Early College High School Initiative Partner Organizations and Sponsors

Through the Early College High School Initiative, 13 partner organizations are creating or redesigning more than 250 small schools that blend high school and college. Jobs for the Future coordinates and supports the partners and the effort as a whole.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, along with Carnegie Corporation of New York, the Ford Foundation, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, and other local foundations, fund the Early College High School Initiative.

Early College High School Initiative Partner Organizations

“What a wonderful opportunity to prove that all students, given the opportunity, the support, and the right environment, can learn and achieve success through education! So many of our ‘babies’ have been failed by the public school system, but now they have given us a second chance. . . . We must not fail them again. P-16’s involvement in Early College is another testament to Georgia’s commitment to K-12 and higher education collaborative efforts, as well as to high school reform in this state. Early colleges will be a dream come true for so many deserving students. This is only the beginning, and I am thrilled to be a part of the ‘Dream Team’.”—Dawn Cooper, Director, Early College

The Pre-School-College (P-16) Department of the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia serves as the intermediary for Georgia’s Early College High School Initiative—a partnership of the Georgia Department of Education and the University System of Georgia. Part of P-16’s mission is to align expectations and student support services between schools and colleges to maximize student progression and success from high school through college.

Early college high school, a key P-16 demonstration project, is an intervention strategy for students who are not well served by traditional high schools. One goal of the new schools will be to “claim” higher education for African-American, Latino, and other minority students, as well as those students who are low income or the first in their family to attend college. Each early college high school is a partnership between one or more Georgia public school systems and a University System of Georgia college or university. The model blends high school and the first two years of college in order to find ways to educate young people to be prepared to contribute to our knowledge-based economy and to improve their overall quality of life. The intermediary’s role is to provide leadership and support to schools to ensure a successful experience for students and to study the model with an eye toward replication and scale-up statewide.

Schools:
Carver Early College High School
DeKalb Early College Academy
Early College Academy of Columbus
Georgia College Early College
Georgia Southwestern Early College
Savannah Early College

“The Early College High School Initiative has launched unprecedented collaboration among tribal communities, colleges, and schools to attain a single goal: increasing the college success of Native students. The early college students in our network may make higher education achievement a new norm within a single generation.”—Linda Campbell, Project Director, Center for Native Education, Washington State

Antioch University Seattle’s Center for Native Education is working with tribal and urban Indian communities, schools, and colleges to establish 18 early college high schools for Native-American youth. Within Washington state and nationally, the center seeks to dramatically increase the college-going rate of Native-American secondary students, who have the nation’s lowest rates of college attendance and completion.

Early college high schools for Native youth are located in the communities where Native students live, often on or near their reservations or urban areas where Indian people cluster. The programs integrate high school and Associate of Arts curricula with a local cultural emphasis at each site. Strong family and community engagement, as well as personalized student support services, are key features of all Center for Native Education early colleges. Native curriculum consultants work with schools and colleges to diversify course content. Three sites are piloting intergenerational classrooms that integrate adolescents and adult learners.

At the first three early colleges for Native youth, which opened in 2004, student academic gains have been impressive. High school graduation rates, state test scores, and college-credit accrual have all increased, as have the efforts to create culturally responsive curriculum. Tribal, college, and high school personnel have worked together to develop courses that enable students to become educational and cultural leaders.

Schools:
Effie Kokrine Early College Charter High School
Klamath River Early College of the Redwoods
La Conner School District
Medicine Wheel Academy
Native American Early College Academy
Shelton Early College High School
Siletz Valley Early College Academy
Tulalip Heritage High School

“CUNY has a long history of collaboration with the city’s public schools. This includes 15 college-affiliated high schools and a system-wide program of college courses and college-oriented workshops and special activities serving over 50,000 students per year. Building upon this strong foundation, the 10 new schools will challenge students who traditionally have been expected to achieve too little to achieve more. The students will do so in a rich and supportive college-based learning environment.” —John Garvey, Director of Collaborative Programs

The Early College Initiative at the City University of New York, in partnership with the New York City Department of Education, is creating ten early college schools in New York City. The Early College Initiative at CUNY is an outgrowth of the university system’s longstanding commitment to improving the academic achievement of the city’s public high school students and ensuring that graduating students are ready to do college-level work. To date, CUNY has planned and opened six early college schools throughout the city.

