Press Releases

College Board Recognizes Remarkable High Schools

2005 Inspiration Awards Honor Schools in Texas, New Mexico, and New York City

04/27/05

NEW YORK—Three outstanding high schools have been named College Board 2005 Inspiration Award winners for improving the academic environment and helping students achieve the promise of higher education. Winning schools receive a $25,000 award, and seven honorable mention schools receive $1,000 each to apply toward programs that encourage students to attend college. The Inspiration Awards honor those high schools that have helped students achieve equitable access to higher education despite social, economic, and cultural challenges.

Remarking on today's announcement, U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings said, "We must make sure a high school education prepares our students for higher education and the increasingly competitive global workplace. Our students must be ready for these challenges."

This year's College Board Inspiration Award winners are:

• Harlingen High School, Harlingen, Texas;
• Curtis High School, Staten Island, New York; and
• Gadsden High School, Anthony, New Mexico.

College Board President Gaston Caperton presented the first 2005 Inspiration Award and accompanying $25,000 check today to students and faculty at Harlingen High School. Other Inspiration Award ceremonies will take place May 4 in Staten Island, New York, and May 6 in Anthony, New Mexico.

"The winning high schools overcame a variety of challenges to create successful learning communities committed to professional development for teachers and academic achievement for students," said Caperton. "When teachers, students, parents, and business and community leaders join forces to transform the often hard-won dream of a college education into a tangible reality, everybody in the community wins. Students who graduate from college have a wider choice of jobs, earn more money over the course of their lifetimes, and are more likely to contribute to the economic well-being of the nation."

Harlingen High School

"In relentless pursuit of student success"

Imagine this—a school operating in a community context in which a teenager's only hope that day is to see his mother before she heads off to her second minimum-wage job; a school in which Spanish echoes through the halls as frequently as English; a school where more than half of the students enrolled receive free or reduced-price lunches. The uninitiated might argue that the deck at a high-poverty school like Harlingen is stacked against supporting college opportunities for its students—but this view fails to take into account the unwavering commitment of Harlingen High teaching staff, counselors, students, and business and community leaders to restack the deck and beat the odds through a holistic emphasis on advancing student achievement.

In a district within which the median income is $15–$20,000 per year, determination matters. Through a commitment to rigorous curriculum, ongoing professional development for teachers, strong community partnerships, and heightened family engagement, Harlingen High School achieved a college-going rate of 75 percent among its 430-plus college-eligible seniors in the 2003-04 school year. When the data are disaggregated by race, college acceptance rates in the same school year are similarly impressive: 82 percent of the Hispanic students go to college. Harlingen counselors also have made a commitment to help students tackle the financial burdens of college. In addition to helping Harlingen seniors navigate the eight-page Free Application for Federal Student Aid form, school counselors guided Harlingen students to more than $2 million in scholarship money in 2004.

Harlingen High School's success in encouraging students to take Advanced Placement Program® (AP®) Examinations crosses all student subgroups; in the 2003-04 school year, Hispanic students comprised 80 percent of the 298 students in grades 9–12 who took at least one AP Exam. Increasing student enrollment in the Harlingen High School Pre-AP® program classes begins in the eighth grade, and is furthered by a school-based Parent Involvement Program that conducts outreach meetings at different neighborhood community centers to impress upon parents the importance of helping teens prepare for college.

According to community leader Robert B. Dunkin, CEO of First Community Bank, were Harlingen High School a business, corporate rivals would face a stiff competitor: "Despite the fact that [the majority] of Harlingen High School students are economically disadvantaged and 89 percent of the students are classified as minority, in 10 years, Harlingen High School has increased the number of students taking Advanced Placement tests six-fold, increased the number of Advanced Placement tests taken ten-fold, and more than quadrupled the number of students passing Advanced Placement Exams."

A constant reminder of the perseverance embodied by students, teachers and administrators at Harlingen High School, the school's mission statement says it all: "In relentless pursuit of student success."

Curtis High School

"Attendance, Attitude, and Achievement"

Staten Island's Curtis High School (CHS) is a 100-year-old gothic-style building, embellished with gargoyles and ornate stone archways. The school has an active alumni association, and many of its teachers are graduates, but CHS has changed dramatically since the days when it served a small, homogeneous middle-class community.

Today, Curtis High School functions at 160 percent of capacity. Forty-six percent of its students are documented at or below the federal poverty level, and more than half of its students receive free or reduced-price lunch. Among its racially diverse population of more than 2,600 students, 40 percent are white, 33 percent are black, and 20 percent are Hispanic. The school also serves children who are recent immigrants from Latin America, West Africa, Eastern Europe, and Asia.

Despite these demographic changes, 85 percent of the school's graduates were accepted to college last year, earning $10 million in scholarships. A special focus on attendance at CHS has resulted in a 90-percent attendance rate, and 88 percent of the students graduate.

