Challenge Early College High School Lives Up to Its Name

Source: Houston ISD, Challenge Early College High School

Ranked better than 98.8% of high schools in Texas last year, Challenge Early College High School is making big strides in education.  Their students are given a great opportunity to take college classes along with their high school classes.

While it seems that these students should be feeling overwhelmed, their hard work and success contributes to them being the no.1 high school in the Houston Independent School District and the 50^th best high school in Texas, according to U.S. News.

Located on Houston Community College’s West Loop Campus, Challenge’s mission is to graduate students who are confident with the necessary skills to face higher education and give back to the world.  They are all about their three Rs: Rigor, Relevance, and Relationships.

To accomplish this, the school uses the strategy of thinking small, personalizing educational needs with smaller classrooms and caring teachers who really try to build meaning relationships full of support. Students are given a lot of responsibility, just like their full-time college peers on the same campus, fostering skills also needed in life.

Source: Houston ISD, Challenge Early College High School schedule

Through Challenge’s required dual enrollment program, students can not only graduate with a Texas Scholar diploma but, up to 61 college credits that can be transferred to a institution of their choice, or finish up an associate’s degree.  They can also opt to stay with the school for an additional year after graduating to continue to take advantage of strong support and smaller classrooms. What makes this all so neat is that students are assigned to classes that won’t wait their time or money, as placement is based on their interests and majors.

Of course, no one said this school was easy. Challenge found itself ranked no. 28 in Texas and no.96 in the nation on The Washington Post’s list of “America’s Most Challenging High Schools” out of 2, 050 of the nation’s most rigorous high schools. However, School Digger tells us that just last year the average math score was an unbeatable 100, while the average reading score was 99, contributing to the school claiming the 21^st spot out of 1713 other ranked schools.

Check out the Challenge Early College High School website to learn more about the admissions process and the feel of the school campus to decide if this could be the right route for your family.