Texas Border Business
RIO HONDO – Rio Hondo High School was recently awarded the Texas Impact Network Rural College, Career and Military Readiness (CCMR) Accelerator grant to ensure all upperclassmen have a future transition plan upon graduating high school. The funds will be used to hire a college advisor fully dedicated to promoting CCMR starting in the fall.
“Our counselors have always done a great job of guiding our students, but the CCMR advisor will focus on helping our students determine their pathway to college, career or military, while the counselors will focus on helping them achieve their core education and foundation,” said Principal Asael Ruvalcaba. “We were excited to receive the Texas Impact Network grant for the advisor position because it will strengthen our new P-TECH model.”
Beginning in the fall, RHHS will become a Pathways in Technology Early College High Schools (P-TECH) school. The P-TECH educational model will allow students to graduate with a high diploma as well as an associate degree or industry certificate/certification upon graduation at no cost to the student. The purpose of P-TECH is to create a successful academic and career pipeline.
According to Rio Hondo Independent School District Assistant Superintendent of Academics Raul Trevino, administrators and faculty spent the 2020-2021 school year planning and developing a comprehensive P-TECH curriculum. In May, the Texas Education Agency approved the provisional designation of RHHS as a P-TECH campus for the 2021-22 school year for meeting all blueprint benchmarks.
“TEA even selected Rio Hondo to be spotlighted as a P-TECH Model Campus at the CCRSM conference in April. We really wanted a strong P-TECH curriculum so all our students could have a competitive edge after high school,” Trevino said.
Trevino added that the grant for a CCMR advisor will complete the P-TECH program at RHHS.
“A P-TECH school should have a dedicated CCMR advisor. It’s the final piece to an excellent program,” he said.
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