Beginning this school year, Ninth grade students in San Antonio Schools will have more resources in helping them gain success in academic studies, college, and future careers. In addition to their regular classes ninth grade students will be required to take Freshman Prep class. San Antonio Schools' Freshman Prep class helps students create a plan for the next four years and their future. The Freshman Prep class is intended to have students be prepared for college upon graduating from high school. The Freshman Prep class follows guidelines set by San Antonio Schools and the Texas High School Project District Initiative. Students will be expected to create and follow a standardized plan that features four core subjects each year and construct supplementary areas of interest or conduits from which students can select. The San Antonio Schools' Freshman Prep class includes instruction on note-taking, time management and teaches how to develop good study habits that students can use throughout their high school and college studies. The main goals that San Antonio Schools have for the program are: to increase the number of students who complete 9th grade, provide a more rigorous and balanced four year high school graduation, ensure that all graduates are college ready, offer students opportunities for individualized guidance from their counselors, encourage increased parental involvement, and aid 12th-graders obtain career-related scholarships. After the ninth grade the Freshman Prep class becomes the Career Pathways program that gives students guidance to graduation, college and careers.

San Antonio Schools Celebrate a Decade of Science and Mathematics Reform

San Antonio Schools' San Antonio Urban Systemic Program is the main organization the has engaged in systemic reform within San Antonio Schools that has helped thousands of students achieve higher science and math scores. San Antonio Schools will recognize teachers that have worked in the San Antonio Urban Systemic Program. The San Antonio School districts included in the program are Alamo Heights, East Central, Edgewood, Harlandale, Judson, North East, Northside, San Antonio, and South San Antonio. Other participants in the San Antonio Urban Systemic Program are the University of Texas at San Antonio and the City of San Antonio.

San Antonio Urban Systemic Program has worked with the National Science Foundation to create more engaging and better quality student instruction over the last ten years. The San Antonio Urban Systemic Program has increased the use of math and science across the curriculum by improving students' access to math and science resources, having better integration of technology, and professional development that gives the teachers the skills they need in order to bring science and mathematics into all classroom environments.

San Antonio Urban Systemic Program's goal for the San Antonio Schools to improve student achievement in mathematics, science, and the integration of instructional technology has succeeded. When San Antonio Schools' students are compared to students in Texas, they score higher. The National Science Foundation has assisted the San Antonio Urban Systemic Program, not only, with financial funding but with and mathematics materials, teacher training, and technical assistance from mentor teachers and campus coaches. The San Antonio Urban Systemic Program has created a demanding curriculum using real-world applications of math and science that involves hands-on explorations.