Vision & Mission

Our Vision

Northeast Early College is a community committed to providing all of our students with actively anti-racist, inclusive, responsive, and supportive high school and college instruction in order for students to learn, grow, persevere, and achieve their college and career goals. 

Our Mission

Northeast Early College provides students of diverse abilities and backgrounds equitable access and opportunities to earn college credits towards an associates degree and experience career and technical education pathways. All NEC students will achieve at their highest level, develop collaboration and communication skills, and create connections to contribute to their communities and succeed in their future college and career endeavors.

Intended Target Student Population and Community Served

Northeast Early College’s target population includes students and families in the Far Northeast (FNE) region and across the Denver metro area that desire a highly structured learning environment that emphasizes rigorous academics, technology, workforce readiness, and project-based learning activities. We welcome all students to our unique, integrated CareerConnect pathways. Our goal is to prepare all Northeast Early College students with the academic knowledge and workforce readiness skills to compete in and contribute to the 21st Century global economy.

Northeast Early College Guiding Principles

The Northeast Early College guiding principles and priorities are based on the research that was conducted by Jobs for the Future in partnership with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, on successful Early College Instructional Strategies and College and Career Readiness Keys for Success:

1. Ownership of Learning: Students develop an ability to direct their own learning.They set goals, monitor their own progress, and reflect on their own strengths for improvement. They learn to see setbacks as opportunities for feedback and growth. Students who learn through self-direction are more adaptive than their peers.
2. Think Critically: Students think critically, analytically, and creatively. They know how to find, evaluate, and synthesize information to construct assignments. They can design their own solutions to complex problems.
3. Collaboration and Communication: Collaborative Students work well in teams. They communicate and understand multiple points of view and they know how to cooperate to achieve a shared goal. Students communicate effectively in writing and in oral presentations. They structure information in meaningful ways, listen to and give feedback, and construct messages for particular audiences.
4. Academic Mindset: Students with an “academic mindset” have a strong belief in themselves. They trust their own abilities and believe their hard work will pay off, so they persist to overcome obstacles. They also learn from and support each other. They see the relevance of their schoolwork to the real world and their own future success.