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IDEA Converse College Prep Principal Joseph Lowe stands outside the new school’s front door. The campus opens Tuesday, Aug. 11, to 450 students in four grade levels.
Photo: Jeff B. Flinn /StaffIDEA Converse College Prep Principal Joseph Lowe stands outside the new school’s front door. The campus opens Tuesday, Aug. 11, to 450 students in four grade levels.
IDEA Converse College Prep Principal Joseph Lowe stands outside the new school’s front door. The campus opens Tuesday, Aug. 11, to 450 students in four grade levels.
IDEA Converse College Prep Principal Joseph Lowe stands outside the new school’s front door. The campus opens Tuesday, Aug. 11, to 450 students in four grade levels.
IDEA Converse Public Schools expects to welcome more than 440 students to the program this month.
The new campus will begin serving pre-kindergarten, kindergarten, first-grade and sixth-grade students on Aug. 11 at its complex at Martinez Converse Road and FM 1516.
School programming will open in an all-virtual format due to COVID-19 restrictions set forth by the state. But while PPEs and safeguards are being installed and adhered to, school officials say the pandemic won’t keep the school from its mission.
“It’s important to know the mission of IDEA Public Schools is college for all children,” said Rolando Posada, regional superintendent. “Our basic theory is that we can change generational poverty if we actually set up shop in places where we see underserved communities.”
IDEA Converse is the 14th San Antonio-area IDEA campus and the 28th in the region to open in the past eight years.
“For too long in this country, we’ve allowed the zip code to determine a child’s ability or inability to access a world-class education,” Posada said. “We’re saying, ‘that’s not working for us.’
“We’re going into neighborhoods where there’s been too much underperformance … and we’re saying we’re going to cast a vision here and invest in the adults and kids and, in the long term, we are going to send your kids off to college,” he added.
In the spring, IDEA’s second San Antonio campus, established in 2013, achieved its goal of 100 percent college qualification.
“This year, with our second graduating class at IDEA South Flores, we are on track for every single one of them to get to college,” he said.
The IDEA Converse campus opens with two principals: Hely Hillman, the pre-K-5 “Academy” principal, and Joseph Howe, the College Prep principal over grades 6-12. Both are preparing to start the year with virtual, or remote, learning with teachers set up and teaching from their classrooms.
“We’re really excited that IDEA Public Schools has already committed to 1-to-1 technology for all of our students,” Hillman said. “We will be committing to 1-to-1 technology, so if there are three students within a family, that family will receive three devices from us to facilitate learning this year.”
Howe said ensuring the safety of students and staff is the primary focus in opening school this year.
“Safety is priority number one. After that, it’s to deliver the same quality education as we would in person, virtually,” Howe said. “Our families need us now, more than ever and I really see it as an opportunity for my staff to give our students the same quality education that they would in person.
“We have our six core values. One is, ‘Whatever it takes.’ When we have a clear vision and we invest our teachers, they are willing to do whatever, and they embrace change,” he said.
Hillman said teachers are entering the facility this week to prepare for next week’s opening. She said she interviewed more than 100 candidates for the 17 instructional positions on her team.
“We’re still in the final stages of getting the building ready to go, but we are excited to welcome teachers onto campus this week, to begin preparing their classrooms,” Hillman said. “Teachers will be able to facilitate virtual learning from their classrooms on campus.”
The COVID-19 pandemic did affect recruitment, she said, as parents sought answers to questions about teaching, safety and precautions.
“Safety is our top priority this year, making sure that we are providing a safe environment for our students every day, so they go home safely to their families, and also make sure that our staff has a safe environment to work in,” she said.
Posada said IDEA Public Schools is making the adjustments needed to guarantee that safety. “Every aspect of COVID will be considered and executed on, including sneeze guards, and ensuring there is 6-foot spacing between each child in a classroom,” he said.
“We’ll have lots of hand-washing stations. That part was new that we added to the plan,” he said. “There are some things we have added, but again, because we have a systemic approach to building buildings, deciding to add a few features is actually not that hard.”
All three officials said the school’s safety measures do not detract from its original mission.
“We really want to send a message to our families that our mission stays the same,” Hillman said. “We are set up to continue to deliver on the promise of college for all of our students through this virtual experience. All of our adults believe that it is our responsibility and our actions that drive student achievement, and the results that our students get.”
Posada said the 80,000 square-foot building was a 12-month build, with Kencon Constructors Inc. the construction firm handling the project.
Hillman said the “Academy” portion of the school will open with three pre-K classrooms, four classrooms for kindergarteners, and four for first grade. In addition to the ready-to-be-broken-in new playground, the Academy includes an AR zone, a hotspot and a mass computer lab.
Howe opens the College Prep section with four sixth-grade classrooms. Next year, the school will add second and seventh grade, then third and eighth the following year, and continue until it achieves a full pre-K to 12th grade education experience.
“The most exciting thing is watching the year-long transformation in our students,” said Hillman, as IDEA Converse is her third IDEA launch, after stints at IDEA Monterrey Park and IDEA Ewing Halsell. “Some (students) are apprehensive to enter the school, but by the end of the year, they are practically leaping out of the car to come in.”
jflinn@express-news.net
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