CONTINUED FROM 1
2022 EDUCATION EDITION
• Oers free dual-credit, accelerated courses and rigorous instruction • Provides social and academic support services and gives students personally tailored attention • Increases college readiness and works with institutions of higher education in Texas to reduce barriers The program: Principal Clay Currier said: LISD’s ECHS was created to “live out the graduate prole” for students. Nearby districts with ECHS: Round Rock, Austin, Del Valle
THE ECHS MO D E L
INCREASING ACCESS The Texas Education Agency’s Early College High School blueprint gives enrollment preference to at-risk students and those who have been historically underrepresented in higher education, such as economically disadvantaged, STUDENT DEMOGRAPHICS from all nine LISD middle schools African American, Hispanic, male and rst-generation students.
Early college high schools provide historically underserved students and those least likely to go to college with the opportunity to earn both a high school diploma and associate degree, according to the Texas Education Agency.
SOURCES: LEANDER ISD, TEXAS EDUCATION AGENCYCOMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER
Caucasian/white - 39%
Kimberly Payne said. In January, the LISD board of trustees unanimously approved the nal step in creating the school, and applications for incoming ninth graders opened in February. Students were selected through a blind weighted lottery system that gave an additional entry to target populations—such as those who are economically disadvantaged, Afri- can American, Hispanic, male and rst-generation students, Currier said. According to the Texas Educa- tion Agency’s ECHS blueprint, these schools must enroll subpopulations of at-risk students and those who have been historically underrepresented in higher education. “The goal of an early college high school is to provide these educa- tional opportunities to students that may not typically have access to it,” Currier said. Of the 158 students that applied, 115 will make up the rst cohort at ECHS, known as the Legacy Class, Payne said. Andrea Kay’s son, Christopher, will be one of those students. “My expectation is that he is going to ... learn more than he otherwise would in traditional school and to have experiences that are going to make it easier for him to decide what he wants to do afterwards,” Kay said. When Kay’s older son was in high school, she said navigating Advanced Placement and dual-credit options was dicult and confusing. Kay said she believes the ECHS model makes earning college credit a simpler pro- cess for both students and parents. “I’m just so, so, so lucky that this happened at the right time for my kid, because this is the perfect situation for him,” Kay said. Program expectations Throughout their four years in the program, students will earn a high school diploma with honors and an associate of arts degree in general studies in art from ACC free of charge,
taking around 20 college classes total- ing 60 hours, Payne said. During the spring semester of their freshman year, students will take their rst college course, EDUC 1300, which teaches strategies for college success and is required for all new ACC students, Payne said. “As a teacher, we expect students to have certain skills, but nobody ever actually teaches students how to do those things, and so the 1300 curric- ulum is basically based around how to take proper notes and how to study and how to form study groups,” ECHS teacher Nick Starkweather said. As the program advances, students will take on a fuller college course load, following a specic course sequence with exibility for college electives, Currier said. Students will spend the entire school day at the ACC San Gabriel Campus, as the third oor of the campus will be reserved specically for the ECHS students, Currier said. Payne said as many ACC students have elected to take virtual classes, the San Gabriel Campus had additional space. “It was a marriage of mutual inter- ests,” Currier said. “We have a school we want to start. Our kids will be tak- ing their classes. They had the space.” The district has hired eight teach- ers for the 2022-23 school year, ve of whom are new to LISD. As LISD sta, all teachers will be able to teach high school courses but must become an adjunct professor with ACC to teach college courses. This school year, Starkweather will serve as the school’s only adjunct professor with ACC, teaching EDUC 1300. As students will take more col- lege classes each year, four of the new teachers have the necessary academic credentials to become an adjunct with ACC in the future, Payne said. “Dr. Currier and Kimberly [Payne] ... seem like they have a really good vision and understanding of what early colleges should be and ... how
they should function,” Starkweather said. “I hope that we set a new stan- dard in Texas.” ‘Student-built, student-run’ As the incoming class has no racial majority, speaks seven dierent lan- guages and is 16% rst-generation col- lege students, Currier said the school was intentional in hiring sta that represented the student body. “Every single student needs to have their person on campus,” Currier said. “I cannot overstate how intentional we were in ensuring that we had diversity of experience within our sta .” With a target seat count of 125 stu- dents per cohort, Currier said the school was designed to be small so students have individualized support. Tutorials will be built into class time, oered in multiple languages and available at any ACC campus. “We have the ability to be able to serve students with their specic needs and meet them right where they are,” Payne said. From ninth to 12th grade, stu- dents will also take Advancement Via Individual Determination, or AVID, classes to prepare them for college and careers, Payne said. Students will prepare for entrance exams, create resumes and tour colleges. While the school will not oer traditional extracurriculars such as sports or band, students will be able to create and lead their own clubs. Payne said a student survey from July indicated interest in tech clubs, such as programming and app design, ne arts and student leadership. One of the clubs will be a school design committee that will help select a school motto and mascot. “I want this to be a student-built, student-run school,” Currier said.
Hispanic/Latino - 28%
African American - 13% Asian/Pacic Islander - 15% Two or more - 5%
Native American - 1%
Seven languages spoken • Arabic
• Russian • Spanish • Telugu
• English • Marathi • Romanian
32% at-risk
19% economically disadvantaged
16% rst generation
TEACHER DEMOGRAPHICS
8 Total
4 male
4 female
3
3
1 1
Asian
African American
Latino/ Hispanic
Caucasian/ white
31 separate secondary teaching certications
5 with advanced degrees
SOURCE: LEANDER ISDCOMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER
COLLEGE CREDITS
The number of college credit hours students at the ECHS take each year increases. YEAR 1 3 hours
12 hours YEAR 2
YEAR 3 YEAR 4
21 hours
24 hours
TOTAL: 60 hours
For more information, visit communityimpact.com .
SOURCE: AUSTIN COMMUNITY COLLEGE COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER
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CEDAR PARK LEANDER EDITION • AUGUST 2022
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