Student interviews for 2008-2009

Important! Incoming 10th and 11th grade students who have applied to OEC for the 2008-2009 academic year will be receiving a letter in the mail asking them to register for an interview. All prospective students must schedule an interview on one of the following dates:

  • Thursday, May 1, 2008
  • Wednesday, May 7, 2008
  • Thursday, May 15, 2008
  • Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Students who have received letters should register online at http://www.eventbrite.com/org/56491693?s=901292 as soon as possible. If you think you should have received a letter and have not, please contact us. If you encounter problems, please contact our office at (248) 865-6477 as soon as possible.

Also, if you are still missing items from your student application file, please be sure to get those materials in right away, or bring them to your interview. We look forward to seeing you again!

Important update

We received word late Friday afternoon that OEC has been granted another extension for student applications, during which we may accept additional applications from non-WBSD students through May 2, 2008! Please contact Interim Head of School Gary Weisserman at (248) 865-6477, or by email at oec@westbloomfield.k12.mi.us, if you'd like more information.

About Oakland Early College

Oakland Early College (OEC) is an innovative partnership between the West Bloomfield School District and Oakland Community College's Orchard Ridge campus. OEC students (grades 9-13) attend high school on OCC's campus, and engage in an exciting college-preparatory curriculum taught by teachers from award-winning West Bloomfield Public Schools. A core element of OEC is dual enrollment in coursework at OCC. Students graduate with a high school diploma, innovative educational and professional experiences, and up to 60 transferable college credits or an Associate Degree in the field of their choice--all provided at no out-of-pocket cost to students and their families.

Students at OEC will be encouraged to select specific areas of academic focus, and to work towards Associate Degrees in areas of study including:

  • Liberal Arts;
  • Fine and Performing Arts; and
  • Business and Entrepreneurship.

OEC will open September of 2008, beginning with students in grades 10 and 11. OEC is now accepting applications from students throughout Oakland County, regardless of current district, for the 2008-2009 school year. The application deadline is April 4, 2008.

OEC is committed to helping increase post-secondary access and opportunities for Oakland County students, and to improving the quality of education available to young people who may not have found their niche in larger, more traditional high schools.

You may download the application here.

Learn more about Oakland Early College.

Oakland Early College stories in the news:

More about OEC

OEC is a fully operational Early College High School, and the first and only Early College in Oakland County. (The school is part of a larger shift in K-16 education. There are several other Early Colleges in Michigan, including Genesee Early College on the campus of the University of Michigan-Flint and Mott Middle College on the campus of Mott Community College. Across the country, there are over 150 such schools.)

A major purpose of Oakland Early College is to increase post-secondary access and opportunities. As such, Oakland Early College has a special interest in meeting the needs of underserved students, including students who are the first generation in their family to attend college.

Our position is that students may be underserved in many ways. Some students are underserved by virtue of socioeconomic status or geography, or by being the first generation of college students in their families (research has shown that even academically gifted first-generation college students find college difficult to navigate). Some students may be academically successful, but have career interests and educational development plans that are simply not appropriately met by the courses of study offered at their home schools. Still others are being served adequately academically, but have been marginalized in their home communities, or have been impacted by family and/or life circumstances. Similarly, students may be underserved vocationally if their career pathway leads towards jobs or academic tracks which have not traditionally been open to them. Some students simply come from backgrounds where continuing educational opportunities are not readily available, especially in high-poverty areas. While Oakland Early College is open to any student capable of, and interested in, succceeding at the college level, the school has a special commitment in meeting these students' affective, support, and academic needs.

OEC will open in August of 2008. For the 08-09 school year, the school will accept applications from Oakland County students who will enter grades 10 and 11 in the fall of 2008. A number of seats will be reserved for West Bloomfield residents, with the remaining seats open to residents of other Oakland County communities.

Students at OEC will be encouraged to select areas of academic focus, including:

  • Fine and Performing Arts;
  • Business and Entrepreneurship; and
  • Liberal Arts

Areas of academic focus will be determined by each student's personal Educational Development Plan (EDP).

At full enrollment, the five-year Early College High School, will serve a total of 300 students (60 at each grade level). OEC will grow to three grades (10, 11 and 12) in the 2009-2010 school year, and will enroll students in grades 9-13 by the 2011-2012 school year.

Upcoming informational sessions:

Oakland Early College will begin holding regular informational sessions and events in March of 2008.

Our first Open Houses are tentatively scheduled for:

Please watch this space for confirmation of these dates and specific locations. Additional dates will be announced soon.