Curtis High School credits its success to 10 small learning communities called "houses." Every freshman who enters CHS chooses among the themed tracks, which include such varied subjects as the performing arts, Junior ROTC, business and computer science, nursing, and journalism. Each house has unique electives that develop the student's particular talents and interests—be it dance, computer graphic design, or law—while maintaining a college-preparatory curriculum for all students.

Aurelia Curtis, who taught at the school for 18 years before becoming principal, explains, "I believe the only way many of these kids are going to make it is for us to treat them as individuals." The school offers afternoon and weekend tutoring programs, active college counseling, and a mentoring program that targets recent immigrants and students with little parental guidance. The Career Connections program, a partnership among CHS, local business, and other community-based organizations, helps students to upgrade their resumes by finding paid internships and part-time employment opportunities. Principal Curtis has also introduced programs for parents, such as a "Parents As Art Partners," which offers a free photography class, to create more parent involvement at the school.

The school is committed to three basic foundations for success: "Attendance, Attitude and Achievement." Principal Curtis says she reminds teachers and staff that the most important test of their efforts will be what happens to the students, how their lives progress, after they leave school.

Gadsden High School

"Believe, hope and look for miracles"

The entire student body of Gadsden High School (GHS) receives free breakfast and lunch. In some cases, school meals are students' only food of the day. Enrollment last academic school year stood at just over 2,000 students, 30 percent of whom were ESL students.

Despite a desperate lack of resources, Gadsden High School has taken significant strides in exposing its students to higher education options and opportunities. One example is the school's Math, Engineering, and Science Achievement (MESA) program, a precollege program in which students who achieve core requirements may earn up to $1,000 in college tuition. Some admitting colleges and universities elect to match MESA funds.

Renee Boudreau from Families and Youth, Inc., a United Way agency that works in partnership with the Gadsden High School One Stop Youth Career Center, noted GHS's remarkable growth, particularly in "Advanced Placement course enrollment; college enrollment, and attendance; increased receipt of scholarships; and, an increase in the number of students taking the SAT."

While Gadsden High School has made significant strides in helping its seniors to search and apply for scholarship opportunities, its staff continues to push the envelope. About 98 percent of its students are first-generation college attendees who find the college admissions process confusing and often overwhelming. In addition to supporting a summer camp for grades 9–12 focused on addressing college issues, the school plans to develop an Applying to College Handbook to promote greater involvement of parents. From the principal to the teachers, parents, and community, GHS Career and College Counselor Virginia Wiley voices a collective commitment to "change the cycle of our school and community." Through an unflappable will to overcome adversity and find creative solutions to address resource restrictions, GHS is working to create its own "miracles."

Award Honors Schools that Foster Access to Higher Education

"These award-winning schools foster a culture of teaching and learning that makes higher education accessible to all students," said Caperton. "They are an inspiration to everyone who is dedicated to eradicating the achievement gap that persists in our nation."

A distinguished panel of Inspiration Award judges selected this year's winners based on the school success in increasing the number of students (from all school demographic groups) being prepared for college. College preparedness gains were measured based on a variety of factors, including:

• participation in rigorous curricula, such as the AP Program, the IB Program, or other honors courses;
• participation in PSAT/NMSQT®, SAT®, or ACT program assessments that demonstrate preparation for attending college; and
• the percentage of students accepted to two- or four-year institutions of higher education.

Beyond meeting basic eligibility requirements, Inspiration Award-winning schools also were selected for demonstrating innovative ways of inspiring student success.

The 2005 Inspiration Award judges included:

• Brian Cashman, general manager of the New York Yankees
• Edwidge Danticat, author, National Book Award Finalist
• Henry Louis Gates, Jr., W.E.B. Du Bois Professor of the Humanities, chair, Harvard University, Department of African and African American Studies
• Ellen Ochoa, astronaut and scientist
• Randy Siegel, publisher, Parade magazine
• Chauncey Veatch, 2002 U.S. Teacher of the Year
• Juan Williams, senior correspondent, Morning Edition, National Public Radio.

The following schools are recipients of a College Board Inspiration Award Honorable Mention. Each school will receive a $1,000 award.

• Benjamin Banneker Academic High School, Washington, D.C.
• Estacado High School, Lubbock, Texas
• Herbert Lehman High School, Bronx, New York
• High School for Arts and Business, Corona, New York (Queens)
• John Marshall High School, Los Angeles, California
• Ticonderoga High School, Ticonderoga, New York
• University High School, Newark, New Jersey

More information about the College Board Inspiration Awards is available at www.collegeboard.com/inspirationawards.

For more information, contact the College Board Office of Public Affairs at 212 713-8052.