| Definition of Terms |
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| School Level |
High school |
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| Grades Offered |
Grades 9 - 12 |
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| County |
Hidalgo County, TX |
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| Awards |
 Blue Ribbon School – Selected in
2005 |
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| Total Students |
640 students |
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| % Male / % Female |
62% /
38% |
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| Total Classroom Teachers |
44 teachers |
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| Students by Grade |
| Grade 9 - 219 students | | Grade 10 - 174 students | | Grade 11 - 140 students | | Grade 12 - 107 students |
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|
| Teacher : Student Ratio |
1:15 |
1:14 |
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| Students by Ethnicity |
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| % American Indian |
n/a |
n/a |
| % Asian |
11% |
2% |
| % Hispanic |
66% |
37% |
| % Black |
1% |
13% |
| % White |
22% |
46% |
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| Additional Student Information |
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| % Eligible for Free Lunch |
28% |
32% |
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| % Eligible for Reduced Lunch |
9% |
6% |
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| % Migrant Students Enrolled |
1% |
1% |
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|
(TX) Statewide Testing Performance |
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| School District Name |
South Texas Independent School District |
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| Number of Schools Managed |
6 |
5 |
| Number of Students Managed |
2,205 students |
1,220 students |
| District Total Revenue |
$27,958,000 |
$11,313,000 |
| District Expenditure |
$26,040,000 |
$11,189,000 |
| District Revenue / Student |
$12,679 |
$9,273 |
| District Expenditure / Student |
$11,810 |
$9,171 |
| District Graduation Rates |
98% |
97% |
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| View all past news stories |
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- The Science Academy of South Texas, also known as 'SciTech', is a high school in Mercedes, Texas, United States, as part of the South Texas Independent School District.
- The school serves as an alternative to larger high schools of local independent school districts for students interested in pursuing careers in science, technology, and engineering. The school's unique curriculum has given it national recognition. Being a public magnet school, open enrollment has been the school's policy since its creation, although application is required. The Science Academy of South Texas is part of the South Texas Independent School District.
- The Science Academy of South Texas has notable partnerships with Rice University, Rochester Institute of Technology, University of Texas-Pan American and South Texas College. Its sister school South Texas High School for Health Professions, also known as Med High, presides on the same campus. Both schools are served by Biblioteca Las Americas, the school library, which is located at equal distance from both schools.
- The Science Academy has no athletics department but students participate in academic competitions regularly. In 2008, The Science Academy gym was completed, no longer sharing with the neighboring Med High.
- A recent study has labeled The Science Academy as a "dropout factory," citing a 55% retention rate. However, this study did not take into the account that the Academy does not have any students zoned into it; all students come from other area high schools and many of those students simply returned to their regular high school.
- As of the 2005-06 school year, the school had an enrollment of 640 students and 44.6 classroom teachers (on a FTE basis), for a student-teacher ratio of 14.3.
- In 2007, principal Edward Argueta left and was replaced by Michael Aranda, who was an assistant principal at Med High at the time.The current assistant principals include Nora Casarez and Julian Garcia III.
- History
-
The school was founded in 1989 as the Math and Science Academy. Jorge Lopez, the Principal of neighboring Med-High served as principal. After a year the name was changed to The Science Academy of South Texas. The school colors were changed from black and gold to green and gray. Only one student received a letterman jacket with the black and gold colors. In 1992 the building was completed and classes moved out of the portables.
- Awards and recognition
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During the 2005-06 school year, the Science Academy of South Texas was recognized with the Blue Ribbon School Award of Excellence by the United States Department of Education, the highest award an American school can receive.
- In 2003, it was placed 8th on Newsweek magazine's listing of "America's Best High Schools".
[ "Science Academy of South Texas ranked 8th in nation", Baylor College of Medicine press release, dated June 6, 2003. Accessed November 7, 2007.] - In its November 30, 2007, U.S. News & World Report ranked Science Academy #23 on its list of America's Best High Schools. Sci Tech's sister schools South Texas Business Education & Technology Academy (BETA) came in at 54th place, and South Texas High School for Health Professions (Med High) was ranked 64th.
[ Gold Medal Schools, U.S. News & World Report, November 29, 2007. Accessed December 11, 2007.] - See also
- Magnet school
- External links
- The Science Academy of South Texas
- Source: Wikipedia; it is used under the GNU Free Documentation License. You may redistribute it, verbatim or modified, providing that you comply with the terms of the GFDL.
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| About This Zip Code (78570) |
|
| Population (Approximate) |
29,339 people |
19,677,938 people |
| % (age 25+) w/College Degree |
10% |
23% |
| Population Average Age |
25 years old
|
32 years old |
| Average Household size |
3.8 persons
|
2.7 persons |
| Median Household Income |
$21,053
|
$42,049 |
| Avg. # of Rooms in Household |
4.4 rooms |
5.1 rooms |
| Median Age of Housing Structure |
26 years old |
33 years old |
|
 View current housing listings in this area |
Median Value of Housing Unit
Zipcode (78570)
What's a Zindex?
Subject to Zillow Terms of Use | |
| % Owning / % Renting |
74% / 26% |
63% / 37% |
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Note: Data has been gathered from several government and commercial data sources. School data reflects 2006 statistics (most recent year available).
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