This Sacramento high school is giving all students a head start on college. Here’s how
A Sacramento charter high school is embracing a new identity reflecting its focus on providing all students with an early college education. The school will debut this fall as Sacramento New Technology Early College High School — or SNTECHS for short.
The school’s new early college program will ensure every student takes college classes that will put them on a path toward a four-year degree, a career certificate or at least exploring postsecondary educational opportunities. Taking these classes at local community colleges through New Tech will be 100% free, including the cost of tuition, course fees and any necessary materials. A partnership with Sacramento City College and other Los Rios district schools ensures spots for New Tech students in the classes they need to take.
The school soft-launched its early college program last school year. Principal Jessica Martin submitted for a Middle College and Early College Grant from the state, but said she was determined to pursue the early college model regardless of whether they received the money or not. The grant ultimately came through and she worked alongside counselor Kim Seyford to shape a program where students could take college courses during open periods in their school day. During these blocks, students will attend their college course online and a New Tech teacher will be there to provide support and keep students on track.
This year, a total of $600,000 in grants will help all New Tech students benefit from the early college program.
“Everybody is going to get to experience college with a lot of support,” Martin said. “Our focus is on those first generation students, students whose families haven’t gone to college or who thought it wasn’t in their view.”
Students will work with Seyford to plan their trajectories in whatever pathway they choose. The goal for every New Tech student is to graduate with a significant amount of college credits and an idea for what they want to do next.
The new program is set up so that the most ambitious students will be able to earn their associate degree by the time they graduate high school, setting them up for immediate transfer to a four-year institution. Administrators are not only emphasizing the academic path, however — they want students to feel comfortable exploring the range of educational options available at community colleges, including career-focused or vocational programs that could earn them a certificate. Pursuing this path could put students into jobs that pay livable wages, a huge quality of life improvement in a high cost of living area like Sacramento.
“When they come to us and tell us what they are interested in doing, then we can help them understand what they need to take to graduate and to pursue their interest at the college,” Seyford said. “Students hear ‘college’ and don’t necessarily think of these other opportunities, so exposing them to those opportunities has been really exciting.”
College is for everyone
A big piece of the early college experience is navigating the institution itself — figuring out what programs are offered, getting used to the class structure and taking advantage of any additional resources available to them. For some students, taking their first college class is a big learning curve, and that support from their high school teacher is instrumental in gaining their independence later.
“In high school, they’re used to teachers nagging them about getting assignments done, but in college it isn’t that way, so it’s a big transition for some of them,” Seyford said. “But a good transition, because they realized ‘I need to figure this out, I need to advocate for myself, I need to ask questions.’”
Students who had trouble the first time around tend to be more successful the next time around after learning how to achieve the grade they want, Seyford said. Lower grade students start out with an introduction to college class before going into more rigorous academic classes.
Other students are more prepared to handle a college class and can use this access to college to boost their GPAs and become more competitive candidates for a four year university in the place of AP and honors classes, which New Tech does not offer.
But Seyford wants people to know that the new program is for everyone, because college is for everyone.
“I think for some of them who did not believe they were capable of it, getting that extra support from us and the college helps them realize that it is doable for them,” she said. “I want to get rid of the idea that you have to be really talented or a genius going into it — if anything we’ve paved the way for someone who is interested in it and wants to make an effort, because that’s all that you need. … It’s for everyone.”
New Tech is currently enrolling for the 2024-25 school year. For more information, visit newtech.scusd.edu.
