City Center Health Careers, one of our member schools, serves San Antonio students who are interested in preparing for careers in the health care industry. Their mission is twofold: to increase the graduation rate in Bexar County and to prepare graduates for post-secondary leadership in health care. Thank you, CHCC, for sharing your founding story and your success with Charting Success! To our members and readers, what set apart your school’s first year? What things helped you get through to make you successful in Year One? We would love to hear your comments.
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Many people underestimate the power of positive thought, strong action, and collaborative effort, but ask any person with a vision – an idea so tremendous that they can see it – and they will tell you that it takes all three of those things, and then some, to see it through. This is how City Center Health Careers (CCHC) began. 
The board members of Beacon Academies knew that they wanted to hire a leader with a vision that would foster strong academics and involve all stakeholders; however, they couldn’t have predicted the school that would be created when they found the right principal to take the lead.
In April of 2009, CCHC hired an educator with a vision as their leader. Mrs. Sherry Head knew that collaboration was the key to carrying out her vision for the school, and her first task was to find and secure a staff that would share her vision, join her positive efforts, and take strong action.
It was evident to the parents from early on that our school was going to be different. We didn’t have the 200,000 plus square feet that many new schools enjoy in San Antonio, but what makes a school great anyway? Is it the metal and walls that surround it, or the enthusiasm and passion of the teachers and students inside? Shiny new buildings and state of the art equipment soon lose their luster and newness. At CCHC, that newness is built in the learning environments of the classrooms.
With collaborative effort, the school was equipped to serve any student with even the slightest desire to do better for themselves. CCHC accepted students from all over the greater San Antonio area, regardless of their background, as long as they at least had that tiny spark. With many students, that tiny spark became a camp fire by the end of the year. We know our school will stoke into a roaring blaze by the time the students graduate because it is full of people with passion. It is a working, living organism where transformations are taking place, standards are being raised, and learning is always at the core.
CCHC has taken multiple field trips, hosted many activities, and found every way possible within a year to increase the academic motivation of its students.
When we managed to take a full campus on a co-curricular field trip that lasted 20 hours without incident, we knew we had been successful. When we learned that a student needed financial help to attend a prestigious medical forum during the summer, and other students from all age groups helped raise that money, we knew we had been successful. When at the end of the first year our enrollment was 20% higher than the day we opened, we knew we had been successful. When on the last day of school, we cried tears (from the students, mind you) as the last bell rang and everyone began to leave, we knew the success was only just beginning.
Welcome to City Center Health Careers: the start of something BIG!
- Julian Castillo, Middle School Math and Theater teacher
- Elena Samkin, English, Social Studies, and Journaliam teacher