Alief Kerr High School

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Alief Kerr High School
Location
Harris County, Texas United States
Information
Type	Free public
Motto	Be the difference that makes the difference!
Established	1994
School district	Alief Independent School District
Principal	Greg Freeman
Grades	9-12
Enrollment	768[1]
Color(s)	Purple and white
Mascot	Tiger
Website	[1] and [2]

Alief Kerr High School is a top-ranked secondary school located in the unincorporated area of Harris County, Texas, near the city of Houston in the United States. Children At Risk ranks Kerr High School as 9th in Houston.

Kerr is a part of the Alief Independent School District and serves grades 9 through 12. Kerr opened in the fall of 1994. In May 1996, approximately 55 students became the first class to graduate from Kerr. Kerr has over 900 students^[2] for the 2008-2009 school year.

Students must apply to Kerr in their 8th grade year. The student and his/her parents must attend an orientation. Afterwards, the student must submit an application and interview with a staff member. Admission into Kerr is based mostly on students’ behavior and attendance records.^[2] Traditional high schools in Alief ISD are assigned by a lottery to either Alief Elsik High School, Alief Hastings High School, or Alief Taylor High School. Alief Kerr and Alief Taylor are located across the street from each other. Kerr shares transportation with Alief Taylor.

The school's mascot is the tiger and the school's colors are purple and white.

Contents 1 Structure 1.1 Centers 1.2 Independent Learning 1.3 PAK (Personal Activity Kit) 1.4 Testing 2 TEA Acknowledgements 3 AP Classes 4 Competition 4.1 UIL 4.2 Speech and Debate 4.3 FBLA 5 Clubs and Organizations 6 See also 7 References 8 External links

[edit] Structure

Kerr may be best explained as part Montessori, part performing arts high school, and part little red school house. Unlike a magnet school, such as Houston ISD's DeBakey High School for Health Professions, Kerr lacks an official area of concentration. Unlike traditional campuses, students are not separated by grade or course with one assigned teacher. Students can seek out a variety of peer and teacher input. Unlike a one-size-fits-all pacing, students can work (relatively) at their own pace.

[edit] Centers

Instead of small traditional classrooms, Alief Kerr has large centers for each core subject. Every class in a specific subject is held in the subject's center. For example, all the science classes are held in the Science Center. This includes Anatomy, Astronomy, Biology, Chemistry, Environmental Science, GMO, and Physics. Centers can hold 25-150 students. Teachers usually teach more than one subject at a time. A science teacher may be teaching Chemistry I, Physics I, and AP Physics during the same period. The centers at Alief Kerr include Art, Business, English, Foreign Language, Journalism, Math, Science, and Social Studies.

Webmastering/Computer Science, Theater, Health, and Speech are all held in traditional type classrooms.

[edit] Independent Learning

Kerr is based on independent learning. Under the teacher's guidance, the student proceeds through the course on his/her own. They are given deadlines for completion of assignments, projects, and tests. Students who understand the material well and are focused on class work can proceed faster. Students have been known to finish courses two to four times faster than the normal pace. Students that need more time may move at a slower pace, but must complete the course within the end of the term.^[3]

In most classes, teachers will go over the course material once a week in a seminar. Separate seminar rooms are available for teacher instruction.

[edit] PAK (Personal Activity Kit)

Instead of traditional assignments, PAKs (Personal Activity Kit)^[3] are administered for each class. The PAKs include all the work for the unit. They inform students of the objectives, direct them to learning materials, and prepare them for tests/quizzes. The PAK system encourages students to participate in team work, seminars, and large groups to provide opportunities for teacher-directed and group learning. For most classes, a PAK is due in one to two weeks,^[4] with a test over the material after the PAK is due.

[edit] Testing

In most cases, after the completion of a PAK, there is a test. Because of Kerr's unusual environment, traditional testing is difficult; especially when other classes are in the center. Teachers either pull their students away from the center and administer the test themselves, or the student reports to the testing center. The testing center is where tests are administered for all classes. A testing center clerk gives the correct test to the student when the student presents a testing pass. The student chooses a seat, completes the test, and turns it in when completed.

The student receives a testing pass when he/she turns in their PAK. On the testing pass the student fills out such information as the student's name, advisory, class, class period, test name, and date. When the student finishes a test and turns it in, the testing center clerk stamps the last sheet of the testing pass and returns that sheet to the student. This is proof that the student took a test. The test grades are reported when a copy of the testing pass is given in the student's advisory with the student's grade.

[edit] TEA Acknowledgements

Alief Kerr is only one of seven schools to achieve the Recognized status from the Texas Education Agency accountability ratings system in the 2006, 2007 and 2008 school years. For the 2009 school year, Alief Kerr received the highest recognition possible, exemplary, from the TEA.^[5]

2008 Texas Education Agency Gold Performance Acknowledgements Program

• Advanced Course/Dual Enrollment Completion
• Advanced Placement/International Baccalaureate Results
• Attendance Rate
• Commended Performance: Reading/English Language Arts (ELA)
• Commended Performance: Mathematics
• Commended Performance: Social Studies
• Comparable Improvement: Reading/ELA
• Recommended High School Program/Distinguished Achievement Program
• SAT/ACT Results
• Texas Success Initiative-Higher Education Readiness Component:ELA
• Texas Success Initiative-Higher Education Readiness Component:Mathematics

[edit] AP Classes

The following Advanced Placement classes are offered at Alief Kerr High School:

