Mount Miguel to become an early college high school

The Exercise Science and Athletics building at Mount Miguel High School in Spring Valley Photo courtesy GUHSD Starting in fall Mount Miguel will become an early college high school with students able to dual enroll in the Spring Valley high school and nearby Cuyamaca Society College The Grossmont Union High School board voted to approve the change at its Oct meeting Teachers students and alumni attended the meeting to testify to the effectiveness of the Matador Early College undertaking which has existed for the past years to improve graduation rates now at and career and college readiness With the board s vote now all students at Mount Miguel will have the opportunity to take college classes while receiving assistance and assistance from the high school s staff For particular students the campaign is life-changing If it weren t for my experiences taking in-person classes on campus at Cuyamaca I would have given up If it weren t for these experiences I d be looking pretty with my GED working the McDonald s drive-through stated Mount Miguel pupil Gabriel Battle The majority central thing that this undertaking has given me was hope It gave me a plan for the future It gave me a way out from the hopelessness that surrounded me at home Public members say the transformational change will elevate the school which serves a more impoverished apprentice population than others in the district with of the students qualifying for free or reduced lunches The change comes after California s College and Career Access Pathways passed in enacted partnerships between higher guidance institutions and K- schools with underserved populations not typically seen as college ready Governor Gavin Newsom further strengthened those partnerships with a grant scheme Golden State Pathways meant to help more high schools become early or middle college high schools Mount Miguel received from the initiative College experience vs college credits To Mark Jeffers who leads MEC and has worked to expand the venture outside its cohorts the activity s importance stems from high school students enrolling in regular college classes Students do not just receive college credit they have a college experience with the expectations schedule and self-motivation necessary Our students on the campus are treated like any other college apprentice Jeffers reported Those who are part of MEC have more assistance from high school teachers while adapting to the changes of a college class where there are less grace periods for late work less parental oversight of grades and less teacher-instigated interventions for struggling students Whether online or on campus in Rancho San Diego the dual enrollees need to meet the rigorous demands of a college class which would not be adapted to younger learners Whether a -year-old adult taking night classes or a -year-old sophomore taking a class after sports practice both receive the same development from a professor Jessica Robinson president of Cuyamaca College spoke in favor of the change The Mount Miguel and Cuyamaca College alum shared that in spring Mount Miguel students took a total of courses at Cuyamaca College with the extraordinary development of receiving accomplished grades of C or higher I know the brilliance and determination Mount Miguel students carry and I know that they don t need us to give them talent They already have that Robinson announced What they need are doors opened earlier opportunities to step into a college classroom and the chance to see themselves as scholars before anyone else can tell them that they aren t The plan does not mean the main career pathway promoted to students will only be a -year college Cuyamaca has career preparation programs such as water studies child advancement real estate and automotive innovation that do not require further degrees Mount Miguel students could have a head start in those programs leading to better-paid jobs faster after graduation An SDSU nursing scholar Christian Haddock attended the meeting to share his own success in the venture and that of his high school best friend That friend ascertained a goal to strive for and even studied for a final for the first time when taking an automotive class Without MEC I don t think he would have graduated high school so I m forever grateful that MEC put him in a position to graduate Haddock reported He sees the project not as a way for students to turn into college class-taking machines but as a way for Mount Miguel students to compete with students from other schools with a larger participant population more materials and where more parents are college-educated House system Mount Miguel students will not be required to take college courses But the initiative has driven more interest in the school which suffers from a poor reputation Staff students and alumni came out in force to push for the change to an early college high school at the GUHSD meeting on Oct Photo courtesy GUHSD The school will undergo major changes but will not become a charter or magnet school for those outside the Spring Valley and Lemon Grove neighborhoods Instead Jeffers hopes families in the locality will be less likely to transfer their children to outside schools with better test scores He wants local students to have the opportunity to excel in their area and for the society to be proud of its school One important change coming to the school is the advent of houses Instead of cohorts now every staff member and novice will be part of one of six houses debuting in Those houses will remain the same throughout high school with teachers growing deeper connections with students over all four years Rachel Moritz a MEC instructor explained at the meeting how a cohort develops an incredible relationship that is lasting where older students guide younger ones and teachers teach the same students multiple times With the switch to an early college high school Moritz stated It s about building confidence and growing purpose and opening doors and career pathways that our students might not have otherwise imagined for themselves