Gulf Coast Trades Center

Last updated

Gulf Coast Trades Center / Raven School (GCTC) is a charter boarding school located in unincorporated Walker County, Texas, near New Waverly. [1] [2] The school, operated by the nonprofit agency Gulf Coast Trades Center Inc., [3] is in proximity to Houston. [4]

Contents

The school, located within the Sam Houston National Forest, is a center for adjudicated children, who can learn construction trades. GCTC is an alternative to being committed into the Texas Juvenile Justice Department (TJJD) (previously the Texas Youth Commission, TYC). [5] GCTC functions as a contract facility for the state juvenile prison system. [6]

History

The school first opened in 1971. Thomas "Mike" Buzbee Sr. served as the President and CEO of the center from 1971 until his 2007 death. [7] The school was named after the Gulf Coast Building Trades Council and the Houston Mayor's Office, the founders of the school's private component. Originally the school was affiliated with the Houston Independent School District (HISD). In 1988 the school ended ties with HISD. [8]

From 1984 to 1988 the U.S. Department of Education distributed $1.3 million in Pell Grant funds to GCTC. In 1988 the U.S. Department of Education audited the GCTC and asked for the 1.3 million back. In July 1988 the department revoked GCTC's authority to award grants, with the revocation date retroactively being March 1984. In 1990 the GCTC sued the U.S. Department of Education in federal court, asking for the authority to distribute Pell Grants. [3]

In 2001 the report of the study "Less Cost, More Safety: Guiding Lights for Reform in Juvenile Justice" of the American Youth Policy Forum praised the GCTC. [9]

As of 2007 about 800 children were enrolled at the school. Most of them are between 16 and 19 years of age. [7]

In 2009 the students built a neighborhood for disabled people and low-income seniors in an unincorporated area of Montgomery County, near Willis. [5]

Admissions

In order to attend the GCTC, a prospective student must be an "at-risk" adjudicated youth referred from a county or state agency that serves youth. Agencies which refer students to the GCTC include over forty county juvenile probation departments, the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, and the Texas Juvenile Justice Department (TJJD). Prior to the formation of the TJJD, the Texas Youth Commission (TYC) was the youth prison agency. Students admitted must be between the ages of 14 and 18. [10] The school houses children who were unsuccessful in their probation programs. [11]

Academics

Each student takes academic and shop training. Each student builds four houses per year. [5]

Vocational courses offered by the school include automotive, bricklaying/masonry, building maintenance, building trades, business information management, culinary arts. [12]

The Raven School, established in 1998, provides academic educational services. [13]

Substance Abuse Programs and other counseling services are made available to students but are not mandatory. Licensed individuals contracted from an outside vendor provide services on a daily basis. Credentialed individuals carry either LCDC (Licensed Chemical Dependency Counselor) or LPC (Licensed Professional Counselor).

Campus

The 57-acre (23 ha) campus is located in the Sam Houston National Forest. It includes the 10,000-square-foot (930 m2) GCTC Administration Building, the Family/Life/Visitor Center, a gymnasium, eight dormitories, an infirmary, and a cafeteria. The Family/Life/Visitor Center includes visitor facilities and banquet and meeting facilities. In addition, the north side of that building houses the school's information technology and social services departments, while the south side of the building houses the counselor and the residential department managers and supervisors. The cafeteria opened in 1982 and can seat up to 200 people. The vocational training class area is located in the south side of the facility. [14] The gymnasium opened in March 2004. [15]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Walker County, Texas</span> County in Texas, United States

Walker County is a county located in the east central section of the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 76,400. Its county seat is Huntsville. Initially, Walker County was named for Robert J. Walker, a legislator from Mississippi who introduced into the United States Congress the resolution to annex Texas. Walker later supported the U.S. during its Civil War and earned some enmity for it. In order to keep the county's name, the state renamed it for Samuel H. Walker, a Texas Ranger and soldier in the United States Army.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rod Paige</span> American politician

