Posts Tagged ‘Early College High School’
Early College High School Lands Grant Funding
Article courtesy of the Las Cruces Bulletin
By Todd G. Dickson
State Higher Education Secretary Jose Garcia and Public Education Secretary-designate Hanna Skandera say they intend to make the public schools and higher education work together to provide a better trained work force.
Speaking before the Mesilla Valley Economic Development Alliance (MVEDA) Tuesday, Jan. 3, Garcia and Skandera said they also will make the educational system more accountable. Their appearance in Las Cruces was followed up by Gov. Susana Martinez meeting with a large group of regents, governing board members and post-secondary institution presidents in Socorro to discuss the state’s new higher education funding formula.
The new formula will reward New Mexico’s higher learning institutions based on outcome measures that reflect student achievement and preparedness for New Mexico’s work force, as opposed to basing the allocation of funding on measurements like the size (square footage) of each institution. Also, the current formula funds colleges and universities based on courses and degree programs started. The new formula would be based on courses and degree programs completed.
Garcia said this is about more than making better use of the state’s support of higher education. The idea is to put the money into where there are gaps, especially in skill sets needed in high-tech professions.
At the MVEDA luncheon, Garcia noted that Intel decided to expand its Arizona operations, but not its plant in Rio Rancho. Yet, New Mexico spends more per graduate than Arizona, he said. Garcia said he took it as signal that New Mexico is not producing the kind of work force that is needed for the United States to be competitive globally.
“The central goal of New Mexico’s higher education institutions should be to graduate the students New Mexico’s economy will depend on for decades,” Martinez said. “In an increasingly competitive global economy, this formula will help us deliver the graduates we need for the jobs of tomorrow, and it serves to intently focus our attention on the achievement of our students.”
Under the formula, institutions would receive funding for graduating students in “STEHM” (Science, Technology, Engineering, Health Care and Mathematics) fields. A recent study disclosed that New Mexico’s economy will require nearly 50,000 employees with STEHM degrees by 2018 and nearly 95 percent of those jobs will require post-secondary education. “For the first time in the history of New Mexico, the younger generation is less educated than the generations before,” Garcia said. “This new formula is our opportunity to make sure today’s students are tomorrow’s successful employees.”
Meanwhile, Skandera said the schools will be changing, too, with a focus on making graduates better prepared for the work force or higher education once they complete school. Skandera said the schools will be more realistically assessed than the guaranteed failure rates offered by No Child Left Behind standards, which she said has only resulted in schools putting resources into helping borderline students rather than helping struggling students.
“Education is about setting up our kids for success,” Skandera said. “Let’s honor the successes we see and work on the areas we need to.”
At the MVEDA luncheon, a local success story was also highlighted. The Arrowhead Park Early College High School (APECHS) on the New Mexico State University campus will get a boost from a $345,090 W.K. Kellogg Foundation grant for the public-private workforce development advocate. The school, created by a school-business partnership called the Bridge of Southern New Mexico gives students the chance to learn in a higher education environment and earn college credits.
APECHS can tout that none of its students have dropped out, said Tracey Bryan, president and CEO of The Bridge. She said the cooperative efforts between the public schools, higher education and the business community is what spurred Kellogg to give the significant grant.
Distribution of the grant money includes $45,000 to NMSU’s Enlace Program that helps minority students succeed in higher education, $45,000 to NMSU and the University of New Mexico education research centers, $37,090 to the Arrowhead Center where the school is housed and $10,000 to the Service Learning Program at the NMSU College of Education. But the bulk of the Kellogg grant will be used to increase the student capacity at APECHS and to begin work on setting up four more early college high schools in Doña Ana County, according to the grant announcement.
Bryan said the Kellogg grant is a significant award, but The Bridge also has been getting grants from other private foundations and local businesses to help the APECHS effort. Through APECHS and other efforts, Las Cruces Public Schools is seeing good progress on reducing its dropout rate overall, Bryan said, “and the sky’s the limit” for future progress.
