Six Round Rock ISD campuses were named Project Lead The Way (PLTW) Distinguished Schools for the 2019 – 2020 school year. Campuses that received this recognition include Joe Lee Johnson and Fern Bluff elementary schools and Stony Point, Westwood, Round Rock and McNeil high schools.
This year, only 21 elementary schools and 14 high schools received this distinction in the state of Texas. Round Rock ISD had the only campuses in Central Texas to earn this distinction.
Both McNeil and Joe Lee Johnson have a history of earning achievements for their efforts in the PLTW program. This is the third consecutive year that McNeil has earned the distinction and the second for Joe Lee Johnson.
The PLTW Distinguished School program is designed to honor campuses that have displayed a proven commitment to increasing student access, engagement, and achievement to PLTW programs. According to the organization, these campuses empower students to thrive in an evolving world and have achieved exemplary results from their PLTW programs.
To be eligible for the designation, elementary campuses had to offer at least two PLTW Launch modules at each grade level and have more than 75 percent of the student body participating during the school year. High schools were assessed under a different set of criteria which included:
- Offer at least three PLTW courses;
- Have 25 percent of students or more participate in PLTW courses, or of those who participated in PLTW, at least 33 percent took two or more PLTW courses during their high school tenure;
- Have 95 percent of students take the End-of-Course (EoC) assessments.
“It is a great honor to recognize these campuses for their commitment to providing students with an excellent educational experience,” said Dr. Vince Bertram, President and CEO of PLTW. “They should be very proud of their work to ensure students have the knowledge and skills to be career-ready and successful on any career path they choose.”
