School changes in the air

At the beginning of the 2007-08 school year the Warren County School System took the first step in the process of creating smaller schools for local students with the establishment of Warren New Tech High School. 

 Housed on the Vance Granville Community College Warren Campus, the school employs six certified teachers for the prescribed curriculum. These teachers use problem, or project based learning.  Instructions require that students apply real world problems to the standard course of study. 

The 75 students attending the New Tech High School are expected to present their findings in panel presentations, which are attended by parents, school personnel, and members of the community. 

All students are taught what the school system calls 21st Century learning skills and are exposed to a variety of career explorations; they are also expected to complete a learning service internship.

In response to the state-level New Schools Project, Warren County Schools will add within Warren County High School a Warren Early College during the 2008-09 year. In the following years 2009-2010 and 2010 and 2011 career academies will be added to the local high school system.

The Early College gives students a chance to sample college courses, enabling these students to complete their high school requirements while also obtaining college credits through Vance Granville Community College. 

The Early College High School will give students a taste of college curriculum and help them make decisions concerning their college and career choices.

The Early College High School Initiative describes the early college high school as a bold approach, based on the principle that academic rigor, combined with the opportunity to save time and money, is a powerful motivator for students to work hard and meet serious intellectual challenges. Early college high schools blend high school and college in a rigorous yet supportive program, compressing the time it takes to complete a high school diploma and the first two years of college.

It goes on to state that since 2002, the partner organizations of the Early College High School Initiative have started or redesigned almost 160 schools in 24 states.

The schools are designed in hopes of working with low-income first-generation college goers, English language learners, students of color, and other young people underrepresented in higher education. The plan is that these students will be able to earn an associate’s degree or two years worth of a bachelor’s degree work tuition free, while attending high school.

Warren County has also initiated a ninth-grade transition program to help new high school students acclimate themselves better to a very different environment than middle school. 

Students previously held back will also be able to recover credit they may not have succeeded in earning earlier. The credit recovery program enables students, who may have decided to drop out because of lost credits to receive a high school diploma.