The Early College at Guilford

The Early College at Guilford (ECG) is ranked as the top public high school in North Carolina. It has approximately 200 students and is located in Greensboro, North Carolina. The school was started in 2002 as a partnership between Guilford College and Guilford County Schools as the first early college high school in North Carolina, allowing students to graduate with a high school diploma and up to two years of college credit from Guilford College.

The cost of tuition for all Guilford College courses is covered by both Guilford County Schools and the state of North Carolina via funding through the Innovative Education Initiatives Act.



Early History
The Early College at Guilford, opened in August 2002, was one of the first early colleges in the United States and the first in North Carolina. Representatives from Guilford College met with Terry Grier, the Superintendent of Guilford County Schools, in the winter and spring of 2002 to develop the early college program, which was modeled after the program between Bard College and New York City public schools. At the time, Bruce Stewart, the chairman of the Guilford College board of trustees noted, “If this can be a contribution of this Quaker institution to making sure that talented young people have access to good teaching and resources, I would want to support it enthusiastically.” The founding class at ECG included 51 ninth graders, 40 tenth graders, 19 eleventh graders and 9 twelfth graders. The school was originally located in the basement of the Frank Science building but moved to modular classrooms in the fall of 2004. The first principal of ECG, Tony Lamair Burks II, provided students with the opportunity to control what happened with their education. He organized ECG to align with ECGs original mission statement: “To graduate confident, ethically responsible lifelong learners who are prepared to succeed in higher education and in the changing world beyond.” He noted that the Early College program “exposes the students to problem solving that can ease the transition into college. They will already know how to work through situations like approaching a professor or dealing with group sessions where one person decides not to do their work.” The success of ECG paved the way for an expansion of early college programs in North Carolina. The state passed the Innovative Education Initiatives Act, in 2003, which provided the necessary start-up funds to cover the cost of college tuition, waivers for seat time and changes to the academic calendar. Between 2004 and 2010, North Carolina opened more than 70 early college high schools through collaborations between the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, the University of North Carolina system and the North Carolina Community College system.

Admissions Criteria
It varies each year, however for the class of the 2028, the following was mandated.

This admissions criteria has been in place for multiple years now, and prospective students must meet all of the above criteria for a chance at admission.
 * 88th Percentile on the Grade 7 NC Language Arts End-Of-Grade Test
 * 88th Percentile on the Grade 7 NC Mathematics End-Of-Grade Test OR 88th Percentile on the NC Math 1 End-Of-Course Test
 * 3.5 Unweighted GPA throughout Grades 7 and first semester of Grade 8
 * Current 8th Graders should be enrolled in NC Math 1 or NC Math 2

Admissions Process
For the class of 2027 and 2028, students meeting the admissions criteria were required to:

After all data is reviewed, students are graded and the top 50-52 students are invited to enroll in the Early College at Guilford. The Early College at Guilford uses a rolling admissions process, which means more offers are sent out as seats are declined. The school also has a rising sophomore admissions process.
 * Participate in a facilitated group discussion
 * Participate in a timed essay assessment
 * Provide teacher recommendations

For the class of 2027, there were approximately 1100 applications submitted for the freshman class. This means the school has an approximately 5% acceptance rate.

Academics
Students at the Early College at Guilford follow a rigorous academic schedule throughout all four years. Underclassmen (freshmen and sophomores) take almost all honors and AP classes. Classes are taught on a modified block schedule with holidays that align with Guilford County Schools’ schedule. Most students say that sophomore year is the hardest with a very rigorous schedule. That year, students can take up to 7 AP courses in both semesters, with AP US History, AP Environmental Science, AP English Language and Composition as required courses and electives including AP Calculus AB, AP Calculus BC, AP Psychology and AP Statistics. Freshmen are required to take the PSAT while sophomores are required to take the PSAT, the Pre-ACT and the March SAT. The AP Exam pass rate in 2022 was 99%.

