SHS students earn diploma, associate degree

SHS students earn diploma, associate degree Main Photo

26 May 2020


news, Seguin ISD, Newsletter

Joe Martin, The Seguin Gazette

Seguin High School senior Selena Gutierrez will walk the stage this year having earned a diploma and a college degree.

She is among a handful of SHS  students that  have earned an associate degree through the Seguin Early College High School program. 

Gutierrez’s journey in the program began in eighth grade, she said.  

“It all started when we were signing up for our classes in middle school,” Gutierrez said. “They were talking about the associate’s degree program and how it saves you a lot of money for college and also gets your first years of college all out of the way.  I thought that it was something that I would be interested in doing.” 

Students who participate in the  Early College High School program take college courses in addition to their high school classes. The course work  gradually increases, and by students’ junior and senior years, they are considered full-time college students, Seguin High School Early College High School Director Anna Lisa Garza said.

“If you were to ask students, they probably exhale a sigh of relief because they submitted their final exams on Friday for all of their college courses,” she said. “We’re asking them not only to accomplish high school graduation requirements but to be full-time college students in doing so. So in junior and senior year, they’re taking anywhere from four to five college credit courses as part of their course load.” 

Gutierrez admitted she was intimidated at first by the increased workload, but decided to press on. 

“You just have to keep telling yourself that it was going to be worth it in the end and that you’re working toward something really big,” Gutierrez said. “In the end, I’m glad that I did it.” 

The program began five years ago and is aimed at providing students who may not have the option of attending college an opening step by earning an associate degree from St. Philip’s College in San Antonio, free of cost, Garza said.

“The Early College High School program is 100% about opportunity for our students,” she said. “It’s about giving the students the opportunity to not just earn a high school diploma, but an associate degree by the time of graduation. We’re reaching out to students who may not typically have the opportunity, whether that be first-generation students or students who may not be able to afford it otherwise. So, in my opinion, opportunity says everything when it comes to early college high school.” 

This year, 19 students will complete their high school with an associate degree totaling to more than 1,000 college credits and about $240,000 in savings for their families, Garza said.  

“When I talk about opportunity, I’m also talking about the fact that we’re saving students, not just time, but money as well,” she said. “We start recruiting in eighth grade, and students go through a screening process based on a rubric that is outlined by the state. This is our third cohort of students that we’ve graduated. We apply to continue to be an Early College High School school every single year. The growth rates for Early College High School  campuses is a result of the fact that it does work.” 

Although Norma Chapa said she was pressured to join the program by her parents, she has no regrets of sticking through it, she said. 

“I wouldn’t change anything because it was all worth it,” she said. “The first two years it was pretty easy because I wasn’t taking as many college courses, but when I got into junior year, I started having more college classes — I think it was around four college classes my junior year, and then my senior year it was about five college classes.” 

Chapa, Gutierrez, and the 17 other Early College High School program participants were slated to graduate from  St. Philips this spring; however, due to the coronavirus pandemic, the students won’t get the chance until December, Garza said. 

“It was upsetting to hear the news because my sister was in the program last year, and I got to see her graduate at St. Philips,” Gutierrez said. “I thought ‘this is crazy how people who are in the Early College program and the people who are at St. Philips are able to graduate on this big stage,’ but it’s just how life is. You have to learn to adapt, and it’s to keep people safe.” 

Any student on the fence with the program should take the leap, Chapa said

“I encourage other students to be in it. It’s a one-time opportunity that you have so you might as well take advantage of it,” Chapa said. “That way, you don’t go blindfolded into college, and you’ll have some experience, which is great.”

Joe Martin is a staff writer for the Seguin Gazette. You can e-mail him at joe.martin@seguingazette.com