Early college schools at CUNY serve students in grades 6 through 12 and are located in close proximity to the partner college campus. At the core of the middle school curriculum is an intense focus on the development of reading, writing, and math skills. During high school, students complete New York State Regents requirements for a high school diploma and begin taking college courses. School staff and administrators collaborate with college faculty and administrators to guide students toward consistently thinking about, and planning for, a college education throughout the middle and high school years.

Schools:
Bronx Early College Academy
City College Academy of the Arts
Hostos-Lincoln Academy
Kingsborough Early College Secondary School
Queens School of Inquiry
York Early College Academy

“The students we want to attract are those who would not otherwise have the opportunity to go to college. Once they are convinced to try this, the dropout rate from early college high schools is very low because it builds its own excitement for learning. This is for students looking for an environment that will be different from the normal high school environment; it will be a culture within itself.”—Dr. V. Barbara Bush, Intermediary Project Director Early College High Schools, University of North Texas

The Texas High School Project is a public-private initiative committed to increasing graduation rates and college enrollment rates in every Texas community by creating learning environments where students build relationships with educators, are challenged with rigorous lessons, and are excited by subjects relevant to their lives. The THSP partners include the Texas Education Agency, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation, the Wallace Foundation, Communities Foundation of Texas, educators, and others. The private side of THSP is managed by Communities Foundation of Texas and the public side by the Texas Education Agency. The THSP resources support new and redesigned high schools, educator training and development, and specific programs designed to help students get ready for college.

Early college high schools will allow students the opportunity to achieve two years of college credit or an Associate’s degree at the same time as they are earning a high school diploma. The early college high school environment will provide opportunities for previously underserved minority and low-income students to develop academic strengths and attain college readiness, while overcoming substantial barriers in terms of low expectations, lack of resources, poor supports, and lack of good college planning information.

The early college high schools will help create a seamless transition between high school and college, help align the K-12 and higher education systems, and provide potential savings for families and taxpayers, while better preparing students for entry into high-skill careers with family-supporting wages.

Schools:
Collegiate High School
Early College High School at Brookhaven College
Early College High School at Mountain View College
Early College High School at Texas A&M International University
East Central Early College High School
East Early College High School
Hidalgo Early College High School
Mission Early College High School
Southside Early College High School
Southwest Early College High School
University Preparatory High School

“California’s 109 community colleges form the largest postsecondary delivery system in the world and play a major role educating California’s workforce in the 21st century. The Foundation for California Community Colleges serves as the sole authorized auxiliary to the California system of community colleges. The Early College High School Initiative presents an exceptional opportunity for community colleges to lead the way, engaging secondary partners in establishing schools that successfully increase not only access to college but college completion. Our foundation, in its intermediary role, is highly committed to advancing the Early College High School Initiative.”—Jeff Thompson, Vice President, Learning Programs, FCCC

The Foundation for California Community Colleges is spearheading development of early college high schools across California. FCCC works through community colleges to establish partnerships with secondary partners, including district, union, and charter high schools. The small, grades 9-12 early college high schools supported by FCCC are located on or near California community college campuses. These partnerships provide opportunities for students to earn a high school diploma and at least two years of college credit in five years or less.

The FCCC early college high school team is advancing a paradigm shift in college-secondary partnerships, one characterized by integration of practice. In the vision for FCCC schools, participating students and staff function in a unified, collaborative manner, focusing on student outcomes.

FCCC supports its partnership schools by providing ongoing technical assistance, professional development, and state-level policy analysis and development. Student literacy and college readiness themes are central to this work.

Schools:
Academy of the Redwoods
Alameda Science and Technology Institute
City Arts & Technology High School
Early College High School at College of the Canyons
Fresno Design Science Early College High School
Ghidotti Early College High School
Gilroy Early College Academy at Gavilan College
Global Youth Charter High School
International Studies Learning Center
June Jordan School for Equity
Met Sacramento Charter High School
Newport-Mesa Early College High School
Nova Academy
Nuview Bridge Early College High School
San Diego High School for the Arts
San Diego LEADS High School
SOAR High School
Valley Charter High School
Vaughn Next Century Learning Center
Village Academy High School

“The dropout problem in America is at a crisis point. We simply cannot afford to lose the one-third of young people who leave high school without a diploma. Gateway to College is changing lives. Students who did not thrive in a traditional high school setting are re-engaging with education, while fulfilling their dreams of college and a brighter future.”—Laurel Dukehart, Director of Gateway to College National Replication.

