This innovative program allows students to take courses at the Sandhills Hoke Center Campus in Raeford, and transition to the Sandhills Community College main campus in Moore County.

The program has 58 students enrolled for the 2006-07 school year. Students will be introduced to the college setting their freshman year of high school. Rigorous curriculums of honors classes and college-level courses are required. First-year classes will be taken at Hoke High School, where SCC professors will teach the college courses.

Classes will be smaller and the instruction will be more personalized.

The program is tuition-free and will link classroom experiences to the greater community through field trips, projects, job shadowing, internships and apprenticeships.

The Hoke County High School System will provide transportation to the main campus of Sandhills in Pinehurst.

All participants in the SandHoke Early College High School will be fully prepared for college. In this five-year program, students will obtain their high school diploma plus complete two years of college and acquire an Associate Degree.

An application process admits rising ninth-graders, who meet the requirements.

Students must be residents of Hoke County. Applications are available at East and West Hoke Middle Schools, Hoke County High School, and at the Sandhills Community College Hoke Center.