AVID

AVID Overview

What is AVID?

AVID stands for Advancement Via Individual Determination

"AVID's Mission is to close the opportunity gap by preparing all students for college readiness and success in a global society" - AVID Center

AVID is a nation wide program designed to help students in the "academic middle." AVID's goal is to build key academic skills and attitudes that will help students gain admission to and be successful in 4-year colleges and universities.

Is AVID a good fit for my student?

Students apply to and need to be accepted into the AVID elective at Sanford. Factors that make students more likely to be accepted include:

Student would be first in their family to graduate from college
Student is from a group historically underrepresented in 4-year colleges
Student has average to high test scores
Student has a 2.0 to 3.5 GPA
Student would be described as motivated
Student has a desire to be in the AVID elective class
Student has special circumstances that may impact their ability to thrive in school

What do students do in the AVID elective?

The AVID elective class is a year-round elective class at Sanford. It is offered to 6th, 7th, and 8th grade students. Two days a week, students participate in tutorials. The other three days are spent on AVID curriculum.

TUTORIALS:

Students work in small groups with a trained tutor. Students come to tutorial prepared with a question from one of their academic classes. During the tutorial, a student presenter writes their question on the board and gets help from their classmates and the tutor on their question. After the question has been answered, students work together to summarize the steps involved in solving the problem. At the end of a tutorial session, students write reflections that summarize their learning.

AVID CURRICULUM:

The AVID curriculum is focused on five academic skills: Writing, Inquiry, Collaboration, Organization, and Reading. If you visited an AVID class you may see: teambuilding activities, direct-instruction on reading strategies, various forms of writing assignments, using a text for an academic discussion, students organizing their binders and planners, or activities designed to build student curiosity and ability to generate high-level questions. Aside from these skills (called WICOR in the AVID elective), students also go on a college field trip once per year and have various guest speakers about career options.

College awareness and financial planning resources

CPEO is a free program designed for parents that brings schools, parents, and the community together as equal partners in education so that all students can achieve their greatest academic potential. CPEO helps parents understand children's social and emotional development, develop skills for navigating the school system and collaborating with staff, create home learning environments and learn about post-secondary and college options.

Link to CPEO's website

Minnesota's Office of Higher Education College payment information

This website has information regarding how college tuition payments work, and the opportunities for students to receive funding through scholarships, grants and loans.

For more information visit AVID Online