Anthony Manago reads “Maniac McGee” during one of his Early College High School classes. Students in the program can graduate high school with up to two years of college credits.
GALVESTON — By the time Shelby Devona is in ninth grade, she’ll be a college student.
Devona, a sixth-grader at Galveston school district’s new Early College High School, is training for college-level work. She and her classmates are learning how to act like college students. They take notes, ask thoughtful questions about their teachers’ lectures and keep journals.
These skills, which Devona said she never would have learned in her regular classes, will help prepare her for the college classes she’ll start taking in high school. By the time she graduates from Early College High School, Devona plans to have two years of college credit.
Galveston’s Early College High School, which opened this fall, is the first of its kind in the state to admit students as young as Devona. The new high school will allow students who might not have otherwise attended college to earn two years of college credit by the time they graduate high school, Principal Deb Owens said.
“It’s a unique endeavor,” she said. “This could just turn some kids’ lives around.”
Nationwide Initiative
There are 200 Early College High Schools across the nation.
The mission of the nationwide Early College High School Initiative is to help students who typically are underrepresented in higher education — those who are low-income, first-generation collegegoers, English language learners and minority students — to earn a credit toward a bachelor’s degree.
According to 2000 U.S. Census Bureau figures, 14 percent of college students were African-American and 9 percent were Hispanic.
In Galveston, most of the 102 sixth-graders enrolled in the Early College High School have never taken advanced or accelerated classes before, Owens said. One quarter of the students speak a language other than English at home, she said. Many of the students who are considered low-income by the state might not have had the resources, or the push from their parents, to attend college, Owens said.
By enrolling in Early College High School, students can earn 60 hours of college credit by the time they are 18.
The credit also provides students with opportunities to earn scholarships and grants. That money is important for students whose parents couldn’t afford college educations otherwise, Owens said.
Starting Early
Other school districts in Galveston County work with College of the Mainland to offer classes for high school students to graduate high school with 60 hours of college credit. But at most area schools, students must be in at least 11th grade to enroll in the college courses.
Early College High School teachers promote a college-bound culture early on by plastering pendants from various state universities and community colleges throughout the campus.
“The expectation is not if they are going to college, but where,” Owens said.
Ed Dill enrolled his daughter, Alyssa, in Early College High School — not so much because of the lofty curriculum but because the teachers provide a good learning environment.
“The students are there because they want to go to school; they want to learn,” he said.
Because the students are constantly challenged in class, they tend to behave better, Dill said. There are no fights and few disruptions, he said.
Since Alyssa Dill started taking Early College High School classes, she’s matured and become more responsible, Dill said.
“If ... your student wants to learn and excel and be challenged, then that’s a program to try to get into,” Dill said.
The school is full, but the district is accepting applications to get on a waiting list. Call 409-621-1047 for information.
