| |
The Advance to College Program (ATC) is designed to
meet the needs of eleventh or twelfth grade students who are capable but have been
alienated from the regular high school program. These students are usually not
challenged by the high school curricula. They usually have high test scores, but
they seldom do their homework and they have sporadic attendance. They are usually
behind in credits. For many of these students a new challenge is needed. The
ATC program is designed to provide this new challenge through the collaborative effort of
Fresno City College (FCC) and George M. DeWolf High School (DHS). Students for the
ATC program are enrolled each semester. The student's class schedule consists of a
minimum of fifteen hours per week of classes at DHS plus one FCC class, taught by a DHS
instructor. This class is designed to help the student be successful in the
program. Students may also enroll in up to three regular FCC classes. All
credits earned, both at FCC and DHS, apply toward high school graduation. A three
unit college class is the equivalent of ten high school graduation credits. College
class units also apply toward college graduation. By design this program allows a
student to complete high school while also completing the freshman year of college.
To date, approximately 200 students have benefited from the ATC program. The
majority have graduated and continued in college. Many have found professional
jobs. The students tell us that without the ATC program they would not have had the
successes. One of our students started at DeWolf as a pregnant middle school
student. She stayed with us in our pregnant minor program and our child
care/parenting program as we helped her raise her two children to get her education.
In her senior year she enrolled in the ATC program not knowing that she would be
successful in college. After graduation, she continued at FCC and then attended the
FCC Police Academy. She graduated and is now a police officer in Morgan Hill.
|
|
