Irving ISD Opens New Night School Academy To Address Learning Loss – NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth

As Irving ISD welcomes back-to-school students on Monday, the district is making progress in the fight against learning loss.

The Night OWL Academy will debut this school year, aiming to help high school students who are late or at risk of not graduating. OWL stands for “Limitless Opportunities”.

The idea was born when the campus operations team made weekly home visits last year, meeting 150 families a week in a virtual apprenticeship.

“Thanks to that, you learn a lot about the situations of students, families. We provide resources, we feed families and we discuss how we can support, ”said Lance Campbell, deputy head of campus operations for Irving ISD. “Our campus operations team also teamed up with struggling seniors that year who might not have stepped in, so we really spent a lot of time learning about them by asking questions, asking how can we meet their needs. “

The academy gives students at risk of dropping out the opportunity to graduate from high school in the evenings or during flexible hours throughout the day.

Hours run from 8 a.m. to almost 9 p.m. on weekdays.

“The good thing about the Night OWL Academy is that we can get you four credits in nine weeks. What would take 36 weeks in a traditional setting, we can do it in nine here,” Campbell said. . “So that the children can see the light at the end of the tunnel. We should be able to break down any barrier, if a student has a situation or circumstance that we weren’t able to encounter last year, we think that we can do it this year. “

The academy will be made up of five full-time high school teachers, covering core subjects and an elective course – all working to tackle the so-called “COVID slide” that districts in North Texas have been battling since the beginning of the pandemic.

“We don’t know the depth of what our students have been through over the past year and a half. We’ve had kids who haven’t been to school since March 2020, “Campbell said.” So you’re talking about the socio-emotional aspect, the learning gap. At Irving, we’re committed to meeting kids where they are and our goal is the ‘COVID climb’ if you will – to improve their performance ”

The academy is hosted at the Barbara Cardwell Career Prep Center.

Monday marks the return to school for many school districts in North Texas, including Dallas ISD, DeSoto ISD, and Irving ISD.

Additionally, the academy will help meet the needs of students in the district who have work responsibilities and need a more flexible school day schedule.

Students must be 17 years of age or older to register. Classes will include English, Algebra, Geometry, Biology, Chemistry, US History, Art, and more.

“We made a commitment this year to getting older people on the scene,” said Campbell. “We’re going to be able to provide instruction in small groups. We will be able to focus our attention on the individual needs of children, and we will be able to close the gap and improve our graduation rate. “

The district also noted that once the announcement was made, they sparked the interest of people in their 20s who never graduated from high school in Irving. The school district has therefore raised the age limit so that more people can finally graduate.

“Anyone in the community who wants to graduate from high school, we want to give them that opportunity,” Campbell said. “Contact us, let’s review your transcript and see what we can do to help you get through the scene.”

You can go online to find out more about the Night OWL Academy. You can also call 972-600-5023.