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| Youth Services > NAYA Early College Academy > Early College Academy Press Release | |
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Antioch University Selects NAYA Family Center to Open Native American Early College High School in Portland Portland—Antioch University Seattle has selected the Native American Youth and Family Center (NAYA Family Center) as the tenth grantee of Antioch’s national Early College High School for Native Youth Initiative. NAYA Family Center will work with the Portland Public School District, Portland Community College-Cascade Campus, Portland’s Native community, and Antioch to develop the high school, set to open September 2007. Early colleges are high schools that blend high school diploma and associates of arts degree requirements so students earn diplomas and associate of arts degrees concurrently. While American Indian and Alaska Native students are the focus of this initiative in Multnomah County, other students may access this school. NAYA Family Center is the tenth grantee of Antioch’s national Early College High School for Native Youth Initiative, which seeks to better serve Native American students, students who unfortunately have the highest dropout and lowest college completion rates of any ethnic group in the country. Only about half of Native American students graduate from high school; of those, less than four percent will earn a bachelor's degree. For over thirty years, NAYA Family Center has been providing educational services, cultural arts programming, and direct support reduce poverty to the Portland Metropolitan Area’s American Indian and Alaska Native community. Started as a parent- and volunteer-led group centered on basketball and cultural arts activities, the opening of an Early College High School for Native youth realizes decades of work by parents and community members to ensure Native youth success. NAYA Family Center joins nine other groups in this groundbreaking work to establish early college high schools. The other grantees are Klamath River Early College in Klamath, California; Siletz Valley Early College Academy, Oregon; Medicine Wheel Academy in Spokane, WA; Ferndale High School in Ferndale, WA; Tulalip Heritage School in Marysville, WA; the Suquamish Tribe on the Port Madison Indian Reservation, WA; Wellpinit High School on the Spokane Indian Reservation, WA; La Conner High School, Skagit Valley, WA; and Shelton High School in Shelton, WA. “Each school will feature culturally relevant curriculum, integrate high school diploma and associate of arts degree requirements, promote family and community engagement, and provide academic advising. In addition, the schools will provide these services to students in their local communities, which should increase their chance of success," explains Linda Campbell, Ph.D., who directs the Early College Consortium for Native Youth at Antioch University Seattle. The schools are part of a $120 million initiative funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, the Carnegie Corp. of New York and the Ford Foundation to create or redesign 170 early college high schools for underserved and low-income young people across the nation. In these purposely small schools, students have the opportunity to earn both a high school diploma and two years of college credit toward a college degree. Antioch chose its sites based on a written grant application and site visit. Each site demonstrated strengths that suggest future success at implementing early college programs, including: small school size and personalized student support, academic programs that integrate local native culture, extensive family and community outreach, and partnerships with one or more colleges. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation identified Antioch University Seattle in March 2002 to participate in the Early College High School Initiative. Antioch has successfully worked with tribal communities, especially in offering graduate and undergraduate education programs. In addition to providing reservation-based degree programs, Antioch University has a 150-year history of increasing educational access for historically underserved populations. About Antioch University Seattle At Antioch University Seattle, adult learners find individualized, innovative programs with a commitment to academic excellence, community service and social justice. AUS is one of five campuses of Antioch University, founded in 1852 in Yellow Springs, Ohio. Primary responsibility for designing and operating the 180 early college high schools across the nation rests with nine partner organizations, coordinated by Jobs for the Future. In addition to Antioch University Seattle, they are: Foundation for California Community Colleges, KnowledgeWorks Foundation, Middle College National Consortium, National Council of La Raza, Portland Community College, Utah Partnership Foundation, Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation, and SECME, Inc. For more information about these partners and the Early College High School Initiative, visit www.earlycolleges.org. About the Native American Youth and Family Center Informally founded by parent volunteers in 1974, the Native American Youth and Family Center (NAYA Family Center) strives to fulfill its mission to “enhance the diverse strengths of our youth and families in partnership with the community through cultural identity and education.” As an urban Indian agency, NAYA Family Center offers educational services, cultural arts programming, and direct support reduce poverty to over1,200 youth and their families from over 300 tribal backgrounds annually. For more information, visit www.nayapdx.org ### |
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