Washington Jr. High's AVID Contract Signing event is less about signing a piece of paper but more about making a commitment. 

 

Much like athletes signing letters of intent to play a sport at the college or university level, these students are signing a letter but for academics. Students and their families gather at the event and sign the official AVID contract, doing so the students are committing to being enrolled in the AVID elective class and taking on the goals and responsibilities of AVID.

 

What is AVID? AVID, Advance Via Individual Determination, is a set of strategies used by educators to prepare students in the academic middle for four-year college eligibility. These are students who are capable of completing a college-prep curriculum but may be falling short of their potential.

 

AVID students are enrolled in a school’s toughest classes, such as Advanced Placement, and attend an academic elective class -called AVID- taught within the school day by a trained AVID teacher. The three main components of the program are academic instruction, tutorial support, and motivational activities.

 

At WJHS, they have about 97 students enrolled in the AVID elective. AVID is for both 7th and 8th graders.