What is AVID?
The Advancement Via Individual Determination program (AVID) is an academic program designed to provide support to students in the “academic middle" for four-year college eligibility. The “academic middle” are A, B, C, and even D students who have the desire to go to college and the willingness to work hard. These students are capable of completing rigorous curriculum but are falling short of their potential. Typically, they will be the first in their families to attend college and many are from low-income families. The AVID program will pull these students out of their unchallenging courses and place them on the college track: acceleration instead of remediation.
Who is a Good Candidate for the AVID Program?
A student with:
• Average to high test scores
• 2.0-3.5 grade point average
• Desire and determination, and the first in the family to attend
college
The AVID Elective
Not only are students enrolled in their school’s most challenging classes, such as Honors and Advanced Placement, but also in the AVID elective. For one period a day, students learn organizational and study skills, work on critical thinking, learn to ask probing questions, get academic help from peers and college tutors, and participate in enrichment and motivational activities that make college seem attainable. Their self-image improves and they become academically successful leaders and role models for other students.
The AVID Teachers
The AVID elective class is led by a teacher who has been trained in the program’s strategies and methodologies. Teachers, counselors, and administrators from throughout the school and district attend AVID’s Summer Institute where they learn techniques for bringing out the best in average students. In this way, AVID students are supported in content-area classrooms as well as in the AVID elective class.
Who May Apply
Students currently in the 7th through 11th grades who have the potential and desire to attend a four-year college/university and:
• have appropriate classroom behavior,
• have good attendance,
• are willing to commit to a minimum of two hours of homework each night, and
• are willing to commit to enroll in rigorous college preparatory courses.