narciso garcia

EDINBURG, Texas - Dr. Narciso Garcia, superintendent at Vanguard Academy, is pleased with the progress his charter school system has made in preparing students for collage, career and the military.

Collage, career and military readiness (CCMR) is part of the accountability process expected of school systems under House Bill 3.

In a recent podcast with the Rio Grande Guardian, Dr. Garcia pointed out that just a few short years ago Vanguard lagged behind neighboring school districts in this regard. But now, based upon data from the Texas Education Agency, Vanguard is often outperforming other school districts. 

“We wanted to make sure that our CCMR grew because it is part of our accountability to the state,” Garcia said. “We are very excited because CCMR has positively impacted a lot of families.”

The data shows, pro rata, that Vanguard is top of the list or near the top for the Texas Success Initiative, Advanced Placement, Dual Credit, Industry Based Certification and Associate Degrees. 

“Making sure that our students are connected to college, to a career, to the military, are important. But most of all we want to them ready to succeed in life and succeed in helping the community,” Garcia said.

“Four years ago when I arrived here, in 2017, we had zero percent of students graduating with industry-based certifications,” Garcia said “Fast forward to four years later and we have 55 percent of our students graduating with CCMR certifications, either in level one or level two.”

Garcia pointed out that level two is more rigorous. “We have 11 percent of our students graduating with a level two certificate,” Garcia said proudly. “These certificates prepare students for the workforce.”

The attached podcast has the full interview with Dr. Garcia.

Editor's Note: To see a chart contrasting Vanguard Academy with other local school districts go to the story in the Rio Grande Guardian.

To read the new stories and watch the news videos of the Rio Grande Guardian International News Service go to www.riograndeguardian.com.

PHARR, RGV - Vanguard Academy Charter Schools has received a School Climate Transformation Grant from the U.S. Department of Education, Congressman Vicente Gonzalez recently announced.

Vanguard was awarded $739,887 for a period of five years, which will total $3,699,435. 

“This grant is a game changer for the communities of Pharr, San Juan, Alamo and Edinburg as it will provide a school psychologist for Vanguard Academy Charter School along with several social workers, a Response to Intervention (RTI) specialist and several school resource officers,” said Dr. Narciso Garcia, superintendent of Vanguard Academy.

Congressman Gonzalez said the School Climate Transformation Grants initiative builds on evidence-based strategies to for schools to improve school climate and behavioral outcome for all students.

“Students who learn in positive learning environments are more likely to improve academically, participate more fully in the classroom, and develop skills that will help them be successful in school and in life,” Gonzalez said.

In the above podcast, Vanguard Superintendent Dr. Narciso Garcia discusses not only the School Climate Transformation Grant, but a range of other projects he is working on. 

One of the other topics discussed is the $10.6 million GEAR UP grant Vanguard received last year.

Garcia said the School Climate Transformation Grant would not have been possible without the support of the City of Pharr, the City of Edinburg, Region One Education Service Center, Doctors Hospital at Renaissance, Tropical Texas Behavioral Health, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, and Evaluation Grants & Training Institute, Inc.

To read the new stories and watch the news videos of the Rio Grande Guardian International News Service go to www.riograndeguardian.com.

PHARR, RGV - Narciso Garcia, superintendent of Vanguard Academy, says that while there have been great successes at the seven different campuses in the charter system, the best is yet to come.

“Last year we had a 96 percent ranking for accountability. This year it is 97 percent,” Garcia said.

The high ranking is all the more creditable, Garcia claimed, because 84 percent of Vanguard’s students are economically-disadvantaged. Plus, 40 percent are English learners.

Garcia was also pleased to learn that Vanguard scored a 100 percent rating for Closing the Gaps. This was achieved for helping students with special needs, helping those that are limited English proficient, and those that are economically disadvantaged. 

“Region One ran the numbers a couple of times, they could not believe we reached a 100,” Garcia said.

Additionally, some of Vanguard’s teachers have won national awards from the Texas Association of Future Educators.

“If our teachers did not have the passion and the heart, we would not be having the results we have,” Garcia said. 

To read the new stories and watch the news videos of the Rio Grande Guardian International News Service go to www.riograndeguardian.com.