MIDDLE SCHOOLS
Harmony Science Academy-Austin
No. 1 in Central Texas, No. 46 in the state
Tucked behind a busy strip mall in a worn, converted old church on East Rundberg Lane, Harmony is not the most aesthetically appealing middle school. But this open-enrollment charter school is very attractive to families looking for an intense academic experience, school officials say. Marketed as a "tuition-free college prep school" Harmony focuses on science, technology, engineering and math, students who need it are required to attend tutoring twice a week after school and for three hours on Saturdays. Teachers visit student homes at least once but usually several times a semester, school officials said.
Harmony's 150 middle school students come from internationally and economically diverse families. About 47 percent are low-income. The school gives a character education class and has a strict discipline point system that can lead to expulsion in extreme cases. If students don't do their homework, they fail. Though there is no school football team, school administrators sign their students up for any science fair and academic UIL competition they can find.
"We don't plan to miss anything like that," said Halil Tas, a superintendent for Harmony schools in Austin.
The Rundberg Lane campus is one of four in Austin funded by the Houston-based nonprofit Cosmos Foundation. "I like the variety of ethnicities (and) religions cultures. We really get to learn from each other," said Hong Bui, a 13-year-old eighth-grade immigrant from Vietnam. "Also, the teachers are really good."
— Laura Heinauer
Canyon Vista
No. 2 in Central Texas, No. 143 in the state
Canyon Vista Principal B.J. Paris said she strives to make an impact on students from the first day of school. "If you're a science teacher, you better blow something up," said the London native, jokingly. "If you're an art teacher, you better have paint all over you. If you're a French teacher, teach them to French kiss. I don't care — just make it exciting, so when kids go home on that first day, they say, 'Wow! I learned something new in every class today, and it was fun!' That sets the tone that says, 'We're about learning.' "
Teachers get the message. A science class was staged as if it had been vandalized. As students walked in, the teacher told them they were entering a crime scene. Students put on goggles and used scientific processes to document and photograph what they observed.
"We're a living organism," Paris tells her teachers. "We're either growing or we're dying. No status quo. "More than 45 percent of Canyon Vista's 1,138 students are minorities, and about 4 percent come from low-income families. Students hail from more than 20 countries. Paris said her Round Rock school district campus is a celebration and acknowledgement of diversity. The school has 29 clubs, including robotics and a competitive chess team that won a national championship in April. Paris said mission statements are "typically long and boring," but she said Canyon Vista teachers and administrators condensed their values, goals and objectives into three words: Inspiring Future Leaders. "We don't even talk about the TAKS test, because we have a vision of Canyon Vista as a world-class school, not just being good at taking the test," Paris said of the Texas Assessment of Knowledge of Skills, portions of which fifth- and eighth-grade students must pass to be promoted and high school students must pass to graduate.
— Melissa B. Taboada
KIPP Austin College Prep
No. 10 in Central Texas, No. 328 in the state
KIPP, which stands for Knowledge Is Power Program, currently serves about 360 students in fifth to eighth grades. About 92 percent of KIPP Austin's students are from low-income families. The campus, an open-enrollment public charter school in East Austin, was the only school with a low-income population of more than 70 percent to break into the top 20 of its category in Central Texas.
The school's success is because of the relationships established among teachers and students, said Megan Uebelacker, KIPP Austin's director of development. "It's the commitment of every person here ... to every single child as a whole child." Students are required to wear uniforms, take band, perform service projects and — here's a big difference — attend school from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. most days. Students also attend classes in summer and on Saturdays twice a month. Teachers are on call until 9 p.m. in the evenings to help students with school work. KIPP teacher salaries are about 10 percent higher than the Austin school district's, KIPP officials said. Jamileth Ortega, an eighth-grader who attended public school at Wooten Elementary School in Austin before enrolling at KIPP, said teachers "sit with you at lunch and help a lot if you have problems. ... If you fail, they make you work through it. "KIPP takes students on college scouting trips that start in fifth grade with a tour of Texas colleges and include colleges across the South and on the East Coast by eighth grade. Ortega said it's something that sticks with her. "When you're here, they teach you about keeping your eyes on the bigger goal." Her goal is to attend the University of California at Berkeley.
— Laura Heinauer
