Early college programs expanding in Las Vegas Valley

When it opened two decades ago, the College of Southern Nevada High School graduated an inaugural class of just 15 students willing to trade in their football games, pep rallies and band practices for a chance to earn college credit. 

The program, the first of its kind in Clark County at the time, pulled juniors and seniors out of their traditional campuses and enrolled them in actual college courses. By 1998, CSN High's graduating class ballooned to 150 students, with some even completing an entire year's worth of college classes before they accepted a high school diploma.

CSN High continues to graduate hundreds of students each year. But Southern Nevada's early college model will experience a surge this fall, as both CSN High and a younger charter school expand to underserved neighborhoods with the goal of helping even more students successfully transition from high school to college.

"Honestly, we'll accept as many students as we can get," said John Hawk, chief of operations at Nevada State High School. "As long as they get a college schedule, we'll find the space."

A state-authorized charter school, Nevada State High pays for more than 300 students each semester to attend classes at CSN, Great Basin College, Nevada State College and UNLV.

The school made its debut a dozen years ago in Henderson and expanded with a Summerlin campus in 2014. This fall, Nevada State High will launch a third location, in the east Las Vegas valley at the intersection of 13th Street and Stewart Avenue.

"Henderson and Summerlin — they're pretty white," Hawk said. "We've been targeted as not serving 'those' kids who live on the other side (of town).

"But we've looked at the data, and the kids who come from the east side, they're excelling," he added. "There are pockets of greatness there, and we have the data to show this model can help them."

'Don't baby them'

Across the nation, states and individual school districts have invested heavily in the early college model, especially since the Gates Foundation funded a multimillion-dollar expansion of the program in the early 2000s.

Supporters point to studies that indicate the model can help close the college-going gap, especially among low-income and minority students.

In January 2014, the American Institutes for Research, or AIR, reported that 81 percent of early college students enrolled in postsecondary institutions after high school. That's compared to 72 percent of "traditional" students. A quarter of early college students also earn a college degree, in contrast to only 5 percent of comparison students, according to AIR.

At CSN High and Nevada State High, virtually 100 percent of seniors graduate each year, though the student populations there are much smaller than a typical high school.

Hawk, however, quickly notes that 82 percent of his incoming students require a remedial math class before they can enroll in credit-bearing college courses.

"This is a huge issue," said Wendi Hawk, the charter's principal and John Hawk's wife. "We don't let (students) graduate without finishing remediation."

In place for the past six years, that requirement speaks to Nevada State High's larger mission: Prepare every student, holistically, for a college environment.

Advisers, who often themselves graduated from the school, don't just register students for classes. They also train the teenagers to solve academic, personal and social challenges that they will face once they move away from their support system to attend a college or university.

"We don't baby them," Wendi Hawk said. "We really believe in that tough-love attitude, because we know when they leave here, they are on their own. They need to be prepared, so everything we do teaches them how to do it themselves."

'A different environment'

The Hawks, thanks to new charter legislation passed last year, hope to expand their program soon to Northern Nevada near Reno.

Closer to home, however, the Clark County School District and CSN plan to expand their 20-year partnership to the northwest valley when the community college eventually opens a campus there at the intersection of Durango Drive and Elkhorn Road.

The Clark County School Board approved that expansion on Thursday, and Mike Barton, chief academic officer for the district, said the northwest campus likely would focus its curriculum on science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

"We're thinking that's the direction it will go in," Barton said. "It's at an early stage, but it's exciting because we can work together collaboratively to see what the needs are in that area and really sell something that students in that community will jump on board with."

In the more immediate future, CSN High soon will welcome about 100 new students, or a boost of about 25 percent, after the school board approved a separate expansion request on Thursday.

"We'll probably focus some of (the growth) in Henderson, just because there's a lot of demand out there," said Patty Charlton, vice president of strategic initiatives for CSN.

"Our goal is to double (enrollment) overall, but we have to scale it up," she said. "We want to make sure that we maintain the rigor and success rates."

Aside from CSN High, the community college has considered applying for a federal grant that would allow low-income high school students to enroll in college courses this upcoming academic year. CSN also hosts two separate programs that target students with disabilities or an interest in career and technical education.

Additionally, high school instructors with master's degrees can apply to teach college-level and credit-bearing courses in their own classrooms. Nearly 1,300 students at 13 schools participated in that program last year and earned more than 4,200 credits.

Earlier this year, CSN applied for national certification to ensure the quality of the college courses taught at each high school.

"We know that our big role is to help that transition between a high school and a four-year program and eventually to the graduate (level)," Charlton said. "This is a different environment for us."

— Contact Neal Morton at nmorton@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0279. Find him on Twitter: @nealtmorton