Skandera touted APECHS as an example of how to improve schools. “We didn’t point fingers in Las Cruces,” she said. “We sat down and said how do we get there, and we partnered.”
Students Stick With School – Early College High School’s First Year Deemed a Success
Las Cruces Bulletin photo by Chris Mortensen
Article courtesy of the Las Cruces Bulletin
Las Cruces Public Schools is reporting that all 112 freshmen in its early college high school will be returning to begin classes in its new building on the New Mexico State University campus.
A community group of educators and business leaders called The Bridge pushed for the creation of an early college high school as a national best practice for academically focused students to take classes at a university or college campus environment. Early college high schools enjoy a 95 percent graduation rate, nationally.
LCPS opened the new school last July before construction began on its building at NMSU’s Arrowhead Center. Dona Ana Community College provided classroom space for the first group of students.
The Arrowhead Park Early College High School (APECHS) prepares students to graduate with both a high school diploma and a two year college degree in four years. APECHS students completed their first college-level dual credit course, ninth- and 10th-grade honors English classes and posted district-leading attendance rates. “I like that we’re a small community and we all know each other,” said student Marina Calderon. “We’re like a big family. Here we all communicate with each other, and we’re all under four teachers. Our school motto is ‘We are the Trailblazers.’ So without the teachers taking that risk for the first-year students, we wouldn’t be anything.”
Four of its initial 116 students left the school because of moves or transfers. Most APECHS students are the first in their family to attend a college class and those “at risk” for not completing high school nor pursuing a college degree. Their average grade point average is 3.167. Almost one-third of the students had higher than a 3.5 GPA, and almost two-thirds held higher than a 3.0.
In a comprehensive high school, the freshman year is when almost half of the total dropouts in a class occur. Based on the most recent countywide dropout rate of 49 percent, statistically 27 of these students should have dropped out in a traditional environment.
The new $18 million APECHS campus reflects a 16 percent savings on cost per student, or $42 million in savings to the district. The cost per square foot of the 64,260-square-foot campus is half that of the new $100 million Centennial High School, which is also under construction.
“This is the way we need to think about education for the future of our city, our county, and our state,” said LCPS Superintendent Stan Rounds. “The early college high school model is extremely effective in other parts of the country. In fact, 10 percent of incoming juniors at UTEP are graduates from El Paso’s five early college high schools.”
APECHS is the first early college high school in New Mexico. “We are so proud of the students and staff of this school,” said Kari Mitchell, one of the founders of The Bridge and its current board vice president. “They’ve done an incredible job this year, and we are looking forward to having these well prepared, highly motivated students become part of our county’s future workforce.”
APECHS is a collaborative effort between LCPS, DACC and NMSU.
“These students really rose to the challenge of excelling in their first college-level course this year,” said DACC President Margie Huerta. “They are going to lead the way for the rest of the state. They are proving how important it is that we continue to offer dual credit courses for high school students to give them a real jump start into their college education.”
Discussions are currently under way for more early college high schools in the Las Cruces, Gadsden, and Hatch districts. There could be as many as four countywide opened over the next five years.
Bridge of SNM Having Positive Impact
Speaking at the MVEDA Business on the Border luncheon on Tuesday, Tracey Bryan discussed the positive impacts that The Bridge of Southern New Mexico is having on helping to develop a skilled workforce in Southern New Mexico.
Bryan’s presentation (linked from graphic) noted the national and local dropout crisis and the steps that the Bridge is undertaking to address the issue in Dona Ana County. One of the first steps that the Bridge was involved in was the creation of New Mexico’s first Early College High School. The Arrowhead Park Early College High School enrolled its first freshman class in June on the campus of Dona Ana Community College. The new school is being built at a construction cost savings of $92M over the cost of a comprehensive high school. The construction of the new school is scheduled to be completed in August, 2011.
January Business on the Border Luncheon Focuses on Education
Join us as Tracey Bryan, president & CEO of The Bridge of Southern New Mexico, provides an update on The Bridge’s impact and future plans during the January MVEDA Business on the Border luncheon.