Roderick Raynor Paige served as the 7th United States Secretary of Education from 2001 to 2005. Paige, who grew up in Mississippi, moved from college football coach and classroom teacher to college dean and school superintendent to be the first African American to serve as the U.S. education chief.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Houston Independent School District</span> Public school system in Texas

The Houston Independent School District (HISD) is the largest public school system in Texas, and the eighth-largest in the United States. Houston ISD serves as a community school district for most of the city of Houston and several nearby and insular municipalities in addition to some unincorporated areas. Like most districts in Texas, it is independent of the city of Houston and all other municipal and county jurisdictions. The district has its headquarters in the Hattie Mae White Educational Support Center in Houston.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stephen F. Austin High School (Houston)</span> Public school in Houston, Texas, United States

Stephen F. Austin High School is a secondary school located at 1700 Dumble Street in Houston, Texas, United States. The school handles grades nine through twelve and is a part of the Houston Independent School District. In 2013, the school was rated "Met Standard" by the Texas Education Agency.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North Forest Independent School District</span> Former school district in Texas

North Forest Independent School District (NFISD) was a school district in northeast Houston, Texas. Established in the early 1920s in a low-income white area, it later became majority-black and black-run. The district had a history of financial and academic issues from the late 1980s until 2013. On July 1, 2013, it was closed by order of the state and absorbed into the Houston Independent School District (HISD).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sharpstown International School</span> School

Sharpstown International School is a middle and night school in Houston, Texas, located in Section 2 of Sharpstown Country Club Estates. The school serves grades 6 through 12 and is part of the Houston Independent School District. As of 2012 it is an all-magnet school.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Worthing High School (Houston)</span> Public high school in Houston, Texas, United States

Evan Edward Worthing Early College High School is a secondary school located in the Sunnyside area of Houston, Texas, United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">High School for Law and Justice</span> Magnet school in Texas, United States

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sterling High School (Houston)</span> Public high school in Houston, Texas, United States

Ross Shaw Sterling High School, also known as Sterling Aviation High School, is a secondary school located in Houston, Texas. Sterling, which serves grades 9 through 12, is a part of the Houston Independent School District. The school was named after Ross S. Sterling. Sterling has Houston ISD's magnet program for Aviation Sciences.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gulfton, Houston</span> Neighborhood of Houston in Texas, United States of America

Gulfton is a community in Southwest Houston, Texas, United States3.2 sq mi (8.3 km2). It is located between the 610 Loop and Beltway 8, west of the City of Bellaire, southeast of Interstate 69/U.S. Highway 59, and north of Bellaire Boulevard.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Texas Youth Commission</span> Texan state agency

The Texas Youth Commission (TYC) was a Texas state agency which operated juvenile corrections facilities in the state. The commission was headquartered in the Brown-Heatly Building in Austin. As of 2007, it was the second largest juvenile corrections agency in the United States, after the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice. As of December 1, 2011, the agency was replaced by the Texas Juvenile Justice Department.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North Forest High School</span> Public school in Texas, United States

North Forest High School (NFHS) is a secondary school located in Houston, Texas, United States. The school is a part of the Houston Independent School District (HISD); it was a part of the North Forest Independent School District (NFISD) until the district closed on July 1, 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Houston Community College</span> Community college system in Texas, U.S.

Houston Community College (HCC), also known as Houston Community College System (HCCS) is a community college system that operates community colleges in Houston, Missouri City, Greater Katy, and Stafford in Texas. It is notable for actively recruiting internationally and for the large number of international students enrolled, over 5,700 in 2015. Its open enrollment policies, which do not require proficiency in English, are backed by a full-time 18-month English proficiency program and remedial courses.

