demonstration status.  To be sure, we learned that we do many things well, but the process also highlighted that we needed to refocus some of our efforts around key elements that are foundational to the AVID elective,” Mr. Joseph Ciurlik, social studies and AVID teacher, said.

According to Principal Bowers, two years ago after hosting a successful AVID showcase for schools in Wisconsin and Illinois, Homestead was invited to apply for the designation. From then on, the school has received coaching from leaders in the AVID organization and members of the school’s AVID team attended training sessions on the requirements and processes of becoming a Demonstration School.

“For as long as we have been implementing AVID, both the AVID elective class as well as AVID schoolwide, we have striven to do so to the best of our collective ability.  We examine various data points to identify successes and opportunities for improvement.  Teams of teachers discuss their practice and strategize ways to improve and better meet the needs of their students.  Teachers and administrators train the faculty in best practices that promote high-level learning across classrooms.  Our AVID Site Team collaborates to support the AVID Elective as well as AVID across content areas.  We have used these modes of continuous improvement as long as AVID has been at Homestead,” Mr. Bowers said.

Four year AVID student Stephanie Metzendorf said, “This is a big accomplishment for the teachers and the students because it shows how everything we’ve been working for for four years is being recognized.”