Upperclassmen are dually enrolled in both the Guilford County school system as juniors (and then seniors), and in Guilford College as freshmen (and then sophomores in their second year). Often, the number of AP Classes taken as underclassmen allows students to register as sophomores and juniors at Guilford College. Juniors and seniors take Guilford College classes, which count towards their remaining high school credits, and can often be transferred to other educational institutions. If a student remains at Guilford College after graduating from the Early College, the credits they received for their two final years will transfer towards their undergraduate requirements.

Students are not ranked at ECG in order to foster cooperation and collaboration among students and to allow students to focus on learning material. Student GPA is calculated per North Carolina state guidelines on a standard 4 point scale with an extra 0.5 quality point given for honors courses and an extra 1.0 quality point for AP or college courses.

Academic Achievement
In 2022, the average SAT score was 1468 of 1600, the highest of all North Carolina public high schools. In 2021, the average SAT score was 1452 of 1600, again the highest of all North Carolina public high schools.

The Early College at Guilford was ranked #1 nationally by U.S. News & World Report in 2023; that year, it was also placed as the best public school in North Carolina and the #9 STEM school in the United States. In 2022, ECG was placed 35th in the nation by U.S. News & World Report and was ranked as the best public school in North Carolina and the #9 STEM school nationally.

Newsweek ranked the Early College at Guilford 7th on its annual list of the top 500 STEM High Schools in 2020. In 2010, Newsweek magazine listed ECG as one of "The Nation's Most Elite Public High Schools". Newsweek also ranked ECG at 5th on its annual list of America's Best High Schools in 2016, making it the top high school in North Carolina in 2016.

The Early College at Guilford has about one-fourth of its students each year named as semi-finalists for the National Merit Scholarship. Scholarships and awards received by the Class of 2023 totaled more than $12,000,000 and in 2022 totaled nearly $8,000,000.

Demographics
During the 2022–2023 school year, there were 199 students enrolled at ECG, approximately 50 in each grade. The students were 56% female and 44% male with 51% Asian American, 30% White, and 11% African American.

All students are residents of Guilford County and the students selected for the freshman class are chosen through a combination of academic, extracurricular and leadership characteristics, academic testing and personal interviews that are held on campus.

Extracurricular Activities
Despite the small class size of ECG, there are a large number of clubs that are available for students. Both underclassmen and upperclassmen participate in Early College clubs, usually held after underclassmen classes. Competition clubs include Battle of the Books, Chess, Code, Economic Challenge, National History Day, Health Occupations Students of America (HOSA), Math, Mock Trial, Model UN, Quiz Bowl, one FIRST Robotics Competition and four FIRST Tech Challenge teams (under the umbrella of ECG Robotics, Inc, and Science Olympiad.

Service clubs include ECG Active, Environmental, Interact, Red Cross, Campus Life and Student Human Relations Coalition. Students also participate in two tutoring clubs called RISE and EducateUS. Interest clubs include Data Analytics and Cybersecurity, International, Mental Health Advocacy, Publishing and Theater.

One hundred percent of the Class of 2022 completed 100 or more hours of community service and earned the Guilford County Schools’ Service Learning Exemplary Awards.

Extracurricular Awards and Recognition
The “Joe Childers Scholastic Cup,” sponsored by The North Carolina Association for Scholastic Activities (NCASA), is given each year to the “top large and small high school” in the state based on accumulating points in a set of scholastic competitions, including the seven NCASA competitions and eleven “Cup Partner” competitions. In 2023, ECG won the Joe Childers Cup for small high schools for the third year in a row. ECG was also recognized as state champions in eight categories, including The Twelve, A Cappella, Quiz Bowl, The Quill, Science Olympiad, Envirothon, HOSA and State Math competition. In 2022, ECG not only claimed the Joe Childers Cup for small high schools but was also announced as the state champion for Quiz Bowl, National History Day, The Twelve, and The Economics Challenge. ECG also claimed the Joe Childers Cup in 2021.

National History Day: First place state winners in the Senior individual website category. Two ECG teams qualified for the Small School National Tournament in 2022.

