The Excel Center
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Students will progress and earn credits in eight week terms held year round. In 2013, The Excel Center expanded nationally and is now located in Arkansas, Tennessee, Texas and Washington D.
Since the early 1970s, the share of jobs for high school dropouts has plunged from about 33% to 11%. With flexible hours and a free on-site daycare, it will be easy for you to balance work, family and school.
Excel Center FAQs - The Goodwill Excel Center, Public Charter School admits students of any race, color, national and ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school. Changing mindsets, planning for the future and achieving stability after years of living in poverty requires months of practice and support.
This blog is the fourth in a series about how organizations across Central Texas are working to help improve graduation rates for low-income students. We know that a higher education degree is a pathway out of poverty, so our partners in Austin are creating new models to address the complex combination of challenges that students face on their journey to a degree. This blog series will feature student stories and share the new models our partners are using to create pathways to success for students. Read the whole series. When she was 14 years old, Tari came home to a nightmare. She bounced from house to house. Somehow, Tari managed to stay in school and made it to her senior year, only to miss a set of final exams. But, it was always in the back of my mind that I wanted to finish high school. Through it all, her desire to get a high school diploma remained. Now, she had a new reason to succeed: she wanted to set an example for her kids. At the Goodwill Excel Center, we work in the education field, so we know that the lack of a high school diploma reverberates through generations — it goes beyond earning power. Children of high school drop outs are 50 percent more likely to drop out themselves, compared to their peers whose parents have high school diplomas. That is why Goodwill Central Texas opened the Goodwill Excel Center, the only high school in the state of Texas that provides free high school education to students over age 26. What Tari knew is that she wanted that diploma, and she wanted better for her kids. Tari worked hard and graduated with her high school diploma as the Salutatorian of her class in 2017. Her perseverance is a testament to her commitment to herself and to her family. This is where most stories about education and perseverance end. But this time, we want to tell you what happens next when someone works to get their high school diploma at the Goodwill Excel Center. When Tari first came to us, we asked her a question we ask all our new clients: when you were young, what did you want to be when you grew up? Tari has never had an answer to this question — when she was young, she was too busy surviving from home to home, and job to job. In our 60 years of work in Austin, we have learned that adult high school students face many barriers — emotional, mental, and academic — all which stand in the way of high school success. Importantly, we lead with a deep investment in personnel and relationships. To move past the chasm between application and enrollment, we hired an intake life coach who only works with students who have applied to school and are waiting for their term to begin. Our coach helps rising students get out in front of common barriers to attendance like childcare needs, balancing work schedules, and figuring out transportation. Further, our coach begins the academic process by providing students with diagnostics in Mathematics and English Language Acquisition, so that we place them in the classes most appropriate to their level and help them set up for success. When Tari earned her GED, she sat down with her Goodwill coach, and together we figured out what was next. Tari and her coach secured financial aid at Austin Community College, where she is now in her third semester with a perfect 4. Tari found a love and passion for event management and will soon have her Associates Degree in Event Planning. Her long-term goal is to work on the events team at South by Southwest. Changing mindsets, planning for the future and achieving stability after years of living in poverty requires months of practice and support. We hired two alumni coaches who ensure that our students are investing in positive outcomes for themselves in the crucial year following graduation. Our coaches collect data and provide a continuous feedback loop to the other counselors and coaches on our team, so we can provide our students with social and academic support in real time. I could have fallen into the trap of poverty.
Classes for the next term will start November 19th, 2018. Tari worked hard and graduated with her high school diploma as the Salutatorian of her class in 2017. For example, through partnership with a local hospital in the rural community of Shelbyville, Indiana, local centers created a medical assistance and pharmaceutical industry certifications program, with an on-site internship component. Tari and her coach secured financial aid at Austin Community College, where she is goodwill excel center in her third semester with a perfect 4. Life coaches help students overcome life-barriers and personal issues. LOUIS— 1727 Locust Street, 63103 downtown SPRINGFIELD — Glen Isle Center, 1514 South Glenstone Ave. Dual-credit college courses are available, as are industry-recognized certifications, hands-on internships and opportunities for post-graduation job placement.
