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The Science Academy of South Texas, also known as 'SciTech', is a high school in Mercedes, Texas, United States, as part of the South Texas Independent School District. The school serves as an alternative to larger high schools of local independent school districts for students interested in pursuing careers in science, technology, and engineering. The school's unique curriculum has given it national recognition.〔(The Education Innovator #43 ), United States Department of Education, December 2, 2005. Accessed November 7, 2007.〕 Being a public magnet school, open enrollment has been the school's policy since its creation, although application is required. The Science Academy of South Texas is part of the South Texas Independent School District. The Science Academy of South Texas has notable partnerships with Rice University, Rochester Institute of Technology, University of Texas-Pan American and South Texas College.〔(The Science Academy of South Texas ), South Texas Independent School District. Accessed November 7, 2007.〕 Its sister school South Texas High School for Health Professions, also known as Med High, resides on the same campus. Both schools are served by Biblioteca Las Americas, the school library, which is located at equal distance from both schools. The Science Academy has no athletics department but students participate in academic competitions regularly. In 2008, The Science Academy gym was completed, no longer sharing with the neighboring Med High. A recent study has labeled The Science Academy as a "dropout factory," citing a 55% retention rate.〔("Dropout Factories" ), Associated Press. Accessed November 7, 2007.〕 However, this study did not take into the account that the Academy does not have any students zoned into it; all students come from other area high schools and many of those students simply returned to their regular high school. As of the 2011-12 school year, the school had an enrollment of 675 students and 54.42 classroom teachers (on a FTE basis), for a student-teacher ratio of 12.40.〔(The Science Academy ), National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed April 7, 2013.〕 In 2007, principal Edward Argueta left and was replaced by Michael Aranda, who was an assistant principal at Med High at the time. The current assistant principals include Julian Garcia III Many SciTech students who graduate in the top 10% of their class have been accepted to Yale University, Stanford University, California Institute of Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Rice University, and Princeton University.〔(). Accessed July 10, 2012.〕 ==History== The school was founded in 1989 as the Math and Science Academy. Jorge Lopez, the principal of neighboring Med High served as principal. After a year the name was changed to The Science Academy of South Texas. The school colors were changed from black and gold to green and gray. Only one student received a letterman jacket with the black and gold colors. In 1992 the building was completed and classes moved out of the portables. A detailed history of the Science Academy can be found in Dr. Anna Rudolph Canter's dissertation entitled "In the Middle of an Orange Grove, Across the Street From the Tortilla Factory: The Science Academy of South Texas "When I began my doctoral studies at UT Austin, I studied, among other topics, minority students’ failures and successes in schools. I always remembered the students at the Science Academy of South Texas. For one course, I conducted a pilot study of the experiences of teachers at the Science Academy. As I spent time in the Valley collecting those data, I became more interested in the story behind the school. As a result, I chose to write the history of the Science Academy for my dissertation research. My goal—to write a rich, detailed, multi-voiced account of the history of the Science Academy—is represented by this dissertation." Anna Rudolph Canter 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「The Science Academy of South Texas」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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