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A.V. Cato’s Innovative Girls Inc. Program: Empowering Future STEM Leaders
A.V. Cato is proud to offer an innovative, out-of-the-box opportunity through our partnership with Girls Inc.—a program designed to expose more girls to the exciting world of STEM. While Girls Inc. is widely recognized as an outstanding after-school and summer initiative, A.V. Cato has taken it a step further by integrating it directly into the school day!
Approximately 15 young ladies in grades 1 through 5 are selected to participate in the Girls Inc. program four days a week for 45 minutes each day. Thanks to generous funding from the Sid Richardson Foundation and the unwavering support of Castleberry ISD, we have a dedicated Girls Inc. staff member on campus to lead this engaging and impactful program.
Our students explore hands-on experiments, interact with advanced technology, and meet inspiring guest speakers from a variety of STEM fields who share their career journeys and the steps they took to get there. The goal is clear: to set our girls up for success in Castleberry ISD’s robust secondary STEM program.
Castleberry ISD proudly offers a specialized STEM Academy at Irma Marsh Middle School—a school-within-a-school model that welcomes new sixth-grade cohorts each year. This rigorous program emphasizes science, technology, engineering, and math while equipping students with critical academic and job-ready skills.
With a curriculum that includes cybersecurity and computing concepts, the STEM Academy ensures students are prepared for a tech-driven future. In ninth grade, students may also apply to the Castleberry Collegiate Academy, where they can work toward earning both an Associate’s degree and a Level 1 Cybersecurity Certificate from Tarrant County College.
At A.V. Cato, we are thrilled to invest in our girls’ futures—empowering them to succeed in high-demand STEM careers and beyond.