About Us - TJ Owens Gilroy Early College Academy 2022

The Dr. TJ Owens Gilroy Early College Academy (GECA) is an educational partnership between the Gilroy Unified School District and Gavilan College.

GECA is one of the cutting-edge early college high schools that are being envisioned and funded all across the United States, through the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. If you apply for this innovative, highly supportive, and academically challenging program and are selected to attend, your four years of high school will be spent on the Gavilan College campus. You and your fellow students will experience a rigorous, college preparatory high school education, as well as take college classes (up to 11 units a semester) for which you will receive both college and high school credit.

In four years, you could graduate from GECA with not only a high school degree, but also an associate of arts or associate of science degree or 60 transferable college units from Gavilan College. That means that one could enter the University of California system, the California State University system, or a private four-year university of your choice with the first two years of college fully or nearly completed.

Applications are available on this website during the application window. Applicants are not required to live within the boundaries of GUSD.

Mission

Dr. TJ Owens Early College Students will reach their highest personal and academic potential by becoming responsible citizens within their community.

Vision

To their personal success

– Strong leaders who nurture future leaders by demonstrating integrity, desire, determination, and dedication

Be Someone

To their academic success

– Critical thinkers who are life-long learners, committed to personal and academic growth

SEEK EXCELLENCE

To community

– Citizens who are nurturing, responsible, and open-minded problem-solvers

GO SOMEWHERE

Frequently Asked Questions

School Day Information

Q. How does the schedule work?

There is an INTERSESSION schedule (when college classes are still not in session in August and January) and a REGULAR SESSION schedule during which college classes are in session. The REGULAR SESSION SCHEDULE at GECA is a "traditional schedule" for high school classes and a "block schedule" for college classes. See the school calendar here.

Q. When does the school day start/end?

During Intersession, school hours are from 8:45 a.m. to 3:35 p.m. During Regular Session, school hours are from 8:35 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday to Thursday and 8:45 a.m. to 3:35 p.m. Fridays. Some upper classmen may have differing start and end times because of unscheduled periods. See the bell schedule here.

Q. Can you buy hot lunches or cafeteria food?

All GUSD students can get free breakfasts and lunches in the GECA multipurpose room. GUSD-provided meals are free for all students during the 2022-23 school year. Or you can buy food at the Gavilan cafeteria.

Gavilan College-GECA Partnership

Q. How are college courses mixed in?

College courses are mixed in with high school classes. It's like a typical high school schedule but with college classes being substituted for classes that are not taught at the high school level (foreign language, physical science, vocational, art) for the high school diploma and other rigorous college courses are taken to reach their desired goal of an AA/AS degree or 60 transferrable units.

Q. What's the tuition?

GECA is free and has no tuition or fees (with the exception of fees for courses taken over the summer in summer school). It is a public school created by a partnership between GUSD and Gavilan College. Start up grant funding was provided by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. We strive to help those who couldn't usually afford college, families who have never attended college, or those who would not thrive in a typical high school setting.

Q. Who pays for textbooks?

All books and materials required by staff for grades are provided by the school, with the exception of textbooks and supplies required for courses taken in summer school.

Q. Can GECA students go anywhere on the Gavilan campus?

Technically, GECA students (except for freshmen) may go anywhere on the Gavilan campus. However, students may not go on the trail to the water tower or leave campus itself. Additionally, if a class is cancelled or ends early, students are to report to the GECA office to sign in and let us know where they will be studying.

Q. Do students have access to the college library?

Students have full access to the library and its services; there are books, online resources, videos, and periodicals there. You can also use the computers available for all students. Freshmen are only allowed in the library before or after school, or with teacher supervision.

Academics

Q. What are the main differences between attending GECA and attending a conventional high school and enrolling in honors and AP courses?

GECA students are enrolled in college classes AND honors/AP high school courses while attaining their high school diploma. Students are required to complete 40 college units to receive a diploma from GECA. Students may satisfy up to two years of college if they complete 60 college units, which saves students (and families) time and money to complete requirements for a bachelor's degree. To learn more about the benefits of an Early College over a conventional high school, see the Jobs For the Future Informational site.

Q. How much homework should we expect?

This is totally up to the student and their diligence. There may be times built in the school day through "seminars," classes for students to do their homework. If time is used wisely during the school day, it will greatly reduce homework at night. Otherwise, a student may have as much as 3-4 hours at home to do each evening.

