Local eighth graders interested in an unique, rigorous high school experience can apply to Mississippi’s first early college high school.
Golden Triangle Early College High School is accepting applications for its inaugural class. Fifty students will be chosen from the nine public middle schools within Lowndes, Clay, Oktibbeha and Noxubee counties. An additional 50 students will be added to each class, with ultimately 200 high schoolers getting their education at East Mississippi Community College’s Mayhew campus.
Early college high schools are common throughout North Carolina, where 70 such schools have demonstrated an ability to increase graduation rates and student success, according to the Mississippi Department of Education.
An unrelated public demonstration school, which is a partnership between Mississippi State University and Starkville School District, is currently in the development stages.
Students who graduate from GTECHS will receive both a high school diploma and an associates degree from EMCC.
GTECHS principal Jill Savely, who left the same position at Columbus High School to take this new role, said she had the opportunity to go to North Carolina to observe these schools three years ago through MDE. She’s been thinking of it ever since.
“I can remember sitting there and talking to the kids and thinking how remarkable it was they were so young and so comfortable in that environment,” Savely said.
Early college high schools have intense academics during freshman and sophomore years to allow students to focus on college level, dual-enrollment classes their junior and senior years, Savely said. It has yet to be determined whether GTECHS students will mingle directly with EMCC students in their upperclassmen years or stay in their own classes.
Savely was struck by the independence and competence of the students she met in North Carolina, and said she has been impressed with the interest from young people in their meetings with local middle schools. She recalls meeting a student in North Carolina who told her, “when I cam here I wasn’t an honors student, but they treated me like one. And now, I am one.”
The ideal student for early college high school is not necessarily the smartest kid in school, but rather someone seeking a different experience, Savely said.
“There’s plenty of kids who just aren’t interested in a traditional high school setting,” she said.
The selection process for the inaugural class is moving at a rapid pace. Applications will be accepted until March 31. Applicants and their parents will be interviewed in mid-April. Savely said the plan is to have acceptance letters out by late April, early May.
Parents are involved in the selection process because of the strong academic demands on students. But more than anything, Savely said students must be willing to do the work.
The inaugural staff at GTECHS will include Savely, three teachers and a counselor.
MDE associate superintendent Jean Massey told The Dispatch the project has been in the works for around three years. Initially, the idea was to build the school on Mississippi State University’s campus, but Massey said the tri-county access that Mayhew had to offer made more sense for students.
GTECHS will be a public school, devoid of text book and transportation costs. Savely and Massey both noted that transportation arrangements will have to be set up once the inaugural class is determined. Massey indicated that a situation where students are brought to a central location and shipped into Mayhew in larger groups is likely.
Massey said startup funds for the school have been provided by legislative money set aside for innovative programs. Public money set aside for each individual student in the state will follow the 50 students selected to attend GTECHS, and Massey is hopeful private contributers will pitch-in, too.
“We hope to establish private partnerships to help funding,” Massey said.
Two other regions in the state are considering adding an early college high school and will be touring schools in North Carolina and Texas in April, according to Massey.
“I think this is a huge step for east Mississippi and for the local counties involved to do this,” Massey said. “It will always be our first, and they should be commended for it.
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