College Career Pathways Provided

At NHS

By Eliza Hallabeck

As a senior at Newtown High School, Karly Oliveira is already earning college credits, at no additional cost beyond the needed essentials for any other high school student.

“It’s a great program,” said Peg Ragaini of the high school’s Career Center, “and it is designed so students can earn a full semester’s credit while they are in high school.”

Through the NHS Career Center, students have the option to take college level courses for credits through Naugatuck Valley Community College. Ms Ragaini said those credits can be used toward a degree at the community college or at any college that will accept transfer credits, like the University of Connecticut.

This semester Karly is taking physics, math, business foundations, and public speaking through the College Career Pathways program.

Karly also said the courses are more challenging than the high school level course options, and the teachers use a different method of teaching the courses than if they were taught at the high school level. All the courses are taught by NHS teachers.

“I think there are a lot of kids that don’t want to do it, because they think it is more challenging,” said Karly. “But it is totally worth it.”

To take courses through the College Career Pathways program, Ms Ragaini said students have to be a junior or senior at NHS. She also said some of the courses offered through the program students can be taken as freshmen at the school, so having knowledge of the College Career Pathways as freshmen could help students plan to hold off taking those courses until their junior or senior year, when they could earn college credit while working toward high school graduation requirements instead.

Ms Ragaini said there is a fair amount of students taking advantage of the College Career Pathways program, but she would like to see more students taking the college level courses.

“I don’t want to have to pay out of pocket if I can get it for free,” said Karly.

Karly said when she heard about the program, she was immediately intrigued. At the end of the 2011-12 school year, Karly said, she will have taken a full semester’s worth of college credit.

Ms Ragaini also said students have to achieve certain grade levels to earn the college credit for the specific course they are taking.

“The system is set up so that if they sign up for the college credit, but they don’t get the grade they need to earn it, it doesn’t go against them on their college record,” said Ms Ragaini.

Karly plans to study psychology at Western Connecticut State University in the fall.