Posts Tagged ‘Tracey Bryan’
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.”
The Bridge Links Earning, Learning
Article courtesy of Las Cruces Bulletin
Artist's Rendering courtesy of Studio D Architects
By Gabriel Vasquez
Higher learning means higher earning, and The Bridge of Southern New Mexico is hoping to drive that message home to students already attending the Arrowhead Park Early College High School (ECHS) on the New Mexico State University campus.
The Bridge, a local nonprofit that has brought together teachers, students, parents, the education community and private industry, was the catalyst for the new high school – the first of its kind in the state – that opened July 2010 to 117 Las Cruces freshmen. For now, the school is operating out of Doña Ana Community College, but will begin operations from its new Arrowhead Park campus once construction is finished in August, said Tracey Bryan, president and CEO of The Bridge.
“To compete in the 21st century workforce, you need at least a two-year degree or industry certification to really have a shot to succeed,” said Bryan, speaking at a Mesilla Valley Economic Development Alliance business forum Tuesday, Jan. 4. “The Early College High School exists for the purpose of building a stronger workforce for the ultimate goal of creating a stronger economic future for Doña Ana County.”
To achieve the feat, The Bridge, born out of what was then the Regional Education Initiative, began seeking partnerships and board members from different areas of industry and education around the county. With partners such as Barbara Couture, president of NMSU; Margie Huerta, president of DACC; Stan Rounds, superintendent of Las Cruces Public Schools; Cynthia Nava, superintendent of the Gadsden Independent School District; and Robert Garza, Las Cruces city manager, The Bridge has secured the human capital and money needed to move forward with the project.
“We have the top leaders in this county from all these different sectors,” Bryan said. “The reason The Bridge will and is already having an impact is because these people have the authority to make the decisions that need to be made.”
The curriculum for the new high school, which centers on an industry- and career-specific learning environment, was designed around “the best educational practices” in the nation, Bryan said.
“Nationally, (early college high schools) have a 90-percent graduation rate,” she said. “They (use) the best practices in education, such as small classes and applied learning, and the teachers can really work with students not just as teachers, but as mentors.”
If the Doña Ana County dropout rate was reduced by half in one year, those students who graduate high school would have a cumulative earning power of $3.3 million, and if those same students got a four-year degree, they’d earn about$12 million, according to a recent Arrowhead Center study Bryan cited. Additionally, the county’s home values would increase by $66 million if those students stayed in Doña Ana County and the state would stand to gain $212,000 in added tax revenue.
Getting students to understand the connection between education and future earnings is critical, Bryan said.
“We’re turning to the private sector for that,” she said. “Mentors, internships and building a strongpathway. We’re going to do it together.”
Students who attend the ECHS for four years will graduate with both a high school diploma and an associate’s degree, thanks in part to dual-credit classes offered at the school.
“The ECHS model is incredible,” Bryan said. “In our ECHS, we specifically sought students who were at risk of dropping out. They understand that they are trailblazers in their family and in the state.”
Bryan said so far, no ECHS students have dropped out since classes began. About 35 percent have perfect attendance, 14 percent have straight A’s and all students have passed their first dual-credit college course, computer literacy.
But to graduate on time with both a diploma and an associate’s degree requires intense academic focus, the main reason why the ECHS won’t offer the typical high school extracurricular activities.
“It won’t have a football field, it won’t have a band, none of those things,” Bryan said. “These kids will graduate with a two-year (college) degree and be ready to move on.”
Now that classes are up and running, The Bridge is seeking the participation of local business owners and industry leaders who want to donate their expertise or offer internships to students attending the new high school.
Kevin Boberg, CEO of the Arrowhead Center, said the new high school is on the Arrowhead campus because in the future, students will be able to secure internships and work study programs with employers within the Arrowhead Park, a business incubator currently being developed that’s already home to several high-tech companies.
For now, however, Bryan said The Bridge is encouraging any local business people who may be able to invest or offer mentorships or internships to ECHS students to contact the organization.
“Students need an adult to get the bigger vision of why they should stay in school,” Bryan said.
After its first four years, the ECHS will house up to 500 students in grades 9-12.
For more information or to contact The Bridge, call 528-7092 or visit www.thebridgeofsnm.com.
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.
Classes Begin for New Mexico’s First Early College High School
Release courtesy of The Bridge of Southern New Mexico
The first early college high school (ECHS) in New Mexico opened its doors to students on 
Tuesday, July 6, 2010, when approximately 116 LCPS freshmen began classes. The new high school, the fifth within Las Cruces Public Schools, will temporarily be housed within the Dona Ana Community College (DACC) for the 2010/2011 school year.
LCPS Superintendent Stan Rounds said, “This school is the direct result of community and educational partners coming together to address the future of our local students,” said Rounds. “It began with a dream, molded itself through the Bridge initiative, and now I’m proud to announce we have our first class of students.”
The Bridge (formerly known as the REI – Regional Education Initiative) brought together private business, public and higher education, government, and economic development, to find solutions on reducing the dropout rate and better preparing graduates for the workforce.
“This is a really great day for our community and it shows the impact of people coming together to seek solutions together,” said Suzanne Quillen, chairwoman of The Bridge of Southern New Mexico. “The early college high school is nationally a best practice for reducing the dropout rate and preparing young people to successfully enter the work force.”
Rounds said the LCPS ECHS will offer students the chance to earn not only a high school diploma, but also to graduate from high school with an associate’s degree and credits toward a bachelor’s degree. The ECHS will emphasize science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) classes, entrepreneurship, along with career and technical education (CTE) courses.
Students were selected by completing an application and participating in a lottery drawing. The first class of ECHS freshmen (the class of 2014) will begin their high school careers with “a ninth-grade experience that will ignite their interest in education by providing relevance to their academics through high quality career and technical education (CTE) studies,” said Jennifer Amis, principal. “More than half our students will be the first in their families to attend a college or university.”
“This collaborative project has opened up a new avenue to higher education, one that affords greater access for many of our community’s youth who otherwise might have seen college as just a distant dream. Early College High School is about turning those dreams into reality while, at the same time, strengthening our workforce,” said Dr. Margie Huerta, DACC president. “The opening of this innovative school is proof that DACC, LCPS and NMSU can work together effectively to improve educational opportunities.”
“Nationally, early college high schools have a 90% graduation rate,” said Tracey Bryan, executive director of The Bridge. “They offer smaller learning environments and real-world applications in the coursework. This will give students a firm foundation on which to build a strong future for themselves, their families and their communities.”
By the summer of 2011, construction will be complete on a permanent eight-acre ECHS campus on Arrowhead Research Park on the western edge of NMSU. The state-of-the-art classrooms facilities are currently being designed by Studio D Architects of Las Cruces in collaboration with GenCon Corporation, LCPS, and the Arrowhead Development Corporation.