• AP Art 2D - Portfolio
• AP Art 3D - Portfolio
• AP Art Studio Drawing
• AP Biology
• AP Calculus AB
• AP Calculus BC
• AP Chemistry
• AP Computer Science I (A)
• AP Computer Science II (AB)
• AP English III (Language)
• AP English IV (Literature)
• AP Environmental Science
• AP European History
• AP French IV (Language)
• AP French V (Literature)
• AP Human Geography
• AP Macro Economics
• AP Music Theory
• AP Physics B
• AP Physics C
• AP Psychology
• AP Spanish IV (Language)
• AP Spanish VI (Literature)
• AP Statistics
• AP US History
• AP US Government

[edit] Competition

Kerr lacks competitive sports. The school does have intramural programs throughout the year that allows students to form teams and compete against one another in activities that include basketball, tennis, hockey and volleyball. A majority of the Kerr population is involved in the fine arts (Art, Band, Choir, Handbells, Orchestra, Speech, and Theater).

[edit] UIL

Many students compete in Kerr's successful UIL academics teams. Kerr has had UIL State competitors for the last six years. Alief Kerr competes in the 4A conference. In 2004, Andrea Negri placed 1st in Editorial Writing at the State level. ^[6] The Current Issues and Events team has placed within the top four in the state three times. In 2009, Sonny Nguyen captured the Current Issues and Events individual state championship. Andrew Mai also was the silver medalist in Social Studies in 2006. Kerr has also had 4 UIL state speech competitors in the past three years, including Aime Tangu who earned the Bronze medal in 2007 in Persuasive Extemporaneous Speaking and the 2009 Informative Extemporaneous Speaking Champion, Joshua Tang. ^[7]

[edit] Speech and Debate

One of Kerr's most successful competitive activities is speech and debate. Students have qualified to the Texas Forensic Association Competition, National Forensic League Competition, and University Interscholastic League Competition. Kerr students have reached the late elimination rounds at the Texas Forensic Association Tournament in extemporaneous and impromptu speaking and has had two students place in the top eleven nationally in Student Congress at the National Forensic League Tournament in 2006 and again in 2009. Kerr is also the only school in Space City to earn congress National qualifiers for four straight years, including two representatives for the past two years.

In 2006-2007, Kerr qualified its first student to the Tournament of Champions (in Extemporaneous Speaking), its first National Forensic League Tournament Lincoln-Douglas Debate competitor, and its second National Student Congress competitor.

In the 2007-2008 school year, Kerr qualified three individuals: 1 in Foreign Extemporaneous Speaking, 1 in Student Congress(House) and 1 in Student Congress(Senate) for the National Forensic League Tournament. There have been two qualifications for the 2009 tournament.

In the 2008-2009 school year, Coach Davis won a BP A+ For Energy Grant which led to the Kerr Speech and Debate going green in promoting alternative energy. They have worked diligently to educate the school and community about alternative energies and the relationship between humans and their environment, which can be shared with the world through their own website at TheGreenDebateTeam@wordpress.org. Kerr Speech also placed third overall in the United States for the United Nations Foundations Global Debates/The People Speak.

Kerr was also the only winner in the Western Hemisphere for an essay contest sponsored by the United Nations Foundation and the International Debate Education Association, in which writers addressed why governments had an obligation to combat climate change. The winning essay, written by Ainee Athar, won the Grand Prize, along with a secondary school from South Africa. Athar also placed 11th in Student Congress, at the annual National Forensic League National Tournament(June 2009). Only one other Kerr competitor has ever reached national finals.

After winning this, the school was allowed to bring two students, Ayesha Malik and Joshua Tang, to the International Parliamentary Debate Tournament of Champions in Salem, Oregon at Willamette University. Malik and Tang placed third. They were bested only by the Bentley School of Lafayette, CA, who has both world champion teams.

[edit] FBLA

Every year, the Kerr High School Chapter of Future Business Leaders of America wins a number of awards at the Area V Leadership Conference (District) and the State Leadership Conference (SLC). Students who place in the top two or three at SLC are qualified for the FBLA National Leadership Conference (NLC) in June.

In 2008, eight students attended the conference in Atlanta, Georgia. That year, Khoi Trinh captured the national championship title in Business Calculations. ^[8] In 2009, five students attended the conference in Anaheim, California. That year, Sonny Nguyen placed 4th in Personal Finance. ^[9]

[edit] Clubs and Organizations

• Anime Club
• Art Club
• Band & Orchestra
• Book Club
• Cadre Kerr (Theatre Club, Thespian Troupe #6198)
• Chess Club
• Choir
• Christian Fellowship
• Culture Club
• Engineering Club
• FBLA (Future Business Leaders of America)
• Kerr FBLA Chapter
• Film Society
• Future Writers of America
• French Club
• Gamer's Club
• Guitar Club
• Interact Club
• Key Club
• Kerr Dance Society
• Knitting Club
• Medical Professionals of America
• Muslim Student Association
• National Art Honor Society
• National Honor Society
• Newspaper and Yearbook
• Principal's Lunch
• Science Club
• Speech & Debate / National Forensic League
• Student Council
• Students for Humanity
• Table Tennis Club (Also known as Ping Pong)

[edit] See also

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Alief Kerr Official Website

Coordinates: 29°41′28″N 95°38′04″W / 29.69111°N 95.634313°W / 29.69111; -95.634313

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