BRATTLEBORO — Currently, 55 dual enrollment courses are offered to students at Brattleboro Union High School and Windham Regional Career Center.
Ron Stahley, former superintendent and member of the Dual Enrollment Steering Committee, said the program started in 2007 in an effort that he and the late Tom Yahn initiated. Yahn worked at colleges and helped connect BUHS with Vermont Technical College and Community College of Vermont.
Courses were set up via agreements with colleges, and teachers at the high school received stipends to teach them. Stahley estimated the program began with about 10 courses and three teachers.
"Every year we would add more and more," he said.
Next year, 56 will be offered. Typically, 200 to 300 students are earning college credit through the program each year.
"We see kids graduating from high school with 15 to 30 credits," Stahley said.
Rhonda Winegarner, dual enrollment coordinator at the school, said a student last year broke a record by graduating with 42 college credits.
Stahley said he and Yahn had agreed college is too expensive and dual enrollment offers students a head start. Students obtain academic awareness and financial savings.
From the start and by design, any three-credit course offered in the program has cost no more than $100. Federal money supports students at the career center taking dual enrolment courses and allocations from the school district also help prop up the program.
"It's just blocked right into their schedule but the teachers have to be vetted thoroughly and they are employed as adjunct facility," Winegarner said of the dual enrollment courses.
Equally important is the syllabi, Winegarner said, as subject matter has to match whatever is taught at the college. With more hours in the semester at BUHS and WRCC, additional topics can be explored or more time can be spent helping students prepare for the college experience.
Students learn about the expectations of going into a portal used for keeping information and schedules at colleges. Also, the additional time allows student athletes flexibility they might not have at college to make up class time missed due to games.
Winegarner said she goes into classes regularly to talk with students about how to transfer credits to colleges and other institutions. She described getting goosebumps when discussing the opportunities presented for first-generation college students.
"[T]aking at least one dual enrollment course was positively associated with graduating from high school, going to college, choosing a four-year college over a two-year college and re-enrolling in college in the second year," states research in a document Winegarner shared. "More importantly, the positive association was greater for racial minority students, first-generation students, and low-income students. Our findings suggest that dual enrollment may help close achievement gaps for historically underrepresented students."
Scholarships are offered to students to ensure money isn't a setback for students who want to take the courses, Stahley said. This year, 32 scholarships were provided to students.
For student tuition, the district has provided $30,000 to the program.
"Since we blew numbers out of the door this year, they're increasing it to $50,000 next year," Winegarner said.
For students enrolled through BUHS, the state will pay the full tuition for two courses. Winegarner advises students to use the vouchers to apply for courses at colleges, where the cost is more than $100.
All students who opt to take a class that would count towards college credit are enrolled in the program.
"A student has to have a pretty good reason not to do it because it's the same curriculum," Winegarner said. "Everything is the same."
Last year, about 221 students received dual enrollment credit. Next semester, 390 students are registered for 432 courses.
About 78 percent of last year's graduating class graduated with at least one dual enrollment course under their belt.
"That's much higher than the national average," Winegarner said.
This year, she hopes to see the percentage reach the 80s.
New to the program are offerings from Norwich University. They include languages and art.
"Within the programs, we try to develop pathways," Stahley said, sharing a sheet of course names underneath career or college major options.
Dual enrollment is not only for college-bound students, Winegarner said. She noted the military "loves to have students come in with college level credits."
Winegarner worked with G.S. Precision to ensure students getting apprenticeships at the local machining facility meet an English requirement. Students also are getting early childhood teaching certifications and entering apprenticeships at Brattleboro Memorial Hospital.
Winegarner said she's constantly looking at careers in high demand in Vermont and working closely with the Brattleboro Development Credit Corporation to refine the program to meet workforce needs.
"This 100 percent sets students and families up to the real exposure of college being for everybody," said Hannah Parker, interim principal at BUHS. "I would challenge you to find someone more passionate than Rhonda about this work."
