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The School of Science and Engineering is housed at the Yvonne A. Ewell Townview Center, home to five other magnet schools.

• Magnet Four Year High School
• Grades 9-12
• Accreditation: Texas Education Agency
• Member of: AP Strategies Incentive Program, www.apstrategies.org & Architectural, Construction & Engineering (ACE) Mentoring Program
• Scheduling: 4 periods daily (A/B block schedule)

Science and Engineering provides many outstanding resources:

• Electron Microscope magnifying up to a million times used for biological research projects. An ultra-microtone is used to prepare slides by slicing specimens to one micrometer (0.000001) thick.
• State-of-the-art computer labs.
• Fully equipped engineering robotics lab equipped to manufacture and program robots used in competitions throughout Texas.
• Chemistry, Physics, and Biology labs equipped with university level equipment.
• A curriculum that prepares students for college by having them begin taking Advanced Placement courses their freshman year.
• Accelerated tracks in math, science, and English.
• A wide variety of extracurricular activities such as drama, speech, mock trial, chess team, computer science team, math teams, robotics team, UIL teams, European trips, etc. We encourage our students to be well-rounded!

School Description

• Magnet Four Year High School
• NAF Academy of Engineering
• Grades 9-12
• Accreditation: Texas Education Agency
• Scheduling: 4 periods daily (A/B block schedule)
• Member of: National Math and Science Initiative www.nms.org
• Architectural, Construction & Engineering Mentoring Program (ACE)
• Architectural, Construction and Engineering Mentoring Program with Corporation
• Project Lead the Way Curriculum Computer Science/Engineering Pathways

SEM Highlights

• Among the best schools in the world in math, English & science - *NCES/IES/PISA - 2014/2015
• National Blue Ribbon High School - United States Department of Education - 2005 & 2011
• Top Public High School in Texas - Children at Risk Organization - 2016
• No. 2 Best High School in Texas - No. 5 Gold Medal School in US - US News & World Report - 2015
• No. 3 "Most Challenging High School in America" - Washingtonn Post, Washington D.C. - 2016
• No. 5 Newsweek Beating the Odds 2016
• Met Texas State Academic Standards - earned six levels of distinction - 2016
• Title I Reward School, Texas Education Agency - 2015
• Gold Award - Employers for Education Excellence SBOE to - 2014
• Intel School of Distinction Award Winner: 2012
• UIL Academic Region Champions 2012/2013 - District Champions - 15 of past 16 years -2016 State Champions in Calculator - 2015
• Featured on CNN: “America’s Best High School”- June 24, 2011 and ... “Inside America’s Best High School”- September 15, 2011
• Featured on NBC Chanel 5 DFW “National Award of Excellence School of Distinction” - 2012

Benefits of a SEM Education

• An outstanding faculty and a world-class facility.
• A college-prep education with a feeling of “family”.
• Sponsors and advisors from local universities and Texas Instruments.
• Concurrent enrollment at several area community colleges and universities with dual credit.
• Universities and colleges which have accepted and/or offered scholarships to our seniors include:

  Baylor University Cal Tech Carnegie Mellon Columbia University Cornell College Duke Georgia Tech M.I.T. New York University Notre Dame University Prairie View A&M University Purdue University

  Southern Methodist University Stanford University Texas A&M University Texas Christian University Texas Tech University United States Naval Academy University of Arkansas University of Dallas University of Texas at Austin/ at Dallas/ at Galveston Yale And many others.

• Our students successfully pursue majors in science, medicine, mathematics, computer science, English, engineering, and any field that they choose to study.

Pre-Advanced Placement Courses

Advanced Placement Courses

Additional / Advanced Course Offerings

• Advanced Topics of the Theory of Applied Mathematics (ATTAM)
• Project Lead the Way Curriculum
• Anatomy & Physiology
• Computer Animation Programming
• Robotics

Tracks

• Fast Track Math = Pre-AP Algebra II, Pre-AP Geometry & Pre-AP Pre-Calculus - completed Freshman year
• Super Fast Track Math = Pre-AP Algebra II, Pre-AP Geometry, Pre-AP Pre-Calculus & AP Calculus AB - completed Freshman year
• Super Science Class = AP-Chemistry & AP-Physics with concurrent AP Chemistry Labs & Physics Labs - completed Junior year

District Grading & Class Rank Policy

5.0 Grading Scale Policy

CLASS RANK: SEM ranks the top ten percent (10%) of the class as required by Texas law. Ninety percent (90%) of the SEM graduating class are not ranked.

GRADE POINT AVERAGE: Grade points shall be assigned to courses in grades 9-12 in accordance with the following:

• Category I courses shall include those identified below. (See chart to the right.)
• For students entering high school before 2014-15: all AP and IB courses.
• For students entering high school in 2014-15 and beyond: all AP, IB, advanced Project Lead the Way (PLTW), and dual credit courses.
• Category II courses shall include those identified below. (See chart to the right.)
• For students entering high school before 2014-15: all Pre-Advanced Placement (Pre-AP), IB MYP (in high school), International Scholars, and dual credit courses.
• For students entering high school in 2014-15 and beyond: all Pre-AP, IB MYP (in high school), lower level high school Project Lead the Way (PLTW), and International Scholars courses.
• Category III courses shall include all other courses. (See chart to the right.)

WEIGHTED GRADE SCALE: Beginning with students entering high school in the 2016-17 school year, grade points for courses taken in grades 9-12 shall be assigned according to the Grade Equivalency Chart. Any physical education or athletic credit beyond 4 semesters counts as local credit and computed in the GPA Credit earned through credit by examination or advanced placement exam do not count toward GPA or rank. High school courses taken in middle school are not calculated in GPA.