Partnerships with ISDs give high school students a head start on college careers
Labeled the fastest growing city in America, Frisco is booming in virtually every sector—including the opportunities available to Frisco Independent School District students thanks to its partnership with Collin College.
The addition of a 10th high school may, rightly, grab headlines. Look at the district’s Career and Technical Education (CTE) Center, though, and you will see another sign of fast-paced growth. The Certified Nurse Aide (CNA) program is adding seven lecture sections, 13 lab sections, and 13 clinical sections as part of its dual credit program with Collin College. For comparison, most school districts offer one or two sections of CNA lectures with the accompanying labs and clinicals. Frisco ISD’s new classes will serve 130 students who will be career-ready by the time they graduate.
The addition of CNA dual credit courses mirrors the overall growth of dual credit in Frisco ISD. Dual credit, which allows students to earn college and high school credits simultaneously, grew in Frisco ISD by almost 80 percent from fall 2015 to fall 2017. Students can earn an associate degree while still in high school thanks to a recent expansion of dual credit offerings implemented in the 2017-18
school year.
Frisco ISD administrators note that building college credit in high school opens future opportunities for students, including double majoring, engaging in internships, studying abroad, or entering the workforce early with highly marketable skills. Programs like CNA, electrocardiographic technician, emergency medical technician, and courses in the culinary arts are all taught at the CTE by Collin College faculty, offering students pathways to state or industry certification in fast-growing fields.
“Frisco ISD is committed to providing a wide variety of academic and extracurricular programs that help students realize their individual college and career goals,” said Dr. Mike Waldrip, Frisco ISD superintendent. “Our partnership with Collin College allows the district to offer even more opportunities for students to become future ready.”
Frisco ISD is not the only school district where that spirit of collaborative planning can be seen, however. Collin College provides college and career counselors to most area high schools. These professionals work with students to determine aptitudes and interests, planning potential career paths and college admission strategies no matter what college the student chooses to attend.
“This is a unique opportunity for our high school students and the community,” said Dr. Scott Niven, Allen ISD superintendent of schools. “It brings our dual credit program under one roof and allows us to expand courses for our college-bound students. This opens many more opportunities for our students to earn college credit and certifications while in high school.
“Allen High School has a long history of working with Collin College and dual credit programs. This takes that partnership to a new level.”
Students who choose Collin College can apply in style thanks to the district’s Mobile Go Center, a 42-foot-long technology showcase on wheels that makes its rounds to events all over Collin County. Filled with computer stations ready for student use, the Mobile Go Center is designed to support workshops for students and parents and offers a one-of-a-kind application experience
“Local school districts are molding the future leaders of Collin County,” Collin College District President Dr. Neil Matkin said. “We look for every opportunity to partner with our school district colleagues to ensure this area’s students have a strong college- or career-ready foundation to
build on.”