The mission of the ECHS program, in conjunction with higher education and community partners, is to successfully prepare students to complete an associate’s degree, or, two years toward a four year degree, while they are still in high school. Because of this mission, planning in collaboration with college partners is crucial to ECHS. Backward mapping of the curriculum and early exposure to campus life and course work are two innovative features that separate ECHS from an ordinary high school experience. Collaboration with the Newark ECHS includes the Woodrow Wilson Foundation, in an advisory capacity, as well as Essex County College and Rutgers University as higher education partners. The key academic component is an aggressively rigorous course sequence for students beginning in grade 6, combined with an affective support system that will enable the goal of reaching beyond a high school diploma toward a college degree.
