Furr’s school model links hands-on learning with a strong academic core to encourage students to apply classroom knowledge to real-world experiences. The school’s leaders have accomplished this by establishing community and industry partnerships and by building opportunities in a variety of settings including individually, in small groups, through technology, and in the field. Today, the school’s partners include The Fruit Tree Planting Foundation, the U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Texas A&M University, Houston’s Parks and Recreation Department, Student Conservation Association, Texas Environmental Justice Advocacy Services (White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council Members), as well as other environmental, cultural, and community organizations. Furr’s partnership coordinator works with all partners to further mentor students in order to provide meaningful career exploration and internship opportunities.

Projects at Furr have included planting and maintaining over 200+ fruit trees to create an edible forest on their campus as well as installing over 100+ small garden beds for student projects. Furr is located in one of the city’s food deserts, and with this in mind, the school built a one acre+ food forest community garden at a local park across the street, Herman Brown Park, which senior high school students help maintain. In line with these projects, there are many efforts underway to make Furr a “green hub” of the community. The district recently approved a career and technical education linkage to Furr High School’s Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources department at Holland Middle School to create a true “greenbelt partnership,” transitioning students seamlessly from their middle school to Furr High School. In addition, Furr High School is currently working with all seven of their feeder schools establishing fruit orchards and vocational programming.

Furr High School serves a high-need student population that comes from across the district. The school’s driving goal is to improve access to high-quality learning opportunities for students who are statistically unlikely to thrive in college and career. Furr features a new, three-story, $56 million building supported by a district bond initiative that enhances the school’s STEAM focus and includes modern, flexible learning spaces. Furr ensures graduates practice skills like leadership, critical thinking, skilled communicating, adaptability, and productivity alongside academic learning that is aligned with XQ’s Learner Goals. with the district’s Global Graduate profile, and with state-wide standards of Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS). Furr also offers a dual credit program providing students an opportunity to earn an associates degree, and all students choose an “endorsement” (similar to college “majors”) including STEM, business and industry, arts and humanities, public service, and multidisciplinary. In doing so, students gain professional development training, build field experiences, and earn industry and state approved career oriented certifications.

One strategy for instructional change that Furr’s leaders have deeply committed to is the establishment of peer-to-peer exchange and mentoring. A group of seven teachers at the school have become project based learning (PBL) trailblazers in their community and are in the process of becoming peer leaders. These teachers are learning through deep design study with a PBL veteran teacher specialist of Furr High School and Texas Environmental Justice Advocacy Services, along with support from organizations such as Texas A&M University. Other teachers are exploring the tenets of field-based learning through weekly professional learning communities (PLC’s) that focus on the social-emotional side of field-based learning, helping teachers to develop connections and build relationships that lead to more engaging work in the classroom. The school’s “social and emotional ambassador team” designs and delivers professional learning for their colleagues, including sharing resources and strategies in PLCs, coaching and supporting teachers, and developing a webinar on social and emotional learning (SEL) for all teachers to access virtually. The Furr staff’s deep commitment to learning with, and from, each other has made a significant difference in students’ learning.

Furr’s home in East Houston is a community beset by environmental and economic challenges. The school’s leaders and educators have made it a central goal to empower students with the knowledge, skills, and experiences to address these challenges and improve their own community. In 9th grade, students select from one of three pathways that address a different aspect of the community. The pathways include: Agriculture and Natural Resources—an immersive model that uses local heritage, cultures, landscapes, opportunities, and experiences as a foundation for the study of subjects across the curriculum; Health Science —a pathway meant to connect students with innovation, research, and education in health and wellness; and media and technology, which focuses on conducting research to highlight social and environmental justice challenges and potential solutions in the context of the modern era through media production and storytelling.