Leader's Academy High School for Business and Academic Success, previously the High School for Business and Economic Success (HSBES), was a Grade 7–12 state charter school located on the campus of Windsor Village United Methodist Church in Windsor Village, Houston, in the U.S. state of Texas. The school was formerly named Gulf Shores Academy. In 2011 it merged with Benji's Special Educational Academy into Victory Preparatory Academy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Southwest Management District</span> District in Houston, Texas

Southwest Management District, formerly Greater Sharpstown Management District, is a district in Houston, Texas, United States. The district is split into 6 neighborhoods: Sharpstown, Chinatown, Mahatma Gandhi District/Little India, Westwood, Harwin, and University.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mountain View State School</span>

The Mountain View State School was a juvenile rehabilitation facility operated by the Texas Youth Council in Gatesville, Texas. The building and land that once housed the school now house the Mountain View Unit, a Texas Department of Criminal Justice women's prison.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Giddings State School</span> Juvenile correctional facility in Texas, USA

Giddings State School is a juvenile correctional facility of the Texas Juvenile Justice Department located in unincorporated Lee County, Texas, near Giddings. In 2004, the state school was Lee County's largest employer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Liberty High School (Houston)</span> Public high school in Houston, Texas, United States

Liberty High School is an alternative high school on the grounds of the Houston Community College Gulfton Campus in Gulfton, Houston, Texas. A part of the Houston Independent School District, it is a school catering to recent immigrants.

The Texas Juvenile Justice Department (TJJD) is a state agency in Texas, headquartered in the Braker H Complex in Austin.

References

  1. ↑ "We can be reached at: Archived 2011-12-03 at the Wayback Machine " Gulf Coast Trades Center. Retrieved on December 8, 2011. "Gulf Coast Trades Center / Raven School 143 Forest Service Rd. 233 New Waverly, TX 77358"
  2. ↑ "Education Service Center, Region VI Archived 2011-11-17 at the Wayback Machine ." (Map) Educational Service Center 6. Retrieved on December 8, 2011.
  3. 1 2 Staff. "School sues to regain grant eligibility." Houston Chronicle . Friday February 16, 1990. A30. Retrieved on December 8, 2011.
  4. ↑ Tedesco, John. "Teen's death is probed as homicide." San Antonio Express-News . December 19, 1998. Metro/South Texas. Retrieved on December 8, 2011. "Sydney recently had finished a carpentry program at Gulf Coast Trades Center, a school outside Houston for delinquent high school students."
  5. 1 2 3 Kuhles, Beth. "Neighborhood planned for low-income seniors, disabled." Houston Chronicle . Wednesday August 5, 2009. Retrieved on December 8, 2011.
  6. ↑ "Residential Placements Archived 2012-03-08 at the Wayback Machine ." Texas Youth Commission. Retrieved on September 30, 2010.
  7. 1 2 Smith, Stewart. "Trade center president known for self-sacrifice." Huntsville Item . March 19, 2007. Retrieved on December 8, 2011.
  8. ↑ "School Histories: the Stories Behind the Names Archived 2011-07-10 at the Wayback Machine ." (Archive) Houston Independent School District. Retrieved on December 8, 2011.
  9. ↑ Eiserer, Tanya. "Tarrant juvenile justice program receives praise County youth reform effort called 'guiding light'." Fort Worth Star-Telegram . June 7, 2001. 1 METRO. Retrieved on December 8, 2011.
  10. ↑ "Admissions Policies:" Gulf Coast Trades Center. Retrieved on December 8, 2011.
  11. ↑ "PEPNet: Connecting Juvenile Offenders to Education and Employment." OJJDP Fact Sheet July 2001 #29. Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. Retrieved on December 8, 2011.
  12. ↑ "Trades being taught:" Gulf Coast Trades Center. Retrieved on December 8, 2011.
  13. ↑ "Our Passion is Education:" Gulf Coast Trades Center. Retrieved on December 8, 2011.
  14. ↑ "Facilities:" Gulf Coast Trades Center. Retrieved on December 8, 2011.
  15. ↑ "Residential:" Gulf Coast Trades Center. Retrieved on December 8, 2011.

30°32′27″N95°33′24″W / 30.5407°N 95.5567°W / 30.5407; -95.5567

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.