Amerigo Houston

• Location: Houston, the USA
• Year Founded: 1956
• Campus: 29 acres
• Age of students: 14-19 years
• School Grades: 9-12
• Total students: 545 (Co-ed enrollment)
• Type of education: joint (mixed)
• Type of accommodation: residence (full board)
• Language of instruction: English
• Overall Niche.com grade - A
• 100% College and University Attendance Rate
• 37 AP, Honors and Dual Credit courses
• Faculty to Student Ratio: 1:11
• Average ACT Score (Top 10%) - 28
• University Acceptance Rate - 100%
• Technology Programs: Bring Your Own Device Program
• 47 students named AP scholars in the past 5 years
• 13 students named AP scholars in 2020
• 86 members of National Honor Society in 2020

St. Pius X Catholic High School - an exclusive partner of Amerigo Houston - offers students education, tools, resources. St. Pius X is a private co-educational high school in Houston, Texas, where students can develop their interests, earn university loans, and gain real experience that will prepare them for a successful life.

School St. Pius X High School is located on a beautiful campus in the very center of Houston, and provides students with a quality education, offering access to more than 100 courses in AP, Honors, Dual Credit, College Prep in a wide range of subjects. Pupils can take part in 30 clubs and 20 sports teams. In addition, the school offers a unique engineering program, which was created in collaboration with the famous Cockrell School of Technology, University of Texas, one of the best engineering programs in the United States.

At Amerigo, students have a clear pathway into a top American University

Amerigo is an elite Comprehensive Boarding Program for high school students, providing graduates with guaranteed acceptance into a Top 50 U.S. University through the Amerigo Agreement. The Top 50 guarantee is available to any student who meets the ongoing criteria for the Honors Track program, and fulfills their duties as laid out in the Amerigo Agreement.

Through the Amerigo Agreement, Amerigo pledges to provide students with exclusive academic opportunities, including:

• High-level academic and university guidance with Amerigo experts
• Tours of universities and exclusive meetings with admissions officers
• In-depth university essay writing assistance, including regular check-ins on drafts
• ACT, SAT and TOEFL test preparation
• Additional study hours and tutoring as needed to assist students in maintaining strong academics and much more.

In return, the student pledges to meet the program’s entry requirements, take part in extracurricular activities and leadership roles, meet deadlines and maintain a strong academic standing throughout their time in high school.

AP Courses

• Biology
• Calculus AB
• Calculus BC
• Chemistry
• Computer Science
• English Language
• English Literature
• Latin
• Physics 1
• Physics 2
• Spanish
• Statistics
• U.S. Government and Politics
• U.S. History
• Algebra 1
• Algebra 2
• Ancient World History and Geography

Honors&Dual Courses

• Biology
• Chemistry
• Computer Science 2
• Economics
• English 1
• English 2
• French 3
• French 4
• Geometry/Trigonometry
• Latin 3
• Modern World History and Geography
• Pre-Calculus
• Spanish 3
• Spanish 4
• English 4
• Spanish
• U.S. History

Notable Courses

• Auto CAD Drafting
• Business and Personal Law
• Conceptual Physics
• Engineering 1: Design and Analysis
• Engineering 2: Applications of
• Computer Science
• Forensic Science
• Handbell Choir
• International Business
• Intro to Movie Making
• Photojournalism
• Sociology
• Stagecraft
• Standardized Test Preparation
• Studio Art
• Web Page Design

Upscale Apartment

Students live together in a luxury apartment complex with first-class amenities, including a swimming pool, gym and more. The residence is located just a quick drive away from the school, and across the street from a shopping district with numerous restaurants, stores and a movie theater.

