The North Carolina New Schools Project

Winston-Salem Journal | Non-traditional Early College graduates first high school class in Forsyth County

May 10, 2012 - Early College of Forsyth, a local school system program that offers college credit to high school students, graduated its first class Thursday. All 50 seniors who started the year with the school received their high school diplomas, Principal Fran Cook said. Forty-six also got their two-year associate degrees through the school's partnership with Forsyth Technical Community College and were to walk in the college's graduation ceremony Thursday evening. Early College of Forsyth is an NCNSP-partner school.

Early College is essentially a magnet school in the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County system, meaning interested students from around the county can sign up to attend. But the focus is on recruiting students who may be the first in their family to attend college, Cook said. "It makes college more accessible to all students, not just those who grew up knowing their parents went to college," Cook said Thursday. "They take college classes right off the bat, and while they're working on their high school diploma, they're also working on their associate degree."

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