School-wide AVID
Our school-wide AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) program is dedicated to closing the achievement gap by preparing all students for college and other post-secondary opportunities. AVID trains educators to use proven practices in order to prepare students for success in high school, college, and a career, especially students traditionally underrepresented in higher education. In 2015, we began implementing AVID strategies in our middle school classrooms. Based on the success of AVID in our middle school setting, our staff decided to implement AVID strategies in our Elementary classrooms in 2016. Our AVID-trained teachers instruct our students using AVID skills and behaviors for academic success by: (a) providing intensive support with tutorials and strong student/teacher relationships, (b) creating a positive peer group for students, (c) developing a sense of hope for personal achievement gained through hard work and determination. The AVID support structure is known as WICOR, which incorporates teaching/learning methodologies in the following critical areas: Writing, Inquiry, Collaboration, Organization, and Reading to Learn. WICOR provides a learning model that our staff uses to guide our students in comprehending materials and concepts, and articulating ideas at increasingly complex levels of difficulty called Depths of Knowledge (DOK).