Tracey Bryan
The Bridge is one of the most innovative public-private sector partnerships in Southern New Mexico – seeking to increase the county’s high school graduation rates and build a strong workforce for the future of the county. One of the first results of business partnering with education is New Mexico’s first early college high school. Learn how the Arrowhead Park Early College High School is already increasing return on investment in education dollars and providing a solid example of innovation in education that could help students statewide.
The meeting will be held on Tuesday, January 4, 2011 from 11:30 AM until 1:00 PM at the Hotel Encanto de Las Cruces, 705 S. Telshor. The meeting will begin with a hot entree buffet followed by a brief update by MVEDA staff.
Luncheon cost is $20.00 per person, payable by cash, check or major credit card. Due to space limitations, reservations are required. Please confirm your attendance no later than Thursday, December 30th by sending an email to rsvp@mveda.com or by calling the office at (575) 525-2852. The meeting is open to the public.
Ground Broken for High School at University
Article courtesy of the Las Cruces Bulletin
By Todd G. Dickson
Calling it an historic day, local education officials and students of Las Cruces Public Schools’ Early College High School broke ground Friday, Sept. 17, for the new high school at New Mexico State University’s Arrowhead Research Park.
The academic-oriented school designed to give high school students a college experience began in July with 166 freshmen attending classes at Dona Ana Community College.
The ECHS effort is a partnership between LCPS, NMSU and DACC, as well as the Gadsden and Hatch school systems.
“I believe this school will go down as one of the most significant accomplishments of these institutions,” said Connie Phillips, president of the Las Cruces School Board.
Isaac Pino, NMSU regents’ president, said the new school marks a new relationship between higher education and the public schools to meet the needs of the business community.
LCPS’ Early College High School (ECHS) is the first of its kind in New Mexico, but follows the national model of providing academically focused instruction on a university campus. Students at an early college high school earn college course credits while also meeting requirements to graduate high school.
In the case of LCPS, students at ECHS can potentially graduate with not only a high school diploma, but also an associate’s degree through dual-credit courses.
Nationally, the approach has seen great success in keeping kids in school – with only a 5-percent dropout rate – and nearly all who graduate go on to college studies.
Creating an ECHS was championed by members of The Bridge, a regional education improvement effort that promotes regular conversations between the public schools, higher education and the business community.
Margie Huerta, DACC president, praised individuals in The Bridge for bringing everyone together to make ECHS happen. Huerta told students from ECHS at the ceremony that this shows how people can make a difference for many others.
“We’ve come together because we believe in you,” Huerta said.
Suzanne Quillen, who chairs The Bridge, said the new school is critical to launching careers in fields important to the community – especially in aerospace and health care.
Superintendent Stan Rounds praised his school board for being willing to take a “leap of faith” to support creating the innovative and non-traditional high school.
At the entrance of Arrowhead Research Park, the new 65,000-square-foot high school on 8 acres will be able to house up to 500 students.
Because of the rigorous academic focus, the school’s location on a university campus and smaller school size, early college high schools don’t offer the kind of extracurricular activities found in regular high schools, such as band. ECHS will have some arts programs, Rounds said, but the school will have a strong focus on technology.
“This school is going to be so high-tech it will make you dizzy,” Rounds said.
Principal Jennifer Amis said she expects to have 250 students attending by next July.
Amis interviewed students and their families to select the first students for ECHS. They had to apply to attend the school, which Amis said makes them more self-selected and focused. While the students come from a wide range of backgrounds and interests, Amis said the characteristic she was looking for in the students and families was their “total commitment.”
Two ECHS students spoke at the ground breaking.
Freshman Joel Macias said he plans to study engineering and ECHS provides the serious classroom environment he needs to pursue his studies. He described being part of ECHS’s first class as “an opportunity and an honor.”
ECHS student Alexus Zapien said she plans to study child psychology and that the school’s students see themselves as trailblazers. “There is a zero tolerance policy for failure” at ECHS, she said. That non-acceptance of failure isn’t daunting, she said, but “challenging and exciting.”
