Early College What is it?

Alamance-Burlington Early College at ACC School began fall 2015 Innovative High School – Memorandum of Understanding between ABSS and ACC. Students will earn the majority of their high school credits during the first two years of high school. Students will earn either an associate’s degree or a diploma during their last two years of high school. Start and end dates complement ACC schedule Small, nurturing environment Frequent communication among teachers, parents, and students concerning student progress

Faculty and Staff 7.5 ABSS certified teachers 2 math 2 science 1 social studies 2 English 1 half time special education teacher 1 school counselor – 11 months 1 academic coach/testing coordinator 1 principal 1 receptionist/finance secretary/NC Wise data manager/bus coordinator/lunch coordinator 1 – part-time social worker 1 – 20% part-time nurse

Who is eligible? ABSS eighth grade students … who show academic potential, Who are on grade level who are motivated to earn an associate or applied associate degree or diploma from ACC during their high school years. who have good attendance who have good discipline records who may be first generation college students who may come from economically challenged families

Freshman Curriculum Freshman Students take six core subjects: English 1 World history Earth science, Biology Math each semester with sequence determined by earn math credit: math 1 & 2/math 2 & 3/ Math 3/Pre-Cal Freshman seminar COM 231/ACA 122 their freshman year. Students begin taking ACC college/university transfer classes second semester of their freshman year. Students complete the overwhelming majority of their high school core class credits by the end of their sophomore year. Students take dual credit college courses their sophomore, junior and senior years. Students have an intentional plan in place created during registration for spring semester of their sophomore year to earn either an associate degree, applied associate degree or a diploma in a field of their choice. All students receive a Chromebook to use throughout their four years of Early College.

School hours/Attendance Our first class begins at 8:55. Our last class ends at 3:40. ABSS offers breakfast for students who want it. Breakfast is served from our main office and begins around 8:40 until the last bus arrives and students have been able to get breakfast. ABSS has a cafeteria on ACC’s campus located in B Building – B100. This is used for lunch. We have two lunches – one for our freshmen and one for our sophomores. Our juniors and seniors may come for lunch during either lunch time. Only our students and staff are allowed to use the cafeteria. Our freshman and sophomore students have “enrichment” built into their schedule for 20 minutes each day either before or after lunch. This provides students a time to work on any assignments due and to use the Internet if they do not have access at home to complete assignments. Good attendance is extremely important for all Early College students. ACC college credit is based on seat hours. It does not matter whether or not a student’s absence is excused or unexcused. If a student misses more college classes than seat time allows, the student will be dropped from the course, even if they have a 100 average.

Transportation ABSS provides transportation for all Early College students to and from campus. When we are the only school in session (the beginning of the school year) our students are picked up at their stop and brought directly to ACC. When all schools are in session, students ride the bus to their home school. At their home school students board the bus to CTEC. At CTEC students take the bus to ACC. Students are taken directly home in the afternoons. We dismiss at 3:40. However, some of our buses arrive as late at 4:30 to take students home.

How to Apply Applications will be available online on the Early College website and available in all middle school counselor offices on December 1st. The deadline for submission to the Early College or the middle school counseling office is January 29th. No applications will be accepted after this date. All students who qualify for Early College will be interviewed on their middle school campus after school during the months of February and March. At this time students will also be asked to complete a short writing sample. Students who qualify are entered into a lottery. Sixty students will be pulled by lottery to attend the Early College beginning August 7, 2019. Students will be notified by phone. If a student does not accept the invitation, another student will be drawn from the lottery to fill the spot.

FAQs Is my child allowed to participate in sports? Students may try out for sports at their home high school. Parents must provide transportation to any sport activity. Students must not leave campus early for practice. We understand that students may need to leave campus early for away competitions. Students need to communicate as soon as possible with the principal if they are an athlete so that scheduling classes can be made with that information in mind. Will my child be allowed to take Driver’s Ed? We offer Driver’s Ed in the fall and in the spring. Students must be at least 14 ½ by the time they are take Driver’s Ed.

FAQs Can my child take band, orchestra, chorus, drama at the Early College? Our students cannot participate in the above at the Early College. ACC does have Chorus as an elective choice once students are juniors and seniors. Are the holidays and vacation times the same as the rest of ABSS? Yes and no. We begin school approximately 3 weeks before ABSS high schools begin. Our exams take place before winter break. ABSS gives exams approximately one week after students get back from winter break. Our winter break usually matches ABSS. However, our spring break is the same time as ACC’s spring break, which is usually at least one month earlier than ABSS. We usually end school approximately 3 weeks before ABSS ends school. It is very important that a student’s family commit to the Early College calendar as students cannot miss college classes to take vacation time.

Questions?