By ERIC LIDJI Daily Light staff writer
Thursday, January 26, 2006 3:04 PM CST
As published by Waxahachie Daily Light

The T. C. Wilemon building is the oldest campus in the Waxahachie ISD, but this fall it will become one of the most modern in the world.

Superintendent Dr. James Wilcox announced plans Wednesday to turn the Wilemon building into an innovative high school campus where underprivileged and underachieving students will learn science, technology and business on a truly global scale. The WISD board of trustees approved the plan at a regular meeting Monday night.

Waxahachie Global High will have open enrollment to serve students beyond the district, but will be limited to statistically underserved segments of the population — women, minorities and the economically underprivileged — and underperforming students, such as those with high IQs, but low test scores.

The education provided at WGH will be radical in many ways, and the traditional classroom structure has been overhauled to match. Although there will be a headmaster and a slate of about 10 yearlong educators, teachers will serve as mentors, while students form small groups to complete projects over the course of each school year. The Texas Education Agency has waived requirements for teacher certifications and school day length to let students learn from a variety of professionals as well as other students around the world, and to create school days that bleed over into home life.

One of the hallmarks of the campus will be language courses taught by students from other countries. This fall, teenagers in China will teach Mandarin Chinese to WGH students, who will in turn teach English to their overseas peers. In future years, each class will choose a country to participate with for the year.

“It’s hard to find Mandarin Chinese teachers in Waxahachie,” Wilcox said.

It is all part of preparing students for an increasingly global economy, where projects are completed in teams and team members often communicate electronically from thousands of miles away. WGH students will be able to work with peers around the world, establishing international life-long partnerships in the process.

The electronic focus of the campus allows students to take work home. Interactive whiteboards — which put classroom notes online — laptops with wireless Internet and podcasting technology — which connects audio subscription services to mp3 players — keep students connected out of school and accommodate for time zone differences around the world. Although school hours are fluid, students will essentially have 24 hours a day, seven days a week, access to their courses.

“Students here will be working much more than students in traditional studies,” Wilcox said. “So will the teachers.”

Part of keeping students that busy is to prepare them for a global economy, but the individualized course work is also designed to engage at-risk students as an alternative to disciplinary measures. Nevertheless, the advance nature of the program might appeal to high achievers in the district who aren’t eligible for enrollment. Wilcox said he feels the top students are adequately served by traditional studies, and that WGH was created to reach students who needed help.

“Our top 10 percent at Waxahachie High School, I’m not concerned about a one of them,” he said, but added that WGH might become a “proving ground” for ideas to be implemented at other campuses.

WGH will start its first year with from 75 to 100 students and gradually work toward a maximum of from 450 to 500. Parents, students and teachers will be informed about the application and interviewing process in the near future.

The campus will focus on four tracks: math and science engineering, business and law, computer technology and health science. Through a partnership with Navarro College, students will be required to complete 24 concurrent credit hours in English, calculus, physics, biology, American and world history, government and economics. Students will graduate high school with the possibility of starting college as sophomores.

The decision to start WGH grew from conversations about the future of the Wilemon building, which had been thought of as deteriorating and not being used to full potential.

Originally a high school and then an elementary school, Wilemon houses the Discipline Alternative Education Placement program and fire courses offered by Navarro College. To renovate the building to grade school specifications for use as a new traditional junior high or high school campus would cost almost $13 million, more than building a new campus from the ground up.

The district hired Romine, Romine and Burgess, an engineering firm from Fort Worth, to analyze the property, and the results were surprising.

With proper maintenance, Wilemon should outlast any other campus in the district. That led administrators to reconsider how Wilemon could be used in the future.

WISD has budgeted around $5.4 million to make necessary renovations to the roof, HVAC and plumbing systems at Wilemon, to hire the new professionals to run the school and to purchase the technology that will make WGH unique. Wilcox said none of that is expected to come out of public bonds.

“We feel like all the money will either come from grants or money the district has earmarked for remodeling,” Wilcox said.

State Rep. Jim Pitts (R-Waxahachie) helped the district secure grant money to fund the first years of the project, after which regular state funding based on average daily attendance will support the operating costs.

“I worked hard to make sure Waxahachie got these funds from TEA (the Texas Education Agency) to make this project happen,” Pitts said. “Working to make this project a reality was exciting for me, because I believe this is exactly the type of project we need to begin preparing students for the demands they will face in a 21st century economy. This is going to put the Waxahachie school district at the forefront of our nation’s public schools.”

Wilcox hopes the goodwill extends past the district.

“It’s going to be an excellent representative for the Waxahachie community, for Texas and beyond,” Wilcox said. “The bottom line is the real winners are going to be students in Waxahachie.”