Valle Verde Early College High School is a high school located in

El Paso, Texas El Paso (; "the pass") is a city in and the seat of El Paso County in the western corner of the U.S. state of Texas. The 2020 population of the city from the U.S. Census Bureau was 678,815, making it the 23rd-largest city in the U.S., the ...

. Students graduate from high school with both a high school diploma and an

associate degree An associate degree is an undergraduate degree awarded after a course of post-secondary study lasting two to three years. It is a level of qualification above a high school diploma, GED, or matriculation, and below a bachelor's degree. Th ...

from

El Paso Community College El Paso Community College (EPCC) is a community college district headquartered in El Paso, Texas, United States. EPCC operates five campuses in the Greater El Paso area, as well as courses offered at nearby Fort Bliss. As defined by the Texas ...

. As an

early college high school The Early College High School Initiative in the United States allows students to receive a high school diploma and an associate degree, or up to two years of college credit, by taking a mixture of high school and college classes. This differs fro ...

, VVECHS is a school that boasts students of a high academic rigor, who are chosen to be best suited for the task of taking high school and college courses in tandem.

History

Valle Verde Early College High School opened on August 27, 2007. 125 students were accepted the first year with five teachers on staff. The students successfully finished the year with a 100% passing average on the reading TAKS, something no other high school in the

Ysleta Independent School District Ysleta Independent School District is a school district based in El Paso, Texas ( USA). Ysleta ISD is the third largest school district in the city of El Paso. All of the district area covers sections of El Paso. The Ysleta Independent School ...

has ever achieved. On August 25, 2008 a new class of 108 students was introduced, making the estimated number of students 233, since some students were not allowed to return the following year due to not being able to keep up with the intense teaching environment. The second class also achieved a 100% passing average on the reading TAKS. As of August 23, 2010 there are four classes (

9th Grade Ninth grade, freshman year, or grade 9 is the ninth year of school education in some school systems. Ninth grade is often the first school year of high school in the United States, or the last year of middle/junior high school. In some countries ...

10th Grade Tenth grade or grade 10 (called Year Eleven in England and Wales, and sophomore year in the US) is the tenth year of school post-kindergarten or the tenth year after the first introductory year upon entering compulsory schooling. In many parts of ...

, etc.) with a total of 383 students currently attending VVECHS, typical of a North American secondary school.

Campus

The school is located on

's Valle Verde campus, just south of

Interstate 10 Interstate 10 (I-10) is the southernmost cross-country highway in the American Interstate Highway System. I-10 is the fourth-longest Interstate in the United States at , following I-90, I-80, and I-40. This freeway is part of the originally p ...

at Hawkins and North Loop. Classes are currently held in

portable classroom A portable classroom (also known as a demountable or relocatable classroom, portables, bungalows), is a type of portable building installed at a school to temporarily and quickly provide additional classroom space where there is a shortage of ...

s, there are currently no plans to construct a purpose-built structure on the school campus.

Curriculum

Students take high school and college courses concurrently. Students may choose to pursue an Associate of Arts Degree, Associate of Science Degree or Associate of Arts in Teaching Degree.

Intramural activities

Texas Early College High Schools do not offer the traditional high school extracurricular activities, such as sports, and prefers to focus on a rigorous academic curriculum instead. Students are expected to participate in at least one of the numerous intramural activities offered. Student groups and activities at Valle Verde include

Academic Decathlon The Academic Decathlon (also called AcDec, AcaDeca or AcaDec) is an annual high school academic competition organized by the non-profit United States Academic Decathlon (USAD). The competition consists of seven objective multiple choice tests, tw ...

, Art Club, Book Club, Chaos Order Math Club, Class of 2019, Class, Comedy Club, Drama Club, Glee Club, French Club, Environmental Club,

FBLA The Future Business Leaders of America, or FBLA, is an American career and technical student organization headquartered in Reston, Virginia. Established in 1940, FBLA is a non-profit organization of high school ("FBLA"), Middle Level ("FBLA ...

, High Q,

National Honor Society The National Honor Society (NHS) is a nationwide organization for high school students in the United States and outlying territories, which consists of many chapters in high schools. Selection is based on four criteria: scholarship (academic achi ...

, Learning About Science and Engineering Research (science club), Lifetime Activities Club,

National Science Bowl The National Science Bowl (NSB) is a high school and middle school science knowledge competition, using a quiz bowl format, held in the United States. A buzzer system similar to those seen on popular television game shows is used to signal an an ...

, Robotics Team, Social Studies, Spartan Literary Magazine, Spartan Webmasters, SHPE, Stra-Te-Go, Student Council, UIL Math, VVTV, and Yearbook.

References

External links

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El Paso Community College - Early College High School
{{authority control Educational institutions established in 2007 High schools in El Paso, Texas Ysleta Independent School District high schools Early College High Schools 2007 establishments in Texas