Starting with the 2025-2026 school year, incoming Freshman students in the program will simultaneously complete their high school graduation requirements and the community college intersegmental general education transfer curriculum (Cal-GETC) with an option to take courses towards their major of study.

Applicants must be incoming 9th grade students to the program. It is not mandatory but rather highly recommended that incoming Early College student applicants take and complete the TUSD Early College Readiness Course during the 4th Quarter of their 8th grade year.   

Another added benefit of the program is that it is completely free for North and Torrance High students. The cost of tuition, books, and transportation from ECC to North and Torrance High are covered by the program. Students will be responsible for their own transportation to ECC to start their day.

Students who apply and are accepted into the program choose to participate knowing that it is a 4-year program and 4-year commitment.

At this time, students only can join the early college program as incoming 9th graders. Students may take other dual enrollment courses.

AA = Associate of Arts Degree and AS = Associate of Science Degree

The California General Education Transfer Curriculum (Cal-GETC) is the singular general education pathway for California Community College (CCC) students to fulfill lower-division general education requirements necessary for transfer and admission to both the California State University (CSU) and the University of California (UC). The curriculum and its policies are overseen by the Intersegmental Committee of the Academic Senates (ICAS), representing faculty from California’s three segments of public higher education. per AB 928 (Berman, 2021).

Yes, potentially.

Interested incoming 9th-grade students will complete and submit the North and Torrance High Early College online application by the deadline noted below, which includes a teacher recommendation form being completed by their 8th-grade English teacher by January 17, 2025.

• 2024-2025 School Year EC Application Timeline:  
  • Application Opens: Wednesday, December 4, 2024
  • Initial Application Deadline: Friday, January 17, 2025
    Note: If space is available, applications will continue to be accepted until the program is filled.
  • Student application review period: January 21 - February 19, 2025
  • Student Acceptance Notifications: February 19, 2025

Yes, on the application, your child has the opportunity to select between the North or Torrance High School Early College programs or select both. If selecting Torrance High School, your child will be able to select between the following Career Pathways available:

• Business Administration 2.0 
• Pre-Allied Health (pending)
• Child Development
• Fire and Emergency Technology
• Digital ART (DART): Art, Media, Entertainment certificate

Yes. All students are eligible including those with an IEP and 504 plans.

We recommend parents attend the workshop so that they can assist their student in completing the ECC application.

A parent or guardian can attend the workshop in the student’s place, if needed. If a parent or guardian cannot attend, other arrangements can be made.

Students who are accepted into the Early College Program will need to confirm their desire to join the program in the early spring (late February-early March).

All TUSD 8th grade students are invited to apply and all completed applications, with accompanying teacher recommendations, will be reviewed. The programs will be located at North High School, with a priority given to students who are attending Casimir Middle School or Magruder Middle School, as well as at Torrance High School, with priority given to students who are attending Hull Middle School and Madrona Middle School. TUSD students who live in other areas within the district may open enroll to North and Torrance High to participate in the program, as well as non-resident (out-of-District permit) students, if space is available. 

Alternate students are asked to join the program if, and when, a student who was initially chosen is no longer available to participate. Unfortunately, it is difficult to predict if that will happen.

Interested 8th grade students will need to complete and submit the TUSD Early College online application along with a recommendation from their current English teacher by the deadline date noted. If accepted into the program students will automatically be enrolled. Students not residing in the North High or Torrance High attendance areas will additionally require an Open Enrollment permit into North or Torrance High School (a process that TUSD will assist with).  Please note: 8th-grade TUSD students will need to log in to their TUSD student Google account to access the application.

Casimir and Magruder Middle Schools feed directly into North High School (NHS). This north-area connection makes for a smooth transition from middle to high school. Students have the opportunity while at Casimir and Magruder to build relationships with students they will be moving on to high school with the following year, in addition to familizing themselves with the North High campus either through taking honor courses their 8th grade year at NHS and/or through the many 8th grade articulation activities and events at NHS. Additionally, students from both Casimir and Magruder will have the opportunity to take the Early College Readiness Course at North High within the school year with transportation back to their feeder middle school site.

The same information and benefit are true for Hull and Madrona students in relation to the Torrance High Early College program.

This program is for students who are enrolled at North and Torrance High.  Students who live in other areas of Torrance are also eligible for the program, but they will have to attend (via open enrollment process) North or Torrance High if they are accepted. Dual enrollment courses are currently offered at South High and West High, but neither school has an Early College program. Refer to the South and West High websites for dual enrollment courses offered.  

If a student who does not live in the North or Torrance High area is accepted in the program, they will be allowed to enroll at North and Torrance High through Open Enrollment. The student will be enrolled at North or Torrance High and attend North or Torrance High classes alongside the El Camino College classes.

The student will need to be enrolled at North or Torrance High in order to participate in the North and Torrance High Early College program.  The student may not attend another TUSD high school.

