The Pursuit of Knowledge
Brawley has an excellent public education system. In the Brawley Elementary School District, there are four elementary schools and one junior high school. In the Brawley Union High School District, there are two high schools. There are also a number of excellent private schools as well as opportunities for post-secondary studies.graphic
Brawley Elementary School District
The Brawley Elementary School District is comprised of four elementary schools and one junior high school, serving 3,840 students.
The district has 400 certified and classified employees and it offers a full range of educational opportunities for its students, including a wide range of enrichment programs.
Two of Brawley’s K-6 schools, Myron D. Witter and Miguel Hidalgo, recently received national honors as high-achieving Title 1 funded institutions. The designation recognizes schools that have shown evidence of significant growth in student achievement.
Instructional programs include School-based coordinated program, Gifted and Talented Education, Special Education, Title 1, Migrant, Immigrant and K-8 Title VII programs.
The Community Learning Center is available to parents, students, teachers, and the entire community, and for training seminars and public education programs offered through the district. It is equipped with state-of-the-art video and audio systems including a live videoconference system for “distance learning” courses.
Brawley Union High School District
Brawley Union High School is the public high school serving the Brawley and Westmorland communities of Imperial County. Approximately 1,600 students attend the comprehensive high school. Another 80 attend Desert Valley High School, the district’s continuation school.
It also offers an adult education school, a small alternative school, a day-care facility and a new Infant Care Center.
Many BUHSD students report that they are the first in their families to be on track for graduation from high school. Enrollment peaks are typically shown to occur in October when Migrant students return to begin the new semester. Except for this, district population is fairly stable with low transiency rates.
Dropout rates are below state averages; attendance rates are above.
The two schools in the Brawley Union High School District have recently undergone a modernization program thanks to a $10 million bond issue Brawley voters overwhelmingly approved in 1998. The Brawley Union High School District prides itself in its innovative and proactive approach to the educational process. In addition to core subjects, the district offers an excellent, cutting edge agriculture program and graphic arts training that has prepared many students for immediate employment in that field.graphic
College Opportunities
There is also a nearby Community College, Imperial Valley College and, within 30 miles, an extension of San Diego State University, located in the City of Calexico, to serve students seeking a higher education in the Imperial Valley.
San Diego State University is also constructing a second Imperial Valley satellite campus in Brawley. The new campus will be built on 200 acres of land and will initially serve a few hundred students and accommodate up to 4,000 students within fifteen years. The curriculum will include agribusiness technology, agricultural management, and environmental studies.
One of IVC’s three external campus sites is located in Brawley’s central business district. Its main campus is located about 10 miles south of Brawley. In addition to receiving certificates and two-year degrees, several hundred Imperial Valley College students annually transfer to four-year universities. The goal of the IVC’s transfer program is to ensure that a student moving to a university as a junior after attending IVC is on equal footing with a student who completed the first two years at the university.