Young people who leave school without a diploma are doomed to a future of low wages and unemployment. Gateway to College provides a meaningful second chance for academic success. Portland Community College is supporting Gateway to College programs at community colleges around the country.

Gateway to College serves youth, ages 16 to 20, who have dropped out of high school or are on the verge of dropping out. Students complete their high school diploma within the community college setting, while simultaneously earning college credits leading to an Associate’s degree or certificate.

Gateway to College serves foster youth, adjudicated youth, English language learners, teen parents, students who need a flexible schedule to accommodate work or family responsibilities, students who feel they did not fit well in a traditional high school environment, and young people recovering from homelessness, abuse, and drug and alcohol addiction. Through a program of high expectations and equally high levels of support, young people around the nation are meeting their education goals and creating a better life.

Schools:
Gateway to College Academy at Georgia Perimeter College
Gateway to College at Clackamas Community College
Gateway to College at College of the Albemarle
Gateway to College at Community College of Philadelphia
Gateway to College at Massasoit Community College
Gateway to College at Monroe Community College
Gateway to College at Montgomery College
Gateway to College at Mt. Wachusett Community College
Gateway to College at Palo Alto College
Gateway to College at San Antonio College
Gateway to College at Tri-County Technical College
Riverside Gateway to College Early College High School

“We want to restructure the pipeline to higher education so that it appeals to and is accessible for populations that have traditionally been underrepresented in college. What’s interesting is that this initiative aims to bridge the needs of learners as they pursue higher education.”—Harold D. Brown, Vice President, School Improvement

KnowledgeWorks Foundation, Ohio’s largest public education philanthropy, is developing a network of ten early college high schools in the state. The schools are located in large, urban districts. Rural and Appalachian areas are being considered for future sites. The schools’ higher education partners include a combination of two- and four-year institutions. Students enrolled in these early college high schools will graduate with a diploma and an Associate’s degree or 60 hours of college credit.

KnowledgeWorks is transforming Ohio’s public schools, where only 7 in 10 students graduate every year, from a one-size-fits-all education system into schools where respect for the individual is paramount, and every child is considered “college material.”

Schools:
Akron Early College High School
Canton Early College High School
Columbus Africentric Early College
Dayton Early College Academy
Lorain County Early College High School
Metro Early College High School
Toledo Early College High School
Youngstown Early College High School

“Early college high schools provide more choice for students. Institutions that allow students to do school at their own pace and that change the four-year lockstep high school are needed in this country. Early college high schools will help educators and policymakers in both K-12 and higher education to continue the conversations on rethinking high schools.”—Cecilia Cunningham, Director, Middle College National Consortium

From coast to coast and border to border, the Middle College National Consortium is collaborating with schools, districts, and colleges to create 30 middle college-early college high schools. These campus-based schools are located in California, Colorado, Kentucky, Michigan, New York, South Carolina, and Tennessee, with additional sites expected in Illinois, Michigan, New York, and Texas.

Targeting students who traditionally have been underserved by the public schools, particularly students who are unmotivated, underprepared for high school work, and disengaged from their education, middle college-early college high schools provide structured, institutionally integrated opportunities and supports for all students to earn an Associate’s degree or 60 transferable college credits within five or fewer years of starting high school. These schools are built on the consortium’s six design principles: power of the site, teaching and learning, student assessment, student support, democratic school governance, and professional development.

To assist the schools, a variety of professional development experiences are provided. These include winter leadership institutes for principals, summer professional development conferences for high school and college staff, fall and spring school visits, critical friend reviews, and a three-day principal’s residency program. In addition, experienced Middle College principals serve as coaches to new middle college-early college high schools, helping them to implement the six design principles.

