I am so proud to be your principal at the Colorado River Collegiate Academy. CRCA, in its eleventh year of operation, is Bastrop ISD's early college high school. We have graduated seven classes and 234 of our graduates also earned their associate degrees from Austin Community College while in high school. Our school has been recognized by US News and World Report, Best High Schools, in 2017, 2018, 2020 - 2024. Quite simply, the Colorado River Collegiate Academy is one of the top academic high schools in Texas and the United States.

We provide a unique setting, engaging students in a rigorous college preparatory curriculum with smaller classes. Our purpose at CRCA is to prepare students to become college ready by the end of their first semester in high school so that they can access college courses taught through Austin Community College and go on to earn an Associate's Degree, from ACC, while completing their high school diploma. All CRCA students will graduate at the Distinguished Level of Achievement. Each of our students has the opportunity to walk "two stages" upon graduation; CRCA and ACC. Opening the door for early entry into the collegiate realm is exciting and the Colorado River Collegiate Academy affords BISD students an opportunity hitherto unknown.

I am in my 34th year as an educator in Texas. I have taught all of the social studies at the high school level and served as an assistant and associate principal as well as a principal. The Colorado River Collegiate Academy is my second position as principal. I earned a BA in History from the University of Northern Colorado and my Masters in Education Administration from the University of Texas at Austin. My wife is also a public school administrator and we have a daughter in the 10th grade at CRCA.

Click here to send me an email at mconrardy@bisdtx.org.

Martin Conrardy, 
Principal CRCA