The Early College at Guilford

The Early College at Guilford (ECG) is a high school with approximately 200 students located in Greensboro, North Carolina. The school was started in 2002 by an agreement between Guilford College and Guilford County Schools as the first early college high school in North Carolina, allowing students to graduate with a high school diploma and up to two years of college credit from Guilford College.^[1]

The school practices a rigorous selection method for admissions. Prospective students must submit a written application and participate in an on-campus examination created by the school's admissions team, currently involving an essay and math portion.

In 2010, Newsweek magazine listed ECG as one of "The Nation's Most Elite Public High Schools".^[2] Newsweek also ranked ECG at 5th on its annual list of America's Best High Schools in 2016, making it the top high school in North Carolina in 2016.^[3]

History

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.

Late in the spring of 2008, the administration of ECG began to implement new changes in the structure and function of ECG, including advanced physical education, as well as changes in expulsion policies and altering the function of the student court. These choices were made in response to the academic stress of sophomore students who often took upwards of four or five AP Classes courses. More non-Advanced Placement courses were added to encourage a more relaxed environment. The application process was also overhauled and no longer includes an interview with prospective students.

In 2016 the US Department of Education named ECG a National Blue Ribbon Schools in the Exemplary High Performing Schools category. ^[4]

Campus

ECG is located on the campus of Guilford College in Greensboro, North Carolina. Students have access to almost all of the Guilford facilities with the exception of dormitories. The school has a long-standing and strictly enforced policy against students entering dormitories.

Through ECG's history ninth and tenth grades classes have been held in places including the basement of the Frank Family Science Center, Bauman Hall, and a former laundry facility known as Frasier. Currently, those classes are held in the two on-campus modulars that comprise eight classrooms total.

Academics

Students at the Early College at Guilford follow 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. Although Juniors and Seniors take actual college classes, some students say that sophomore year is the hardest with a very rigorous schedule with up to 7 AP courses in both semesters, AP US History, AP Environmental Science, AP English Language and Composition, AP Music Theory, AP Calculus AB, AP Calculus BC, AP Psychology and AP Statistics.

Underclassmen (Freshmen and Sophomores) take almost all honors and AP classes. Classes are taught on a modified block schedule with holidays that align with Guilford County School's schedule.

Upperclassmen have dual enrollment; they are enrolled in both the Guilford County school system as juniors (and then seniors), and in Guilford College as freshmen (and then sophomores in their second year). 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 to other educational institutions. 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.^[5] In the US News "Best High Schools of 2009", The Early College ranked seventeenth out of 20,000+ schools examined.^[6] In 2016, the US News ranked the Early College at Guilford first in North Carolina, second in the nation out of the best 500 public schools for STEM related fields, and #23 in the nation overall.^[7]

Many seniors at The Early College at Guilford get into and attend prestigious universities such as Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford, MIT, UC Berkeley, UNC Chapel Hill, and Duke. They also get selective scholarships such as the Carolina Scholars award (a merit based, full tuition scholarship to UNC Chapel Hill) 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.

Culture and extracurricular activities

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 upperclassmen are still required to complete a certain amount of volunteer work each academic year.

Both underclassmen and upperclassmen participate in Early College clubs, usually 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, five FIRST Robotics teams (under the umbrella of ECG Robotics, Inc.^[8]), Academic Quiz Bowl team, Student Council, Student Human Relations Club, EducateUS, Science Olympiad, Hello World App Club,^[9] Speech and Debate Club, Film Club as well as many other arts and interest clubs that are constantly evolving to fit the needs and wants of the students.^[10]

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 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.

Traditions

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.

Principals

• Tony Lamair Burks II (2002-2006)
• Charles Blanchard (2006-2009)
• Bobby Hayes (2009–2014)
• Linda Kidd (2015- )

References

External links

• Current Early College website
• Guilford County School District
• Profile of The Early College at Guilford

Coordinates: 36°05′43″N 79°53′24″W / 36.0953°N 79.8901°W / 36.0953; -79.8901