Yes, TUSD will assist the student and family with the Open Enrollment process over to North and Torrance High.

Currently the cohort is 70 students. Enrollment may increase depending on interest and acceptance into the program.

Yes, the Zero period class will be offered on the TUSD High School campus during the students’ 8th grade year. The course will be offered during quarter 4 for 10 weeks for accepted feeder middle school students (Magruder/Casimir for North High and Madrona/Hull for Torrance High) or in the summer for students accepted from non-feeder middle schools.

Casmir and Magruder 8th-grade students accepted into the program will automatically have the opportunity to be enrolled in the Spring/Quarter 4 Readiness Course at North High. The same benefits are true for Hull and Madrona students with the Torrance High Early College program. The middle school will assist students with this process. Students attending other TUSD middle schools or middle schools outside of the area will have the opportunity to participate in the Readiness Course over the summer session.

Yes, the Q4 Early College Readiness class is Monday through Friday, during zero period (7:30 am - 8:23 am).

Students can be dropped off at any of the entrance gates to campus.  The closest entrances to the classrooms are the 182nd Street entrances for NHS, and near the front of the campus for THS.

8th grade students currently taking courses at North and Torrance High School can arrive on campus for the Early College Program readiness class for zero period and continue in their day with any other North and Torrance High courses they are enrolled in.

Students will receive a Pass/No Pass grade and 2.5 high school elective credits for the Early College Program readiness class. No letter grade is issued.

Only students who are invited to participate in the program are enrolled in the Early College Readiness class. In the event a spot becomes available after the Q4 readiness class has begun, the alternate student will then be enrolled in the summer readiness class.

Only students who are invited to participate in the program are enrolled in the Early College Readiness class. In the event a spot becomes available after the Q4 readiness class has begun, the alternate student will then be enrolled in the summer readiness class.

Students will need to be provided transportation from their home to North and Torrance High. Students will be provided district transportation during the school day from North High back to Casimir and Magruder Middle schools, as well as from TOrrance High back to Hull and Madrona Middle schools.  

School Day Pick Up: Transportation is ONLY provided during the school day between the El Camino College campus and North and Torrance High campuses for students taking Early College program courses. Students will be responsible for their own transportation to ECC to start their day.

Please Note: Once a student Open Enrolls to North or Torrance High, they become a permanent North and Torrance High student and transportation to and from North or Torrance High School is the responsibility of the parent/guardian.

Courses in the program will be taught by North and Torrance High teachers and El Camino College teachers.  For courses taken in 9th and 10th grades, our goal is for the majority of the courses to be taught by North and Torrance High instructors (who meet the minimum qualifications to teach an El Camino course).  Students will gradually transition to courses taught by El Camino instructors in the 11th and 12th grades.

The list of courses below is tentative and subject to change:

This is not recommended, as Health is one of the college courses that 9th grade students will take through the ECC program. These students will receive both TUSD and college credit for Health. If a student is interested in taking Health in the summer, they should discuss this with their Counselor when they meet to select their 9th grade classes.

It is recommended that students take the Spanish courses offered through the Early College program. Early College Spanish 1 is equivalent to levels 1 and 2 for high school Spanish and Spanish 2 is equivalent to level 3. A student who has already taken Spanish 1 with TUSD will actually have better experience due to the knowledge already gained. Students will be able to complete three levels of Spanish in one year through the Early College program.  

Students can choose to continue to take North and Torrance High’s Spanish courses if they are in the Early College Program, but it is recommended that they take the Early College Program Spanish courses so that they can accelerate their pathway.

If students opt to take a different language, they will miss out on 10 units of coursework offered through the Early College Program, unless they choose to take their language through El Camino.  Not taking a language through the Early College program can impact the student’s ability to complete Cal-GETC/Associate’s Degree requirements.  Students can find other ways to complete 10 units of ECC coursework, including during the summer terms. This can be discussed with the Counselor.

We do not recommend that students take Algebra 1 in the summer, as it is a foundational math course for high school students.  Students will have the opportunity to take Geometry in the summer after they have completed Algebra 1, which will allow them to accelerate their math sequence and take Algebra 2 in grade 10.

Yes. 9th and 10th grade students must follow a special process to be approved to take El Camino courses in the summer.  See the ECC Dual Enrollment website for details on the process for enrollment.

Students are required to follow the established Early College program course pathways and not deviate to ensure A-G completion, TUSD High School Graduation, and El Camino requirements are fulfilled. 

As a 9th and 10th grade student, Early College students will take their ECC courses on the North or Torrance High School campus and they will follow the school bell schedule, including late start Tuesdays. As an 11th and 12th grade student, the start time will depend on the courses the student is taking at North or Torrance High and at ECC. 

El Camino courses are college level courses and students can expect college level pacing and rigor. 

Students will still be enrolled in a 6 period day. Since El Camino courses are semester courses, the students will switch courses at the semester for the class periods they have college courses. Some El Camino courses may need to be double periods or set up as hybrid (in person and online) to meet the minimum weekly hour requirement. Students are required to attend three periods per day at their high school site until high school graduation.

