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January 25, 2017
Vol. 4, Issue 1
Board of Trustees

Chairman of the Board
Dr. Yvonne Katz
District 7

Vice Chair
Marcelo Casillas
District 4

Secretary
Dr. Gene Sprague
District 6

Asst. Secretary
Denver McClendon
District 2

Joe Alderete, Jr.
District 1

Anna U. Bustamante
District 3

Roberto Zarate
District 5

Clint Kingsbery
District 8

James Rindfuss
District 9

Emmanuel Nyong
Student Trustee

Chancellor

Dr. Bruce Leslie
Alamo Colleges
Alamo Colleges District Breaks Ground for New Administration Building at Playland Park Site
(l to r)Alamo Colleges District Trustee Joe Alderete, Jr., Bexar County Commissioner Tommy Calvert, Alamo Colleges District Board Chair Dr. Yvonne Katz, Chancellor Dr. Bruce Leslie, (seated) Gloria Ray, chair of the Citizens' Advisory Committee for the DSO Building and Amita Mahajan, district staff council president.
Community members joined local officials and Alamo Colleges District administrators and employees recently to celebrate the groundbreaking for the district's new administration building on a 12.5-acre site at 2222 N. Alamo Street, just off Broadway next to Ft. Sam Houston. Speaking at the event were County Commissioner Tommy Calvert, Alamo Colleges Board of Trustees Chair Dr. Yvonne Katz, Trustee Joe Alderete, Jr., Chancellor Dr. Bruce Leslie, Citizen's Advisory Committee Chair Gloria Ray and District Staff Council President Amita Mahajan.

The new complex was designed by Ford, Powell & Carson Architects and Planners, teaming with West East Design Group for architectural and engineering services for the District Support Operations (DSO) Administration Complex. Skanska USA Building, Inc. was awarded the contract for construction manager-at-risk services. The Board approved the concept rendering and master plan for the building in August 2016 and approved the schematic design in November 2016. The city's Historic and Design Review Commission granted conceptual approval for the design in December 2016. Completion of the building is projected for July 2018. 

It will feature design elements reflecting its history as the location of Playland Park, which operated at the site from 1943 until 1980 and featured the "Rocket" all wooden roller coaster. The project is designed with environmental preservation and conservation in mind, including efforts to preserve the pecan grove and the historic acequia on the property. 

The new facility will allow the Alamo Colleges District to house all 465 DSO employees at one location, increasing operational efficiency. DSO employees currently work at two sites downtown, as well as one in the northeast part of the city and in portable buildings at several of the colleges. Several of the current DSO buildings are in need of expensive repair and rebuilding.


Alamo Colleges District Board of Trustees Approves Capital Improvement Program Bond for May Election
The Alamo Colleges District $450 million bond issue
will fund new construction and renovations at all of the
five Alamo Colleges and satellite centers.


At their regular meeting January 17, the Alamo Colleges District Board of Trustees approved a $450 million bond issue which will go to Bexar County voters in May. The bond issue includes funds for new construction and renovations at all five of the Alamo Colleges, as well as existing and proposed satellite centers, together with technology improvements across the district.

"The Board wishes to thank the Citizens' Advisory Committee that played an important role in developing the bond package," said Alamo Colleges District Board Chair Dr. Yvonne Katz.

Approval of the bond issue may not result in a tax increase for Bexar County taxpayers and will enable the Alamo Colleges District, the region's largest higher education institution, to better serve the more than 80,000 students enrolled annually and to accommodate anticipated growth in enrollment.

PAC Early College High School students were inspired
at the ECHS New Student Convocation.

Alamo Colleges District - Palo Alto College Ramps Up ECHS Programs

On January 6, encouragement coaches from all five of Palo Alto College's (PAC) Early College High School (ECHS) partners were on hand at the college's second annual ECHS New Student Convocation to answer questions from the nearly 500 ECHS freshmen in attendance. The encouragement coaches provide support to help incoming ECHS students succeed.  The event fueled the incoming students with confidence as they prepared to take their first college-level course in Spring 2017 as part of the ECHS dual-enrollment model.

While continuing to expand its current ECHS partnerships, PAC is preparing a new partnership with Southwest Independent School District and H-E-B to open its sixth ECHS in August 2018. The career-themed Center for Applied Science and Technology (CAST) High School will provide students the opportunity to earn industry certifications or associate degrees in advanced manufacturing, engineering, global enterprise, logistics, and energy. Like the other ECHS partners, the CAST High School will recruit students who are at high-risk of not attending college, enabling them to graduate high school with an associate degree and putting many on track to earn a bachelor's degree by age 20.

At the Alamo Colleges District, 82% of ECHS graduates attained an associate degree, certificate, or two years of college credits toward a bachelor degree - over three times higher than the national average of 23% and a testament to the culture of success fostered by the ECHS programs.


Let us hear from you! Send your comments on our newsletter to   khendricks@alamo.edu. 

The Alamo Colleges mission is: empowering our diverse communities for success. Our vision is: the Alamo Colleges will be the best in the nation in student success and performance excellence. The Alamo Colleges is one district with five community colleges serving more than 90,000 students annually from Bexar County and seven other counties in our service area. We provide an affordable, quality college education that leads to associate degrees, certificates and transfers to four-year universities. Hundreds of thousands of Bexar County residents who have come through the Alamo Colleges education programs are major contributors to the economy and culture of Sa n Antonio.