History of IDEA Public Schools
How did it all begin?
1998
During their stints as Teach For America corps members, Tom Torkelson and JoAnn Gama founded the IDEA Academy as an after school program in Donna, TX in 1998. It was created as a way to help combat some of the major educational deficiencies they saw in their students, focusing the program on student achievement and college readiness.
2000
Torkelson and Gama named the program IDEA, an acronym for “Individuals Dedicated to Excellence and Achievement,” and “No Excuses!” was their motto. IDEA enjoyed quick success, and the state of Texas granted a charter to IDEA in 2000. Beginning with only grades 4 to 8, the original flagship campus in Donna has expanded into a full-scale Pre-K—12 campus today.
2005 - 2012
IDEA Public Schools embarked upon an ambitious expansion plan in 2005, titled “The 2012 Plan,” with the goal of launching 22 IDEA schools across the Rio Grande Valley by the year 2012.
2013 - 2018
With the opening of 18 new campuses for the 2018-19 school year, IDEA served more than 45,000 students at 79 schools in the Rio Grande Valley, San Antonio, Austin, El Paso, and Southern Louisiana.
2019 - 2022
By 2022, IDEA will educate more than 100,000 students across the country on their journey to and through college.
3,285
GRADUATING SENIORS
100%
COLLEGE BOUND
13 YRS
IN A ROW
The flagship campus in Donna graduated its first class of seniors in 2007, sending 100% of its graduating students to college. To date, IDEA has kept its promise of sending all students to college. In the 2018-19 school year, IDEA graduated more than 1,185 seniors from 15 campuses, and for the 13th consecutive year, 100% of our seniors were accepted to college.
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