Southeastern Early College and Career Academy
3001 East First Street
Vidalia, Georgia 30474
Georgia Career Academies Project III Quarterly Report
Sept.30, 2012
Mission and Goals
The mission of Southeastern Early College and Career Academy (SECCA) is to
ensure a viable 21st century workforce for Toombs, Montgomery and Treutlen
counties. SECCA is Georgia’s first regional charter college and career
academy. The charter’s performance-based goals are as follows:
1. SECCA will cause the public high schools in Montgomery, Toombs and
Treutlen counties and Vidalia City to exceed the majority of USDE
benchmarks in Perkins’s accountability measures in every year of this
Agreement.
2. SECCA will cause the percentage of high school students dual-enrolled in
career and technical post-secondary programs to increase by 2% in every
year of this Agreement.
3. SECCA will increase the number of high school students in work-based
learning programs by 2.5% per year during the period of this Agreement.
4. SECCA will help the public high schools in Montgomery, Toombs and
Treutlen counties and Vidalia City increase the number of students graduating
annually who meet the requirements of the new State Graduation Rule. This
improvement will be calculated by comparing the graduation rates of students
who attend SECCA against the average graduation rate of all students from
the public high schools in Montgomery, Toombs and Treutlen counties and
Vidalia City who do not attend SECCA. The Charter School graduation rate
will exceed the average of all “feeder” high schools, and SECCA’s graduation
rate will increase by 1% annually.
5. As a result of the educational opportunities offered at SECCA, starting after
SECCA’s first full year of instruction, 70% of the students who attend SECCA
and receive at least one technical certificate will be employed in a job directly
related to that certificate or enrolled in post secondary education within six
months of graduation from high school. The above measure will increase by
2% per year, such that 90% of SECCA students will achieve this measure by
the last year of this Agreement.
The State Board of Education approved the charter for SECCA on March 12,
2009, for a five-year term, and the school opened in August 2009 with its first
class in Automotive Technology in temporary space at Vidalia City High School
while the SECCA building was under construction.
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Partnerships
The Partnerships among the four school Districts, Vidalia City Schools, Toombs
County Schools, Montgomery County Schools, Treutlen County Schools, and
Southeastern Technical College have continued to be strengthened as we have
met such challenges as developing a common calendar, planning for and
scheduling classes in our new building in August 2011, hiring initial staff, and
solving transportation issues. These partnerships have been greatly facilitated
by the leadership of our Director of High School Programs, Dr. Ryan Flowers, as
he has worked directly with principals and counselors at the four partner high
schools. Dr. Flowers has also made numerous presentations to students, Boards
of Education and civic groups.
Budget
Our facility was funded by combining $4 million in bond funds granted to
Southeastern Technical College for an Automotive Building with the TCSG bond
funds ($2,778,000) granted for the career academy and was completed in May,
2011.
We used remaining funds from the implementation grant to purchase equipment
for the new building. The five partners are providing funds (based upon FTE
count) for administrative and instructional staff for SECCA.
Our 2012-2013 budget is $391,000.00. Revenue comes primarily from FTE
earnings. We are fortunate to have significant in-kind resources contributed by
the five partners.
Governance & Leadership
The Board of Directors of Southeastern Early College and Career Academy is
comprised of the following, per the charter:
Five ex-officio members constitute the Executive Board and are non-voting
members of the Board of Directors:
 The President of Southeastern Technical College (Dr. Cathryn Mitchell)
 The Superintendent of Montgomery County Schools (Mr. Randy Rodgers)
 The Superintendent of Toombs County Schools (Dr. Kim Corley)
 The Superintendent of Treutlen County Schools (Mr. Charles Ellington)
 The Superintendent of Vidalia City Schools (Dr. Garrett Wilcox)
The Directors are comprised as follows:
 One member from each participating Board of Education who is an elected
member of said Local Board:
Montgomery County Schools (Deloris James)
Toombs County Schools (Darriel Nobles)
Treutlen County Schools (Jeff Raiford)
Vidalia City Schools (Bruce Asberry)
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One member from the Board of Directors of Southeastern Technical College
(Mr. Andy Kimbell)
Four parents (one from each school system and who are not employees of a
Board of Education or Southeastern Technical College):
Montgomery County Schools (Tammy Dixon)
Toombs County Schools (Ann Owens)
Treutlen County Schools (Xandra Johnson)
Vidalia City Schools (Cindy Hudson)
Two at-large business representatives recommended by the Executive Board:
Mr. Tom Peterson IV
Ms. Sandra Kate Hendrix
The SECCA Board of Directors meets monthly on the third Thursday at 6pm at
STC.
