Students are graduating from Tallassee High School and in some cases they are almost college sophomores.
Tallassee students are taking to dual enrollment more and more as staff expand the options. It allows students to earn credits from the same class towards high school graduation while at the same taking the class for college credit. Tallassee started the program eight years ago initially through Trenholm State Community College in Montgomery.
“We had some participation; our numbers were in the 20s,” Tallassee City Schools dual enrollment coordinator Keith McNaughton said. “We worked with them for about three years or so.”
Tallassee graduate Wilfred Holt worked at Trenholm and, according to McNaughton, helped develop the partnership. When Holt retired about three years ago, McNaughton and other administrators wanted to grow the dual enrollment program at Tallassee. Southern Union Community College joined Tallassee High School in offering college courses to high school students.
“We started offering both academic and technical classes,” McNaughton said. “The academic classes just took off. Kids realized the opportunity that was available to them.”
Tallassee students involved in dual enrollment doubled.
“We jumped again when Dr. [Brock] Nolin came on board as superintendent,” McNaughton said. “He and the board of education realized the opportunity to invest in our kids.”
The system is now sponsoring one class per year at a cost of $498.
“Last year they established a local Tallassee City Schools dual enrollment scholarship for any student that will take the class,” McNaughton said. “Some students are even applying for scholarships from the school to help with other classes.”
As to the local funding of college classes, McNaughton feels Tallassee is doing something unique.
“We are the only school that does anything like that,” McNaughton said. “It is local funding. We are investing right into our home town kids.”
Last school year 65 students took 179 college courses. This year 77 students of the approximately 500 students at Tallassee High School are on pace to complete more than 220 college classes.
In most cases students never leave the high school campus. Teachers are either already there or adjunct teachers are brought in.
“Mrs. [Mahua] Ghosh, who used to teach at Southside Middle School,” McNaughton said. “She retired and taught at Alabama State. We asked her to be an adjunct teacher to teach U.S. History I and II here. We started that last year.”
Currently dual enrollment classes offered on campus at Tallassee center around English and History. A junior can take English 101 the first semester and get credit for 11th Grade English. The second semester, he or should could take English 102 and get credit for 12th Grade English. It works much the same way for history.
“We have two sessions per day,” McNaughton said. “We have about 44 students so we spilt it down the middle into two classes. On Monday and Wednesdays students will meet for an hour and half in the morning for the history classes. Tuesday and Thursdays is English day with the same rotation to keep the kids in the same time slot.”
Some students will take art appreciation or psychology online working with an instructor on the Southern Union campus.
McNaughton said the English, history combination in the junior year can bring even more options to students.
“It opens up their schedule for their senior year to grab other classes,” McNaughton said. “We have a couple students taking a science. They have to go to campus to take it.”
High school students who are taking an average of three college courses before they graduate are getting ahead and more prepared for harder classes.
“The students who are grabbing these courses and getting 18 to 21 hours, when they get to the full campus, they are not taking 16 and 17 hours,” McNaughton said. “They are taking 12 and 13 hours. If they have a hard class like calculus or chemistry, they are able to focus better on those courses.”
One Tallassee student took five college courses last year. While it might seem advantageous to take as many college classes as possible while in high school, McNaughton said students need to make sure it doesn’t lock them out of other opportunities once they get to college.
“We have to be careful they don’t exceed the hour requirement when they apply for scholarships,” McNaughton said. “Now we are calling institutions’ admission offices to see how many hours they can max out at. It is a good problem to have.”