WHAT IS AVID?

AVID is a nationwide program that works to support students who show individual determination to succeed, have at or above grade level achievement, high aptitude, and who see themselves as college and career bound. In Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools, AVID supports students at all elementary schools and all traditional middle and high schools. It is a college preparatory acceleration program that includes two components: 

• School-wide strategies that focus on college and career awareness, planning, and readiness for all students. 
• A daily AVID elective that helps selected students learn the skills necessary to take advanced courses in high school to prepare for attending a four-year college. The AVID elective is a class students apply for and are selected to be in starting in 6th grade up until students graduate from high school.

AVID has its own curriculum in grades 6-12. The daily elective teaches the principles of WICOR (Writing, Inquiry, Collaboration, Organization, and Reading) and prepares students for higher level coursework. In the high schools, the AVID elective is an honors class and is taught all year on an A/B schedule and paired with a core class.

THE AVID MISSION

It is our mission to close the opportunity gap by preparing all students for college and career readiness and success in a global society. AVID seeks to prepare students for the 21st Century world through practices around critical thinking, complex reading, working with peers, taking part in field trips and experiences that enrich the educational experience, and by modeling what it means to be an AVID scholar for other students who are college bound. 

AVID STUDENT PROFILE

Students who want to be in the program typically have the following academic profile:

• Grades and performance that is at or above their grade level
• Passing scores on their EOGs and/or EOCs
• The individual determination to be college and career bound
• Above average aptitude in their verbal reasoning, numeric reasoning, and/or visual/spatial reasoning

They may be:

• The first in their families to attend college
• Historically underserved in four-year colleges and universities
• Unsure about how to access honors and Advanced Placement course pathways
• Very bright and capable students with a need for structure around executive functioning

There are other factors that may make a student an ideal candidate for AVID. Please speak to your school's site coordinator about how AVID might be a good fit for your student.

Watch here! Spring 2024 AVID informational session for families!