Schools:
Brashier Middle College Charter High School
Brooklyn College Academy at Brooklyn College
Challenge Early College High School
Collegiate High School at Owensboro Community and Technical College
Greenville Technical Charter High School
Harbor Teacher Preparatory Academy
Hollis F. Price Early College High School at LeMoyne-Owen College
International High School at LaGuardia Community College
Middle College at Contra Costa College
Middle College High School at Erie Community College
Middle College High School at LaGuardia Community College
Middle College High School at San Joaquin Delta College
Middle College High School at Santa Ana College
Middle College High School at Southwest Tennessee Community College
Mott Middle College High School at Mott Community College
Southwest Early College High School

“Among NCLR’s top priorities is closing the achievement gap for Latinos—by dramatically improving high school and college graduation rates. Early college high schools address the academic challenges and economic barriers that Latino students encounter in their attempts to enter an institution of higher education. In short, we hope that this demonstration project is a catalyst for innovative approaches to educating Latino students.”—Luis Genao, former Project Director, Early College Initiative

The National Council of La Raza, the country’s largest Latino advocacy organization, has one primary organizational goal in the area of education: to increase measurably the high school graduation, college attendance, and college graduation rates of Latino students throughout the country, many of whom are considered underserved or at risk of failing. As a means to achieve this goal, NCLR’s Office of Education added the Early College High School Demonstration Project to its portfolio. The project was created to increase the number of Latinos with a postsecondary education by developing 12 early college high schools across the country. The core operational objectives are to develop, disseminate, and replicate (or to have replicated) school designs that demonstrate the ability of every Latino student to master a college-preparatory curriculum and complete two years of a rigorous college education by the time they graduate high school.

Of the schools have opened thus far, most are conversion charter schools, and each partners with two- or four-year postsecondary schools. The schools have longer days and longer school years than traditional public schools and offer a middle school outreach component to prompt awareness of the early college high school option.

As an organization, NCLR is concerned with students most in need of special intervention and is working to refine, document, and disseminate efforts targeting English language learners, recovered dropouts, adjudicated youth, and teen parents. The early college high schools supported by NCLR are not only laboratories, they are partners in teasing out the institutional practices schools must undertake to make rigorous standards accessible to all students.

Schools:
Alta Vista Charter High School
Bell Multicultural School
California Academy for Liberal Studies Early College High School
Community Charter Early College High School
Dolores Huerta Preparatory High School
George I. Sanchez High School
La Academia: Partnership Charter School
Loyola Academy High School
Luz-Guerrero Early College

“The intent of the work of the North Carolina New Schools Project and the Learn and Earn Early College High School Initiative is to ensure that all students have access to and the support to master an academically rigorous curriculum that will give them the skills and knowledge to succeed in college and the workplace of the twenty-first century.”—Dr. Tony Habit, President, North Carolina New Schools Project

The North Carolina New Schools Project is an initiative of the North Carlina Office of the Governor and the North Carlolina Education Cabinet, with the support of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The NCNSP and its partners are working with local school districts and their higher education partners to create 150 new and redesigned schools across the state. Of these schools, 75 will be thematically focused, conversion high schools, and 75 will be early college high schools. The intent is to engender dramatic structural change, rather than to create new programs in the state’s high schools.

The early college high schools are under Governor Easley’s Learn and Earn Early College High School initiative, a project of the North Carlolina Department of Public Instruction and the N.C. New Schools Project. Thirteen Learn and Earn early college high schools have opened thus far. Each early college high school is located on a community college or university campus and serves a student population that reflects the diversity of the district, with an emphasis on historically underrepresented student populations, such as first generation college-going students. The schools offer all students an academically rigorous, university-prep curriculum that will help ensure that every student graduates with both a high school diploma and two years of university transfer credit or an Associate’s degree. All students also participate in work-based learning experiences, such as internships or job shadowing, and they work closely with a teacher-advisor during their time at the school. Students will graduate well versed in twenty-first century workplace skills, including the abilities to work in teams, communicate both orally and through writing, and analyze and solve problems.

