A school district that began in 1964 as a rehabilitation facility and today has career and technical campuses across two counties is celebrating its 60th anniversary. The South Texas Independent School District is based in Mercedes – the city where it got started – and grown far beyond its original mission. In the mid-1980s, the district opened South Texas High School for Health Professions (Med High). It was the first…
Thanks to a new partnership, high school students from South Texas Independent School District’s Science Academy in Mercedes can now participate in a dual credit program in Welding Technology with Texas State Technical College. “The dual credit program pairs well with our hands-on approach to the engineering program of study,” said Vanessa Rivera, the school district’s career and technical education director. “We encourage our students to learn and earn stackable credentials…
The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley has agreed to boost its dual credit offerings with an area school district that has campuses throughout the region. The South Texas Independent School District and UTRGV announced this week an expansion of an existing dual credit program. Beginning in 2023, STISD students will be able to take college courses through UTRGV if they plan to attend the Valley’s university. The two educational…
Engineering students are at work inside a new innovation lab building on the Mercedes campus of the South Texas Independent School District campus. They peer over laptops and move from table to table, conferring over projects and looking over numerical formulas that offer solutions. “These kids know they’re not on an island,” said Gabe Valdez, an instructor at the school. “They collaborate. They look for opportunities to teach each other.”…