Plum Creek Elementary

The Gonzales High School campus is located in the Gonzales Independent School District and houses grades 9 through 12. Gonzales High School has been faced with recent scrutiny from the public eye. After receiving a failing rating from TEA four years ago, the ACE program was viewed as an opportunity to help change the culture of Gonzales ISD. The last campus recorded rated occurred in the 2018-19 school year and the campus rose to a “C” rating; however, there is still much work that needs to be done. Much student learning has been lost due to remote learning and COVID during the past two years. The Gonzales High School ACE program aims to increase student comprehension in math and reading, along with providing students an opportunity to learn and grow academically by meeting them at their point of entry. About one hundred students did not pass their reading and math STAAR tests in 2021.

Also impacting the campus is the fact that 60% of students are identified as economically disadvantaged and these students in particular need an opportunity to feel a part of something and be involved in the school. This year has also seen administrative changes on campus that have included the assignment of an Associate Principal for Curriculum. This individual has been assigning and referring students to ACE this year. The site coordinator has also been included as a part of the Instruction and Curriculum team. The coordinator has thus been participating in district meetings for curriculum and instruction. The site coordinator began recruiting ACE students during the summer and before school started and utilized the local paper, Facebook advertising and flyers. The district utilizes an online platform that gauges students learning and creates an individualized learning program that fits the student’s need. First consideration for ACE participation focused on students at Tier 1, Tier 2, ELL students and those who had failed their STAAR tests. After that followed teacher and parent recommendations were considered. ACE registration is now a part of the district registration process. All students are invited and encouraged to attend ACE. The coordinator personally sent a letter and invited each student to ACE. Once the program started the site coordinator gauged student interest by asking them what clubs or activities, they would like to participate in. Offerings have included the Spanish, gaming and culinary clubs as well as driver’s education and yearbook club opportunities. The ACE program offers a seamless connection between the normal school day and after school hours. The ACE staff are regular school day staff members. The Site Coordinator’s office is located in the high school library. After hours programming is held in the library before and after school each day. Two labs are reserved across the hallway from the library in case there is need for more space to spread out. These areas are reserved for ACE programming afterschool each day. In addition, the kitchen area and teacher classroom are also available for use by the ACE program. While many activities were carried forward from the previous year, addition activities were added this year. In deciding which activities to offer students, the coordinator surveyed teachers and asked which kind of activities they would want to offer the students. Students were also surveyed and through conversations with students’ additional activities have been added with possible expansion in the future. Academic activities include homework help and tutorials before and after school. Enrichment activities include music club, arts and crafts, gaming, eSports, culinary, college and career and photography/yearbook