A special community meeting focusing on academics at Yates High School has been scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 23, at the school.

HISD administration is hosting the meeting at the request of Board of Education Trustee Paula Harris. District officials will engage the Third Ward community on ways to strengthen the academic program at Yates.

Discussion will center on academic programming, labor market analysis, and the community engagement process. Attendees will be encouraged to share ideas.

“We all must work together to ensure the best possible school for our students,” Harris said. “We need everyone to be involved in efforts to enhance and strengthen Yates so we can recruit and retain students.”

The meeting comes as Yates is planning and designing its new facility under the 2012 bond program. The school is slated to be rebuilt for 1,300 to 1,500 students with a $59.5 million project budget. Construction is scheduled to start by the end of 2015.

HISD administrators hope the meeting will help inform the conversation as planners and architects work with the school-based Project Advisory Team to design the new building.