Texas School Honored!

ASCD has honored a Texas school for their Vision in Action: The ASCD Whole Child Award. On March 8th, in Humble, Texas, Quest Early College High School received this award. The award goes to one school that takes action on ASCD’s Whole Child Initiative. The school, which receives the award, moves past the academic focus and works on learners who are healthy, safe, engaged, supported and challenged through learning, teaching and community engagement.

The application process for this award was based on 5 tenets:

1. Each student enters school healthy and learns about and practices a healthy lifestyle.
2. Each student learns in an intellectually challenging environment that is physically and emotionally safe for students and adults.
3. Each student is actively engaged in learning and is connected to the school and broader community.
4. Each student has access to personalized learning and is supported by qualified, caring adults.
5. Each graduate is challenged academically and prepared for success in college or further study and for employment in a global environment.

Quest Early College High School is a little different from your normal high school. “Imagine a school where you attend college while you are still in high school. Imagine a school where your dreams of tomorrow are started today...Quest Early College High School...We are hope; we are dreams; we are the future now.
In partnership with Lone Star College-Kingwood, Quest Early College High School is a small school located at Summer Creek High School where qualified students can earn both a high school diploma and an Associate's degree or up to two years of credit toward a Bachelor's degree -- for FREE.” You can find this description and more information on the schools website: http://www.humbleisd.net/22712061012425530/site/default.asp.

Some of the activities Quest Early College High School provides for their students is a service learning program, where they spend 2-hours every Friday working with community partners; another program is their family groups and also they have a National Honor Society. Upon entering the Quest school, each student is placed in one of the 10 “family” groups. These groups participate in a wide-range of activities from team building to sports to academic advancement. These are just a few of the new ideas that this high school is implementing.

For more information on the award and ceremony, check out this month’s Leadership.

We would like to invite you to join us in congratulating Quest Early College High School in receiving this great award!

Please feel free to respond to the questions below:
1. Does your school work on the Whole Child Initiative?
2. What kind of unique programs does your school or district provide?