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While the school was storing the building students attended near by middle schools and elementary schools. Then while in the midst of putting the school building back together the mascot that was originally the Braves was changed to the Blaze because of Native American complaints. The Native American community felt that having the Braves as the mascot was offensive and needed to be changed. Interestingly enough there are no Native American students that currently attend Brownsville, I assume that the 1% Native American population that resides in Brownsville was responsible for the insistence of a mascot change.
The Blaze was chosen to replace the Braves due to its similarity to the word “burn” in Brownsville, although I’m skeptical that the fire that burned down the school had no influence on the new mascot. After rebuilding the school, Brownsville again went under construction in 1997 when the school board decided to turn a near by abandoned mall into a senior campus to accommodate the increasing student enrollment. By 1998 the senior campus was in use. This campus holds courses that are only available to seniors.
All seniors spend half their day at this campus and the other half at the main campus. Typically students make their way from one campus to the other during their lunch period. The two campuses are only about a 5 minute drive way from each other. Brownsville, along with 24 other schools, belongs to District 191. Altogether the district services 9,988 students. Total revenue amounts to about $110,973,000 and total expenditures amounts to about $1 which means that revenue per student is at about $1 11 and expenditure per student is at about $11,308.
Brownsville High School employs 114 teachers. The teacher/student ratio amounts to 1:21, which means that there is one teacher for every 21 students. This ratio Is higher than the state average of 1 :17, but Burliness’s student population Is larger than the state average and enrollment Is Increasing. Ethnically Brownsville Is a fairly diverse school. At 77% the majority of the students are White, 12% of the students are Black, 7% of the students are Asian, and 4% of the students are Hispanic.
The high school I attended had a similar level of ethnic diversity, so I assume that Brownsville has many cliques and segregated groups based on cultural background that my high school had. About of Burliness’s students are considered to have emitted English proficiency. I feel that is a pretty large amount of students that are not fluent in English, but then again there are so many immigrants in the country that are learning English as a second language. At such a large school like Brownsville there are bound to be immigrants enrolled that need help in learning English.
About AT ten student population Is In special toucan. Again It Is a Tally null percentage but learning disabilities are being diagnosed more frequently then before and so Special Education services are being used to help a larger group of students. About 17% of students at Brownsville receive reduced price or free lunch. From this data I can infer that the students at Brownsville come from varying social classes. About 17% of the students come from low income families, and then the rest of the students are probably either apart of the lower-middle, middle, or upper- middle class.
These varying social classes add to the diversity of the school. The mission statement of Brownsville High School can be found in their student handbook. It reads as follows: Independent School District 191, in partnership with students, parents and community, is committed to providing every student with an exemplary learning experience, which prepares each individual to be a contributing member of a dynamic world community. The handbook then goes on to list the school’s beliefs on education and its students.
There are many beliefs, too many to list, but I want to mention a few that were significant because they were reflected in the curriculum. One of the beliefs stated, “Individual differences must be acknowledged and respected. ” I interpreted this belief to mean that every student should be given the opportunity to explore many different facets off high school experience. I feel that Brownsville does in fact acknowledge and respect individual differences by offering a wide range of classes and extracurricular activities for its students.
Brownsville appeals to students of all varying learning abilities. Honors courses as well as AP courses are offered in the Language Arts, Social Studies, Math, Science, and World Language departments for gifted students. Obviously general education classes are offered for the above- average to average students, and classes geared toward helping struggling students are also available. Brownsville has a vast array of extracurricular activities for its dents to choose from making it almost impossible for a student to not find something to get involved in.
Some of the academic activities include the Academic Quiz Bowl, Chess Team, Math League, and National Honors Society. Students that are musically gifted can participate in Concert Band, Drumlins, Jazz Band, Marching Band, Varsity Band, and various choir groups. Students with an acting itch can Join the Theatre Guild and be involved in the production of two musicals and two full length plays that are put on each year. Students can be involved in several community service groups or can help in creating the yearbook. Brownsville also offers student government organization.
Athletes can choose to participate from many different sports such as football, soccer, tennis, basketball, hockey (girls and boys), Slalom Skiing and Nordic Skiing, wrestling, baseball, softball, golf, lacrosse, etc. Athletes that are hindered by a disability can also participate in a sport because Brownsville has an adaptive soccer and hockey team. “All people can learn,” is another belief that Brownsville includes in its handbook. Brownsville shows that it truly does believe all people can learn since the courses it offers can accommodate every student in the school.
For example, a student that peaks another language other than English can still get a well rounded education in the English Language Learners (ELL) program. Students that are eligible to be apart L program range Trot navels no or minimal Engel’s speaking Ana writing skills to having almost grade level reading and writing comprehension. ELL students take Social Studies courses which can include U. S. And World History, Government and Politics, and also Economics. They also take Math, Health, P. E. , and Family and Consumer Sciences courses.
Life Management is a class from the Family and Consumer Sciences department and it is a great class for ELL students because they earn basic economics, consumerism, financial management, and basic nutrition. It is a class that can really help ELL students adapt to an American lifestyle. Students that have an identified learning disability are also people that can learn. The Special Education department allows its students to take a normal core curriculum which includes classes in Reading and Writing, Math, Language Arts, Social Studies, and Science.
Students that have severe disabilities are also accommodated with courses such as FEST (Functional Education for Successful Transition), which is focused on teaching life skills and possible Job skills. The last belief mentioned in the handbook that I will discuss states, “As society changes, organizations that serve that society must change. ” I interpreted this belief as schools and the curriculum must change with the times. I feel Brownsville has changed with the times because the courses it offers reflect society’s changes; a dependence on the computer and technology.
Students can take several levels of Keyboarding classes, a course that has become more and more vital because using a word processor and typing is now essential in completing most assignments during high school and in college. Not to mention we are in an age where we don’t write letters, instead we email. We don’t talk on the phone, instead we use Instant Massager. Typing is not only useful in the classroom; it is also an important life skill. Brownsville also offers a Microcomputer Applications class that teaches students how to use Microsoft Office XP.
Excel is a program apart of Microsoft Office and it has become very popular in the business world as well as in other Job markets. Students will greatly benefit from learning Excel because once out of school they will most likely be using it at some point in their career. Brownsville embraces cultural societal changes as well with the presence of the Diversity Student Team. The purpose of this team is to get students of differing backgrounds to meet and talk about their lives and experiences.
The Diversity Student Team wants to increase student awareness of differences between cultures. America is becoming more tolerant of different ethnicities and culture practices, which is why this club was able to be created. I feel that Brownsville High School is very typical of a large, suburban public high school. Many students are enrolled and there is considerable diversity within the dent population, ethnically as well as economically. I was very impressed with Burliness’s course offerings.