Stokes Early College High School

Stokes Early College is located in Walnut Cove, N.C. on the Stokes Campus of Forsyth Tech. It is part of the Stokes County Schools and is financed and coordinated in cooperation with the North Carolina New Schools Project, the Learn and Earn Division of the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, and Forsyth Technical Community College.
Stokes Early College opened in the fall of 2009 with 48 ninth grade students. The school was organized so that at least fifty rising ninth grade students were admitted each year until the school housed grades nine through twelve. Due to the nature of the program, the high school only accepts rising ninth grade students. Stokes Early College is a public school that draws students from all parts of the Stokes County School District. However, it is selective in admissions and has high expectations of its students. Stokes Early College gives strong consideration to students who are the first in their families to attend college, economically disadvantaged students, students academically at-risk, and those traditionally underrepresented in higher education. However, all interested students are strongly encouraged to apply for admission to Stokes Early College.
Students at Stokes Early College experience a rigorous academic schedule throughout all five years. The five-year program enables students to accomplish in five years what would normally be a six-year process – graduating with a high school diploma and an associate of arts degree from an accredited community college. Therefore, the underclass schedule is very rigorous because of the expectation that most of a student’s high school credits will be attained by the time the student enters his or her junior year. Classes are taught on a modified block schedule with holidays that align with Forsyth Tech's schedule.
All students have dual enrollment. They are enrolled in both Forsyth Technical Community College and in the Stokes County school system. Juniors and seniors take classes taught largely by Forsyth Tech instructors. Several of these courses count both towards a student’s remaining high school credits and also as college credits. As long as students take classes covered under the Comprehensive Articulation Agreement of the North Carolina public universities, their college credits will transfer to the North Carolina public university system. Upon admission within the University of North Carolina system, many enter as sophomores with college credit and often become juniors during their second semester.