The Academy of Technology, Engineering, Mathematics and Science (ATEMS) is a STEM
high school founded in 2009 located in
Abilene, Texas
Abilene ( ) is a city in Taylor and Jones Counties in Texas, United States. Its population was 125,182 at the 2020 census, making it the 27th-most populous city in the state of Texas. It is the principal city of the Abilene metropolitan statis ...
.
ATEMS is a part of the
Abilene Independent School District. ATEMS is housed in premises owned by the
Texas State Technical College System.
History
ATEMS was originally a
New Technology High School
New Technology High School is a secondary school located in Napa, California. It focuses on project-based learning, student-centered culture, college
A college (Latin: ''collegium'') is an educational institution or a constituent ...
, at which all core classes were either at the
AP level or college dual credit at other colleges around Abilene. ATEMS still encourages technology,
but has now introduced academic classes.
Academics
ATEMS offers two STEM curricula: Information Technology and Engineering. ATEMS offers both Advanced Placement or college dual-credit classes with the technical colleges in Abilene. ATEMS also offers AP Dual Credit hybrid courses, allowing students to still receive the benefit of a ten-point addition to their GPA and the ability to take the AP tests, as well receive college credit should they score a 3 or higher on the AP test. These hybrid classes are free.
Both courses culminate in a year-long senior capstone project that includes a skills demonstration to the community.
ATEMS is ranked 179th in Texas in the 2016 Newsweek high school rankings In 2017, ATEMS was one of only 77 high schools in the state to achieve all seven qualifications standards of the
Texas Education Agency.
After moving to its new building, ATEMS has also added
Automotive,
Culinary Arts
Culinary arts are the cuisine arts of food preparation, cooking and presentation of food, usually in the form of meals. People working in this field – especially in establishments such as restaurants – are commonly called chefs or ...
, and
Welding classes.
Extracurricular Activities
Extracurricular activities at ATEMS include
robotics,
photography, and
yearbook. ATEMS provides shuttles for students to travel to other high schools for some of the activities not available at the school, such as
band,
orchestra, and
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
.
ATEMS formerly participated in a "
bring your own device" (BYOD) program which allowed students to use their own technologies including
iPod
The iPod is a discontinued series of portable media players and multi-purpose mobile devices designed and marketed by Apple Inc. The first version was released on October 23, 2001, about months after the Macintosh version of iTunes ...
s,
iPads,
cell phones, or
laptops, during class, with teacher permission. This was abandoned after the 2020–2021 school year due to abuse of the privilege by browsing sites which contained adult and other prohibited contents.
Privileges
ATEMS grants students special privileges which are exercised with a ''trust card''. The ATEMS trust card is similar to an ID card on a lanyard. Privileges include: checking out school laptops if you don't own one, access to the BYOD (Bring your own device) policy (formerly - reason for cancellation in previous paragraph), the previous allowance of juniors and seniors to depart campus for lunch (canceled due to moving to the LIFT),
and the ability to listen to music in class (with teacher permission).
References
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High schools in Taylor County, Texas
Educational institutions established in 2009
2009 establishments in Texas
2009 in Texas
Abilene Independent School District