Perris High School AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination)

A.V.I.D. is a program designed to help students prepare for and succeed in colleges and universities.  A.V.I.D. offers a rigorous program of instruction in academic “survival skills” and college level entry skills.  The A.V.I.D. program teaches the student how to study, read for content, take notes, and manage time.  Students participate in collaborative study groups or tutorials led by tutors who use skillful questioning to bring students to a higher level of understanding.  The goals of Perris High School’s A.V.I.D. program is for all students to succeed in the most rigorous curriculum, enter the mainstream activities of school, increase their enrollment in four-year colleges, and become educated, responsible participants and leaders in a democratic society.  Three hundred and twenty four students currently participate in A.V.I.D. and our A.V.I.D. coordinator continues to brainstorm strategies to increase A.V.I.D. enrollment.  Cornell Notes have been implemented school-wide to create a college-going culture across the campus and streamline the thinking process during note-taking and studying.

Organizational Skills

All AVID students maintain an AVID Notebook. This notebook is organized by class and contains an effective means of recording daily tasks and future commitments such as homework, quizzes, projects, exams, SAT, ACT dates, etc. Students take one page of Cornell Notes per day in each core academic subject. Notes are carefully organized chronologically in notebooks. Students also complete learning logs, reflections, and summaries in place of or in addition to notes at times. Notebooks are graded weekly by AVID Tutors weekly and account for 25 – 40% of a students grade in AVID.

Essentials

AVID seeks to lead by example with role-model behavior inside and outside of the classroom. Students are held to highest standards of conduct and school pride. Students are responsible for completing grade-checks for all subjects. Students are required to attend at minimum six (6) extracurricular activities per year of various types (i.e. a dance, a football game, a club meeting, etc.) Students six times a year participate in AVID’s Dress for Success days, days on which students wear formal business attire suitable for job interviews in the professional career industry. Students are also rewarded for participating in any school spirit building activity, such as Spirit Week, Halloween Costume Day, School Spirit Fridays, College Shirt Thursdays.

WICR

Students participate in AVIDs WICR-based curriculum which focuses on four proven academic elements: writing, inquiry, collaboration, and reading. Students work in groups and team of various sizes to complete a myriad of academic and socially enriching tasks. Students team-build. Students research and generate materials for a school-wide college fair. Students think critically about contemporary and traditional topics and universal themes. Students work together to learn in Socratic Seminars.

Tutorial Sessions

Twice a week students learn in tutorial sessions. Students work collaboratively through a Socratic process to solve challenging problems from their core academic classes. These tutorial sessions enable AVID students to enroll in and be successful in courses of the highest academic rigor, courses in which they could not be successful without such additional support. These tutorial sessions not lead students to learn course material, they teach students to work together as a unit which is invaluable in college.