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Rise to the Challenge |
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College Opportunities for High School Students in Vermont Public High
Schools by Kathy Johnson Highly able high school students living near one of Vermont’s five state colleges—Castleton State, Community College of Vermont (CCV), Johnson State College, Lyndon State College, and Vermont Technical College—have the opportunity to take college courses through accelerated programs that this year, thanks to a grant from the U.S. Department of Education, are tuition free. In addition, CCV also offers a free “Introduction to College Studies” course, which may or may not be useful to highly able students. According to Richard Doty, the student/parent liaison person for Johnson State College’s Jump Start Program, that program is the oldest such program in the Vermont State College system. Originally created as part of the college’s community relations and recruitment effort, to serve high school seniors and honor roll students, Jump Start now enrolls students from their sophomore year on. Students take classes in a variety of subject areas, including some, such as anthropology, that are not generally available in high schools. “Jump Start takes a holistic approach and admits students on a case by case basis. We realize that students may be mature enough at a younger age to take college courses and succeed,” Doty said. “Because students can participate in events on campus, it’s also like an introduction to college.” Jump Start currently is in partnership with People’s Academy, Stowe High School, and Lamoille Union High School, with the majority of its participants coming from Lamoille Union. Because each college’s program may have specific requirements (grade level, honor roll status, etc.) you should contact the program in your area for up-to-date information: Castleton State College’s Accelerated Enrollment Program for High
School Students: Maurice Ouimet, (802) 468-1352, maurice.ouimet@castleton.edu Community College of Vermont: Gail Albert, (802) 651-1538,
albertg@mail.ccv.vsc.edu or contact the CCV office nearest you via the CCV
web site: www.ccv.edu Johnson State College’s Jump Start Program: Penny Howrigan,
1-800-635-2356, howrigap@jsc.vsc.edu Lyndon State College: Michelle McCaffrey, (802) 626-6415,
michelle.mccaffrey@lyndonstate.edu Vermont Technical College’s Secondary School Articulation Agreement: Christy Fry, (802) 728-1798, cfry@vtc.edu. E-mail questions,
comments, and suggestions for improvement to vcgeweb at vcge dot org |
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