Timelines
Construction of SECCA’s new facility was completed in May 2011. The official
“ribbon cutting” for the new building was held on August 1. Classes began in the
building for both the career academy and Southeastern Technical College in
August, 2011
Students from the four partner high schools are now attending SECCA classes in
the new building.
We are in the construction phase of retrofitting a part of our building to serve as a
state-of-the-art Junior RPTC lab. This project includes an outside storage facility,
a rappelling tower, and marching pads. This project will be completed in midOctober. According to our Senior Army Instructor, this facility will be one of the
finest high school labs in the country. We currently have 183 students in this
program with two full-time instructors.
Career & College Focus
SECCA partners are participating in dual enrollment (college technical classes
taken by high school students) and ACCEL (college academic classes taken by
high school students) both of which were major purposes behind SECCA’s
founding. The dual enrollment courses, in particular, are focused on careers for
which jobs are available in the community.
* Please see attachment (Southeastern Early College and Career Academy
Update 9/10/12)
Grade Levels
SECCA is enrolling students in 11th and 12th grades, with select 9th and 10th
graders. In addition, the partnership is working on programs to reach down into
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middle and elementary levels to introduce career and college principles to
students at an early age.
Enrollment & Student Focus
** Please see attached report showing enrollment numbers by programs.
Student Support
SECCA is working very closely with the counselors at all four districts’ feeder
high schools. Principals and counselors of the high schools are included in
encouraging and evaluating student achievement and engagement.
Standards & Curriculum
Community input is consistently sought in the ongoing development of
curriculum programs.
Superintendents from the four districts are engaged through Executive
Committee meetings regarding how the curriculum at the career academy might
enhance their offerings in the math and science areas.
Structure
SECCA’s culture is evolving as we promote work ethic and career focus.
SECCA’s Board of Directors (see Governance above) meets monthly.
Cooperation and support from the five partners continues to be exemplary. We
do not have to deal with many of the challenges faced by charter schools
because we have total support from the four local superintendents involved. Also,
our tremendous support from the technical college enables us to operate
economically and efficiently in our facility.
Faculty & Staff
SECCA hired an interim CEO for the implementation phase of SECCA. The
CEO is continuing as a consultant under an amended contract through June
2013. The Board has contracted with Dr. Ryan Flowers (currently CTAE
Supervisor for Vidalia City Schools) to serve as Director of High School
Programs for SECCA. Dr. Flowers serves as the instructional leader for SECCA.
SECCA has full-time automotive instructor, two Junior ROTC instructors,
and a cosmetology instructor. Additional faculty and staff will be added through
agreements with the five partners.
Evaluation
The Director of High School Programs is working to create the student
performance database called for in the charter and referenced in the Evaluation
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Plan in the grant application. Performance data for 2011-2012 will be available in
the Yearly Charter School Report to the Department of Education.
Cycle of Improvement
SECCA continues to use the implementation and evaluation plans submitted in
the grant application as the basis for SECCA’s accountability plans.
Charter School Law
The State Board of Education approved the charter for SECCA on March 12,
2009, and the school opened for high school students in August 2009. The
charter contract was signed by all partners and hand delivered to the State Board
of Education in May 2009.
For additional information contact:
Dr. Barbara Christmas, Interim CEO
bchristmas@southeasterntech.edu
or
Dr. Ryan Flowers, Director of High School Programs
rflowers@vidalia-city.k12.ga.us
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