Texans Can! Academy Offers Free Summer Tutoring to All High School Seniors Who Failed TAKS Tests

DALLAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Texans Can! Academy, an open enrollment tuition-free charter school district, today announced they are opening each of their ten campuses across Texas to provide tutoring at no-charge to 12^th graders who failed to graduate because they did not pass one or two areas of the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) tests. Tutoring will be offered June 13^th through July 8^th, Monday through Thursday, from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. at each campus in Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston and San Antonio.

“An organization providing a second chance to all the students who did not graduate because of failing the TAKS test is nothing short of a miracle”

Earlier this week, the Texas Education Agency (TEA) reported that 22,578 Texas seniors failed one or more of the required tests used to determine graduation eligibility. That translates to one in 12 high school seniors in Texas who will not be able to graduate with their class in June.

The TAKS subjects students fail most often are math and science, so Texans Can! will predominately have teacher specialists in those two core subjects in each school during this initiative they are calling “Operation Success.” Students must be committed to attend the tutoring at least four hours a day between the seven hours the schools will be open during this four-week intensive tutoring period. A complimentary meal will also be served to every student.

“Helping kids graduate from high school is what we do at Texans Can! This is just an extension of what we have been doing for 25 years,” said Richard Marquez, president and CEO of Texans Can! “Thanks to the generosity of our donors this past year we are able to offer this opportunity and help these kids graduate.”

TEA offers retesting of all four TAKS tests July 11-18 at students’ home campuses. Students return to the schools they last attended to retake the tests, and their completion statistics will be credited to their home campus.

"An organization providing a second chance to all the students who did not graduate because of failing the TAKS test is nothing short of a miracle,” said Bill Hammond, president of Texas Association of Business. "And offering it at no cost during this economy is a miracle. The Texas economy can not continue to grow without an educated population.”

A 2010 study from the Bush School projects that more than 73,000 students will drop out of high school in 2012. The study also states that the students who fail to graduate from high school are projected to cost the state and its economy $6 billion to $10.7 billion over their lifetimes.

Registration for the individualized teaching begins June 3 at every campus. Students will need a current student identification and social security number. Teachers are also being recruited who are specialists in the four TAKS subject areas: math, science, English and social studies.

Students who would like more information regarding where to register and what the requirements are, please call 888-250-4315 or visit www.texanscan.org. Teachers who are interested in applying to teach during this eight-week period please call 888-250-4315 or visit www.texanscan.org.

TEXANS CAN! ACADEMIES

Celebrating more than 25 years of serving academically at-risk youth, Texans Can! is a unique network of 10 public schools of choice located in Dallas, Fort Worth, Austin, Houston and San Antonio. Serving more than 4,700 students a year, each campus provides an academically rich curriculum where the focus is always on the individual student.