VIDEO: Golden Triangle Early College High School Is Continuing To Grow And Impact Students

MAYHEW, Miss. (WCBI)-An innovative high school is starting its third year with a new class and higher enrollment.

The Golden Triangle Early College High School began three years ago with its freshman class, those freshmen are now the school’s first junior class, and a new crop of ninth graders have come in.

There are nearly 200 students enrolled at GTECHS this year.

For Shakia Butler, her decision to enroll at the Golden Triangle Early College High School was simple. She wanted to be challenged academically and be prepared for college once she graduates.

“I loved it when I first got here, but then once the work started coming in I was like whew, this is a lot, but then what made it good was I had teachers that supported me, and then when I needed help they were there,” said Butler, who’s a junior at GTECHS. “It’s like a family type of vibe here.”

Now three years later, she’s already taken five courses towards a college degree.

“I feel like I’ve accomplished a lot since I’m so young because I know people my age don’t even have this many hours right now,” Butler expressed.

“It’s like when I tell people I’m taking college classes there like, wow you’re in college, so I like to tell them yeah, I’m doing college while I’m in high school,” said Ramzy Smith, who’s a sophomore at GTECHS.

Students said it’s the family atmosphere and one-on-one interaction with teachers that helps them excel in the classroom.

“Teachers were always amazing,” Smith explained. “They wanted to build a relationship with you, you could always talk to them if you were having trouble, so that also made studying and learning a lot easier for me.”

“There’s not really a secret, it’s just teachers are allowed to do what they do best and that’s teach kids,” said Lisa Elmore, counselor at GTECHS. “There is no canned program that we use here, there is no one textbook, there is no one series of anything that we do. The teachers teach to the best of their ability and their style, and the kids get on board.”

Elmore said she’s seen firsthand how GTECHS has helped students mature since they’ve been on-campus.

“There were lots of tears at first, but they kinda learned how we did it, and they got used to it, and now they work so well in groups,” Elmore explained.”They can speak in front of anybody, they give tours of our campus all the time. They’ve just matured so much and it’s fun to watch.”

As of now only freshman, sophomores, and juniors are enrolled at the school.

However, next year will be the first year for GTECHS to have all four classes enrolled on its campus.