The Value of Full-Day Pre-K

Brownsville ISD goes above and beyond when it comes to early learning opportunities.

Current Texas law funds half-day pre-k for eligible students. Although the majority of BISD students are eligible due to the district’s high poverty rate, the district found half-day pre-k was insufficient for kindergarten readiness, especially for English Language Learners.

For that reason, BISD invested local dollars to expand its PK4 programs to a full-day, allowing students to get double the classroom time.

“I think that the full-day pre-k program is a benefit to our students because it allows for really enhanced and enriched language and literacy skills. It is virtually impossible to do that in a half-day program,” says Rachel Ayala, Principal at Hudson Elementary.

PK4 benefits have been so strong the district recently expanded its program to serve 3-year-olds (PK3). The district is currently piloting a full-day PK3 program to see how the students fare.

Maria Gonzales, Administrator for Early Education for the district, says even the PK3 students come eager and excited to learn. “We’re already seeing the gains in foundation skills and they will go into PK4 with a strong foundation and into kindergarten well prepared to succeed.”

Early College High Schools Pave Way for Collegiate Success

For some students at the Brownsville Early College High School (BECHS), the opportunity to gain early college credit is the difference between success and failure after high school.

The cost of college for many Rio Grande Valley families can be overwhelming, and in some cases, impossible to pay. But a partnership developed nearly 10 years ago between the high school and The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) and Texas Southmost College provides the opportunity for highly motivated students to graduate from high school with an associate’s degree.

“We walk there — it’s our front yard!” says senior Jacob Gutierrez, describing the location of BECHS on the UTRGV campus. Gutierrez plans to graduate BECHS in 2018 with 70 college credit hour.

BECHS is a choice campus, so families are aware of the challenges and advantages of the program. And these competitive students find inspiration in the head start they’re getting when it comes to higher education culture.

“A lot of students don’t have an idea of what college is or how to study,” says senior Liana Garza, who plans to be a doctor. “We’ve learned how to balance school and clubs and stress and college classes, so we have a boost because we already have that experience of being in high school and also going to college.”

While BECHS is unique because of its location, all seven BISD high schools provide early college courses and accelerated dual credit courses at no cost to students.

Students at Brownsville ISD can choose from a gamut of extracurricular activities from powerlifting to ballroom dance, from RGV Lead Ambassadors to Sociedad Hispanica Honoraria (Spanish Honor Society).

Rigorous Extracurriculars Advance Academics

Brownsville ISD recognizes the importance of extra curriculars in engaging and developing the whole student and refuses to let poverty be a barrier to participation. Wherever they can, the district covers the expense of gear, equipment, and travel costs. Coaches even are known to pitch in for gas money to ensure a student can make it to practice.

The investment pays off. Dr. Rebecca Rendón, BISD Fine Arts Administrator, correlates extracurricular participation with academic success. “Students who are in fine arts traditionally score higher on their testing than students that are not in fine arts. We have a ‘no-pass, no-play’ policy just like they do in athletics. That instills discipline and structure in them that they carry over to academics,” she says.

“It doesn’t let you settle for who you are, it makes you push yourself to be a better person and to be better at everything that you do, not just band, because it’s not just music that we’re doing here,” says Madison Jones, Assistant Drum Major at Lopez High School. “It’s making ourselves better people, making ourselves more prepared for life when we leave high school.”

Noted: BISD’s Video Game Design Team Repeats as First-place National Winner

In 2017, the Brownsville Early College High School’s (BECHS) Technology Student Association (TSA) won first place in video game design at the TSA national conference, for the second year in a row. The TSA is a national organization of students engaged in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. The BECHS team designed a video game called Noted about a boy who experiences a break-up and writes and doodles in his notebook.

Photo source: Jason Hoekema, Photojournalist at The Brownsville Herald