Most of the classes will be conducted in-person but there might be a few classes that have the ability to be offered online or in a hybrid setting. 

During their 9th and 10th grade years, students will mainly take their El Camino courses at North and Torrance High School. As they enter their 11th and 12th grade years, some of their El Camino College classes will be on the El Camino campus.  The built-in flexibility of the program will allow students to fully participate in athletic and extracurricular activities at North and Torrance High School.

Yes, if there is space in the program, students in 9th - 12th grade may take the courses being offered through the Early College program.

If a student is enrolling at North or Torrance High for the Fall, we prefer that they take any summer courses offered through North and Torrance High’s program.  Please discuss this with the Counselor if this is something you are interested in.

Yes

Yes, students can submit a TUSD Independent Study Physical Education (ISPE) Application to see if they meet our district’s criteria for ISPE credit. Contact the Counselor or the appropriate Assistant Principal , who supervises Physical Education at North and Torrance High, for ISPE application information.

Students can take both. AP English courses help to prepare students for the Early College English course.

In some cases, yes. However, for choice classes, no. Also with the Torrance High program and careers, those courses will be combined with other El Camino College students.

The Business 2.0 program is one of El Camino's business programs. When designing the pathways, El Camino recommended this specific program because it has an admission priority consideration when applying to California State Universities (CSUs) and guarantees students a spot in one of the CSUs.

Yes, the Counselor will work with the student if they want to take career technical education electives

• What is Dual Enrollment: Students enrolled in Dual Enrollment are able to meet high school graduation requirements and earn college credit at the same time by enrolling in a dual enrollment course or pathway. In some dual enrollment courses students are able to earn career-specific certificates of completion.
• What are AP Courses? The Advanced Placement (AP) program allows students to earn college credit for taking high school classes. Students can take AP classes in areas including English, social science, math, and various world languages. In May, students take the relevant AP test for their subject potentially earning college credit given their score. Not all colleges accept AP credits.
• What is Early College?  Students in the Early College program will simultaneously complete their high school graduation requirements and the community college California general education transfer curriculum (Cal-GETC) with an option to take courses towards their major of study. Early College is an innovative way for high school students to earn both a high school degree and a two-year associate’s degree (or up to two years’ credit toward a bachelor’s degree) in the time it takes to go to high school.

Dual enrollment is a broader term that applies to any high school student enrolled in any college course. All students in the Early College program will be considered dual enrollment students. In the Early College program, students will complete a series of pre-set courses that will allow them to meet the Cal-GETC general education requirements and the high school graduation requirements at the same time. This is different from regular dual enrollment which is typically a one-off course the student chooses to take on their own to advance in their high school courses. 

When a student takes an AP course, they will take an AP exam in the late Spring semester of that school year.  If the student does well on the exam, the college they attend can grant the student college credit for that subject.  What score is required to be granted credit and what course credit will be granted is determined by the college.

If a student takes a college course through the dual enrollment program and they receive a grade of C or better, they automatically receive college credit for that course without the student having to take an exam.  

Additionally, some graduate programs, like those in the healthcare field, do not accept course credit that was granted via AP exam course credit.  Those programs require that students take the college course instead of bypassing the course with the exam. 

Yes, depending on scheduling and availability, students in the Early College program will be able to take Honors or AP courses through North High’s program alongside their El Camino College courses. 

Students at North High School and Torrance High School will graduate with a TUSD high school diploma.  North High School students will meet all the Cal-GETC requirements to transfer to a UC or Cal State University. They may also potentially earn an AA or AS. The Torrance High program students will earn an associate's degree or career certificate upon completion that will allow them to enter the workforce or continue their education through college. They may also potentially complete all the Cal-GETC requirements.

The grades in college courses will have a positive impact on a student’s GPA when they apply for a four-year college or university.  Students who earn a grade of C or better in a transferable college course are granted an extra grade point for the calculation of their UC/CSU GPA.  Please note that UCs/CSUs allow for a maximum of eight extra grade points for calculating the GPA.

Early College Program students will also receive an extra grade point for ECC courses taken through the Early College Program for their TUSD GPA.

Students in Early College classes must pass with a C grade or better. If not, students will need to repeat the course on their own during the summer.

Yes, all Early College courses, no matter the grade received, will go on both your high school and college transcripts as a part of your permanent record

Students may transfer up to 70 units from a community college to a CSU or a UC (equivalent to 105 quarter units at the UC level).

• NCAA eligibility and playtime 
  • NCAA Eligibility Center will look at each course individually (case by case)
  • Students should register with the NCAA Eligibility Center in the Spring of 11th grade and submit transcripts to begin the evaluation process.  

Yes, students can take advantage of the CA College Promise Program as they will be considered a first-time applicant when applying to a community college during their senior of high school