A unique high school with a focus on science, technology, engineering, and math will officially open its new building today. The Wake N.C. State STEM Early College High School is designed to serve students who would be the first in their families to go to college.
The model of school that includes as partners the local school system, a university, and the North Carolina New Schools Project has worked well in other places. It offers students the chance to graduate from high school in three years and earn two years of college credit for free.
Students who have attended the schools have graduated and gone on to college at higher rates than at traditional public schools. It’s a model that has been praised by President Barack Obama as “an innovative solution to the challenges confronting our nation's education system.”
North Carolina has more early and middle college high schools than any other state. The Wake N.C. State STEM Early College High School opened two years ago but will officially cut the ribbon on its permanent site this morning.