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Early College prepares for fall opening
High-school program with Forsyth Tech will offer college classes at no cost
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Published: April 24, 2008
When Frances Cook saw the job listing for principal at the Early College of Forsyth, she knew that she wanted the job.
"I was really excited because I just thought it would be a great program, and something I thought our students could really benefit from," said Cook, who was an assistant principal at Wiley Middle School. "I believe the way that the Early College is set up, it will give kids who don't have a lot of money to go to college an opportunity to realize their goal of college."
The Early College will open in the fall. The Winston-Salem/Forsyth County school system is working with Forsyth Technical Community College to offer the program, which will be held on the community college's main campus on Silas Creek Parkway. It will join about 40 more early-college programs around the state.
Students in early-college programs take high-school and college classes at the same time. They do not have to pay tuition or pay for their books.
If students choose to stay for four years, they can get a high-school diploma and a college-transfer diploma, which could give them sophomore status going into college.
Students who stay an extra year beyond high school can earn an associate's degree along with the high-school diploma and college-transfer diploma. They could enter college as juniors.
The UNC system has an agreement to recognize credits from community colleges. Otherwise, it is up to the colleges whether to accept the transfer credits, said Paul Puryear, the assistant superintendent for high schools.
The Early College will be different from most high schools. There are no sports or band or orchestra groups. There will be a few clubs, chosen based on student interests, Cook said. The school system will provide limited transportation.
The program is intended mostly for students who will be the first in their families to go to college, Cook said. Students will also have to handle the academic rigor of the classes, she said.
School officials will interview all of the students who want to attend.
"We want a student who's motivated to go to college, so they've got to be willing to work, they've got to be focused. They're going to give up some extracurricular stuff that other kids have," Puryear said.
Students will have to be mature enough to handle college, he said.
"You have ninth-graders going to class with kids who are 21, 22, 23 years old. You have to have students who are comfortable with that and parents who are comfortable with that," Puryear said.
School officials hope to enroll about 80 to 100 students every year. About 60 applied for next year's class, Puryear said.
They reached out to eighth-graders -- those attending Winston-Salem/Forsyth County schools already, and students in private and home schools, Cook said.
School officials would like to admit only freshmen to the Early College every year.
They were happy to receive that many applications, because the Early College is just one of many options that ninth-graders have now, including magnet programs at several schools, Puryear said.
The school has not started hiring teachers yet, but Cook said she is already getting a lot of interest from people about the jobs.
■ Danielle Deaver can be reached at 727-7279 or at ddeaver@wsjournal.com.
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