EVSC: Low-income students will receive more access to advanced high school courses
EVANSVILLE, Ind. — Harrison High School Principal Jeff Dierlam said the Evansville Vanderburgh School Corp. is looking to make "generational change" with the announcement of a partnership with Equal Opportunity Schools.
The partnership was announced during a Thursday press conference. EVSC received funding from national organizations and local donors to establish the partnership.
Through the partnership, five traditional EVSC high schools — North, Harrison, Bosse, Reitz and Central high schools — will expand underrepresented students' access to Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate and Dual-Credit courses.
EOS will provide data analysis to measure the cause of participation gaps, develop ways to address them and, by the fall of 2020, focus on transitioning all low-income students and those of color into one of these course opportunities.
Nicholas Wahl, the EOS regional director of strategic initiatives, said the two parties' efforts to close the information gap will ensure students are more likely to succeed as they enter the workforce and pursue higher education.
"I'm excited to partner with the EVSC on finding these kids and changing the trajectory of their lives and their family's lives," Wahl said. "That's the mission we (have) at EOS, and I'm excited to be a part of the EVSC."
EOS has partnered with more than 600 high schools and 200 school districts nationwide to provide the opportunity for students to succeed in these courses. The five EVSC high schools are among 125 in the country to be selected for participation in 2019-2020.
The school corporation is the first in the state to establish this partnership and joins less than one percent of schools in the nation to receive match-funded technical assistance.
"We're really excited about the next few years with EOS because the impact we know it's going to make on our students," Dierlam said. "Having talked with our teachers, I'm talking about making generational change."
EVSC Superintendent David Smith said with this partnership, change will occur beyond current students' academic and career pursuits.
"This is one of those things we will look back, five, 10 and 15 years from now and say, 'This made a difference,'" Smith said. "'This made a difference to the lives of individual kids,' and when we're a community made up of individual kids, our community thrives when our kids thrive. This will change lives."