Navigate Up
Sign In

 

At Giaudrone Middle School we believe you have to teach students how to be intentional students and why these skills will amplify their educational experience. AVID (Achievement Via Individual Determination) is a national program that provides students the necessary skills, support and systems to be successful in school. 28 teachers, counselors and administrators attended one week of training in July of 2010 and over a dozen continue to attend tranings throughout the school year. The staff spent significant time and effort launching AVID on two levels this school year; school wide and grade level electives.
 

 AVID Mission Statement

 
​
 
 

 School wide AVID Strategies

 
​All students use a 3" three ring binder to hold their materials.
 
The binder includes:
 
- Daily planner
 
- Zippered supply bag (pencils, pens, highlighter, colored pencils, scissors, glue stick, etc...)
 
- Divider tabs for each subject
 
- Lined paper
 
- Composition Notebook for math and science
 
 

 AVID Elective Clasees

 
​
AVID electives have begun for a handful of 6th, 7th & 8th grade students
First, we presented to every grade level what AVID is all about. We had 2 current AVID students and 1 college student who graduated from an AVID high school. Second, students could apply and interview for one of the 25 spots available to each grade level. Last, students who made it attended a kick-off ceremony with guest speakers, contract signing with families, photos and dessert. Our AVID electives began second semester and have already met several times with overview of expectations, tutorial sessions, guest speakers, updated materials and more.
 
425 AVID Students for 2012 - 2013
 
Key AVID skills and components include:
- Cornell notetaking methods are taught to every student and reviewed routinely
- WICR (Writing, Inquiry, Collaboration, Reading) strategies
- SLANT (Sit in front, Lean forward, Ask questions, Nod your head 'yes' or 'no' and Talk to the teacher)
- STAR (Set up your paper, Take notes, After class, Review notes)
- Goal setting - both short term and post high school
- Costa's leveling of questioning
 
 

 The 11 Essentials of AVID

 
​
AVID, Advancement Via Individual Determination, is a college readiness system for elementary through postsecondary that is designed to increase schoolwide learning and performance. The AVID College Readiness System (ACRS) accelerates student learning, uses research based methods of effective instruction, provides meaningful and motivational professional learning, and acts as a catalyst for systemic reform and change.
 
AVID Essential No. 1
AVID student selection must focus on students in the middle, with academic potential, who would benefit from AVID support to improve their academic record and begin college preparation.
 
AVID Essential No. 2
AVID program participants, both students and staff, must choose to participate in the AVID program.
 
AVID Essential No. 3
The school must be committed to full implementation of the AVID Program, with students enrolled in the AVID year-long elective class(es) available within the regular academic school day.
 
AVID Essential No. 4
AVID students must be enrolled in a rigorous course of study that will enable them to meet requirements for university enrollment. (Please note the criteria that are specific to high school and the criteria that are specific to junior high/middle school.)
 
AVID Essential No. 5
A strong, relevant writing and reading curriculum provide a basis for instruction in the AVID classroom.
 
AVID Essential No. 6
Inquiry is used as a basis for instruction in the AVID classroom to promote critical thinking.
 
AVID Essential No. 7
Collaboration is used as a basis for instruction in the AVID classroom.
 
AVID Essential No. 8
A sufficient number of tutors must be available in AVID elective class(es) to facilitate student access to rigorous to rigorous curriculum. Tutors should be students from colleges and universities and they must be trained to implement the methodologies used in AVID.
 
AVID Essential No. 9
AVID program implementation and student progress must be monitored through AVID Center Data System, and results must be analyzed to ensure success.
 
AVID Essential No. 10
The school or district has identified resources for program costs, has agreed to implement all AVID Implementation Essentials and to participate in AVID Certification. It has committed to ongoing participation in AVID staff development.
 
AVID Essential No. 11
An active interdisciplinary AVID site team collaborates on issues of student access to and success in rigorous college preparatory courses.
 
 

 ​ Giaudrone Middle School students sign AVID contract

 
By Michael Gilbert, Giaudrone M.S.
 
Seventy-eight Giaudrone Middle School students stepped up and made a commitment to their educational future Jan. 25, signing on to become the school‟s first crop of AVID elective scholars.
The trail-blazing students and their families gathered for a signing ceremony in the school commons. The event was patterned after all the hoopla that surrounds signing day, when high school football stars make their college choices.
"This is life-changing, truly life-changing," said Giaudrone Assistant Principal Brad Brown, who has been working in AVID the past seven years in Tacoma and Seattle schools.
"If you‟re committed to doing the work, and accepting the support, then we‟re all in this together – school, students and parents," he told students before they stepped up to sign an AVID contract.
AVID – the acronym stands for Advancement Via Individual Determination – is a college readiness program that builds the study skills and habits students will need to succeed in college. It has a 30-year record of positive results, and is especially geared toward students who would be the first in their families to attend a four-year college or university.
The students who signed Tuesday night will take an AVID elective course during spring semester. They pledged to take responsibility for their own success, and committed to at least an hour-and-a-half of homework every night, among other things.
More than a few hands went up when Principal Zeek Edmond asked students if they were a little nervous about what they‟ve gotten themselves into. More than 150 Giaudrone students applied for admission into the elective class.
"I‟m really happy and proud," said parent Layla Hayes, whose daughter, eighth grader Kishon Benion, signed a contract. Hayes added she wished the elective was available to more students.
But these students aren‟t the only ones who stand to benefit. Giaudrone teachers employ AVID techniques in all subjects, and organizational and study skills are highlighted in the daily 30-minute advisory periods that are part of each student‟s schedule.
"We can‟t just tell kids, „You need to go to college,‟" Edmond said. "We actually have to walk them through that whole process of becoming a college-ready student: how to take notes, how to organize their work, how to study.
"I like AVID because it‟s that tipping point that helps a kid in his/her head switch those lenses, from „it‟s all about my friends,‟ to thinking about my life plan," Edmond said. "It gets kids thinking about that to a much deeper level, where in the past that‟s often been a surface-level conversation."
###
Sign In