As of February 7, 2013, Spring Valley High School of Las Vegas, Nevada is now an AVID Demonstration school and the ONLY one in the entire state of Nevada.
Not to mention, one of 125 schools in the entire U.S.
“We provide mentoring and support for students so they can perform well in the most challenging academic classes while in high school,” said AVID site team leader, Ian Salzman. “We know once they succeed in Advanced Placement and honors courses, they are ready for the next step: a four-year college or university, often having earned valuable scholarships. After this year, we will have over 200 AVID grads attending colleges and universities all over the nation.”
“I’m proud of the teachers and students that made it a reality,” said Principal Robert Gerye. “It’s good to see that in a city with struggling high schools, our school is successful.”
“By becoming an AVID school we can share what we do well with other schools around the country,” said Gerye.
Gerye also said that AVID students have overall success in college with a 98 percent college acceptance.
Among the 98 percent is AVID senior student Annie Scruggs, who got accepted to eight universities this school year. Some schools include the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR), University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) and the University of Miami.
“AVID helped me get college and scholarship acceptances by teaching me how to mature,” said Scruggs. “Without AVID I would’ve never known how to carry myself as professional as I do. AVID engages your mind to take the right paths and make the right decisions.”
AVID mentor and tutor senior Kylie Johnson said that if it wasn’t for the AVID program, “I probably wouldn’t have filled out as many (college) applications, scholarships and my FAFSA wouldn’t have been completed so soon. AVID has helped me keep my college option open and to stay on top of important deadlines.”
As of now, Johnson has gotten accepted to Utah State University and Northern Arizona University. She has also applied to St. John’s University, Drexel University and Latter-day Saints Business College (Utah).
With the AVID program having a 100 percent high school graduation rate and a 98 percent college acceptance rate, the AVID program along with the Spring Valley mission statement truly go hand-in-hand, according to Gerye.
“We have a dedicated staff that focuses on the mission of the school. The mission statement drives everything,” said Gerye.
The Spring Valley Mission Statement is “It is the mission of Spring Valley High School faculty and staff to prepare all students for post-secondary and life long learning through a challenging, interactive curriculum.”
However, not just the AVID student worked hard to make this a reality.
“Even non-AVID students worked hard to achieve this goal,” said Scruggs. “The title really helps out school live up to the potential that we have been talking about since day one.”
