Published: 01-29-08
Premier High School junior Iris Murray figures she’s found her niche at the charter school near the northwest corner of Price and Paredes Line roads in Brownsville. “This school is a very different school” she said Thursday morning as she took time out from her studies to talk to a reporter. “The teachers here care. It’s a self-paced school. Nobody falls behind. I feel it’s been very beneficial to me.”
Murray like most of her classmates attended Brownsville ISD schools before coming to Premier. She started in August and in one semester’s time has completed five credits compared to the three she would have finished at BISD.
In that regard she is like other Premier students as well: she is accelerating.
“In May I graduated two 16-year-olds. They did four years of high school in two. Both of them were girls and very smart” campus director Norma Sorola said.
Sorola is a former BISD administrator who came to Premier in May 2004 after retiring as dean of instruction at Cummings Middle School the previous December.
“You’d be surprised to see how they come in with an attitude and they change” Sorola said. “There’s no talking back here and it’s all in English.”
Premier High School started in 1998 as Eagle Academy after Texas authorized charter schools in 1995. It is part of the Responsive Education Solutions Independent School District which has schools across Texas.
It is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools the same agency that accredits BISD. Its students must pass the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills and earn the same number of credits as at any other Texas high school. Since it is under the Texas Education Agency students earn the same Texas high school diploma they would at any public high school.
The difference is individualized attention Sorola said.
“When they come here we make a graduation plan and stick to it” Sorola said. “We practice tough love structure and discipline.”
Most of the students at Premier for one reason or another found themselves falling through the cracks advanced placement teacher Jose Manuel Garcia said.
“Now I have 26 students instead of 150” said Garcia who taught for 24 years with BISD. “I feel the students all are capable of finishing up no matter what obstructions they’re facing in their lives.”
The school has 140 students in eighth through 12th grades. Last fall it was the first of the 22 schools in the Premier system to have a fall graduation granting diplomas to 39 students. It is the only Premier school that owns its own building. Its campus is what used to be the Stuart Title Co. at 955 Paredes Line Road.
“People hear charter and they think we’re for the bad kids” Sorola said. “We are an alternative educational high school not a disciplinary high school. My breakdown of kids is like any other high school just on a smaller scale.”
She said most of the students think of Premier as a private school they don’t have to pay for.
“From the moment you enroll you will be encouraged to take ownership of your own progress” the school advertises on its Web site. “Utilizing a computer-enhanced character-based curriculum in a safe positive environment you will be able to discover your capabilities and work at your own rate of learning thereby achieving your potential”
The school day starts at 7:45 a.m. and classes let out at 1:30 p.m. with afternoon tutorials for students who need them.
Among the 39 students who graduated in the fall 25 are now attending college Sorola said.
