THE EDUCATION CENTER IN LEWISVILLE

Our Students are Important

The Education Center is founded on the belief that every child is unique. Not every child learns at the same pace nor in the same way. The method of education must ensure that every child realizes his or her maximum potential. Because learning must be the primary objective of any school program, a challenging, diverse, and exciting curriculum that exceeds basic standards and best serves the students today and in the future is offered at The Education Center.

The Key to Our Success

The fundamental philosophy of The Education Center is to build strong character in our students by offering a curriculum into which character training has been intertwined. In addition, we attempt to secure a charactered faculty. It is our belief that teachers teach more by what they are than by what they know. It is our belief that children will rise to any expectation if they are viewed as individuals of worth and value. By training students to become highly-motivated critical thinkers with strong values, they can work towards life-time success.

Building the Foundation

Most schools today lockstep students, covering the same material at the same time. Some in the class master the material. Even though others perform poorly on post-tests, teachers must move on to the next section. Learning gaps are created causing the student to perform poorly on the new lesson as well. At The Education Center students complete their work and demonstrate mastery of the material before moving ahead. Students who do not demonstrate sufficient mastery of a unit receive extra help from the staff as they repeat that unit. The staff of The Education Center believes learning is a process of building upon prior knowledge and skills. Strong foundation skills are developed as learning gaps are eliminated.

Open-Enrollment Charter School

The Education Center, an open-enrollment charter school, offers families an alternative to conventional education. Texas charter schools are ''independent public schools of choice, freed from rules, but accountable for results.'' The Education Center serves students in Kindergarten through grade twelve.

Individualized Instruction

Students are taught as individuals. Most teaching is done one-on-one, not one-on-a-classroom. Individualized instruction builds successful students!

Subject: Assignment of Accreditation Status to The Education Center

The purpose of this is to inform you that the 2009-2010 accreditation status of The Education Center is Accredited-Warned. Under state law, the accreditation statuses that may be assigned to districts include Accredited, Accredited-Warned, Accredited-Probation, and Not Accredited-Revoked. A status of Accredited-Warned means that a district exhibits deficiencies in performance that, if not addressed, will lead to probation or revocation of the district’s accreditation status.

The Education Center has been assigned an Accredited-Warned status due to the ratings assigned to the district in the state’s academic accountability rating system. Specifically, The Education Center was assigned A 2009 academic accountability rating of Academically Unacceptable (Campus ratings: Aubrey campus “recognized”; denton campus “recognized”; little elm campus “acceptable”; the colony campus “acceptable’”; lewisville campus “unacceptable”) .

The district is taking the following steps to address the areas of identified deficiency: 1. new curriculum program for math and science. 2. reorganization of the lewisville campus including principal replacement and teacher replacements. Under law, if the current accreditation concerns for the district are not addressed, the district may be assigned an accreditation status of Accredited-Probation or Not Accredited-Revoked. A Not Accredited-Revoked status means that that TEA no longer recognizes the district as a Texas public school. Districts with an accreditation status below Accredited also may be subject to additional accreditation sanctions as referenced in statute and rule.

For more information regarding the assignment of accreditation statuses to school districts, you may access the TEA website at http://ritter.tea.state.tx.us/accredstatus/. This website will provide you with background information as well as links to the Texas Education Code and current commissioner’s rules related to accreditation.

If you have additional questions regarding the assignment of an Accredited-Warned status to The Education Center, or if you would like additional information about the district’s ongoing improvement efforts, please contact Nick Farley, 972-292-2405 or ngfarley@theeducenters.org.

Thank you,