Next year, concurrent enrollment will expand at the high school to replace some of the AP courses. Concurrent enrollment is another pathway towards post secondary education, diverging from AP and PSEO classes.
This option is more reliable for getting college credit applying to almost any university in the country. The education is overseen by teachers with an advanced degree in the subject they are teaching and a college professor from Mankato, Bethel, Century and University of Minnesota.
The schooling can be summed up as more focused on the “nuts and bolts”, of the learning said English teacher Kindra Molin. Students can dive deep into the actual curriculum instead of focusing their learning on a big final. Then they can better learn the subject for college and have a more wide and diverse understanding.
AP will be removed from English and social studies classes for 11th and 12th grade (including government and politics), to be replaced by concurrent enrollment. It will follow the same curriculum with minor adjustments, and give students the same level of college experience.
Social studies teacher Matt Kiedrowski said there is no advantage to AP outside of the name recognition. These new courses will be focused around classes that students will have to take in college, but now they get a say in if they want the college credit or not.
“Why wouldn’t someone try to get college credit if they thought they were actually going to go to college?” Kiedrowski said.
Because of concurrent enrollment, getting college credit has never been easier. There is not a high stakes test at the end of the year that determines the college credit based on one-five scores. If someone gets a C in concurrent enrollment, it goes to college and it is their final grade. For people who do not want to take the test but cannot afford the transportation to a college in the area, concurrent enrollment gives them the ability to get college credit while staying on campus.
Some people in the community are hesitant to change like this, if people want concurrent enrollment to stand out for the positives, they need to be more vocal on everything it offers to students who want college credit. It solves the concern of rides to colleges for PSEO courses and the learning is more helpful since it does not focus on one big test.
“When we get a new schedule, we will get some more exciting electives and kids want to stay in campus,” Steil said. If the community wants this to grow then concurrent enrollment needs to provide engaging, diverse classes and advertise the many strong positives it gives students.
Concurrent enrollment will increase, giving more access to families/students to earn college credit. The school has agreed that there are no advantages to taking other post secondary enrollment options unless the students have the resources for them. This is good for increasing the diversity of options at the high school and helping out families who cannot otherwise get the college credit.