A Unique Partnership is Key to St. Philip's Early College High School’s Success

Dr. Derrick Thomas, Principal at St. Philip's College Early College High School

Partnerships are key when it comes to making an impact in the community. Students at St. Philip's Early College High School (SPECHS) are benefiting and flourishing because of a unique partnership between San Antonio Independent School District and Alamo Colleges District. This year the high school received an “A” rating from the Texas Education Agency.

SPECHS is providing students with a blended high school-college experience. Principal Derrick Thomas explained the partnership,”This high school was started in 2014 as partnership between SAISD and St. Philip’s College with the leadership of Dr. [Adena Williams] Loston as President and former Superintendent [Sylvester] Perez. The goal was to start a school similar to Travis Early College High School for the Eastside, where students can come and finish their high school diploma while at the same receive their associate’s degree or workforce certification. That’s the difference between our program and Travis. Our students can work on obtaining an industry certification at the same time.”

This program considers community needs and job demands so when their students have completed their education, they can find jobs. “We look at the job demands and try to match it to what St. Philip’s College offers,” said Dr. Thomas.

SPECHS faculty really cater to the students’ educational needs and meet them where they are at. “We are successful because we sit down with the students and ask them what their goals are, and meet with the parents, and work with them to make that into fruition,” said Dr. Thomas. Students receive college-level faculty, student support, consisting of personnel at both the college and high school level, including a college-bound advisor, college advisor, and high school counselor.

Dr. Thomas credits his teachers and staff for going above and beyond to make sure their students succeed. He provided an example of this when he told a story of a student that graduated last year. “He and his family were homeless,” Dr. Thomas explained. One of the faculty members at SPECHS took him under their wing and worked with the parents to find a home. “He started off in the cyber security program and stated that it was too hard for him, so he switched over to culinary. We provided tutoring for him. The teachers made a website so he could study what he needed for the culinary class. When he had to take the state test to get his license, we put money together to help him pay for it. He graduated with a certificate last year and is now working in the restaurant field,” Dr. Thomas told us.

While SPECHS is located on the Eastside, they do accept students from all over the city. About 30 percent of the students at SPECHS are from the Eastside. There is an application and lottery process because it is part of the SAISD’s Choice School program. They’re currently accepting applications for the next school year.

Dr. Thomas is the founding principal of SPECHS. He’s spent his entire 32-year career with SAISD working on the Eastside and reflected on the hard work educators are doing to improve the community. “I’ve worked on the Eastside for my whole teaching career, we have schools that are doing a whole lot. People just don’t know about it! Most of these principals are hard-working principals, they do all they can for the students on the Eastside but that message is not put out. If something negative happens that message is put out there but the positives are not put out there," he explained. As SPECHS continues to maintain its high standards of excellence and achievement, a strong and positive message has been received.