Q. What is a seminar class?

Seminar is typically assigned to students if/when their grade point average falls below 2.5, or when students need additional support or homework time embedded into their regular schedule. Seminar also serves as a "drop in" room.

Q. How hard are the classes?

The classes are certainly a lot harder than you have taken in middle school. Every high school course taught is either honors or AP. Courses will go a lot more in depth and at a much faster pace.

Q. Because GECA courses are honors or AP, how will colleges to which I apply know that I undertook a more challenging course of study?

Colleges are familiar with the Early College design. Additionally, when students apply for colleges, the college applications ask students to denote AP or Honors level courses.

Q. GECA sounds great but my grades are not that great. Can I still apply?

We encourage 8th-grade students who are at or above a 2.0 grade point average (GPA) to apply to our program to be part of the incoming 9th-grade class. Grades are not the only criteria we look at.

Q. Can I transfer into GECA as a sophomore, junior or senior?

Transfers into our program are only possible if a student is transferring from a early or middle college program.

Student Activities

Q. Is there any social aspect to the school?

Yes! There are clubs, activities, dances, formals, Grad Nite and most all sorts of events you might find in a conventional high school.

Q. Does GECA have sports?

There are no organized sports at GECA. As with art, music, and drama, Gavilan College offers physical education courses that might be of interest to our students.

Q. Can GECA students participate in a sport offered at Christopher High School or Gilroy High School?

No. The California Interscholastic Federation, responsible for governing high school sports, prohibits students from one high school joining a team at a different high school, even if the two schools are in the same district.

Q. Does GECA offer music, art, drama or similar programs?

These classes would only be offered through the college as there is no organized program through GECA. We do have clubs that sometimes put on or participate in programs like this, and GECA hosts an annual talent show!

School Information

Expected School-wide Learning Results

A Dr. TJ Owens Early College Academy graduate will:

Be Someone:

Become a confident leader

Develop a sense of personal identity and accept the personal identities of others
Utilize effective communication skills, both written and verbal
Listen to and validate the opinions and ideas of others
Demonstrate initiative and self-direction

Go Somewhere:

Believe in and model the qualities of strong character in both an academic and personal community

Foster a diverse community that welcomes new members
Become a representative of GECA and establish connections to the greater community and globally

Seek Excellence:

Acquire the abilities, skills and knowledge required for the lifelong pursuit of ongoing academic, occupational and personal growth

Demonstrate critical thinking and problem-solving skills
Develop collegiate-level skills through rigorous curriculum
Develop technology literacy for a 21st-century education

Who was Dr. TJ Owens?

Dr. TJ Owens was a man of stature, a man who tried to make the lives of people better.

Dr. Owens, former Dean of Students at Gavilan College, was not just an educator. He was a civil rights champion, the president of the Gilroy Unified School District Board and, for four decades from San Jose to Salinas, Dr. Owens inspired, coached, cajoled, and in a few cases even rescued young people. He was legendary for his style as well as his smile.

After receiving a bachelor's degree in physical education from California State University Fresno, Dr. Owens earned a master's degree in counseling from Santa Clara University and a doctorate in community college administration from the University of San Francisco. Dr. Owens was proud of his athletic background and would often say that the football scholarship he earned from Fresno State was the catalyst for his future in education.

Dr. Owens was a member of the national organization 100 Black Men, the Rotary Club and was president of the Gilroy Unified School District Board of Education. He was elected for his second term in November 2002 and would have been up for re-election in November 2006.

The father of five, he was also an active member of Bethany Church in Gilroy. He was a man who was very devoted to his spiritual life and was always counted upon in terms of his service and volunteering. Owens served as president of the San Jose chapter for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People during "turbulent times" for the black community.

Dr. Owens inspired, coached, cajoled, and in a few cases even rescued young people.

Early College Information

In partnership with Jobs For the Future (JFF), Early Colleges have sprung up throughout the country. According to JFF:

"Early colleges are high schools and feeder middle schools that use a transformational strategy of bringing college into high school. Early college schools expose all students to college coursework, preparing them for college and careers, reducing time and cost toward postsecondary degrees, and building a college-going culture for all students in the school.

Early college supports all students – particularly struggling learners – to meet and exceed college- and career-ready standards. Early college replaces remediation with acceleration for these students, and it includes a powerful teacher effectiveness program that supports teachers to use college-ready instructional strategies and administrators to build effective student supports and an engaging college-going culture."

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Calendar & Bell Schedule

GECA Advisory Board

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