The Hurst-Euless-Bedford Independent School District provides a world-class education for nearly 21,000 students. HEB ISD has a 50-year history of giving students the edge they need to compete after high school. Students leave the district ready to take on college, advanced technical training, or the workforce.
HEB ISD is rich with diversity, which gives the district a distinctly international flavor. Students come from homes where more than 60 different native languages are spoken. This cultural environment provides students with the ability to interact on a global level, in the comfort of a school setting. When HEB students attend college with students from around the world, they will already have the experience of working with international peers. This prior experience will give them an added advantage in school and on the job.
In 2010, Central Junior High School and Hurst Junior High School were named National Blue Ribbon Schools. Only 304 schools in the country qualified for this honor, with 26 selected from the 8,435 public schools in Texas. The HEB ISD schools were the only schools in Tarrant County chosen for this recognition. Blue Ribbon Schools represent 0.3 percent of schools nationwide, making them a very select group.
HEB ISD provides students an added advantage by offering academic enrichment programs, such as Spanish Immersion, Suzuki Strings, Core Knowledge, International Baccalaureate, and the International Business Initiative, which offers Hindi and Mandarin languages beginning in seventh grade. The District plans to offer Arabic with the 2011-2012 school year.
Spanish Immersion students accepted into the program are taught their core classes in Spanish beginning in first grade. Suzuki Strings students at select elementary schools have the opportunity to play the violin, viola and cello using the internationally renowned Suzuki instructional approach. Core Knowledge is a humanities-based curriculum offered at all 19 elementary schools. It is also offered in Core Knowledge Pre-K, a tuition-based program.
The International Baccalaureate is a demanding pre-university course of study for highly motivated and academically talented high school juniors and seniors. The program gives IB diploma holders access to the world’s leading universities, with opportunities for college credit, scholarships, admission to honors programs, and internships.
The International Business Initiative offers students at Central Junior High School the opportunity to learn Hindi or Mandarin. These students will be able to prepare to enter a workforce where these languages are essential to success in a global marketplace.
Career and Technology options include culinary arts, media technology and television production, multimedia animation, computer-aided drafting, child development, family and consumer science, health science technology, auto collision, auto technology, criminal justice, and more.
The District is recognized across the state and nation for its superior curriculum, low teacher-student ratios, and a singular focus on instructional spending. Education Resource Group, a company that annually examines the student performance and operating efficiency of the 200 largest Texas public school districts, has once again named the HEB ISD the #1 school district in the state, based on state test data and financial audit information. The District has received this distinction four years in a row.
In 2010, HEB ISD was named to the prestigious listing of “Best Communities for Music Education” for the fourth year in a row. Only 13 Texas school districts received this national honor, and this designation once again illustrates the academic edge that the HEB ISD provides its students.
No Texas curriculum would be complete without athletics, and HEB ISD offers a wide range of award-winning athletic programs for secondary students. Programs vary by grade level but include baseball, basketball, football, golf, gymnastics, softball, soccer, swimming, track and field, volleyball, and wrestling.
A rich history of academic excellence, highly qualified personnel, and a clear vision for student achievement provide the framework that prepares HEB students to live and compete in a global economy. This fine-tuned combination is not accidental, but the result of managing for innovation. This has always made HEB ISD different by design, and it is the secret to its success.
