Gilroy Early College Academy

GECA was founded through a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and is now solely funded by the California Department of Education. Dr. T.J. Owens, GECA's namesake, was the former dean of students at Gavilan College and president of the Gilroy Unified School Board. A prominent member of the national organization 100 Black Men of America and a civil rights activist, Owens died in 2005, two years before the early college academy was established. == Academics ==

Approximately 90 percent of the class of 2011 graduated and entered a four-year university or continued their education at Gavilan College. The school's non-weighted average API from 2011 to 2013 is 929 school-wide, 900 for socioeconomically disadvantaged students, and 869 for English learners. Statewide, students of all groups average 790, socioeconomically disadvantaged students 742, and English learners 717. GECA is one of ten schools participating in A Study of American Public High Schools with Academically-Competitive Admissions, sponsored by Stanford University's Hoover Institution and the Thomas B. Fordham Institute. Students must also fulfill a requirement of 80 community service hours in order to graduate. == Rankings ==

GECA is regularly ranked as one of the best high schools in California and the United States as a whole. GECA is the best performing of the 28 early college high schools in California. GECA was ranked the 23rd best high school in California and placed 172nd out of 20,500 public high schools across the entire United States. GECA is one of 40 Beat the Odds Schools in a study conducted by WestEd, which identified 40 schools that consistently and significantly outperforming schools with similar demographics on the California Standards Tests and the California Academic High School Exit Exam. Awards • National Blue Ribbon in 2021 • California Pivotal Practice in 2021 • California Gold Ribbon School in 2015 • California Distinguished School in 2013, 2019, 2024, and 2026 == Demographics ==