Rayen Early College Middle School to serve as feeder for YEC

YOUNGSTOWN — The city school district will open a new special school this fall, one designed to get seventh-graders on the track to a college education.

The Rayen Early College Middle School will be a feeder program for Youngstown Early College, a joint city school district/Youngstown State University academic venture that has had excellent academic success.

YEC targets high school students who might not have the opportunity to further their education beyond high school, giving them an opportunity to earn college credits while completing their high school education.

The program is on the YSU campus.

“This program clearly, clearly shows the data of success,” said Superintendent Wendy Webb, noting that YEC will have a state rating of excellent on its 2009 Local Report Card.

YEC takes in new students only at the ninth-grade level, and, to build on its success, the Rayen Early College Middle School will be taking in only seventh-graders.

They will spend two years in the Rayen program before advancing to YEC, Webb said.

The new school will be located in Choffin Career & Technical Center on East Wood Street this year, but the hope is to eventually move it into the Judge William Rayen Building at Wood Street and Wick Avenue. That building now houses some of the district’s central administration offices and will require some remodelling to serve as a middle school.

Students had to apply for admission, and Webb said between 80 and 100 will be enrolled when classes start Sept. 1.

“There will be an awful lot of intervention with the university participating,” Webb said, explaining that the focus will be on strengthening basic academic skills and critical thinking, attributes the students will need when they advance to YEC and begin taking college courses.

“What we are piloting here is a 7-12 high school,” Webb said.

It is “imperative” that YEC candidates be identified at the middle school level, said Michele Dotson, YEC dean.

Those students need pre-algebra and algebra courses by the time they finish eighth grade so they will be prepared to take college-level math courses, she said.

Language arts and writing are also vitally important for college-level work, she said.

Middle school teachers will develop an action plan that ties directly to the YEC action plan. Students enrolled in the middle school will know that they are destined to attend college, Dotson said.

Webb said parents have been very excited about the new program, asking when their child would be notified of their acceptance.

Parent participation is a key component of the Rayen project.

First they have to assure their children that the work isn’t too hard for them, and they have to be active partners in the development of their child’s academic plan, Webb said.

The students will spend time on the YSU campus, being mentored by students in YEC and attending special programs with YSU professors. That will help with their transition from the middle school to the college campus in the ninth grade, Webb said.

The YEC, with an enrollment of 250, is “a best practice” program, and the district is looking at ways to expand its programming into the general school population, Webb said.

YSU President David Sweet has also touted its academic success, calling it an example of an effective partnership between the university and the school district. No one wants to see it end, he said.

There are some concerns about its financial future.

The school district and YSU have allocated funds to cover the program this year, but no commitments have been made for 2010-11, leaving some city school board members to insist that efforts begin now to find that future financial support to keep YEC running.

The school district has been picking up the average $1.3 million average annual staff salary, and state funds have been picking up the $600,000 annual cost of college tuition for YEC students. That state aid is no longer available, leaving the school district and the university to cover that expense.

“To me, the discussion isn’t if we’re going to keep it, but how we’re going to keep it,” Webb said.

YEC is one of eight early-college high school programs operating in Ohio.

gwin@vindy.com