‘Early College Scholar Academy’ open to New Kent High School students

Next fall, a handful of New Kent High School students will embark on a program where they can earn college credit leading to an associate’s degree in arts and science. College credit can then be transferred to other institutions of higher learning. And the best news is all can be accomplished at bargain basement prices.

Dubbed the New Kent County Public Schools Early College Scholar Academy, the two-year program is a partnership between the local school system and Rappahannock Community College. Students enroll in college-level classes to be taken at RCC’s Glenns Campus and NKHS starting with their junior year in high school. By the time they complete the program at the end of their senior year, they will have earned 61 hours of college credit that meets freshman and sophomore requirements at state public colleges and universities as well as most out-of-state institutions, school officials say.

“We hope to have 10 or 12 students take advantage of this,” New Kent school superintendent Dave Myers told county school board members during the group’s Feb. 8 meeting.

“They have to be pretty motivated students,” he added, pointing to the competitive nature of the selection process. School officials, meanwhile, plan to meet this month with parents of prospective program participants.

“Two years of college under the belt is a substantial and significant savings,” said Byron Bishop, New Kent’s curriculum/instruction director who, along with Myers, has been coordinating the program’s development with RCC officials.

Cost to participants is $10 per credit for classes taken at NKHS and $150 per credit for those on RCC’s campus. School officials say total cost once a student completes the program will have amounted to just over $6,000.

“This isn’t for everyone,” Myers said, “but $6,000 to go to college is an incredible deal.”

Fall semester course offerings during a student’s junior year include history 1, college algebra, and information literacy to be taken mornings at RCC. Afterward, students return to NKHS for English composition and biology. In the spring, pre-calculus/math and history 2 are scheduled at RCC while English composition and biology continue at NKHS.

Senior year offerings list humanities, world literature, and politics at RCC in the fall followed by government and advanced composition in the spring. NKHS will host math and other electives both semesters.

This month’s initial parent/student meeting gives way to a student selection and testing process to be conducted in March and April. A “college success course” for students entering the program is to be held in the summer at RCC. Courses begin with the start of the next school year in September.