Congratulations! You have been admitted...

You'll have to forgive me for not being my normal sarcasm filled self (which may prove to be a relief, actually), but earlier today we found out that our eldest daughter Alyssa was admitted to both the International Baccalaureate Program and the Advanced Technologies Academy! These are magnet high schools within the Clark County Public School District in which students must meet rigorous academic standards in order to be accepted.



The International Baccalaureate program is described as a "a rigorous international academic curriculum preparing students for scholarship level entrance to any college or university in the world. The International Baccalaureate Program is structured specifically as a four-year college preparatory program. It encourages students to extend themselves beyond the minimum requirements, offers students a wide spectrum of advanced courses in all major subject areas, and provides students with varied opportunities to become involved in their school and community."

The Advanced Technologies Academy provides "a learning experience designed to prepare them for the 21st century through the use of computers and related technologies in each classroom. A-Tech offers a full eight-period day with block scheduling. Regular, Honors, and Advanced Placement courses are available. Students also have the opportunity to earn college credit through the Tech Prep Program. All majors are based on a four-year program created to provide skills and knowledge necessary for a student to continue their studies at the university level or begin their career."

Okay, forgive me for being the overly excited parent today, but really, I am so proud of her. At the start of the school year she learned about the programs and set a very aggressive goal for herself -- which was realized today!

Seriously folks, this is a REALLY BIG DEAL for her to be admitted to not only one, but two magnet schools. She worked so hard this school year to ensure that she'd qualify. The International Baccalaureate program is one of the most challenging programs in the Clark County Public School District and you must be an exceptional student to get accepted. Here's a video on the program. The Advanced Technologies Academy is one of the highest testing schools in the State of Nevada. Here's a video on that program.

This is a big school district. There are 311 schools in the District, filled with 22,601 employees -- 14,614 of which are teachers. Alyssa is one of 280,606 students in the Clark County Public School District -- which is the 5th largest district in the nation. In other words, there are a lot of kids who could compete to be a part of these programs.

Pretty cool, huh? Send your note of congratulations via email to Alyssa! She's a terrific young lady all the time, but we are a pair of particularly proud parents today!