Not many people know about the early college program even though there are a lot of early college students. Many people don't even understand the program thinking it's dual enrollment. The early college program is not dual enrollment. The college that the students attend is their “high school,” the high school that the students came from is their home school. Some of the students' home schools allow them to do sports and attend dances and etc., but other students have to transfer to a Windover school that allows them to join the program.
High school students can't start the program until they are a sophomore in high school. Once they get accepted into the program, they still have to take high school classes for their first semester. It isn't until the second or even third semester that they are allowed to take college classes.
The high school classes are used by the director and teachers of the program to see if the students are responsible enough to take college level classes. The high school classes the students take are the four main courses: English, Math, Science, and History. Out of those four classes, they need to have a C or higher to take a college level class for that subject. For example, my first semester I had D's and E's in all my classes so I didn't get to take any college courses my second semester. I stayed in those high school classes for another semester. After the second semester, everyone takes college classes.
In the program, you have a mentor that you have to make a meeting with during their office hours. This mentor is your counselor. You have to meet with your mentor once a week. The mentor you have helps you choose the classes you need to take to finish your high school credits. High school credits have to be done before you start general requirement classes.
The early college program pays for everything including books and classes. The only thing you have to pay for is lunch.
After your senior year, you can choose to stay another year in the early college program or officially go to college. They call it a plus one year. It's a really good thing to do because you get a year of college for free. After you finish the program whether you did the plus one year or not, you only need two or fewer years in college to get your bachelor's degree.
The early college program is a great way to know what to expect in college. In high school, teachers say they are not going to give you the notes from the class you miss but they end up doing it anyway. But in college, if you miss a class, your professor will not care. This is a great upside to the early college program, they make sure that you have the responsibility to get the notes from someone else in your class.
This program teaches responsibility to be able to pass classes.
You have to have the responsibility to get yourself up in the morning and get to class on time. To be able to email your professors when you can't make it to class. And you need to be able to turn in your work on time by using time management skills.
The early college program is an amazing choice for people that want to challenge themselves or for the people that feel like high school classes are too easy for them.
