Early College Academy named top school
Early College Academy, a Greeley-Evans School District 6 high school that operates in collaboration with Aims Community College, has been named one of the top high schools in the country by U.S. News and World Report.
ECA was awarded a bronze medal based on the level of college readiness of its students. U.S. News & World Report has four criteria to select schools for the list. This includes students exceeding expectations in their states, underserved students performing better than the state average in reading and math, the school's graduation rate exceeding 80 percent and the school preparing graduates for college-level work.
“This award is really a reflection of all of the hard work many people have done,” said Ray Chard, Assistant Director of High School Programs at Aims. “There were many individuals from Aims and District 6 who took ECA from an idea to reality three years ago. The individuals who had the greatest impact are the faculty at ECA, these individuals have spent countless hours working with students and making ECA the wonderful place it is today.”
“It’s a lot of hard work. Students must put in the time to excel in their high school and college level work, and our students want to be here and want to put in the work,” said Mindy Marshall, Aims Academic Advisor at ECA.
Early College Academy was founded in 2015 with the concept of helping students get a head start on post-secondary education. At ECA, students are able to earn both a high school diploma and an Associate of Arts degree through Aims Community College by taking college courses at a decelerated pace. There is no additional cost for the students. The class of 2018 is the first graduating class at ECA and more than 80 percent of students will graduate this spring with their associate's degree. Many of the remaining students have already signed up for Aims summer classes to finish their degree.
Learn more about ECA and hear from the first graduating class.
ECA students are instructed by a mix of District 6 teachers and Aims professors. As students progress from their freshman year to senior year, they take more college-level courses with faculty from Aims in order to complete their degree.