Academic Honors

ACADEMIC DECATHLON AND OCTATHLON

Academic Decathlon is designed for eleventh and twelfth grade students.  It is a multi-curricula honors, by invitation only, course, built around a single topic that teaches communication skills, teamwork, and high level thought processes.

Whereas Academic Decathlon teaches math, science, fine arts, social science, economics, language and literature, interview, speech, essay and the unifying central topic, Octathlon,  designed for ninth and tenth graders, does not teach speech and interview.  It concentrates instead upon developing research and the highest level study skills and techniques.  Both compete for medals, while the Decathlon also competes for scholarships.

CROSSED SWORDS

Four senior students are selected by the principal at the end of each six-weeks period to receive the Crossed Swords Award in the areas of Academics, Athletics, Fine Arts, and Leadership.  These students are nominated by the faculty and staff members on the basis of the student's talents, abilities, attitude, and other information which might portray this student as outstanding.  These students are presented with a gold medal and a certificate showing the area of selection.

TEXAS SCHOLARS PROGRAM

Texas Scholars is designed to encourage students to complete high school courses that provide a fundamentally sound academic  education.  The curriculum emphasizes "on level  and above" courses in mathematics, science, social studies,  language arts (including foreign language) and computer literacy.

PRESIDENTIAL ACADEMIC FITNESS AWARDS PROGRAM

The Presidential Academic Fitness Awards Program  consists of two kinds of awards:  the President's Award for Educational Excellence and the President's Award for Educational Improvement.  The award is a certificate signed by the President, the Secretary of Education, and the school principal.

Requests for the President's Award for Educational Excellence may not exceed five (5) percent of the enrollment at the exit grade.  The purpose of this award is to recognize and reward educational excellence.  As our nation's students strive to fulfill our six National Education Goals, we want to provide them with a strong impetus to achieve a high level of success.  The certificate for this award is gold and white for each exit grade.

Requests for the President's Award for Educational Improvement may not exceed ten (10) percent of the enrollment at the exit grade.  The purpose of this award is to recognize all students, including those students with special needs, who are making an outstanding effort to learn and improve in their academic subjects.  The certificate is silver and white for each exit  grade.