Valley leads state in early college high schools

The Rio Grande Valley now hosts the most early college high schools of any region in the state, after the Texas Education Agency approved six new ECHS sites in Hidalgo County last week.

With nearly a third of the 62 early college campuses in Texas, the Valley?s 18 sites will produce about 2,000 graduates a year who have earned up to two years of college credit before receiving their high school diplomas.

?The Valley has the most ECHS sites of any region in the state,? La Villa schools Superintendent Narciso Garcia said. They ?are innovative and they are wanting to make a positive generational impact in the Rio Grande Valley and take the lessons from the RGV to other areas of the state and the nation that have the same population or issues and apply those lessons there.?

His high school received early college designation when the TEA notified districts of their application status on June 15.

Edinburg, Economedes, La Joya STEM, Mission and Pharr-San Juan-Alamo Memorial high schools will join Garcia in adding to the county?s nine existing ECHS programs, which specifically target low-income and first-generation college-going students.

Elsewhere in the deep South Texas border region, the Brownsville, Harlingen and Laredo school districts host one ECHS campus each.

Alma Garcia heads the ECHS initiative for Educate Texas, a public-private foundation that aims to help underserved students across the state.

?These superintendents are not scared of restructuring how they do their educational business (and) understand they have to change how they deliver, and make sure students have more access to, postsecondary? opportunities, she said.

She applauded Valley leaders for bridging what she saw as a long-standing divide between public K-12 schools and higher education.

?Superintendents and (college) presidents have always had a passion (for) and dedication to (doing) good in their school community,? she said. ?The part missing, per se, is all of us working together.

?This early college high school movement has brought higher ed and the school districts together. That?s a big accomplishment.?

South Texas College will team with the county?s 15 ECHS campuses to satisfy the TEA?s requirement for a historical, reliable partnership between the school district and local institutions of higher education.

Noting that nearly half of all Texas school districts serve fewer than 500 students, both Garcias hoped the now participating La Villa schools ? which have a total enrollment of 605 students ? prove early college efforts can help underprivileged students succeed in even the smallest districts.

?Other small districts can learn that if their community and their school district is willing and able to provide their students opportunities for success, they just have to think outside of the box,? Narciso Garcia said.

However, he added, ?they will need the support of their school board, especially at a small district.?

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Neal Morton covers education and general assignments for The Monitor. He can be reached at nmorton@themonitor.com and (956) 683-4472.

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