'Comfortable' vibe at Lenoir County Early College helps quell freshman jitters

Jowiryah Abdelgawad, left, and Layla Edwards in Elizabeth Vick-Smith’s English class Tuesday at Lenoir County Early College High School.

They are 15 years old and in their final year of high school, already connected to college-level classes and closing in on a two-year college degree. And they are not that different from their fellow classmates at Lenoir County Early College High School.

When the school opened for its 20th year of classes on Monday, Trevis Dilday, Layla Edwards and Jowiryah Abdelgawad – all former classmates at EB Frink Middle School – began their second year at Early College. The first day this year was considerably easier than their first day last year, they agreed.

“We’re just more used to the environment,” Trevis said. “We’re not as nervous because of how close we were with the teachers beforehand. We kind of know them.”

“The second year is definitely more relaxing,” Jowiryah said. “We know everyone now. I feel like we’re all very comfortable with each other.”

That close-knit atmosphere, a byproduct of the school’s smaller student body and resulting small class size, has been a trademark of Early College since LCPS opened the high school on the campus of Lenoir Community College in 2007. It is still a primary reason students from across the county apply for admission, according to sixth-year principal Steve Saint-Amand.

“The atmosphere is different,” Saint-Amand said. “Our kids do love the freedoms we do have here, being a smaller school on a college campus. They know they are here for an education. It’s not necessarily what the traditional high school setting is at times, at least in their minds.”

More than 100 students from LCPS’s four middle schools, as well as private schools and homeschools, applied to enter Early College as freshman for the current school year. The school accepted 50, a slightly smaller group than in recent years due to Early College’s desire to keep classes small.

The student body numbers about 255, with students in their third, fourth or – if desired – fifth year studying as full-fledged college students, done with high school requirements and working toward associate degrees from LCC.

Of the 51 members of Early College’s Class of 2026, 49 graduates earned associate degrees and 13 of those each earned two associate degrees. That class secured $2.8 million in scholarship offers, a record for the school. Saint-Amand expects as good or better results from the Class of 2027, the largest-ever group of seniors at 60, and is confident Early College will continue to trend toward success.

“This class of in-coming students is going to be a very good class,” the principal said. “We do try to accept students who we feel confident can achieve a two-year degree. They don’t have to be the best students. They don’t have to be all-A students – we don’t look for al-A students – however, we do need to make sure we have students who are committed to being the best they can be and are going to give the effort. Every freshman we have, no matter what credits they bring from middle school, is going to be taking college classes from Day One. They have got to be ready.”

That expectation, as well as the standard Early College has set as the top academic school in the district , is enough to give a young freshman the jitters. Layla Edwards remembers.

“I was really nervous coming to this school because I thought the workload was going to be really overwhelming,” she said. “But they have it kind of formulated and set up where we have due dates and everybody is always on top of us, making sure we get our work done. It’s hard to fail because the teachers are always here to help us and get things figured out.”

“They treat us like adults,” Trevis added.

He is considering a career in engineering or technology. Layla and Jowiryah would like to work in the field of psychology. Early College is their best path forward, they feel.

“I feel like coming to this school is a lot about your future, rather than just the high school experience now,” Layla said. “It’s building you up to get better scholarships and possibly have a better career path because of the free education we are provided.”