High-schoolers could get college credits under Ypsilanti Community Schools-WCC partnership
A proposed new partnership with Washtenaw Community College aims to allow high school students in the Ypsilanti Community Schools district to graduate with college credits or an associate's degree.
Ypsilanti Community Schools students may have the opportunity to receive college credit from Washtenaw Community College.
The unified Ypsilanti-Willow Run board voted unanimously Thursday to approve the new partnership, which several board members touted as a positive for the newly created district.
The college's Board of Trustees will vote on the partnership next week, officials said.
"This is exciting for me," said board member Daniel Raglin. "I went to WCC and it was a great experience and led me to continue my education. It was a stepping stone I needed. I think they’ll love it."
Board President David Bates agreed.
"I was a student at Washtenaw Community College my senior year at high school and I'm very thrilled to see it come into fruition and can’t wait," Bates said.
One of the goals of the new district is to have all students graduate with an associate's degree, college credit or both.
WCC and the new district will create a joint work team with representatives from both districts and the Washtenaw Intermediate School District to explore programming options. Formal recommendations will be made to the governing bodies for approval, as will a formal agreement outlining the specifics of the partnership.
WCC administration will work with officials from Ypsilanti Community Schools and the Washtenaw ISD to allow students to graduate with college credit or a career credential, achieve or exceed the college readiness scores on the ACT or COMPASS exams, and take college courses while enrolled in high school.
Ypsilanti Public Schools Superintendent Dedrick Martin said he believes this is a "once-in-a-lifetime game changer" for all students.
"That is an opportunity we don’t see very often," Martin said. "It is very exciting to me to see (us) prepare kids for life after high school, whether that's the work force or college."
Katrease Stafford covers Ypsilanti for AnnArbor.com.Reach her at katreasestafford@annarbor.com or 734-623-2548 and follow her on twitter.
Comments
Alfred E. Newman's Ghost
Tue, Mar 12, 2013 : 3:57 p.m.
Seems like a lot of 'what's new' at WCC are just things that they've been doing for years. Their PR department is just wrapping old initiatives in shiny new paper and selling it to the community like it's an exciting innovation.
Katrease Stafford
Mon, Mar 4, 2013 : 2:30 p.m.
Another great partnership I hope to see continue move forward through the consolidation is the Early College Alliance at Eastern Michigan University. When I was at EMU running the student newspaper, the ECA students were right down the hall from our offices. They were always eager to learn and asked college students and professors tons of questions about college. As others mentioned, it's a great program.
cancan
Mon, Mar 4, 2013 : 6:08 p.m.
YPS has had students at ECA for years now. Why is is sounding like they are not on board?
jns131
Mon, Mar 4, 2013 : 3:02 p.m.
I know AAPS and WR are on board with this program. I really thought Ypsilanti was too. Guess not.
Nick Danger
Mon, Mar 4, 2013 : 11:51 a.m.
Great idea,I wonder whyAnn Arbor Public Schools can't be a little more creative and do something similar. It seems theAAPS is always looking backward instead of forward
jns131
Mon, Mar 4, 2013 : 3:02 p.m.
They already are. They just had an EMU conference on this back in I think January. WCC and EMU combined. Both are college credits. They are also doing a marketing program in the last 2 years of high school at Pioneer which also gives them college credit as well.
dotdash
Mon, Mar 4, 2013 : 1:50 p.m.
I thought AAPS kids can take classes at the U for credit?
Patrick Maurer
Mon, Mar 4, 2013 : 5:38 a.m.
Will they have to read and do math and all that other stuff too?
cancan
Mon, Mar 4, 2013 : 1:53 a.m.
Some YPSD students are already doing this. New Tech juniors had the opportunity to dual enroll this year and it seems to be going well so far. From what I have heard, the students enjoy the chance to take classes at WCC and earn some college credit and they are doing well. It will be great to see this opportunity extended to more students.
YpsiCitizen
Mon, Mar 4, 2013 : 1:38 a.m.
YPSD students already had the opportunity for college credits by participation in the Early College Alliance with EMU. I am not sure how or if those credits would transfer towards other colleges, but despite its recent shortcomings, it was a college opportunity.
d2ina2
Tue, Mar 5, 2013 : 2:49 p.m.
In general, nearly all credits earned by ECA students will transfer. However, there can be wide variance depending on the institution and the level of rigor of the college courses that students complete. Students who take more college level math and science generally have more credits transfer. U of M, MIT, Albion, Kalamazoo College, Cornell, UC - Berkley all have accepted 30-60 credits from ECA students.
dading dont delete me bro
Sun, Mar 3, 2013 : 9:33 p.m.
a lot of school districts have programs like this already...it's about time yps jumped on board.
cancan
Mon, Mar 4, 2013 : 6:10 p.m.
Students at New Tech, which is part of YPS, already DO do this.
jns131
Mon, Mar 4, 2013 : 2:59 p.m.
I was about to say, I thought Ypsilanti already had this. I know WR has the EMU program and Pioneer is already on board with the whole thing. And yes, you do go to WCC or EMU to get these credits. With EMU? You are do not go to a hi school campus, you go to EMU.
dading dont delete me bro
Mon, Mar 4, 2013 : 12:23 a.m.
'vote down' really? and wonder why this district needs to merge to stay afloat
dotdash
Sun, Mar 3, 2013 : 8:25 p.m.
This is a bit ambiguous: Are they actually going to take WCC courses to get the credit or will they just be getting WCC credit for taking HS courses?
Katrease Stafford
Mon, Mar 4, 2013 : 2:27 p.m.
Dotdash, The students would be taking actual WCC courses to obtain the credit.