The Texas Education Agency (TEA) has announced that Mission High School (MHS) has been designated as an approved Texas Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (T-STEM) Academy for the coming school year. MHS will now be one of only 91 T-STEM Academies in the state.
Officials at MHS began implementing STEM concepts into the instructional structures at the school last year and also began the application process with TEA for the special designation.
“This is great news for our students and community,” said Ricardo López, superintendent. “This will allow us to get the additional staff development and technical assistance in order to better serve our students. STEM continues to show great promise for future employment for graduates, but it is also a strong base for college preparation.”
López also said he was very proud of the plan put together by the MHS campus leadership teams for implementing a T-STEM Academy. He said the TEA acknowledges that designated academies showcase innovative instruction methods which integrate technology and engineering into science and math instruction.
The Mission High School T-STEM Academy will operate like a school within a school, beginning with an interested group of incoming freshmen. The next big step for MHS will be to quickly take advantage of additional staff development opportunities to ensure participating students get the most out of the experience. A core team of teachers at MHS began receiving training on STEM implementation last school year as the district started the application for T-STEM designation.