Safe, secure and supervised

Amerigo staff securely track students in realtime and monitor the dorms using state-of-theart security technology. Full-time campus staff eat and live with students, providing 24/7 supervision. Comprehensive safety policies and procedures ensure that students are always safe

Spacious dorm living

Single-gender, double-occupancy rooms, with shared space for socializing, dining, recreation and studying. The dormitories are equipped with high-speed Wi-Fi, comfortable communal areas, study rooms, laundry facilities and kitchenettes. The lawn is manicured and there are sports, entertainment and leisure facilities, including a swimming pool and fitness center.

Weekend trips

Students take regular weekend trips, including to Space Center Houston, museums, movie theaters, restaurants, shopping malls and more. Students also participate in community service opportunities. Students take part in in two annual supervised trips during Thanksgiving Break and Spring Break.

Amerigo’s Comprehensive Boarding Program was designed specifically for universitybound, international high school students, and includes:

• Four-year University Advantage Program: provides university guidance, test preparation, essay writing skills, and advising
• Additional opportunities for academically advanced students through Honors Track and Global Scholars Programs
• Daily English Language Learning courses, both in-person and at the residence
• Advanced high school courses offered in a wide range of challenging and relevant subjects
• Safe, secure boarding alongside students and staff in our beautiful student residences
• Acculturation trips designed to help students acclimate quickly to life in America

Engineering Program

2-Year Engineering Program

The program was developed in partnership with NASA and the University of Texas Cockrell School of Engineering (#10 ranked engineering school in the U.S.)

Wide Range of Disciplines

Students learn about a wide range of engineering fields, including:

• Chemical Engineering
• Civil Engineering
• Computer Engineering
• Mechanical Engineering
• Software Engineering

Real-World Experience

The program gives students the opportunity to employ engineering processes, skills, and habits to solve real world challenges. Students take part in collaborative, handson projects, including building a robot and a drone from scratch and learning to code in Python.

University-Level Learning

The rigor of the coursework is equivalent to a university’s first-year engineering course.

Computer Science

Four -year Stepped Curriculum

The school offers 6 computer science courses. Students can take:

• Computer Science I: Learn common computer science terminology, elements of program design, and eventually create programs
• Computer Science II (Honors): Study the fundamentals of structured and object -oriented programming
• Computer Science (AP): Equivalent to a college -level intro course, students learn object -oriented programming methodology with a concentration on problem solving and algorithm development
• Introduction to Multimedia with Computers: Study the fundamentals of keyboarding, word processing, spreadsheets, and databases
• Web Page Design: Introduction to the design, creation, and maintenance of web pages and websites
• Video Technology I: Intro to Movie Making: Introductory training in the creation of scripts, storyboards, short films and filming in a variety of environments

Computer Engineering Course

SPX offers a wide range of interdisciplinary courses. In Introduction to Engineering II, students focus on the use of computers in engineering project design. The course helps students strengthen their engineering skills and learn to solve complex design problems.

Business Curriculum 

Build Business Skills

Through the Business Courses, students in Grades 11 and 12 can master skills in financial management, trade, business law and more. Students interested in further developing their leadership skills have a range of extracurricular clubs they can get involved in, including Student Council and Honor Board.

St. Pius X offers 6 business courses:

• Business and Personal Law: Expose students to the U.S. legal system, forms of business organization, fundamentals of contract law, business ethics, and other legal realms
• Career Exploration: Students will develop organizational and social skills needed for library and office work
• Economics: Learn the basic principles concerning production, consumption, and distribution of goods and services in the U.S. and a comparison with other countries around the world
• Economics (Honors): thoroughly examine the principles of economics. The course concludes with students investigating, researching, and professionally presenting on a topic
• International Business: Learn how businesses are conducted in the global economy
• Personal Finance: Learn about money management, personal recordkeeping, career opportunities and economic risk factors

Debate

Four-Year Stepped Curriculum

St. Pius X offers several debate courses, as well as intensive writing and reading courses to help students learn to express themselves at an advanced level.

