The Hurst-Euless-Bedford Independent School District announced its plans to join TCC for the 2025-2026 school year as the college’s 30th collegiate academy.
The academy, set to share the NE Campus with Birdville and Grapevine-Colleyville collegiate schools, would allow students to simultaneously graduate with a high school diploma and 60 college credit hours for select pathways.
“We want this school to be a place that students can go who really want to go to college, who maybe aren’t quite where they want to be,” Stacy Force, HEB ISD’s coordinator of counseling and guidance said. “[We want] to give that individualized attention and support starting in the ninth grade to introduce the students to a college atmosphere.”
HEB ISD will supply books and staff while TCC will cover tuition costs. According to TCC’s director of educational partnerships Edward Hicks, this is indicative of the value the college places on this opportunity.
“We see these as a huge service for our community – to the student body and to the economy of Tarrant County,” he said. “These are now educated individuals who will be able to give back to the workforce as well as make a living wage for themselves.”
While the program’s focus is obtaining an associate degree, HEB ISD Superintendent Joe Harrington said the district also understands the academy’s role in developing students for certifications and trades.
“To me, the most important thing is these kids are ready for whatever is next in their life,” he said. “Naturally, it’s going to elevate their maturity and help them be better prepared for college or better prepared to go into the workforce.”
Despite HEB ISD starting high school in the tenth grade, the academy will begin in the ninth grade. Force said they’re prepared to ease incoming freshman’s transition from junior high.
“Our goal is to get them ready so they can fly from the nest and be successful and feel good about going into those classes,” she said. “Us training them how to speak to adults … what is a good way to approach people if you’re trying to find a study buddy out in your classes and you don’t have any HEB students in there?”
Along with meeting Texas Education Agency requirements, the academy’s future principal Toby Givens said the district’s goal was to ensure the student body mirrored HEB ISD’s demographics, including the 61% of those economically disadvantaged.
“[We want] to try to serve some of the traditionally underserved students that may not have thought about college and whose parents may not have talked to them about college and that expectation.” he said.
Hicks said, for many, the academy’s accessibility and cost-effectiveness could determine whether they continue on into higher education.
“These students are usually first-generation or low-income students,” he said. “Or students who may never have the opportunity to attend a post-secondary institution. Now, not only are they attending a post-secondary institution but they’re doing it in high school for free.”
Force asked current TCC students for compassion toward their high school classmates during their transition to college.
“From the TCC student side, just be patient, be kind, and offer to help when they see what the student might be struggling with,” she said. “Realize for some of them, especially those juniors, that’s their first college-level class where they are out in the general population of TCC. Just help them feel like they belong, even though they are a high school student.”
However, Harrington said the collegiate students would be expected to meet TCC’s academic and behavioral standards and ensured the curriculum would remain at a college level of complexity and quality.
“They have requirements of a college student, so there’s going to be times that it is going to be a challenge,” he said. “[Teachers] have got to be ready to help and support, but the kids have to understand, ‘I’m taking on this challenge.’”
Attendees of a public informational session expressed concern about the lack of available extracurriculars, including Duncan Dotson, a parent considering transferring their child, Elsa Dotson, from a Dallas middle school.
“With it being a smaller school, I’m concerned about it being resourced well,” he said. “The other thing I’m concerned about is sports and music. I know that’s something [Elsa] is passionate about so we’re trying to figure out what that trade-off is going to be.”
Elsa said despite the challenge of a new campus, she’s excited about the benefits of a smaller school.
“The period where I would be getting help in tutoring, I’m excited for that,” she said. “I feel like in other schools I haven’t had the opportunity to be catered to, but the idea of a college is a little intimidating.”
During the session, Force assured the school would prioritize creating a culture that supports student interests, including scheduling time in the school day for recreational activities.
“There will be, during the clubs and organization period, avenues for students to have an art club, maybe a drawing club or sculpting club,” she said. “There will be opportunities that are student-led if the student has a passion for something.”
With the last HEB ISD secondary school added over 30 years ago, Harrington said the district’s been planning this newest addition for years.
“TCC had some change in leadership and that set us back again and so everything came together to make sure that it was going to work out the way we had hoped it would work out,” he said. “This has been a tough time for a lot districts, but we’ve been working on this a long time.”
GISD Collegiate Academy Principal Lauren Jackson discouraged parents from dismissing the school because of its infancy.
“Don’t despise small beginnings,” she said. “If you’re looking for something innovative and different and an opportunity to stand out, an opportunity to get ahead, an early college high school is the way to go.”
