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Early College Academy posts 95% graduation for 2025 cohort; district outlines supports after fall attrition
Summary
RPS reported that 39 of 41 Early College Academy (ECA) seniors graduated in 2025 and described steps to reduce fall-term attrition among cohort students, including earlier orientations, strengthened counselor and coach coordination and expanded student supports.
Richmond Public Schools reported on the district’s Early College Academy (ECA), saying the Class of 2025 posted a 95% graduation rate after staff and college partners worked to clear academic concerns for students on probation.
District staff said 39 of 41 students in the 2025 cohort graduated; several students earned Latin honors. Presenters said the administration and Reynolds Community College partners audited fall-semester performance and found that initial attrition (11 students dismissed during an early semester for GPA shortfalls) largely reflected a lack of early orientation and uneven access to supports. District and partner coaches reached out to students individually and cleared probationary statuses for those students by the end of the spring semester.
To reduce attrition and improve success, the district said it will expand: earlier and mandatory orientations for accepted students, year-round communications about and access to Reynolds resources, a required SDV 100 orientation course for first-year students, formalized support during nontraditional academic periods (for instance, spring break or Maymester help), and monthly coach-and-counselor meetings that will also invite principals. Staff also said they will strengthen rapport-building within cohorts so students who are admitted do not feel isolated from peers at their home high schools.
Administrators explained ECA’s relationship to dual-enrollment options and other college-credit pathways: the program offers direct college-enrollment courses through Reynolds (dual enrollment), while other options (Advanced Placement/IB or pathway certificates) may require standardized test results or differ in credit-transferability. The district described additional offerings including transfer-friendly pathways such as the uniform certificate of general studies and Pathways Passport courses that carry transferrable credits.
Board members raised equity and access concerns. One member brought a report from a recent graduate who said ECA students were sometimes excluded from recruitment conversations at their home high schools; staff said they would review outreach practices and ensure ECA students have access to scholarship and recruitment conversations. Another member asked why some cohorts were grouped largely by single schools; staff said coaches and Reynolds scheduling sometimes grouped students for class logistics but that they would review assignments to support cross-school cohort experiences.
District staff said the ECA program will expand student supports, formalize counselor connections and maximize the role of future-center navigators to ensure consistent follow-through.
