Introducing HISD Middle College campuses, not your average high schools

A big, comprehensive high school isn’t a good fit for everyone. We have students on each of our campuses – smart, well-behaved, capable and interested in going on to college or workforce training – who struggle with the traditional high school culture.

HISD is about to offer 300 of those students another option — two Middle College High Schools, located on small campuses of Houston Community College, who is partnering with us in this effort. One will be in Gulfton in southwest Houston, the other on the Felix Fraga campus, just east of downtown.

These Middle College High Schools will allow students to recover credits if they’ve fallen behind from lack of engagement, and to move forward to earn their diploma while having the opportunity to take college classes or workforce training.

This will all occur in a small personalized setting — about 15 students to each teacher — where everyone knows their name and their needs, where someone will notice if they’re absent, and where they’ll experience a more mature, motivated environment. The hours will be different, too, with HISD classes starting at 11 a.m. or noon and running until 5 or 6 p.m.  All this is to accommodate students whose lives are different from an average teenager — who may already be a bit older than their grade level and who may have work and family responsibilities.

I was proud to introduce this Middle College model in 2001 into the North Carolina school district that I ran. We eventually grew to six Middle College campuses in a system about one-third the size of HISD, and we had waitlists for spaces. That’s because these small learning communities helped students to achieve, to stay in school, and to move on successfully to lead purposeful lives.

I’m confident that we’ll have the same success here. If you or someone you know sounds like a good candidate for a Middle College High School, get in touch with our School Choice office at 713-556-6947 to learn more. That call could be a life-changer.