Big congratulations to the Academic Decathlon team from New Tech Odessa for qualifying for the state meet! They earned 38 individual medals and 2 team medals and earned a spot in the state competition in the small school division - outstanding!

Decathlon is an academic competition for high school students in ten academic areas. It is designed to include students from all academic backgrounds. Teams are comprised of 9 students and 3 alternates each: 4 "A" students, 4 "B" students, and 4 "C" students based on their overall grade point averages for the past two years.  During the competition, the nine team members compete in each academic category and attempt to meet a qualifying score which is pre-determined before the meet. In addition to a seven-minute interview, a one-hour essay and two speeches (four minutes prepared and two minutes impromptu), written comprehensive exams are given in music, art, language/literature, mathematics, economics, (social) science, and the Super Quiz. All students who meet or exceed qualifying scores receive individual medals, thus providing an opportunity for more students to be rewarded for their hard work.

ECISD boasts three high schools of choice and those schools are recruiting new students for next year right now. George H.W. Bush New Tech Odessa opened in 2011 with a focus on project based learning and 1-to-1 technology; and our two early college high schools - OCTECHS & Falcon ECHS at UTPB - allow students to earn up to 60 hours of college credit (an associate degree or certificate) by the time they graduate from high school. OCTECHS offers career and technical training for students and Falcon ECHS emphasizes science, technology, engineering, and math, or STEM. Current 8th graders who are interested in learning more about these unique schools please plan to attend one of these parent meetings: