Ridgeline Middle School to become validated as AVID National Demonstration School in March

Ridgeline Middle School is making local history through a college and career readiness system, and next month, it will officially become one of six validated AVID National Demonstration Schools in Washington, and one of 205 schools across the United States and Internationally.

According to Craig Curry, RMS principal, Ridgeline will officially become validated as an AVID National Demonstration School on Tuesday, March 10. The validation process is scheduled from 8:15 a.m. to 1:15 p.m., where an AVID Showcase will take place and regional school teams will visit RMS to observe instruction, engage with students and discuss the impact of the program with the RMS site team.

According to a media release sent by Curry, the AVID program, which stands for Advancement Via Individual Determination, is a kindergarten through 12th grade college and career readiness system. It’s designed to “close the achievement gap” by preparing students for post-graduation success.

The program equips students with academic studying skills, organizational techniques and critical thinking strategies — all while offering an elective class that provides a supportive, team-based environment to build perseverance and leadership skills.

Though over 7,400 schools across the U.S., Canada, Australia and DoDEA are AVID-certified, only 3% of those schools have become AVID National Demonstration Schools. In total, there are 205 demonstration schools across the globe — and just six in the state of Washington.

“This is a rare and special achievement for Ridgeline,” the release stated.

According to the release, AVID National Demonstration Schools exemplify high-quality AVID implementation through rigorous and supportive learning environments. RMS has partnered with AVID to model its best practices, host educators and pilot emerging practices and strategies — all while collectively strengthening educator agency and student success.

AVID National Demonstration School status is earned through a “rigorous validation process,” which requires certification criteria to be met, a thorough data review and on-site observations that “demonstrate AVID impact worldwide.”

Ridgeline’s AVID journey began in 2019, and according to Curry, it has engaged in a rigorous, multi-step process, which included assessment, evaluation and observation by an AVID team of implementation specialists and validators.

You can email Curry at craig_curry@ycs.wednet.edu to learn more information about the school’s status as an AVID National Demonstration School.

You can also view Ridgeline’s AVID National Demonstration School validation video on YouTube here: https://tinyurl.com/RMSprogram.