Challenge Early College High School
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Challenge Early College High School (also known as Challenge Early College, Challenge High School, or CEC) is a secondary school located at 5601 West Loop South in Houston, Texas with a zip code of 77081. The school handles grades nine through thirteen and is a part of the Houston Independent School District.
The school does not automatically take in students from the area; students from the area around the school are zoned to Lamar High School or Bellaire High School.
Located on the Houston Community College West Loop Center Campus, Challenge Early College High School includes a 5-year program (grades 9 through 13) that allows a student to graduate with a high school diploma and an associate's degree, as opposed to the traditional 4 year high school which allows students to graduate with only a high school diploma. The school integrates college curriculum and courses with high school courses, allowing students to gain "dual credits," or high school credit as well as college credit.
For the most part, Challenge guarantees to be a small school with small classes that allow for more student teacher interaction. The number of students is set to max out at 400.
Challenge Early College High School opened in August 2003 as a partnership of Houston ISD, Houston A+ Challenge and Houston Community College. From August of 2003 to May of 2005, the high school was situated in a series of temporary buildings located outside the Houston Community College. In August 2005, the doors opened to the newly constructed high school located within the Houston Community College. The first class to graduate was the class of 2005. Ceremonies were held in the Houston Community College auditorium. Challenge began 2006 with a student body of around 400, but did not reach its cap.
Challenge Early College is across the street from Houston ISD's Pin Oak Middle School, which is in the city of Bellaire.
[edit] Scheduling and College Classes
Challenge currently follows a block schedule, mostly in response to the way that college classes are set up. This alternates between periods 1-4 and 5-8, with an hour and a half long classes. An advisory period occurs after the first two periods. Advisory is led by a group of three or four students trained as "facilitators", while a teacher is present to support those facilitators and enforce the rules. These advisories hold a study hall every Monday and Wednesday, and a lesson every Tuesday and Thursday. Attendance is also taken for the day.
Fridays have a different schedule. Classes are shortened to an hour (college classes do not occur on Fridays) and the schedule alternates between classes 1-4 and classes 5-8. Students have all four periods, then a ten minute advisory solely for attendance purposes. After lunch, there are clubs.
Students normally begin taking college classes in the second half of their sophomore year. College classes occur with a Monday-Wednesday or Tuesday-Thursday routine. These college classes usually occur within the HCC Southwest campus, which students attend as college students. There is no way to differentiate them between normal college students. Other classes are still official college classes, but they are filled with only Challenge students. These classes are still treated as college classes, with no preferential treatment and scheduled to HCC. Finally, many classes are taught by college teachers but are more closely connected to the high school; the only difference is that they follow the high school schedule. Students are responsible for attending HCC classes even when HISD is on break or has a day off. Students also have the option of transporting themselves to another HCC campus if a course they want is not offered at the Southwest campus.
[edit] Clubs and Orginizations
Challenege offers a wide variety of clubs and organiztions. Because Challenge is a commuter school and does not offer bus transportation, clubs are held on fridays during school. The club period is split into two hour-and-a-half long periods. Teachers may sponsor clubs that they wish to lead. Likewise, students can petition for a club they want to exist. So long as that student is willing to run that club, can get an adequate amount of fellow students to sign on, as well as a teacher sponsor, the request is accepted. The Needlework, GSA, and Spirit Squad clubs originated from this method.
Organizations include:
- National Honor Society
- International Thespian Society
- Yearbook
- Journalism
- Gay Straight Alliance
- Speech and Debate
- Community Service Club
- Needlework Club
- Choco Mil Crew
[edit] External links
- Challenge Early College High School
- Houston ISD Challenge Early College Homepage
- Faculty and Staff E-Mail Directory
- PTO Homepage
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