Schools:
Anson County Early College High School
Brunswick County Early College High School
Buncombe County Early College High School
Caldwell Early College High School
Catawba Valley Challenger Early College High School
Collaborative College of Technology and Leadership
Craven Early College High School
Cross Creek Early College High School
Davidson Early College High School
Davie County Early College High School
Early Middle College at GTCC
Early Middle College at GTCC- Greensboro
Edgecombe County Early College High School
Greene County Early College High School
Haywood Early College
Isaac Bear Early College High School
Josephine Dobbs Clement Early College High School
Lee Early College
Lenoir County Early College High School
Macon County Early College High School
McDowell Early College
Middle College of Entertainment Technology at GTCC
Nash-Rocky Mount Early College High School
North Carolina A&T University Early/Middle College High School
Pender Early College High School
Polk County Virtual Early College
Randolph Early College High School
Richmond County Early College High School
Robeson County Early College High School
Rutherford Early College High School
Sampson County Early College High School
SandHoke Early College High School
Scotland Early College High School
Southeastern Early College
Stanly Early College High School
Surry Early College High School of Design
Tri-County Early College High School
Union County Early College High School
Wake Early College of Health and Sciences
Wayne Early/ Middle College High School
Wilmington Early College High School
Yadkin Early College High School

“Early College High School offers us an opportunity to expand our collaboration with SECME partner universities, school districts, and corporate and minority science, technology, engineering, and math organizations. This initiative is ideally aligned with SECME’s goal: creating a diverse and globally competitive workforce that utilizes the extraordinary yet often neglected or underdeveloped human capital in our own communities.”—Yvonne Freeman, Executive Director, SECME

SECME partners with school systems, universities, industry, and government to increase the pool of historically underrepresented students prepared for postsecondary studies in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. As a nonprofit intermediary organization, SECME has supported the creation of two early college high schools that partner SECME school systems and historically black or Latino-serving colleges. Each school will ultimately enroll 400 students, and each focuses in science, mathematics, and engineering.

Schools:
Josephine Dobbs Clement Early College High School
Selma Early College High School

“We want to create small high schools focused on science and math. This effort will address high school reform and help position Utah to excel in the new economy. These schools will enable students to master skills and knowledge rather than mandate seat time, and the New Century Scholarship will boost a diverse range of students in a new tradition of excellence.”—Richard Kendell, Deputy to the Governor for Public and Higher Education

The Utah Partnership Foundation and the Governor’s Office are creating six New Century High Schools in partnership with public and higher education systems. These “magnet” early colleges emphasize the sciences. They were designed, in part, to address the needs of Utah’s high-technology companies, which require individuals who have the ability to communicate effectively, work well in teams, solve problems, and meet deadlines.

The planning process of each school began with a feasibility study, involving representatives from postsecondary institutions, school districts, and local businesses. As each school opened, its planning team became its Board of Trustees. One result of strong business participation in planning and oversight of the schools has been the integration of well-developed internships, project-based learning opportunities, and other career development activities in each school’s curriculum.

Students in Utah early college high schools are encouraged to complete the equivalent of an Associate’s degree by graduation, which will qualify them for a New Century Scholarship (typically 75 percent of tuition costs for up to two years) at any of Utah’s state-operated higher education institutions offering baccalaureate programs.

Schools:
Academy for Math, Engineering, and Science
InTech Collegiate High School
Northern Utah Academy for Math, Engineering and Science
Southern Utah Center for Computer, Engineering, and Science Students
Utah County Academy of Science

“At Woodrow Wilson, early college high school is all about opening doors to Bachelor’s degrees for kids from underserved communities. From top liberal arts colleges, to historically black colleges and universities, to leading research universities, our higher ed partners—many drawn from the prestigious national network that Woodrow Wilson has built over the past 60 years—are actively engaging their faculty in these early colleges. And the local schools we work with make an energetic school-wide commitment to innovation, from curriculum, to teacher development, to administration. But what’s most exciting is that the students in these early colleges are learning to see a four-year degree not just as a dream but as a real possibility—in fact, a goal.”—Rob Baird, Vice President for School-University Partnerships

Since 1945, the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation has stood for excellence in education, promoting both individual opportunities and institutional partnerships that lead to college access for new populations. Over the past 20 years, Woodrow Wilson has also joined its legacy of excellence in higher education with a commitment to meeting national needs in K-12 education. The Woodrow Wilson Early College High School Initiative, begun in 2003 and funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, has supported small high schools nationwide that provide first-generation college-goers with rigorous academic preparation to enroll—and succeed—in college.

