HISD Board of Education trustees voted to approve the creation of an all-girls school for the district last week.
The gender-based school will open next year with sixth and ninth grade students only. Seventh and tenth grade students will be added the next year. Additional grade levels will be added in subsequent years.
The school’s curriculum will be instructionally rigorous, including advanced courses in core content areas and foreign language. The school will be open to every student in the district and will have an application process.
The all-girls school will be developed in partnership with the Foundation for the Education of Young Women (FEYW). FEYW has five schools for young-women in Texas, including Dallas, Austin, San Antonio, Lubbock, and Fort Worth. All five of the schools are rated Exemplary by the state and for the past two years, 100 percent of the female students graduating from the Dallas campus were accepted to a college or university.
“We are extremely excited to bring our program to Houston and to partner with HISD,” said Carmyn Neely, the FEYW Executive Director. “Part of our partnership includes a $1 million commitment from the foundation to the district to start up the program. $250,000 will be used every year over the next four years to help pay for an extended school day and year, summer programs, and teacher training.”
Board trustees Anna Eastman and Paula Harris recently visited several of the FEYW campuses throughout the state and said they were impressed with what they saw.
“The girls at these schools were confident young women from all walks of life who were actively engaged in the learning process with their teachers and fellow students.” said Harris. “I am confident that the all-girls school at HISD will be a place where parents of high-achieving students from all over the district will want to send their kids.”
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