News Release | Community, Success
UTRGV, Harlingen CISD and the City of Harlingen came together Tuesday, March 10, in support of higher education and public education as the three parties signed agreements to create the new UTRGV/Early College High School. The city deeded the land where the new facility will be built to UTRGV and Harlingen CISD.
Wednesday, March 11, 2020
Community, Announcements
By Maria Elena Hernandez
RIO GRANDE VALLEY, TEXAS – The new UTRGV/Early College High School took another step forward Tuesday when the City of Harlingen officially deeded the land, where the new facility will be built, to The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley and the Harlingen Consolidated Independent School District.
“We know that this land is instrumental,” said Dr. Nolan Perez, who serves both on the UT System Board of Regents and the Harlingen CISD Board of Trustees.
“The fact that Harlingen was able to give this to help grow opportunities for education, higher education and this region is just really, really amazing and appreciated.”
Perez said he often is asked about the planned state-of-the-art campus, which will feature 35,000 to 40,000 square feet of classroom space and teaching labs for university and high school classes.
“When they realize the alignment we’re creating for the public schools and with higher ed, with UTRGV, everybody's just blown away,” he said.
Along with UTRGV President Guy Bailey and Harlingen Mayor Chris Boswell, Harlingen CISD Superintendent Art Cavazos signed agreements for the tri-agency initiative, during a ceremony on the UTRGV Harlingen Campus.
Bailey said the UTRGV/Early College High School will create a seamless transition from high school to college, with high school students earning dual credit that counts toward earning a degree.
“You're working toward a degree, not just taking courses, and that makes all the difference in the world,” he said.
The new UTRGV/Early College High School will include tracks for careers in computer science, engineering and teacher preparation.
A call for bids is expected to start in May; anticipated building completion is March 2021.
ABOUT UTRGV
The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) was created by the Texas Legislature in 2013 as the first major public university of the 21st century in Texas. This transformative initiative provided the opportunity to expand educational opportunities in the Rio Grande Valley, including a new School of Medicine, and made it possible for residents of the region to benefit from the Permanent University Fund – a public endowment contributing support to the University of Texas System and other institutions.
UTRGV has campuses and off-campus research and teaching sites throughout the Rio Grande Valley including in Boca Chica Beach, Brownsville (formerly The University of Texas at Brownsville campus), Edinburg (formerly The University of Texas-Pan American campus), Harlingen, McAllen, Port Isabel, Rio Grande City, and South Padre Island. UTRGV, a comprehensive academic institution, enrolled its first class in the fall of 2015, and the School of Medicine welcomed its first class in the summer of 2016.