Why Enroll at Early College - Early College High

Early College High School is a unique learning institution that serves 347 students from the surrounding communities and is located on the Dallas College Brookhaven campus in Farmers Branch, Texas. Our highly qualified staff includes 16 instructors, 1 counselor, 1 principal, 1 assistant principal and 6 support staff committed to fostering a learning environment that transforms students' dreams into realities. ECHS has established strong connections with local organizations that allows it to serve others.

Early College High School students strive to become high achievers who value personal development and servitude. Families learn early on that once you enroll as a student you also join your new family. ECHS strives to always be a safe space for families, staff, and the community. At Early College each person is known by name and is able to find a place that fits either through clubs, leadership and service opportunities, and more! One of the best things about the school sis that each student has the opportunity to earn an Associate Degree, free of charge, along with a high school diploma.

Programs

Community & Family

Mission & Vision

The Path to Success

Expert Teachers

All of our teachers in CFBISD are certified in the core subject areas. Every faculty member attends at least one AVID Summer Institute every three years. This is a minimum expectation. Teams of 5-7 teachers spend three full days transferring new knowledge and skills into the development of campus goals within the Coaching and Certification Instrument (CCI). ECHS is a schoolwide AVID site. Since every student takes an AVID class, every year our teachers must remain engaged with the proven methodologies that increase inquiry, collaboration, and organization skills in students. Additionally, all professional staff are encouraged to seek out learning seminars/conferences both in and out of the district. Recently, the English Language Arts department created their own off-campus PD session to design lessons that infused SAT/ACT content into their English courses. Mathematics teachers arranged to attend the ‘Laying the Foundation’ conference while science teachers attended the annual conference of the Science Teachers Association of Texas. School Title 1 money funds all faculty professional development sessions. Upon return from a conference, faculty conduct a turn-around presentation to their colleagues on the newly acquired knowledge and skills either during designated staff development time or in a faculty meeting. Additionally, the campus professional learning community comes to life during the three Instructional Rounds debriefing meetings throughout the year. Correlations between the classroom observation data and the 6-week PD learning cycle objectives occur. Collectively these learning experiences increase relational capacity among peers and stimulate creativity and innovation within each individual.

Student Life & Leadership

At ECHS students can participate in:

Advanced Placement Courses:

Spanish
Human Geography
English Literature
English Language and Composition

Performing and Visual Arts Activities:

Theatre Show (Play)
Choir Show (Holiday)
Exhibits and Gallery Shows
Visual Arts - Drawing competition
Talent Show performances

High School & College Clubs:

ECHS Student Executive Boards
ECHS Student Council
ECHS IGNITE
ECHS Girls Empowered by Mentoring
ECHS Girls Who Code
ECHS Coloring Club
ECHS Big Bear/Little Bear
ECHS B.E. K.I.N.D.
ECHS Junior World Affairs Council
ECHS C-FB Interact Club
ECHS Chess Club
ECHS Gamers
ECHS Dungeons and Dragons Club
ECHS National Hispanic Engineers Society
ECHS Texas Association for Future Educators
ECHS Dallas County Promise Challenge Club
ECHS DECA (Distributive Education)
ECHS Louder Than a Bomb - Poetry
BHC Student Government Association
BHC Phi Theta Kappa
BHC College Activities Board (CAB)
BHC Student Leadership Institution
BHC Student Ambassadors
BHC Green Team Coalition
BHC Korean Culture Club
BHC Pan-American Club

Parent & Community Partners

Service Opportunities & Partnerships

CFBISD invites you to volunteer, become a mentor, community ambassador, business partner, and more. Whether it's your time, material donations, or monetary gifts, we welcome your support. Please visit our Community & Volunteers website for more information on ways to get involved.

ECHS Parent Teacher Student Association

ECHS PTSA is focused on building relationships, providing educational opportunities, advocating for all students, and supporting positive, child-focused legislation.

Their mission is helping provide every child what they need to reach their full potential.

Early College High School PTSA was one of 540 PTAs nationwide that actively participated in the 2019-2020 National PTA School of Excellence program. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, National PTA postponed the program. However, with the generous support of TikTok, $5000 grants were offered to these local PTAs. ECHS PTSA applied and won the grant.

