Schools in Odessa TX
From exploring college for the first time or going back to school after years of experience in a given field to brush up on skills, Odessa is home to colleges and universities that propel individuals forward.
Odessa College
The past 18 months have truly been a whirlwind of activity for Odessa College, driven by the fast-paced growth and the continued pursuit of excellence, which have become hallmarks of the institution. Never a place where administration, faculty or staff “rest upon their laurels,” Odessa College set yet another fall term enrollment record in 2017, and then raised the bar even further by achieving an all-time record for the number of graduates crossing the stage at the spring 2018 graduation ceremony.
Amid this record enrollment activity, Odessa College also received local, state and national recognition for the quality of the education offered to students. Odessa College received both a 2017 Aspen Prize Top 10 National Finalist ranking and the prestigious 2017 Aspen Rising Star Award from the Aspen Institute in Washington, D.C., then went on to win the 2017 STAR Award from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.
In 2018, the college was named one of only two national recipients of the Achieving The Dream Foundation Leah Meyer Austin Award. Moving forward to the present, Odessa College has been selected as a 2019 Aspen Prize Top 10 National Finalist — the Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence is only awarded once every two years, after a thorough survey of all 1,200 community colleges in the nation by the Aspen Institute. The final grand prize winner will be selected from the Top 10 Finalists and awarded in May of 2019.
All these awards are based on similar criteria — rates of student success, levels of student perseverance, student completion and graduation rates and student equitable outcome rates (which addresses the number of students who successfully enter the workforce in well-paying careers). In all categories, Odessa College is breaking new ground and setting new standards, outpacing virtually every other community college in Texas.
Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center
Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center has campuses in Abilene, Amarillo, Dallas/Fort Worth, Lubbock, Midland and, of course, Odessa. The center boasts five schools in total, including the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, School of Health Professions, School of Medicine, School of Nursing and School of Pharmacy.
The center continues to grow in Odessa, with a new state-of-the-art building, which opened fall 2018. The 54,000-square-foot, two story academic classroom building features a conference center, classrooms, labs and offices.
The center has residency-training programs with Medical Center Hospital to ensure professionals get the hands-on training they need and learn even more from some of the brightest medical minds in the field.
University of Texas Permian Basin
The University of Texas Permian Basin boasts 35 undergraduate and 18 graduate degree programs in a wide array of areas, such as nursing, business, engineering and education.
The university is habitually ranked as one of the best schools in the nation. It has been named one of the best four-year colleges, ranking No. 2, by schools.com; No. 14 Best Online Colleges in Texas by thebestcolleges.org; and come in at No. 21 for the most affordable online colleges offering a bachelor’s degree by online.org.
The university’s stem academy is a public, open enrollment charter school. The academy emphasizes science, technology, engineering and math with the belief that learning should be engaging and social. The university also offers dual credit/early college high school program for students who want to get a jump-start on their higher educational pursuits.
Ector County Independent School District
Ector County Independent School District operates two 6-A high schools, Odessa High School which boasts the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program and is a National AVID Demonstration School, and Permian High School which offers a full array of Advanced Placement courses. Both PHS and OHS have been named to the Washington Post’s list of “America’s Most Challenging High Schools” for their emphasis on challenging students with rigorous, advanced courses and exams.
George H.W. Bush New Tech Odessa high school specializes in project-based learning with an emphasis on the use of technology and student-directed learning. NTO has gained recognition as a New Tech Network Demonstration School and an Apple Distinguished School.
ECISD is also home to two Early College High Schools which give students the chance to earn up to 60 hours of college credit by the time they graduate from high school. OCTECHS (Odessa Career & Technical Early College High School) and Falcon Early College High School are located on the campus of Odessa College. Through OCTECHS students can earn an associate’s degree in their selected area of study. All of the college courses are free to early college high school students.
Advanced Technical Centers offer electives that let students embark on college- and career-focused education in areas such as welding, automotive technology, culinary arts, nursing and more.
For the fourth straight year ECISD is one of the Best Communities for Music Education, a prestigious distinction from the National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) Foundation. Three schools – George H.W. Bush New Tech Odessa, Hays Elementary, and Reagan Elementary – were named to the Texas Honor Roll presented by Educational Results Partnership and the Institute for Productivity Education. Buice Elementary school earned the “2018 Schools Transforming Learning” distinction from the Principals Institute.
In 2016, ECISD launched PICK Education, an initiative bringing real world experiences into the classroom where students are able to contribute data to various fields of research and technology. A science experiment designed by Falcon ECHS students’ launched to the International Space Station and was conducted by NASA astronauts through a PICK Education collaboration. PICK Education has also connected teachers and students across ECISD with real world research experiences, field explorations and presentations by world-renowned researchers with appearances on media outlets such as National Geographic, PBS and Discovery Channel. The Innovation Department and PICK Education have extended their list of partnerships with Tulane University School of Medicine, San Francisco State University, Southern Methodist University and The University of Texas to provide more real-world research opportunities for our students.
ECISD is also committed to AVID (Advancement via Individual Determination), a structured, college preparatory program that serves students who have the desire and determination to go to college but lack support. From 7th through 12th grades AVID is offered as an elective designed to provide support in rigorous curriculum while putting students on a college track. AVID strategies are used in elementary schools, too. Odessa College and UTPB also use AVID, establishing Ector County as a model community-wide AVID system.
Quick facts:
- Enrollment of more than 33,400; 44 campuses; approximately 3,900 employees.
- Six middle schools with pre-Advanced Placement classes & full range of extracurricular activities.
- 28 elementary schools, nine of which offer enriching magnet programs. Two magnets, Hays & Gale Pond Alamo, emphasize STEAM-focused programs by adding Arts to Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math – STEAM!
- Pre-kindergarten at two early education centers & seven elementary schools.
- Fine Arts & Athletics programs that are district-, regional-, and state-recognized.
- Outstanding community support in the form of the Education Foundation of Odessa, and our Volunteers & Partners programs.
802 N. Sam Houston, Odessa,
432-456-0001
www.ectorcountyisd.org