The Martha’s Vineyard High School is looking to partner with Middlesex Community College for an early college program that will help students earn college credits while in school on the Island.
School leadership has been working toward establishing an early college program for years, hoping to give a leg up to first-generation college students, or those uncertain about undertaking higher education.
High school staff currently plan to offer English and statistics courses through the program next year, for up to 52 students on-Island.
Last week, the high school got some good news in the form of a $50,000 grant from the Early College Planning Grant program, administered by the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. The grant program’s second and final step is for the high school to work on a memorandum of understanding with Middlesex; that’s due at the end of February.
The Bedford- and Lowell-based community college wasn’t the first partner Vineyard staff reached out to for the early college idea. A grant effort for the same program with Cape Cod Community College failed last year; the Cape school wanted most of the Vineyard students to show up in person to its West Barnstable campus, which would likely be tough for Island students.
Under the Middlesex program, students will be learning from accredited Island teachers, some of whom are already adjunct professors.
Sam Hart, the Vineyard district’s coordinator of Pathway and special projects, has been trying to set up an early college program since he started working at Island public schools three years ago.
A cohort of students in this program would leave high school with 12 to 18 college credits, depending on their course load, Hart said, calling this a significant headstart for some Vineyard youth.
“Early college is important … because it specifically addresses the needs of students whose families typically aren’t attending or haven’t attended college,” he told The Times on Tuesday.
The program could also benefit a type of student that educators refer to as the “murky middle,” he said.
“We have [them] in any graduating class,” Hart said. “It’s the student who gets by with good grades, but doesn’t necessarily have that next-step kind of idea in their head. They’re going to typically go to a state school. Giving them these tools and these credits in high school would greatly enhance their success after high school.”
Early college credits transfer one-to-one at any state school through the state MassTransfer program, created to save students time and money. “If a student takes English 101 in early college and goes to UMass Amherst, they don’t need to [take] it again … It really helps [ease] that financial burden, as well as gives them confidence,” Hart said.
In that spirit, the early college program will be free for students, according to high school Principal Sara Dingledy at a Monday meeting of the high school committee. Part of the early college grant will cover students’ fees, and the high school will also receive money through the program to support students in the cohort.
High school staff are looking for a sizable number of students to take the program next year. The plan is to have up to 34 students take English Composition 101 and 102 courses, and eight take statistics, Hart said.
Although the high school partnered with Middlesex largely for the convenience of on-Island learning, Hart acknowledged that educators do want the cohort to have a college-going experience. He said he understood why Cape Cod Community College could not provide the unconventional on-Island arrangement.
“In an ideal world, early college is a college experience where a student leaves a high school campus, goes to college, and comes back to finish their day. We are pushing for a model where we’re able to teach those credits here at the high school,” he explained. “We think it’s very important for our students to have that available to them here.”
“We have a very positive partnership with Cape Cod,” Hart said. “They’re our historical partner, and will continue to be.”
In the meantime, the regional high school plans to ease into the partnership with Middlesex by first offering dual-enrollment courses, a service that Cape Cod Community College has also provided Vineyarders for nearly a decade.
Around 50 Vineyard high schoolers are currently dual-enrolled, and they are more likely to be seniors looking to strengthen their résumé or high school transcript, such as advanced placement students, said Hart. Dual-enrollment credits can transfer to colleges, but would likely be accepted as elective courses instead, he added.
The high school’s dual-enrollment offerings are more diverse than those planned for early college; they include honor statistics and precalculus. The high school also is looking into offering dual-enrollment for psychology, anatomy, and physiology, Hart said.