ECHS PTSA chose the area of ‘Food Insecurity’. With the $4,000 from the phase 1 grant ECHS PTSA had enough money to help 20 families with $200 worth of food. Incidentally, they had 27 families request assistance. To fud these additional seven families they raised an additional $1400. They collected money from generous school and community donors. They took these 27 families to the local Walmart and paid $200 for their groceries. This project was called 'Feed Our ECHS Families'.

From the phase 2 funds, they raised an additional $350 to supplement the $1000 grant (ECHS - Back to School Relief) to enable our 27 families to purchase school supplies ($50 per family) for their students including hand sanitizer, kleenex and face masks. The monetary support helped prepare their children to start the school year.

Campus

2019 & 2020 College Success Award

Early College High School has earned a 2019 and 2020 College Success Award based on its success in preparing students for college and ultimately a career.

ECHS is rated above average in school quality compared to other schools in Texas. Students here are making above average year-over-year academic improvement, have above average college readiness measures, ECHS has above average results in how well it’s serving disadvantaged students, and students perform above average on state tests.

2020 National Blue Ribbon School

Early College High School was named a 2020 National Blue Ribbon School based on the school's high academic performance. The recognition is based on a school's overall academic performance or progress in closing achievement gaps among student subgroups.

The coveted National Blue Ribbon Schools award affirms educators’, families’, and communities' hard work in creating safe and welcoming schools where students master challenging and engaging content. ECHS is one of only 26 schools in the state of Texas to receive the award this year.

Now in its 38th year, the National Blue Ribbon Schools Program has bestowed recognition on more than 9,000 schools. The Department recognizes all schools in one of two performance categories, based on all student scores, student subgroup scores, and graduation rates:

Exemplary High Performing Schools are among their state's highest performing schools as measured by state assessments or nationally normed tests.

The Early College High School staff, in partnership with Dallas College, has created a long-lasting transformative educational experience that drives inspiration, innovation, and dedication. Collectively, the students, parents, faculty and community partners have worked very hard to earn this distinction

Early College High School enrolls approximately 340 students in grades 9-12 and is a repeat award recipient having earned the honor in 2014. ECHS graduates received more than $8 million in scholarship awards last year with over 80% of the graduating class earning an associate degree of Arts or Science.

Profile

Application

2014 National Blue Ribbon School

Early College High School was one of the 340 schools that the U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan designated as National Blue Ribbon Schools for 2014 based on their overall academic excellence or their progress in closing achievement gaps among student subgroups.

ECHS demonstrated that all students can achieve to high levels.

The recognition ceremony was on November in Washington, D.C. and Early College High School received a plaque and a flag as symbols of its status as National Blue Ribbon School.

This accomplishment is proudly displayed at school recruitment and community fair events. The student-designed college preparation website contains this reference.

Interview with the 2014 ECHS Principal, Mr. Michael Arreola: ECHS NBRS 2014

Profile

Application

Students holding the national blue ribbon award flag

Staff

2019 Unsung Hero Award - Nikita Fisher

Ms. Niki Fisher was named the 2019 campus and the district-wide Unsung Hero. Thank you Ms. Fisher for all that you do for our students, staff and Brookhaven College partner.

2025 Teacher of the Year - Tri Dinh

In the Spring of 2025 Mr. Dinh was crowned the Secondary ECHS teacher of the year. He has taught in CFBISD for over 2

Virtual Campus Tour

Principal
Timothy Isaly
isalyt@cfbisd.edu

For enrollment questions:
Nicole Lokken
Registration Clerk
lokkenn@cfbisd.edu

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Early College High School - Student Perspective

“If a bright future as a citizen and as a leader is something you aspire to, come take a seat at Early College High School. Like me you’ll be glad you did.”

ECHS Staff Member

"This school can be challenging and there’s so many obstacles along the way but you get to learn a whole lot more, you get to make new friends. Your relationships with teachers and your classmates get to be a lot more closer than a normal high school since our school is a very small school so that could also help you go through the challenges along the way.”

ECHS Student

“The teachers, and staff, and principal are passionate about teaching and are focused on the development and helping all students to be successful after graduation. We are proud to be a part of this community.”

ECHS Parent