For more information, contact Gary Weisserman, Interim Head of School and Director of Early College and K-16 Initiatives at the University of Michigan-Flint, at (248) 865-6477, or by email at oec@westbloomfield.k12.mi.us; or Dr. Kendra Hearn, Assistant Superintendent of West Bloomfield Public Schools, at (248) 865-6479, or by email at hearn@westbloomfield.k12.mi.us.

Is OEC for me?

We believe a student's academic success is based, in part, on the "fit" between student and school. Traditional, comprehensive high schools are not for everyone. OEC is a small, innovative school that focuses on accelerating learning--for all students--in a close-knit, supportive environment.

The best way to know if OEC is for you is to visit with us, and attend one of our upcoming information sessions. However, a few questions to consider include:

  • Are you generally happy with your high school experience? Do you feel like you've found your "niche" there?
  • Do you generally feel like you've found your educational pathway, rather than floating through your course of studies?
  • Are you generally interested in what you're learning in school? Do you usually see a point to your studies?
  • For the most part, do you feel like you're ready for college academically? Do you feel as though you'll be ready to "navigate" college?
  • Are you generally reaching your potential as a student and learner?

If the answer to any of these questions is "no," it might be investigating OEC further.

OEC isn't a traditional high school. It's also not an "alternative high school," at least not how people usually talk about alternative education. OEC's goal is to reinvent school to meet the needs of Oakland County high school students as part of their K-16 pathway, while giving students a head start on college. Small class sizes, dual enrollment opportunities, and innovative educational experiences are what we're about. (We're especially interested in helping to increase post-secondary access and opportunities, and in improving the quality of education available to students who are being underserved by traditional, comprehensive high schools.) We believe all students can learn, and we expect success--for all students.

Background: Early College Programs

(Video courtesy of Jobs For the Future)

Oakland Early College is part of a national movement in K-16 education. As of the 2007-2008 school year, there were over 160 Early College High Schools in the United States, including several in Michigan. They have achieved remarkable successes in meeting the needs of all students, and preparing students for post-secondary education.

Learn more about Early Colleges.

More about Early Colleges

According to the National Early College Initiative, which is funded and supported in part by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Jobs for the Future, early colleges focus on young people for whom the transition into postsecondary education can be problematic. The priority of these schools "is to serve low-income young people, first-generation college goers, English language learners, and students of color, all of whom are statistically underrepresented in higher education and for whom society often has low aspirations for academic achievement."

Throughout the nation, there are approximately 160 early college high schools. As of the 2006-2007 school year:

  • Over 20,000 students in 24 states are attending early college high schools.
  • Two-thirds of students enrolled in early college high schools are African-American or Latino.
  • Eight early college high schools target and serve Native students.
  • Twelve schools specifically serve students who previously dropped out or were unsuccessful in traditional high schools.
  • The majority of students enrolled in early college high schools across the nation will be the first in their family to attend college.
  • Nearly 60 percent of early college high school students are eligible for free and reduced lunch.

While the study of Early Colleges is a relatively young field, Early Colleges appear to have a substantial positive impact on college access and success, especially among underserved students. Nationally, nearly 75% of existing Early Colleges have a student body that is at least 50% minority, and 50% of Early College students qualify for federally subsidized free or reduced lunches (Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation). While longitudinal data remains sparse as the Early College movement grows, data suggests that students in Early/Middle College programs have been markedly successful. A 2006 NCREST study, for instance, found that Middle College students--of whom 80% were non-white, and 43% of whom did not speak English as their primary language--passed their college courses at an astounding rate of 96%.

According to the Early College Initiative, "in contrast to troubling national data for similar student populations, early college high schools are beating the odds for the students they serve:

  • Attendance rates for early college high school students average over 90 percent, indicating high levels of student engagement and commitment to the academic program.
  • Grade-to-grade promotion rates in early college high schools also exceed 90 percent.
  • Early College High School students outperform students in their districts on state-mandated math and English Language Arts exams.
  • The vast majority of early college high school graduates (85 percent) accumulated between a semester and two years of college credit by the time they finished high school.
  • Over 60 percent were accepted to four-year colleges, exceeding national rates for similar populations."

Early Colleges provide crucial opportunities for students. They appear to:

  • ease the physical and cultural transition to college for their students, and establish rigor by making college attendance a spoken assumption for all students;
  • provide an integrated course of study from grade 9 through the first two years of college, with scaffolding that increases the likelihood of successful matriculation at the college level
  • remove an increasingly dire economic obstacle from its students, for whom the cost of higher education is becoming an increasingly unbearable burden--especially for low-income and first-generation students who frequently cannot attend college

While OEC is designed to meet the specific needs of its students, it is fortunate to be able to draw on the Early College movement's early successes. OEC will adhere to the six design principles of the Middle College National Consortium. These include Power of the Site (embedding the program in an existing college campus, with shared resources and schedules for each); Teaching and Learning (accelerated curricula with high expectations, with special emphasis placed on multiple literacies); Student Assessment (in which authentic assessment is interwoven with classroom activities, in which assessment informs school decisions and redesign, and in which student's individual EDPs are ongoing and central to curricular efforts); Student Support (small class and school size and embedded counseling, with special attention paid to each student's educational and affective needs); Democratic School Governance (with all voices in the school heard as part of ongoing, data-driven school improvement efforts); and embedded Professional Development (with time provided during the school day).

