| The Early College at Guilford | |
|---|---|
| The Early College Logo | |
| Location | |
| 5608 West Friendly Avenue, Greensboro, North Carolina, 27410 |
|
| Information | |
| Type | Public High School - Selective Admissions |
| Established | 2002 |
| Principal | Bobby Hayes |
| Faculty | Kim Spell; Lisa Kiser; Paul Smith; Karen Caroll; Margie Baker; Bear Bryant; Courtney Hite; Zane Chamra; Margo Melton; Melissa Young |
| Enrollment | 201 |
| Information | (336)-316-2860 |
| Mascot | Phoenix |
| Website | The Early College at Guilford |
The Early College at Guilford (ECG) is a high school with approximately 200 students located in Greensboro, North Carolina. A magnet school in the Guilford County Schools system, it is North Carolina's first early college high school. The school offers a writing intensive, fast-paced curriculum in partnership with Guilford College, a selective, national liberal arts institution. Students take honors and advanced placement courses in the ninth and tenth grades and college courses with undergraduate students taught by college professors in grades eleven and twelve. Students graduate with a high school diploma and up to two years of college credit from Guilford College. [1]
Though a public school in the Guilford County, North Carolina school system, it practices rigorous selection methods for admissions. To join, one must submit a written application to the Early College at Guilford and, as of 2006, participate in an on-campus examination, currently involving an essay and math portion.
In the US News "Best High Schools of 2009", The Early College ranked seventeenth out of 20,000+ schools examined.[2]In 2010, Newsweek magazine listed The Early College at Guilford as one of "The Nation's Most Elite Public High Schools", describing it as "The state’s first early college high school, where 11th and 12th graders take courses at Guilford College and graduate with both a high-school diploma and up to two years of college credit." [3]
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In the first few months of ECG's existence, Principal Tony Burks II surveyed the students to choose a mascot and school colors. The students took into account other mascots already in use around the county, and the colors of Guilford College—-maroon and white. Based on the student body's response, the phoenix was selected as the school's mascot, and burgundy and pewter were chosen as the school's colors.
The Early College is located on the campus of Guilford College in Greensboro, NC. Students have access to almost all of the Guilford facilities (including the cafeteria, the "Underground", computer labs, gym, off-campus ragers, and Founder's), with the exception of dormitories. This environment provides a large amount of freedom, as well as the opportunity to interact with college students. While through its history classes especially concerning ninth and tenth grades have been held in places varying from the basement of the Frank Science building or the Bauman Building, currently classes are held on two on-campus modulars comprising eight classrooms total.
Students at the Early College at Guilford experience a rigorous academic schedule throughout all four years. Freshmen are required to take the PSAT while Sophomores are required to take both the PSAT and the March SAT. Most Sophomores score over 2000 on their SAT only to see their score rise even more as Juniors and Seniors. Although Juniors and Seniors take actual college classes students say that Sophomore is the hardest year with a very rigorous schedule with up to 7 AP courses in AP US History, AP Environmental Science, AP English Language and Composition, AP Music Theory, AP Calculus AB and AP Calculus BC. Sophomore year at The Early College at Guilford is widely accepted as one of the hardest years of any school in the county.
The underclassmen (freshmen and sophomores) take honors and AP Classes. Classes are taught on a modified block schedule with holidays that align with Guilford College's schedule.
Upperclassmen have dual enrollment; they are enrolled in both Guilford College as freshmen (and then sophomores in their second year), and in the Guilford County school system as juniors (and then seniors). Often, the number of AP Classes taken as underclassmen allows students to register as Sophomores and Juniors at Guilford. Juniors and Seniors take Guilford College classes, which count towards their remaining high school credits, and can often be transferred when continuing to higher education. If a student remains at Guilford College after graduating from the Early College, the credits they received for their two final years will transfer towards their undergraduate requirements.
The Early College at Guilford has been recognized as one of the nation's top public high schools by Newsweek Magazine. The Early College ranked fourteenth in 2007 and twenty-first in 2008 on a list of 1300+ public high schools.[4] In the US News "Best High Schools of 2009", The Early College ranked seventeenth out of 20,000+ schools examined.[5]
Many Seniors at The Early College at Guilford get into and prestigious universities such as Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford, MIT, UNC Chapel Hill, and Duke. They also get prestigious scholarships such as the Carolina Scholars award (a merit based, full tuition scholarship to UNC Chapel Hill), the Parks Scholarship (a full ride to North Carolina State University) and Presidential Scholarship to Wake Forest University.
The Early College at Guilford has about 18-20% of its students each year to be semi-finalists for the National Merit Scholarship.
Due to the discrepancy between the required "seat time" for a high school diploma in Guilford County and the actual time spent in class in a college setting, juniors and seniors must make up the difference with mandatory volunteer work. A license was since issued that nulls the "seat time" rule for ECG juniors and seniors, but the 40 hours per semester are still required.
Both underclassmen and upperclassmen participate in Early College clubs, held after underclassmen classes. Clubs include a Harvard Model Congress team (under the umbrella of Early College Model Congress), Guilford Model Congress, Interact Club, Math Team, a Red Cross club, Interact Service club, an active FIRST Robotics team, Academic Quiz Bowl team, Student Council, Student Human Relations Club, Dynamic Visual Productions club, Science Olympiad, Speech and Debate Club, as well as many other arts and interest clubs.
The Early College at Guilford has a vital and active student legislative body and court. Students and faculty of ECG have received accolades for their leadership initiative and outstanding academic records.
ECG's disciplinary system originally included the notable Student Court, a collection of students responsible for designating punishments to their fellows who had committed some error. In the late spring of 2008, however, the role of the student court in disciplinary action was abolished. The student court now serves to present periodic mock trials on issues of questionable integrity to the student body.
The Early College at Guilford does not have any traditional sports teams, due to the school's small size. There is, however, an unofficial ultimate team that occasionally plays other high schools in friendly matches, as well as a foundling basketball team which competes with other Middle and Early Colleges in the area. In addition, students may choose to play sports at the school they are districted for.
Guilford College is founded on Quaker principles, and encourages its professors and students to speak on a first-name basis. This is acknowledged by the administrators of Early College by allowing the students to address them by first name only when the eleventh grade has been reached and they have become part of the Guilford College community.
Late in the spring of 2008, the administration of the Early College began to announce and implement new changes in the structure and function of the Early College, including new academic courses such as band/orchestra and advanced physical education, as well as changes in expulsion policies and altering the function of the student court entirely. These choices were made in response to the academic stress of sophomore students who often took upwards of four or five Advanced Placement courses. More non-Advanced Placement courses were added to encourage a more relaxed environment; the academic rigor of the standing Advanced Placement courses has not changed. The application process was also overhauled, and no longer includes an interview with prospective students. The teaching staff was also changed over the summer, with the last of the original Early College teachers leaving the school.