Quill: State champions in 2023, fourth place in 2021 and 2018, third place in 2020 and 2019 and second place in 2018.

Quiz Bowl: State champions in 2023, 2022, 2018, 2017 and 2016; fourth place in 2021.

Science Olympiad: Division C: Fifth place in North Carolina in 2023 and 2022; twelfth place in 2021.

The Economics Challenge: First place in 2022

The Twelve: State champions in 2022, 2021, 2018 and 2015. Third place in 2016 and fourth place in 2020-2021

Robotics
ECG Robotics is a student-led, non-profit robotics club based in Greensboro, NC. The five teams compete in the FIRST Robotics Competition (one team) and FIRST Tech Challenge (four teams) and welcome students from all of Guilford County.

Triple Strange (FRC Team 1533) was established in Greensboro, North Carolina in 2004. It is currently the only FRC team in ECG Robotics. The team has won four state championships, as well as winning its division at the world championship in 2018. In 2016, the team won the North Carolina District Championship and at Worlds in the Carson Division was ranked 31st and won the Creativity Award. The team ranked 32nd in the Newton Division at Worlds in 2017. 2018 was a banner year for Triple Strange as it won the North Carolina District Championship and was awarded the Excellence in Engineering Award. At Worlds, the team was the winner of the Turing Division. In 2019, the team was the State Championship winner and at Worlds was a Roebling Quarterfinalist and was ranked 14th in the Roebling Division. In 2022, the team was the North Carolina District Championship Winner and was awarded the Industrial Design Award. In 2023, the team was ranked 36th in the Daly Division at Worlds.

Wannabee Strange (FTC Team 731) was the first FTC team at ECG Robotics and was established in 2007. The team has qualified for the World Championship for 4 years. In 2017, at Worlds, the team was the first pick of the third seeded alliance in the Jemison Division and was ranked 13th out of 128 teams in the tournament. In 2018, the team received the Inspire Award at the state competition and at Worlds was the second pick of the second seeded alliance in the Franklin Division. In addition, in state competition, the team was the captain of the Finalist Alliance in 2016. The team won the Design Award in 2019 and the second place Connect Award in 2022.

Back to the Drawing Board (FTC Team 5795) was founded in 2013 and has been to the World Championship three times. 2016 started 5795’s 3 year Worlds’ attendance. During FIRST RES-Q, Team 5795 won the Inspire Award at all qualifiers and the state competition. Team 5795 was also the Finalist Alliance second pick at States and the Winning Alliance second pick at the Southern Super-Regional. Advancing to Worlds, 5795 also placed 30th in the Edison Division as well as in the top 2% overall. In 2017 VELOCITY VORTEX, 5795 won both the Think Award as well as the Inspire Award at all qualifiers and the state competition. At the Southern Super-Regionals, 5795 won the second place Inspire Award along with the first place Innovate Award. At Worlds, 5795 was a Promote Award and PTC Design Award Finalist and placed 13th out of 52 teams in their division. Subsequently, in state competition, the team won the Motivate Award in 2019, finished in 6th place overall in 2020 and won the third place Think Award, in 2021 was awarded the Motivate Award and in 2022 won the third place Connect Award.

The Thunderducks (FTC Team 6183) was the third FTC team at ECG Robotics and was founded in 2012. In state competition, the team was awarded the Think Award in 2016, the second place Think Award in 2017, the third place Motivate Award in 2018, the third place Connect Award in 2019, the third place Design Award in 2020, and in 2021 was the second team selected in the Finalist Alliance and received the second place Design Award.

The Night Owls (FTC Team 10195) was created in 2015. In state competition, the team was part of the Finalist Alliance in 2016, won the second place Connect Award in 2017, the Compass Award in 2020 and the third place Motivate Award in 2022.

Principals

 * Tony Lamair Burks II (2002–2006)
 * Charles Blanchard (2006–2009)
 * Bobby Hayes (2009–2014)
 * Linda Kidd (2015–2018)
 * Angela Polk-Jones (2019–2020)
 * Pete Zachary Kashubara III (2020–Present)