News Releases
April 6, 2004
Antioch University Seattle Names New School to Bolster Native American Education
Seattle — Antioch University Seattle selected La Conner High School as the sixth grantee to receive an early college high school award. The school will work closely with the Swinomish Tribe, Skagit Valley College in Mount Vernon, and Antioch to convert its current school into an early college high school. Early college schools blend high school diploma and associates of arts degree requirements so that students may earn a diploma and A.A. degree concurrently. While Swinomish students are the focus of this initiative in Skagit County, any La Conner High School student may access this program.
A core goal of Antioch’s statewide Early College High School for Native Youth Initiative is to better serve Native American students — students with the highest dropout rates and the lowest college completion rates of any ethnic group in the country. Only about half of Native American students graduate from high school; of those, less than three percent will earn a bachelor's degree. The Swinomish Tribe believes educating its youth is a top priority.
La Conner High School joins four other schools and one tribe in the initiative. The other grantees include Medicine Wheel Academy in Spokane, Ferndale High School in Ferndale, Tulalip Heritage School in Marysville, the Suquamish Tribe on the Suquamish Reservation and Wellpinit High School on the Spokane Indian Reservation. Ferndale and Medicine Wheel Academy began their early college programs this year. During the next year, Antioch will identify, start up, pilot and transition two additional sites for a total of eight schools to serve predominantly Native American students. All eight schools will be open by January 2006.
"Our early college high schools for Native American youth plan to boost academic success through a multifaceted approach," explains Linda Campbell, Ph.D., project director and core faculty member at Antioch University Seattle. “Each school will feature a local, culturally relevant curriculum, integrate high school diploma and associate of arts degree requirements, promote family and community engagement, and provide academic advising. In addition, the schools will provide these services to students in their local communities, which should increase their chance of success."
The schools are part of a five-year, $80 million initiative funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, the Carnegie Corp. of New York and the Ford Foundation to create or redesign 130 early college high schools for underserved and low-income young people and communities. In these purposely small schools, students have the opportunity to earn both a high school diploma and two years of college credit toward a college degree.
"Nearly three-quarters of high school graduates begin some form of further education, but more than half who enter college fail to complete a degree; one-third never even make it to the second year," notes vice president Nancy Hoffman of Jobs for the Future, which coordinates the early college initiative at the national level. “Established through a partnership of colleges and high schools, early college high schools will couple rigorous instruction with intensive support to prepare students to take college courses once they are ready."
Antioch chose its sites based on a written grant application and site visit. Each site demonstrated strengths that suggest future success at implementing early college programs, including:
- small school size and personalized student support
- academic programs that integrate local native culture
- extensive family and community outreach
- partnerships with tribal or community colleges
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation identified Antioch University Seattle in March 2002 to participate in the Early College High School Initiative. Antioch has successfully worked with tribal communities in the state, especially in its graduate and undergraduate education programs. In addition to offering reservation-based degree programs, Antioch University also has a 150-year history of working to increase educational access for historically underserved populations.
Early college sites in Washington are:
La Conner High School
Located adjacent to the Swinomish Tribe’s reservation, La Conner High School is a public school serving 230 students, 30 percent of whom are native. The La Connor School District, Swinomish Tribe and Skagit Valley College have worked diligently and collaboratively to improve the educational outcomes of the district’s native and non-native students alike.
The Suquamish Tribe
Located on the Port Madison Indian Reservation in Kitsap Country on the Olympic Peninsula, the Suquamish Tribe plans to start a new tribal school to serve 200 students in grades 6 through 12. The new school will integrate education, social and health services in an academically rigorous early college design. It will partner with Olympic College in Bremerton in delivering undergraduate college courses. The Suquamish Tribe has made education one of its top priorities.
Wellpinit School District
Located in Wellpinit in the heart of the Spokane Indian Reservation, the Wellpinit School District will serve 200 students in grades 6 through 12. The school has an outstanding track record with native student high school graduation rates. The early college will enable the school to deliver college courses directly on site. Wellpinit selected Institute for Extended Learning of the Community Colleges of Spokane and Gonzaga University as its undergraduate college partners.
Medicine Wheel Academy
Located in urban Spokane, Medicine Wheel Academy is a public school that will serve up to 200 students, representing more than 30 tribes and bands. The school’s college partner is Spokane Falls Community College. Medicine Wheel offered English 151 to Native students on its campus this winter. It was team-taught by a local tribal member and faculty from Spokane falls Community College.
Ferndale High School
Located in Whatcom County near the Lummi Indian Reservation, Ferndale’s early college high school will serve approximately 300 students consisting of a combination of economically disadvantaged, first-generation college students and Lummi tribal members. The high school’s college partners are Bellingham Technical College, Northwest Indian College and Whatcom Community College. They began their early college curriculum this February with 120 students.
Tulalip Heritage School
Located on the Tulalip Indian Reservation overlooking Puget Sound in Snohomish County, this public high school will serve up to 200 students, consisting predominately of Tulalip tribal members. Tulalip’s college partner is Everett Community College. They plan to begin their early college curriculum this spring.
About Antioch University Seattle
At Antioch University Seattle, adult learners find individualized, innovative programs with a commitment to academic excellence, community service and social justice. AUS is one of five campuses of Antioch University, founded in 1852 in Yellow Springs, Ohio.
Primary responsibility for designing and operating the 130 early college high schools across the nation rests with nine partner organizations, coordinated by Jobs for the Future. In addition to Antioch University Seattle, they are: Foundation for California Community Colleges, Knowledge Works Foundation, Middle College National Consortium, National Council of La Raza, Portland Community College, Utah Partnership Foundation, Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation, and SECME, Inc.
For more information about the Early College High School Initiative, visit www.earlycolleges.org.
