A workspace/study area inside the newly built Early College High School. (Tyler ISD/Contributed Photo)

Early College High School was recently the No. 1 school in East Texas, and now they have a brand new building that will be welcoming students this fall.

“Early College is a program that started in Tyler ISD, (for) students who would like to go to college, but don’t think that they could,” ECHS Principal Amanda Hortman said at a ribbon cutting ceremony Thursday evening. “And they’re able to actually go to college during their high school years and graduate with an associate’s degree from (Tyler Junior College) at the same time as getting their high school diploma.”

ECHS has an average of roughly 130 to 150 students; however, next year there will be about 475 students.

“A lot of early colleges have a poor attrition rate, meaning that not many of the students that start actually finish with an associate’s degree,” Hortman said. “And for us, that is not the case. We actually have an upward of 75% of our students that start as freshmen actually do finish as seniors with an associate’s degree from Tyler Junior College.”

To support the increasing success and number of students, a revamp for Early College High School was part of the $89 million bond that passed in 2022. The bond funded an entirely new campus, which will be an upgrade from the current building that used to be known as Stewart Middle School. ECHS students have been sharing a building with students from RISE Academy.

“Early College started as a program with only a few students, so they were put in an extra building,” Hortman said. “But at this point, we have shown success to the point that we have outgrown that building and we need something bigger and more up to date and modern that will match our students in the caliber that they bring to us.”

Tyler ISD invited the community to celebrate Early College High School with a ribbon cutting ceremony on Thursday, just two days after Hubbard Middle School’s ceremony to show off its new building.

“This is an incredible facility that we’re going to christen today,” said Tyler ISD Superintendent Dr. Marty Crawford. “We could not have done it without the support of the taxpayers in passing these referendums over the last 20 years to where 26 or 27 of our facilities have either been built brand new or newly renovated with additions that were brand new. It’s been an incredible journey.”

Tyler ISD invested $26 million from the bond fund to construct the new building, while ensuring the tax rate remained low for nearly two decades.

“You have such a unique situation with Tyler Junior College because … it’s so successful, it’s so effective,” Crawford said. “The dual prep credit programs are so robust. (These) aren’t just dual credits … it’s a dual completion.”

Tyler City Councilmember Stuart Hene joined the celebration by installing a proclamation of Early College School Ribbon Cutting Day on behalf of the City of Tyler and Mayor Don Warren.

“It’s an honor to be a part of the community that takes such pride in our schools,” Hene said. “I’m just… amazed at what our community can do around our schools.”

Because of the threat of severe weather, the ceremony was moved inside. Afterwards, attendees were invited to tour the new campus where they saw updated classrooms, study areas and more.

“We have a classroom for every single teacher,” Hortman said. “We have state-of-the-art facilities and we have an office that we can actually control to some degree where we can close off or open up as we see fit right now.”

The newly built Early College campus has updated safety and security features, including a storm shelter that includes insulated concrete-form walls, impact resistant windows, tornado resistant doors, emergency generator and access to restrooms.

“I love that the cafeteria area is big enough for all of our students because … we didn’t really have enough space in the cafeteria (in the other building),” Hortman said. “We had to sit all over, most times in the hallways. So, it’s great to be able to have everybody seated in the cafeteria.”

The new cafeteria will also be shared with the Tyler ISD’s Career & Technology Center right next door.

“I really can’t explain how thankful we are for this building,” Hortman said. “It’s going to be amazing for us.”

Early College High School will have a 650-student capacity, and is located right next door to Tyler ISD’s Career & Technology Center on Earl Campbell Parkway.