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At 14 years old, Colby Landwehr of the Kansas City Missouri School District is on his way to achieving his dream of becoming a chemical engineer. Colby is also on his way toward another important milestone – the first in his family to go to college. As a member of the inaugural class at Southwest Early College Campus, Colby will have the opportunity to earn up to two years of college credit before graduating from high school.
Southwest Early College Campus is the first school of this kind in Kansas City: an open-enrollment school in partnership with the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation where all students will earn college credit before graduating from high school.
Planning for Excellence
The planning process for SWECC started six years ago when PREP-KC was awarded funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to explore the concept of a new small school in the KCMSD with District leadership. With Gates support PREP-KC funded market research in Kansas City to gauge the community’s thoughts and feelings about the new small school concept.
Several themes clearly emerged from this research. First, parents and community members wanted a school which provided the opportunity for students to earn college credit while in high school (an early college design) and a school that offered an emphasis on math and science. Second, Kansas City families and civic leaders wanted to see key community partners involved in all facets of the school’s development and operation. This research laid the foundation for Southwest Early College Campus.
 The math and science focus for SWECC was a natural fit with the region’s workforce development priorities. The Kansas City area has more animal health and nutrition companies than any other place in the world, four of the leading veterinary med schools within approximately a 300-mile radius, and 199 life sciences companies located in 23 surrounding counties comprising the KC region. The opportunity to create an educational environment that would support college and career development in these areas coupled with the opportunity to reopen the first-rate laboratories and facilities at Southwest to students in the KCMSD drew The Kansas City Area Life Sciences Institute (KCALSI) to the SWECC planning committee.
At PREP-KC it was clear to us that many leading businesses and academic organizations have a strong desire to help make positive change for the students and families of Kansas City's urban communities. However, many were concerned that any single organization, large or small, could not create important and sustainable educational change alone.
SWECC brings the powerful design of an Early College School together with a circle of strong partners to create the rigorous educational program necessary for young people to be competitive for college and career opportunities. As facilitators of the project, we've been inspired by the commitment and persistence of each partner.
 Susan Wally, President & CEO, PREP-KC
"With an existing science education project in the elementary grades within the KCMSD and an established working relationship with PREP-KC through the OneKC WIRED grant, Southwest Early College Campus represented an opportunity to create a completely new secondary school model while expanding our collaboration with quality community partners,”says Keith Gary, Director of Program Development for KCALSI,
Bringing the right partners, like the KCALSI, to the table early was critical. PREP-KC and the Kansas City Missouri School District connected with other community partners; the University of Missouri–Kansas City (UMKC), and the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation (WW) to create the SWECC school partnership.
After PREP-KC facilitated a series of meetings, the partners (KCMSD, UMKC, PREP-KC, KCALSI and WW) signed a memorandum of agreement, and planning and design was underway in October 2007.
“The partners for SWECC are incredible,” says Steven Scraggs, the new principal of SWECC. “The depth of expertise and resources they bring to the school are invaluable. We simply would not have this school in Kansas City without our partners.”
Opportunity For All
 Throughout the planning all partners agreed: if this school was to serve as an early college for Kansas City, it had to be an open admission school, with no testing or GPA entrance requirement.
“We wanted to create a school where, no matter what the starting place, if a student is willing to work hard enough, they can earn significant college credit while still in high school,” said Dr. Kathleen Boyle Dalen, vice president of PREP-KC and key leader of the SWECC partners. “This means the school must provide high expectations coupled with high levels of support.”
Although no testing or GPA requirements were set, all the partners knew families needed to know up front the expectation for hard work at Southwest. As part of the enrollment process, each family participated in a conference with school partners to learn about Southwest’s requirements. The conference provided the first look at the community support around Southwest. Familiar comments were repeated in conference after conference.
“My child needs this school, and I need this school to help us make her college dream a reality.”
“Our family values education and we will to do whatever it takes to give him the chance to be successful in college.”
By mid-July, there was a waiting list to enter ninth grade and sixth grade was at capacity.
The Early College Model
Beginning as early as the ninth grade, SWECC students will take college-level courses at UMKC. Students will be able to participate in internships, join activities on the UMKC campus, and earn up to 60 hours of college credit from UMKC.
The Early College model, in use in almost 160 high schools across the country, integrates rigorous college coursework inside the four-year high school experience. A system of supports, including extended-day and extended-year programs, are incorporated into students’ schedules to help them successfully complete up to two years of college in high school.
The Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation has successfully opened more than a dozen Early College Schools. SWECC is their first Early College School in the Midwest.
Rob Baird, Vice President of School University Partnerships for the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation, says one of the goals of the Early College model is to increase the number of under-represented students successfully completing four-year college degrees.
"Research shows that incorporating college coursework during high school significantly increases the likelihood that students will successfully complete a college degree," says Baird.
But earning college credit in high school is not new. Dual enrollment programs and Advanced Placement courses have been in high schools for years. What's different about the Early College model is that it focuses on preparing all students (many of whom are first generation college goers) for college - academically, socially, and emotionally. At an Early College school, college course-taking is the rule – not the exception.
Early College programs immerse students in the college experience – taking classes on campus, interacting with on-campus faculty and staff, and participating in a range of electives. None of this would be possible if on the early college model did not include a structure where high school and college faculty work together to create an academically rigorous course of study and life-changing opportunities for students.
"When students experience success on a college campus it opens doors to futures students may not have imagined for themselves before enrolling in an Early College school," says Baird.
SWECC students already began experiencing that success through a series of on-campus events this summer at UMKC. Incoming sixth graders and their families were welcomed at a barbecue on the UMKC campus. Ninth gr aders spent an entire week on campus, living in the residence halls and attending UMKC courses in math, science, debate, art, English, diversity, and college preparation as part of the SWECC Summer Scholars Academy. At the conclusion of the Academy, they had earned their first hour of college credit. “UMKC is deeply committed to creating additional pathways to higher education for Kansas City’s urban youth,” says interim UMKC chancellor and PREP-KC board chair Leo Morton. “SWECC gives us the opportunity to open our campus to these bright, curious students earlier in their educational development.”
What Families Are Saying
Parents and students were thrilled with the Summer Academy and the prospect of the upcoming school year at SWECC. Incoming ninth grader Sion Lyons, a first generation college-goer, said she was very proud of herself for participating in the academy.
“I just wish the camp was longer!”
Melissa Garcia, mother of incoming ninth grader Joseph said, “I think that all the parents are looking for a better future for their children, and I know Southwest will prepare my son very well.”
Eric Lyons , Sion’s father, said their family chose to attend SWECC, and to come to the KCMSD from a charter school, because of the early college focus. “There were other school options, but they didn’t offer what we thought was best for Sion, which was a tough academic environment where she would develop good study habits and give her the skills she needed to excel in her college life.”
While attending SWECC’s Summer Academy, budding engineer Colby even managed to find his way to a physic lab, where a generous post-doctoral researcher gave him a tour of the lab and showed him the work they did with lasers. “Now I feel comfortable walking around on campus,” said Colby. “I’ll come back here by myself, and I never would have before.”
When asked how it felt to have earned his first college credit, Colby replied with a smile and a typical 14-year-old response, “That’s pretty cool.”
Table A SWECC Entering Class Demographics
Male Female African American Hispanic Caucasian Other
6th grade 49% 51% 64% 24% 11% 1%
9th grade 46% 54% 59% 27% 11% 3%
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