North Carolina's Cooperative Innovative High Schools, consisting of early colleges and other innovative high schools, are small public high schools, usually located on a university or community college campus, which expand students’ opportunities for educational success through high-quality instructional programming.

Cooperative Innovative High Schools target students who are at risk of dropping out of high school, first-generation college students, and/or students who would benefit from accelerated learning opportunities. Currently, North Carolina has 134 Cooperative Innovative High Schools, including 123 funded partnerships. Students interested in attending one of these schools should contact their school district central office or the principal at the school for information about the selection and enrollment process. LEAs interested in creating a Cooperative Innovative High School must apply in partnership with an Institution of Higher Education. 

For more information, visit the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction’s website.

All EHCS students will initially start working towards earning an Associate of Arts degree. If they decide to do so, they may request to pursue their Associate of Science degree. This requires more math and sciences courses, and students must demonstrate high academic proficiency in entry-level college coursework before applying for this degree change. 

Our students can earn six credits during any semester of our program, whereas students typically only have the potential to earn four credits per semester at a traditional school. Except for NC Math I and SOAR (Student Opportunity for Academic Resilience), all classes are considered honors-level courses. As such, our classes' workload and rigor expectations are higher since students earn extra quality points toward their final grade point average for honors coursework. We do not, however, offer Advanced Placement courses or AP Capstone classes. Most VGCC courses are now eight weeks long, which requires students to have a higher level of commitment and personal responsibility for staying on top of their studies and academic requirements. A good home internet connection is strongly encouraged for all students.

No, students need not be identified as AIG to apply for admission to ECHS.

EHCS prides itself on being a small, close-knit learning community dedicated to ensuring the success of all students. As such, we offer opportunities for tutoring, both with peers and certified staff, peer mentoring, and one-on-one sessions with the school counselor and principal. VGCC also offers tutoring services free of charge.

Students are still eligible to ride a Franklin County Schools bus. The buses run through the student’s base high school. A base high school is the school your student is assigned to attend should they not be accepted into our program (Bunn High School, Franklinton High School, Louisburg High School). Once students arrive at their base high school, they board a shuttle bus to bring them to our campus. In the afternoons, students may catch a shuttle bus back to their base school and then ride their assigned bus home.

All ECHS students can participate in sports and extracurricular activities through their base high school. Our shuttle buses arrive back at their base schools in time for after-school activities and athletic participation. See the NCHSAA handbook and each base school’s policy for more information.

Our application opens for rising freshmen on Thursday, December 1st, 2022, and will close on Friday, February 10th, 2023. We are not able to admit upperclassmen into our program. Applicants will be notified by March 31, 2023, if they are accepted into our program. Click here to complete the application.

Students who are not selected for a Franklin County Schools Choice program, like ECHS, are assigned to their base school depending on their board-designated attendance zone. Our local traditional schools are Bunn High School, Franklinton High School, and Louisburg High.