Download the 2008-2009 OEC application.

OEC is now accepting applications from Oakland County residents, regardless of district of residency, for 10th and 11th grades for the 2008-2009 academic year! You may download the application here.

The application deadline is April 4, 2008.

Questions about the application process should contact Gary Weisserman, Interim Head of School and Director of Early College and K-16 Initiatives at the University of Michigan-Flint, at (248) 865-6477, or by email at oec@westbloomfield.k12.mi.us; or Dr. Kendra Hearn, Assistant Superintendent for West Bloomfield Public Schools, by email at hearn@westbloomfield.k12.mi.us or by phone at (248) 865-6479.

Question: How does OEC work?

OEC is a five-year Early College High School for Oakland County students grades 9-13. Students attend high school on the campus of Oakland Community College's Orchard Ridge Campus, with a college preparatory high school curriculum taught by teachers from award winning West Bloomfield Public Schools. Once students achieve mastery within a specific domain, usually by 11th grade, students begin dually enrolling in OCC courses for high school and college credit. The goal is for students to graduate with their high school diploma, awarded by West Bloomfield Public Schools, and up to 60 transferable college credits and/or their Associate Degree from Oakland Community College.

Question: Who is OEC for? Is this just for kids who already do really well in high school?

No. In fact, the history and research regarding Early College High Schools clearly show that these innovative schools are especially effective in meeting the needs of underserved students. A major purpose of Oakland Early College is to increase post-secondary access and opportunities. Our position is that a student may be underserved in many ways. Some students are underserved by virtue of socioeconomic status or geography, or by being the first generation of college students in their families. Others have career interests and educational development plans that are simply not addressed by the courses of study offered at their home schools. Still others are being served adequately academically, but have been marginalized in their home communities, or have been impacted by family and/or life circumstances. Similarly, students may be underserved vocationally if their career pathway leads towards jobs or academic tracks which have not traditionally been open to them. Some students simply come from backgrounds where continuing educational opportunities are not readily available, especially in high-poverty areas. Oakland Early College has a special commitment in meeting these students' affective, support, and academic needs.

Question: Is this a private school? How much does it cost?

No--OEC is a public school, open to students from throughout Oakland County, Michigan. There is no special out-of-pocket cost to students and their families--even for college coursework.

Question: How do I apply?

The OEC is open to all Oakland County residents. It is a selective program--not for prior success, but for appropriateness of placement. Applicants must:

  • be "on-track" for high school graduation (e.g. have earned at least 7 credits as an entering 10th grader and, at least 14 credits as an entering 11th grader), or be able to demonstrate unusual, one-time circumstances that can be reasonably addressed;
  • have an EDP that demonstrates a genuine interest in a career pathway related to Fine and Performing Arts, Business and Entrepreneurship, or the Liberal Arts;
  • have earned at least a 1.9 GPA in their previous school; or are able to clearly demonstrate the ability to succeed at the collegiate level;
  • have experienced no significant truancy problems;
  • have no history of serious disciplinary infractions; and
  • be reading at grade-level (as demonstrated on standardized test scores).

Also, prospective students must submit an application with an essay and recommendations from two teachers and a counselor, and be interviewed by staff at the OEC to demonstrate that they:

  • have the desire to attend a small high school;
  • have the potential and capability to successfully complete rigorous high school work and college courses;
  • are willing to become motivated learners in a new and exciting environment; and
  • have a genuine interest in the career pathways of focus at the OEC.

Students must also take appropriate placement tests, as determined by the college and OEC.

The application deadline is April 4, 2008.

Question: Can I play sports at OEC?

OEC students may be eligible to try out for sports teams at West Bloomfield High School. However, academic schedules take priority, and for many students, it is possible that conflicts could exist.

Question: What about other co-curricular activities?

Each year, OEC will seek to design high school-level activities that meet the specific interests of its students. Students will also, however, have extensive student life opportunities through Oakland Community College, as appropriate.

Question: Is transportation provided?

Students are required to provide their own transportation to and from OEC. SMART has a stop right at the OCC campus, which makes it an attractive option for many students.