Havelock's Early College EAST takes flight

HAVELOCK — Students arriving Wednesday for the opening of Havelock’s new Early College EAST don’t yet have their own building.

But Craven County Schools officials are optimistic and excited about the future of the new venture that will focus on science, technology and engineering for students.

“It’s a miracle day,” said Annette Brown, assistant superintendent for curriculum and accountability for Craven County Schools. “Getting Early College EAST has been quite a task. It’s gone from here to the State Department (of Public Instruction).”

Brown said renovations to the old vocational building at Havelock Middle School where the students will take classes were more extensive than originally believed. The work has yet to be completed, but that won’t slow the school staff that is welcoming its first 50 students Wednesday, Brown said.

Students will gather for the first day of class at the Havelock campus of Craven Community College and in empty classrooms at Havelock Middle School. Brown said an estimate on when the building could be used isn’t available, but added that Havelock Middle did have enough room to handle some of the 50 Early College students without disruptions for regular students who arrive on Aug. 25.

Brown said the $350,000 renovation cost is more than a $200,000 grant from the Golden Leaf Foundation that was to cover the cost of the renovation.

“We are over budget, but this is a school of the future,” Brown said. “We have backing from the state because our vision is so clear.”

That vision involves teaching students not only the basic curriculum of high school but also teaching technology and engineering that will lead toward a two-year college degree and possible employment at Cherry Point’s Fleet Readiness Center East aircraft rework facility.

“It was designed to be an economic impact school. It was designed to be a workforce development school,” she said of the opportunity graduates will have to find employment in what she said was a growing aerospace industry in the area.

“The aerospace industry is the emerging culture of North Carolina,” she said. “And, we know what it means to us here.”

She said one of the important aspects of the school is the opportunity to keep young people in the area with good-paying jobs at FRC East.

“We want our kids learning and training and going to FRC East,” she said. “We need them here. We don’t want to lose them. In the next few years, we’ll reap the rewards.”

Early College EAST will have Alan Quinn, the former assistant principal at Havelock High School, as its principal. It will include a partnership with the Havelock campus at Craven Community College, where the Institute of Aeronautical Technology is located and where students will receive instruction in engineering and technology.

Students will graduate with a high school diploma as well as a two-year associate’s degree or transferable college credits in five years.

Brown said not only are local school officials excited, but also state officials, who she said have seen fit to help fund the school because of its unique curriculum.

“It’s going to be a model to replicate across the state,” she said.