NextGen will host a summer camp for all incoming 6th graders as well as offer opportunities to students for study abroad in the summer. Partial scholarships will be available for the same.
NextGen innovation Academy will be associated with Baylor College of Medicine. Baylor College of medicine will be supporting our teachers with teacher training, student mentors, internship and practicum opportunities.
NextGen Innovation Academy will use approved high quality instructional materials for all core content areas. The curriculum along with student performance will be monitored regularly by the school leadership and the school board. Our goal is to have a high performing school where all students will grow and have positive outcomes. NextGen will have a special populations coordinator, an ESL coordinator, a math coach and a literacy coach in year 1 to support our students. There will be a robust plan also to support students that will need special services, 504 plans, emergent bilingual students, gifted and talented students and those with dyslexia.
NextGen will develop an in-house curriculum for 6th grade. The curriculum for 7 through 12th grade will be the TEKS aligned state approved curriculum. Please see the list of courses under the curriculum tab. These courses are part of the career and technology education portfolio. Austin Community College are national leaders in high school Biotech curriculum and have offered free curriculum to NextGen Innovation Academy for the Biotechnology courses. This curriculum is TEKS aligned.
Our goal is to have 100% of our students successfully pass the Biotech credentialing exam called BACE. This will allow them to be hired for well paid jobs at the new upcoming Texas Medical Center, the new Bioport 500-acre facility. NextGen students will also be college ready with a strong educational foundation.
NextGen innovation Academy has one hour built in that morning called Eagle Experience for students to work with their Equal Experience teachers for enrichment and acceleration in core subjects. This will also be a time for learning the AVID skills that are critical for college and career readiness. NextGen will be working closely with the AVID assigned program manager as well as the campus AVID administrator to make sure that teachers are supported with lessons and tasks for students to learn the AVID curriculum.
NextGen will implement a multi-tiered system of support with positive behavior intervention strategies as well as a daily 10-minute reflection block for our students. Our goal is to support all around development and growth of students which includes teaching self-awareness, self-management, responsible decision-making, relationship skills, and social awareness as a part of everyday core instruction. Thus, our academic program, AVID program and mentor mentee program will be strategically developed to support the same for our young scholars and learners.
Next Gen. will launch in August 2024 and will accept 150 students in grade 6 and 150 students in grade 7. In subsequent years NextGen will only accept 150 students in grade 6.
NextGen innovation Academy is a 100% tuition free open enrollment public charter school. No tuition will be charged from any student enrolled at Nextgen Innovation Academy.
NextGen innovation Academy will be a 6 to 12 school that will offer Biomedical/Biotech electives beginning in middle school. In addition, NextGen proposes to offer Dual Credit and Advanced Placement coursework for students. There will also be a regular track for students who are not keen to pursue the dual credit or Advanced Placement courses.
Every student at NextGen Innovation Academy will take Biotech classes beginning in 8th grade. The Biotech class called Principles of Biomedical Science in 8th grade will be a high school credit course. Students will be eligible to take the industry credential exam that will make them job-ready as early as 10th grade. All students will have an opportunity for internship/practicum at various medical institutions in grades 11 and 12.
NGIA will offer mentors beginning in middle school and there is time built into the school day in the morning for mentors to work with our students. All mentors will have background checks as well as mentorship training that will be provided to them before the mentoring experience begins. All mentors will be supervised during their mentoring experience and open-ended feedback will be collected from the mentee as well as the mentor every month around progress, concerns and needs. There will also be an evaluation of the mentor program every semester and the Superintendent will share the same with the school board.
NextGen innovation Academy will be a 100% open enrollment public charter school with no entrance criteria for applicants. We will welcome all students to apply at our campus.