AVID and AVID Excel

Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) is a school wide college readiness program that is first and foremost a college readiness course. Students are nominated or selected because they show potential to not only enroll and succeed in rigorous courses, but to be on track to attend any college. AVID is designed to impact the leadership, systems, instruction and culture of a school to support high expectations and levels of achievement for all students. AVID impacts students throughout the school when trained teachers use AVID strategies to influence the academic and behavioral skills of their students in all content classes. Although AVID is an elective course for selected students, ALL students will benefit because the methodologies, strategies, and expectations are school wide and impact the learning environment and culture of an entire campus.

Learn more about AVID. 

Student Leadership Magnet

The Student Leadership magnet program offers a focus on building leadership skills. Students will participate in a leadership class in 8th grade and will have built a strong foundation on community, state, country and global leadership by the time they leave Sellers. With high expectations of decorum, integrity and challenging academics, Sellers students will be prepared for endless possibilities. Skills learned in Student Leadership at Sellers will assist students when they transfer to high school.

The following are innovative aspects of this program:

• Leadership development through community service activities and participation in Student Council, Leadership Ambassadors and Athletics Mentoring Program
• Magnet cohort classes with real-world collaborative learning opportunities
• Eighth grade leadership elective course that earns high school credit
• Participation in the AVID program, as Sellers has been an AVID Demonstration School since 2008

Requirements

• 50th percentile on reading and math achievement tests
• pass STAAR
• passing grades in core subjects
• no serious discipline issues

Qualifying students are entered into a lottery, and openings are filled in the order in which they are drawn. Qualifying incoming sixth graders from the Montessori magnet program at Herfurth and Luna may choose to continue to Student Leadership at Sellers, and they are automatically accepted before the lottery process. Students in good standing from the Leadership program at Sellers are automatically accepted into the Global Business, Language and Leadership (GBL) program at Naaman Forest High School. 

Visit our Student Leadership page for additional information, qualifications, and application process.