AVID is a fifth- through twelfth-grade program to prepare students in the academic middle for four-year college eligibility. It has a proven track record in bringing out the best in students, and in closing the achievement gap.

AVID targets students in the academic middle — B, C, and even D students — who have the desire to go to college and the willingness to work hard. These are students who are capable of completing rigorous curriculum but are falling short of their potential. Typically, they will be the first in their families to attend college, and many are from low-income or minority families. AVID pulls these students out of their unchallenging courses and puts them on the college track: acceleration instead of remediation.  
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"The International Baccalaureate (IB) offers high quality programmes of international education to a worldwide community of schools."

The three programmes for students help develop the intellectual, personal, emotional and social skills to live, learn and work in a rapidly globalizing world. There are more than 560,000 IB students at 2,107 schools in 125 countries." (www.ibo.org)

The Paradise Valley Unfied School District offers this acclaimed program at three schools, spanning Primary, Middle and HIgh School levels. (The Primary Years program is currently under development at Quail Run Elementary School, which is on track to be awarded IB status in Spring, 2009.)

• Law-Related Education
  
• Project Lead The Way

• International Baccalaureate  Visit page

• Business Management Program
  
• Biotechnology Program

• Community Outreach

• Air Force JROTC
  
• Design / Industrial Technology

Foothills Elementary School: > visit site

• Biotech Signature Program: Water and Environmental Quality

StarTech Professional Center provides higher level, advanced state-of-the-art training to prepare students for post secondary education for today’s every-changing workplace.

StarTech, as part of the Western Maricopa Education Center District 402 (West-MEC), offers in-depth training in industrial-related occupations to all qualifying Paradise Valley School District juniors and seniors.  Located on the Paradise Valley High School campus, the following classes are offered:

• ABS Biology
• Agriscience/Aquaculture
• Agriscience/Greenhouse and Nursery Management
• Web site Design
• Graphic Design & Technical Illustration
• Expert Woodworking
• CADD – Computer Aided Drafting & Design
• Culinary Arts
• Health Careers
• Architectural Drafting & Design
• Welding

All instructors at StarTech have industry-standard training on new technologies, attend conferences and workshops to update skills, and keep all levels of education on the cutting edge of technology.

 Career & Technical Education site

Whispering Wind Academy offers students opportunities to function in teams to develop their critical thinking skills, experience exciting challenges, have their creativity, innovation and imagination reinforced and gain opportunities to work collaboratively in the expansion of their learning. With a curricular focus of S.T.E.M.G.² (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics and Global Geography), complemented by rigorous foundational programs in reading, writing and basic mathematics, students will experience not only content knowledge in these areas, but also a balance with three-dimensional, creative, real-world application. Whispering Wind Academy students will have the opportunity to learn a foreign language – Mandarin Chinese — to help prepare for the future's global perspective.

 Whispering Wind Academy site