supporting
el paso students
CREEED is working to increase the number of high-performing schools in our region so that every child in El Paso has access to a high-quality education.
CREEED supports a diverse set of academic programs to match the diversity of our students – but they all have one thing in common; a track record of increasing student performance.
Current Initiatives
Increasing the Number of High Quality Seats (HQS) - ISD Programs
CREEED works with El Paso County’s nine Independent School Districts, state education agencies, and education organizations to identify and support initiatives that prepare students to succeed and achieve a post-high school degree or certification.
What happens in the classroom affects what happens far beyond it. By helping El Paso students succeed in the classroom today, CREEED is helping them and our city achieve the future we aspire for tomorrow.
Only 31.4 percent of working-age adults (25-64) in El Paso have a two or four-year college diploma. This puts us behind Texas’s five largest metropolitan regions, and many other cities we compete with to attract jobs.
While more than 60 percent of El Paso high school graduates go to college, many are required to retake high school-level classes, and only 20% of high school graduates go on to finish their degrees. At El Paso Community College, 55% of students need remediation; the same is true for about one-third of UTEP’s incoming class.
CREEED believes all students can and should benefit from educational best practices. We work with partners to identify and create programs that increase student performance and then collaborate with educational partners to implement or expand these efforts to reach more students. We also seek out local programs that show great results and work to replicate them in schools across the region.
Increasing the Number of High Performing Schools (HPS) - Charters
Every student learns differently. More options mean more opportunities for parents to find the right learning environment for their children. CREEED works with educators, funders, community leaders, and charter management organizations to identify public charter schools with successful track records to support expansion in our region.
Public charter schools are free and open to all students in the community. CREEED is working on expanding the number of top-performing charter school networks in El Paso County. These include:
- Burnham Wood Charter Schools
- IDEA Public Schools
- Harmony Public Schools
Sylvia Hopp San Elizario College Scholarship
The Sylvia Hopp Scholarship is one of many ways that CREEED is working with schools across the region to reduce the barriers to college and increase post-secondary attainment for all El Paso students. By increasing the number of college graduates in our region, we position them for success in our workforce and the regional economy.
Past awardees include:
- 2022: Iliana Vigil
- 2021: Eduardo Romero Jr.
- 2020: Joselyn Torres
- 2019: Maria Cano
- 2018: Angelica Jasso
Young Achievers Forum - YAF
This annual event, hosted by UTEP and NMSU, gives over 1,000 local 6th-8th grade students first-hand exposure to college campus life.
The program offers a day of inspiration, motivation, and education. Students learn about careers in STEM, Health/Medical Sciences, Business/Finance, and Liberal Arts, and parents understand what they can do to help their children prepare for college.
Each year, more than 100 professionals volunteer to speak about their careers, and more than 100 university students volunteer as guides.
The program is designed to give middle school students the motivation to follow their dreams – and to help them understand how higher education can help them reach those dreams.
STTE Foundation
CREEED supports the STTE Foundation’s work to expand educational programs focused on technology, STEAM, and entrepreneurship. Through our partnership with STTE, we support getting digital devices into the hands of students who need them, the STTE annual science fair, and an annual ceremony recognizing educators that are at the forefront of helping students harness the power of technology and entrepreneurship.
CREEED’s investments in the STTE Foundation are part of a multi-year capital campaign to make the Borderplex region a competitive tech hub and to grow STTE into a national leader in youth innovation and entrepreneurship.
CCMR Initiative (College, Career & Military Readiness)
Through our partnership with the Texas Impact Network and collaboration with regional partners, CREEED supports efforts to assist local ISDs with preparing and executing strategic plans to take advantage of the outcome-based funding provided under Texas HB-3, passed in 2019.
With a focus on students’ academic preparation, HB-3 incentivizes districts to receive additional funding based on the academic preparation of graduating seniors, measured after their enrollment and completion of the first year of college.
Impact
$1.5M
new high-performing charter school enrollment opportunities.
Did You Know?
Advocacy
School Finance: CREEED supports legislative efforts that focus on improving key academic outcomes through strategic investment and increased equity in our public school finance system.
Accountability: CREEED supports efforts to update the current A-F school rating system. The A-F Accountability System is a statewide rating system established by the Texas Education Agency (TEA) that allows them to evaluate the academic performance of Texas public schools and assign a letter grade ( A-F) to districts and campuses. These ratings are determined based on three domains – Student Achievement, School Progress, and Closing the Gaps. While we know that no rating system is perfect, we acknowledge the need for a transparent accountability system to:
- Prepare all El Paso students to attend and complete college
- Support the professional development of teachers and school administrators
- Empower and mobilize parents to become involved in and make informed decisions about their child’s education
- Allow all educators, parents, community members to know how our public schools are performing
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