Courtesy of Lincoln Preparatory School
On Tuesday, May 14th, when Lincoln Preparatory School [LPS] seniors march across the stage to receive their high school diplomas, twenty-three (23) of the forty-eight (48) graduates will have already received their first college degree.
These students are part of the Lincoln Preparatory School Early College Academy [ECA], and on Friday, May 10th they will receive their Associate of General Studies Degrees from Southern University at Shreveport (SUSLA).
Lincoln Prep valedictorian, Kamora Kimble, will be recognized as the top graduate in the SUSLA graduating class. This will mark the second time in three years that a Lincoln Prep Early College Academy student is the top graduate in the SUSLA graduating class.
Joining Kimble graduating with highest honor for a cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 3.75 to 4.0, are salutatorian, Kwuntaevion Shine, and Traciona Hampton. Additionally, seven Lincoln Prep students will graduate with high honor, for a GPA of 3.5 to 3.74, and nine will graduate with honor, for a GPA of 3.0 to 3.49. The 2024 Early College Academy graduates are:
Kamora Kimble – with Highest Honor
Kwuntaevion Shine – with Highest Honor
Traciona Hampton – with Highest Honor
Curtis Hendricks – with High Honor
Anthony Rushing – with High Honor
Jayla Shelton – with High Honor
Kimeron-Kyrese Burlingame – With High Honor
Hannah Wright – with High Honor
Neaven Griffin – with High Honor
Titus Leonard – with High Honor
George Eccles – with Honor
Mariah Lewis – with Honor
Asijah Wright – with Honor
Phillip Jackson – with Honor
Joshua Jackson – with Honor
Emmanuel Seals – with Honor
Heather Willis – with Honor
A`Lyrica Brown – with Honor
Shedreana Green – with Honor
Candayce Buggs
Jamari Braggs
Tycora Gunther
Marvin Johnson
The Lincoln Prep ECA was created in the Fall of 2019 by a memorandum signed by Lincoln Prep Executive Director, Gordan Ford and former SUSLA Chancellor, Dr. Rodney Ellis. The MOU, signed October 28, 2019, formalized the relationship between the two schools, providing additional dual enrollment opportunities for LPS students and paving the way for this unique associate degree.
The Lincoln Preparatory School Early College Academy is different from other early college and dual enrollment programs in many ways:
- First, students may enroll in the program regardless of ACT scores. Even prior to relaxation of ACT rules during the COVID-19 pandemic, Lincoln Prep provided opportunities for interested students to take college developmental courses to qualify for the program, creating a model for greater equity in dual enrollment.
- Also, all courses college are taught on the high school campus. Most SUSLA courses are taught via a unique co-teaching model, where students are assigned a university instructor and a high school teacher for each class. The students attend the high school class and submit assignments via SUSLA’s online platform. The university and high school teachers collaborate to ensure the success of students. Using this co-teaching model, neither the university instructor nor the high school teacher is required to have any additional training or certifications.
- There is no charge to students or their families for participating in the program.
“We deliberately designed the Early College program so that it could be replicated at any high school in the state, allowing students in rural and underserved areas the opportunity to take dual enrollment classes, regardless of their proximity to a college campus,” said Gordan Ford, Executive Director at Lincoln Prep “Additionally, and importantly, Lincoln Prep pays all the costs of the program. Over 90% of our students come from economically disadvantaged homes. We did not want cost to be a barrier for our students, so we pay for everything. Lincoln Prep pays all tuition and fees, all books and other courseware. We also paid their SUSLA graduation fees, paid for their graduation portraits and purchased their graduation regalia.”
Lincoln Prep consistently ranks among the highest schools in the state for dual enrollment course participation. According to the Louisiana Board of Regents Dual Enrollment Task Force 2023 Annual Report, 97% of Lincoln Prep seniors completed at least one dual enrollment college course in the 2022-23 school year, which tied for the second highest rate in the state. “Lincoln Prep is all about providing opportunities for our students,” said Ford. “Lincoln Prep consistently has a higher percentage of our graduates earning post-secondary credentials and enrolling in college than other schools in our region, despite having lower average ACT scores than many of those schools.”
The Southern University at Shreveport 2024 Spring Commencement Ceremony will be held Friday, May 10, 2024, at Shreveport Convention Center. The program will begin at 6:00 p.m. Credentials will be awarded to seventy-three (73) high school dual enrollment students from Arcadia High School, Booker T. Washington High School, Captain Shreve High School, Green Oaks Performing Arts Academy, Huntington High School, Jehovah-Jireh Christian Academy, Lincoln Preparatory School and Minden High School.