Debate courses include:

• Debate 1: Learn argumentation through critical thinking and writing
• Debate 2: Continue building skills to compete in speech/drama events and tournaments
• Communications: Study of voice development, verbal and nonverbal communication, and persuasive and informative speaking
• Broadcast Journalism 1: learn journalistic and technological skills
• Broadcast Journalism 2: create news and feature stories for SPX News Announcements and SPX News Online

Debate Competition

The school holds numerous debate competitions throughout the year, often against other schools in the area. Students can compete in the Lincoln-Douglas Debate and Original Oratory.

Athletics

Overview

St. Pius X offers a highly-regarded athletics program with 21 sports teams offered, including competitive varsity teams. The teams have collectively won over 200 titles in conference and statewide competitions.

• Baseball
• Basketball
• Cheerleading
• Cross Country
• Football
• Golf
• Lacrosse
• Rugby
• Soccer
• Softball
• Swimming
• Tennis
• Track and Field
• Volleyball

Over 70% of students participate in athletics and in the past three years, 43 students have been signed to college athletics.

Last year, SPX was featured in VYPE High School Sports Magazine, a national publication.

Recent Awards and Championships:

• 2018 Boys’ Basketball State Qualifiers
• 2018 Boys’ Rugby State Qualifiers
• 2018 Boys’ Soccer State Qualifiers
• 2017 Football State Qualifiers
• 2017 Football District Champion
• 2017 Boys’ Soccer State Qualifiers

Extracurriculars:

• Academic Team
• Anime Club
• Art Club
• Band
• Black History Club
• Chess Club
• Choir
• Film Club
• French Club
• Game Club
• Handbell Choir
• Honor Board
• International Club
• International Thespian Society
• Key Club
• Literary Magazine
• Learning Center Advisory Board
• National Honor Society
• Pantherettes
• Peer Helpers
• Robotics
• Science Club
• Scouts Club
• Spanish Club
• Sports Medicine
• Student Ambassadors
• Student Council
• Students Serving Soldiers
• TAPPS Academic Team
• Theater SPX
• X Crew
• Yearbook

Brand New Science & Media Center

With state-of-the-art technology and labs—the media center includes a large collection of books as well as private group study rooms

Unique Literary Magazine

A dedicated set of student editors publishes an annual Literary Magazine—a 60-page, hard cover publication—filled with student submissions of writings, drawings, sculptures and photography

“Engineer Your World” Program

Multi-year program created in partnership with NASA and the University of Texas, Cockrell School of Engineering (#10 Engineering School)

Family-like Atmosphere

The smallest class sizes out of all Amerigo campuses, with a teacher to student ratio of 1:11, allowing for personalized learning

International Club

Robust International Club, which is particularly popular among Amerigo students.

Dual Credit Opportunities

Several Dual Credit opportunities available to students that mirror the academic rigor of college courses

Advisory Program

Advisory is a regularly scheduled period when faculty meet with small groups of students. Advisory groups provide continuous mentoring and support to students and encourage connections between students and teachers.

Located in Houston

Houston is the 4th largest city in the US and is home to booming industries, including medicine, engineering and business. It is one of the most international cities in the U.S., with over 100 languages spoken

• Beautiful building on a 29-acre campus with outdoor space
• Advanced engineering lab and multiple 3D printers
• Professional-style theater
• State-of-the-art Science and Media center with seven science labs
• Top-tier athletic facilities: weight room and new turf football field
• Newly-built learning commons with small group study rooms

Student fee (health insurance, Thanksgiving events, spring breaks, technological equipment, school uniforms, textbooks, airport transfers) - $ 5,950 / year.

Applicants must submit the following package of documents:

• Completed application
• Recommendations from the teacher of English, mathematics
• Official transcript in the original language
• Certified English Transcript
• Copy of the passport
• Certificate of testing for knowledge of English.

Entry requirements:

• GPA - 2.5 or higher
• TOEFL iBT - 59 or higher
• IELTS - 5.0 or higher
• Interview
• Video assessment of the level of language proficiency, academic knowledge.

• Guardianship services during the studies
• Student supervision