The foundation partners public schools with their local colleges and universities, exploring innovative ways to ensure access to quality education for all students. Woodrow Wilson’s early college high schools—including sites at Stanford, University of California campuses at Berkeley and Davis, City University of New York’s Hunter and Brooklyn Colleges, the University of the District of Columbia, and a range of other respected colleges and universities—emphasize rigor for students, ongoing professional development for teachers, and rich scholarly engagement for the university faculty involved. These programs are also becoming important sites of teacher education, complementing the teacher education programs of Woodrow Wilson’s higher education partners.

Graduates of these early colleges, some of them with up to 60 hours of college credit, are winning a range of college scholarships at respected institutions, such as Grinnell College, Lafayette College, and Bucknell University. Students at all of the Woodrow Wilson early college high schools are successfully completing college courses and are on their way to entering four-year colleges with advanced standing.

Schools:
Benjamin Holt College Preparatory Academy
California College Preparatory Academy
East Palo Alto High School
Friendship Collegiate Academy
Langston Hughes College Preparatory Academy
Lionel Wilson College Preparatory Academy
Manhattan/Hunter Science High School
Science, Technology and Research (STAR) Early College High School
University High School of Science and Engineering
Wallis Annenberg High School
West Sacramento Early College Preparatory School

Early College High School Initiative Sponsors

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is working to improve education at the school, district, and state levels to raise the high school graduation rate and help all students—regardless of race or family income—graduate as strong citizens ready for college and work. The foundation is also dedicated to reducing the financial obstacles that prevent students from entering college and has awarded more than $1 billion through its scholarship programs.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation provides funding to aid school development organizations associated with the Early College High School Initiative in starting early college high schools.

Carnegie Corporation of New York

The central ideas that inform Carnegie Corporation’s grantmaking in education arise from a concern with strengthening formal schooling, while at the same time supporting innovative educational strategies and reforms that address the needs of individual students at all levels. Its concerns include the need to build a deep capacity in the citizens of the United States for literacy and for analytic and interpretive skills; recognition of the essential importance of the quality of teaching to the production of effective learning; and acknowledgment of the idea that all students are well served by a commitment to rigor and high standards.

Carnegie Corporation of New York funds selected early college high school development intermediaries, with a specific focus on targeted regions.

Dell Foundation

The Dell Foundation supports innovative and effective programs that provide fundamental prerequisites to equip youth to learn and excel in a world driven by the digital economy.

The Dell Foundation provides support to the Texas High School Project.

Ford Foundation

In its Education and Scholarship Program, the foundation seeks to increase educational access and quality for the disadvantaged, educate new leaders and thinkers, and foster knowledge and curriculum supportive of inclusion, development, and civic life. Grantmaking supports policy, research and reform programs in both schools and higher education institutions around the world, with particular emphasis on enhancing the performance of educational systems through improving finance, access, accountability and training.

The Ford Foundation sponsors early college high school intermediaries to support specific schools designs.

Lumina Foundation for Education

By supporting programs and research aimed at boosting retention, Lumina Foundation for Education is committed to reducing barriers to success and helping students achieve their long-term educational goals.

The Lumina Foundation funds pilot programs that create pathways for adults in reservation schools to finish high school and start college.

W.K. Kellogg Foundation

The Kellogg Foundation’s youth and education programs work to support individuals from ages 0 to 24 by using a holistic, child-centered approach. The foundation’s two core strategies are: mobilize youth, families, and communities to inform policies that affect learning and achievement for vulnerable children and youth; and forge partnerships between education institutions and communities to promote learning, academic performance, and workforce preparation among vulnerable young people.

The W.K. Kellogg Foundation funds school development intermediaries that have purposeful and effective community engagement as part of their strategies. It also provides funds to support initiative work in the area of literacy.

Walton Family Foundation

Specific investment areas of the Walton Family Foundation include the planning, development, and growth of quality charter schools; supporting the growth of state charter school associations, resource centers, and other charter-related support organizations; and monitoring, promoting, and disseminating information concerning quality and accountability issues.

The Walton Family Foundation funds school development organizations that work to support charter school development.