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.”
