October 12, 2012
Achieving excellence is often its own reward, but two HISD schools got some external validation recently when representatives from Blue Bell Creameries came to their campuses to distribute ice cream sandwiches to students and faculty.
The sweet treats were just a small token of appreciation from the cherished Texas institution to celebrate the designation of HISD’s Project Chrysalis and East Early College High School as 2012 National Blue Ribbon Schools.
Blue Ribbon Schools are selected based on two primary criteria. They must be among the highest-performing schools in their state and have at least 40 percent of their student body performing at high levels, despite coming from disadvantaged backgrounds.
José Covarrubia, the principal at Project Chrysalis, said that his school earned the designation with a focus “first and foremost on academics.”
“Our kids can compete,” he said at his school’s Oct. 11 ice cream celebration. “We push them to the maximum extent possible, and that’s why we have virtually no achievement gap on our campus. We have 99 or 100 percent of our kids passing every (state assessment) exam.”
- Project Chrysalis is a Title I school that has been ranked “exemplary” by the TEA for the past four years. It has also been included on the Texas Business and Education Coalition’s Honor Roll, and has been recognized by Texas Monthly as one of the Best Public Schools in Texas. It was ranked second among middle schools by Children at Risk earlier this year.
- East Early College High School, which had its ice cream party on Sept. 28, is a Title I school that has been ranked “exemplary” by the Texas Education Agency (TEA) every year since it opened in the fall of 2006. It was ranked the eighth best high school in the region by Children at Risk this spring.
This year’s winning schools will also be honored at an awards ceremony in Washington, D.C., in November.
