Charlottesville City Schools

AVID: Advancement Via Individual Determination

Charlottesville City Schools partners with the nationally recognized program AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) to offer services for students in grades 5–12 who demonstrate strong academic potential but may need encouragement to reach and maintain their high performance capabilities. Rising 7th through 12th graders may apply for the AVID elective class by contacting a school counselor or one of the school’s AVID teachers.

In addition to AVID, Charlottesville Schools partner with other organizations to help students blaze a trail to college — other partnerships include the Virginia College Advising Corps, Gear Up, and Upward Bound.

A collage of four images showing groups of people in various outdoor and indoor settings.

AVID is an in-school college preparatory program designed to assist students in rigorous courses. Its mission is to close the achievement gap by preparing all students for college readiness and success in a global society. AVID guides students toward challenging courses, including honors and Advanced Placement classes. Pictures: AVID students visiting various Virginia colleges and universities. (Clockwise from top left: Longwood University, Virginia Commonwealth University, University of Richmond, and Old Dominion University.

AVID at Walker, CMS, and CHS

At Walker Upper Elementary School, a school-wide AVID program supports the development of study skills, organization, and college readiness.

Charlottesville Middle School and Charlottesville High School are AVID secondary sites and offer AVID elective classes. In AVID classes, students learn study skills, Cornell notes, time management, organization, test readiness, critical thinking, writing to learn, and group study skills. The AVID curriculum is used in content area classrooms as well as in the required AVID elective class. Outside the classroom, AVID provides college campus visits and more. Students develop ideas to impact their world and gain the resources to put them in action through shark-tank style pitch events with partners such as the CFA Institute and the Tom-Tom Founders Festival.

According to 2018-19 data released by AVID, Charlottesville City Schools students are outperforming other students in the state and nation in important college readiness metrics.

94% of Charlottesville City Schools seniors

Participated in AVID completed a FAFSA application, compared to the national rate of 61%.
97% of AVID students

Applied to a four-year college, and 85% were accepted
81% of high school students

Aspire to earn a bachelor’s degree yet less than 50% actually enroll at a four-year university.

Research shows that applying for financial aid is one of the best predictors of whether a student will enroll in college. Through the AVID program, students receive support from school staff and peer mentors to complete the FAFSA form and college applications, as well as learn about additional financial aid resources available to them.