School ends early for the successful

Southside High School seniors Esteban Valdez and Nicole Mueller started their summer vacation two weeks early this year thanks to a program that allows schools to cut 10 days from the calendar as a reward for successful students.

Both met the requirements needed to elongate their summer, including acceptable attendance, passing all their classes, maintaining good discipline and a passing grade on the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills, or TAKS test.

Southside is one of 200 school districts statewide to take advantage of legislation passed in 2003 that gives Texas school districts the option of adjusting its academic calendar to allow those students who passed the mandatory TAKS test to deduct 10 days from the school year.

Students who fail the test or fail a grade are required to attend the last 10 days and take remediation courses. The program is available to any school district that submits an application to the Texas Education Agency and meets the federal requirements of a 180-day school year.

After hearing about the Optional Flexible Year Program from other districts, Southside High School Principal Cynthia Treviño proposed the program for her school as a way to improve TAKS scores.

"We had a problem with our 10th grade students not seeing the TAKS test as important," Treviño said.

Treviño considers the program a success. The high school recently earned the TEA designation of a recognized campus thanks to TAKS scores.

"We haven't been a recognized school since 2001," Treviño said.

The school also reduced the number of students who failed to graduate because of TAKS. It dropped from 28 students in 2009 to eight this year.

Of the school's 1,400 students, about 1,000 were released May 20. The remaining 400 students received more personalized attention as they worked to improve test scores or pass failed classes. Treviño said the student-teacher ratio for the last 10 days was 7-1.

All of the students are given the option of attending through the end of the year. At Southside, about 125 students chose to return for either summer school or a program that provided college and career information.

"We were surprised how many students came back," Trevino said.

Students Valdez and Mueller took advantage of their early summer differently. Valdez returned to Southside for the enrichment course, which included field trips to San Antonio College and the Bexar County courthouse. Mueller opted to enjoy her free time, visiting amusement parks and going places "without worrying about the crowds."

In the fall, Treviño will once again implement the program.

According to TEA, most of the 200 schools in the program are from smaller districts, such as Southside and East Central School District, another district in the San Antonio area.

Northside Deputy Superintendent for Administration Brian Woods said that with 80,000 students in the district, he doesn't think it's practical.

The district typically has more than a 90 percent passing rate on the TAKS.

"The whole idea of letting them out earlier doesn't seem like a good plan for students in the Northside School District," Woods said.

Woods said that as a district, Northside feels like it can "remediate students who haven't passed TAKS without sending the other students home."

The Bandera School District has used the program for two years. This year, students who passed the TAKS were released May 28, but those who needed remediation remained in school and began their required summer school studies.

Bandera Superintendent Kevin Dyes said that students see the program as "if I take care of business, I'll get out of school 10 days early."

The district is considering the program again for 2010-11 but may end only four days early. He said they might decide to use some of the days during the fall and the remaining days in the spring. He said the district would seek community feedback before making the decision.

Dyes said the district credits the program with increasing TAKS scores as well as greater success on AP and SAT tests.

The TEA expects the number of schools taking advantage of the program to increase.

"Some of the districts are not aware that the program is available," said DeEtta Culbertson, a spokesperson for TEA.

As part of the Southside program, the district required high school students to meet certain criteria.

Students remaining in school received instruction based upon their needs, Treviño said. For example, students with discipline problems learned anger management techniques while students who failed a course used the two weeks to make up course work.

Treviño said she views the program as a way to meet the needs of individual students more effectively.

"It's not about the pass or fail but, most importantly, about them getting the content they lacked," she said.