Clinton City Schools presented a district‑wide rollout of the AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) program at its Aug. 20 Board of Education meeting, with school leaders describing classroom strategies, binder/planner systems and an AVID elective at Clinton High School meant to prepare students for honors, Advanced Placement and postsecondary options.

Instructional Services presenter Doctor Linda Carr said elementary schools will focus AVID on early learners’ communication, inquiry and organizational habits while middle and high school programs emphasize tutorials, public speaking and college‑and‑career readiness. “AVID is the advancement via individual determination,” she said.

AVID implementation varies by campus: L.C. Carr (pre‑K and kindergarten) is emphasizing WICOR (writing, inquiry, collaboration, organization, reading) adapted for early learners and family engagement; Butler Avenue and Sunset Avenue are using binders, weekly AVID checks and Frayer models for vocabulary; Sampson Middle School runs a daily AVID elective and field trips to colleges; Clinton High School will pilot an AVID elective paired with an honors Earth and Environmental Science course and distribute student planners districtwide.

Teachers who attended the AVID Summer Institute described early classroom changes: Jennifer Casey, a high school teacher, said the program reduced students’ overreliance on technology and emphasized paper‑and‑pen note taking and inquiry. Hannah Brown, an AIG math teacher at Sampson Middle School, said 100 percent of the AVID students assigned to her math 1 cohort passed that EOC subject last year (she attributed the result to AVID‑based practices). A Sampson Middle School student, Kenny Acosta Venegas, told the board AVID “taught me how to stay organized” and called the program “like a family.”

District leaders described this as a multiyear effort: site teams will hold regular meetings, principals said they meet at least monthly to align goals across schools, and administrators plan to expand the AVID elective over time to other subject areas. Officials said applications exceeded seats — more than 300 students applied for middle‑school AVID and the program accepted about 140 — and staff emphasized that expansion will be staged.

Board members and staff framed AVID as both a set of classroom strategies and a school‑wide professional development priority. Doctor Linda Carr said AVID site coordinators will meet this year to coordinate vertical alignment among elementary, middle and high school programs.

The board did not take a vote on AVID implementation at this meeting; presenters described plans, early outcomes and next steps for professional development, family engagement and monitoring student progress.

Sources: presentations and on‑record remarks at the Aug. 20 board meeting by Doctor Linda Carr; Jennifer Casey, teacher; Hannah Brown, AIG math teacher; Tara Davis, kindergarten teacher; and student speaker Kenny Acosta Venegas.