A unique program at Haltom Middle School has students finding academic success at night and even on the weekends.
It’s called "No Excuses University." It’s extra help on Friday nights and part of the weekend as well for any students who may need it.
900 students attend Haltom Middle and Principal Jill Balzer said more than 400 are learning English and struggling on standardized tests…. but she’s not giving up.
“Our school is 40 percent English as a second language and that makes reading very difficult,” said Balzer.
“Imagine if I were to go to China and I have a really good IQ, but I have to take a test in Chinese, I would need additional support. It’s making sure each teacher knows a language barrier doesn’t mean an IQ barrier,” added Balzer.
Her teachers are working Friday nights and Saturday mornings with no extra pay. They’re making sure the students are fed in the belly and the brain and the students all have their own reasons to come to the table.
“I’m kind of good at reading and writing but this helped me be better where my grades go up now,” said student Navaeh Valdez.
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“We play sports, if we fail we can’t play, and we really wanna play our next games,” said student Ivan Ramirez.
Balzer said since they’ve opened up their own little version of night school, they’ve seen success. The school scored an “84”, which is a B on their overall achievement report card from the state of Texas.
“There are schools that have way less poverty and ESL’s and they’re scoring in the 70’s and 60’s so we’re way proud of that,” said Balzer.
