A cooperative program between Green River High School and Western Wyoming Community College aims to help students complete their first year of college by the time they graduate.
The middle college program at GRHS allows sophomores to take college-level courses throughout the remainder of their time at GRHS, allowing them to complete the first year. According to Coty Nikont, a career counselor at GRHS, the program is offered to the top 20 academically-performing sophomore students at the high school.
The program started during the 2016-2017 academic year, with the first set of students completing the program graduating this May.
Nikont said students in the program enroll in dual and concurrent courses that count for college credit. The dual enrollment courses are taught by college instructors, many of which are done through online courses offered at WWCC, according to Nikont, and can be applied to both college and high school credit requirements. The concurrent enrollment courses are taught by college-approved high school teachers and students receive both high school and college credits for the course.
The coursework is also focused on how well credits will transfer to other institutions.
“We’re really trying to ensure they take courses that are easily transferable,” Nikont said.
So far, of the 252 courses offered through the program, 249 have been completed with students earning a total of 771 credits. Of those courses, 90 percent of students finish with a C grade or higher, with Nikont saying an overwhelming majority finish courses with an A.
According to John Freeman, high school transitions coordinator at WWCC, schools throughout the region WWCC serves have similar programs allowing students to receive college credit. He said Star Valley High School has a program similar to GRHS’s middle college program and said other schools do a great job in providing means for students to enroll in college coursework, however GRHS does things differently from other schools.
One area Freeman said GRHS is different from other schools is it has two Higher Education Commission-accredited teachers at the school, teaching English and math. He said those two subjects are the main barriers that statistically prevent students from completing a college degree.
Students in the middle college program graduate high school with credits in both math and English, helping the students get a leg up in transferring to college. Including the middle college program, Freeman said 120 of GRHS’s 800 students are taking dual or concurrent classes and will have some college credits completed when they graduate.
Nikont said the high school doesn’t put a lot of restrictions on students, saying if they qualify for a course, GRHS will do its best to accommodate for the course.
“That’s just phenomenal,” Freeman said of the high school’s commitment.
Another added benefit for having the first year of college done is that it helps students seek further education through the Hathaway Scholarship offered to Wyoming students. The scholarship pays for four years of college and with students in the middle college program graduating with their first year completed, could complete a bachelors program in three years. Freeman said the additional year of Hathaway Scholarship funding would allow students to either complete a second major or get a start on a post-graduate program. Freeman also said the district will send three people to learn about concurrent and dual enrollment programs through conferences hosted by the National Alliance of Concurrent Enrollment Partnerships.
“School District No. 2 overall, from (Superintendent) Donna Little-Kaumo on down, has been very supportive,” Freeman said.
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