MANCHESTER – In September, Manchester will be trying out a program to have some classes double as Ocean County College courses.
Students will also be trying it out.
If they are unsure of whether they want to attend college, they would be able to get a taste of it without leaving the familiar surroundings of Manchester Township High School, Superintendent David Trethaway said.
OCC would designate what Manchester classes would qualify for college credits, he said. Some advanced placement courses would be candidates. The students would pay a fee, stay at Manchester, and get the credits from OCC.
It would be available to juniors and seniors.
The program had been existing at Manchester on a smaller scale, he said, back when teachers needed to have a Masters degree in order to be considered. Now, OCC is more interested in the curriculum. If the course is college-level work, it can be considered.
Lacey Township schools recently made a deal with OCC that students can graduate from Lacey schools with an Associate’s degree from OCC. Trethaway said the district isn’t there yet. The district wants to start small and see what kind of interest there is.
The option will not cost taxpayers anything, since the cost will come from the families of the students. They will be paying $94.50 per credit.
Students can take classes normally, and not pay extra for the college credits, if they choose, he added. The pilot program will run from September until June of 2021.
The courses include: Public Speaking, Western Civics, Short Story, Film and Media as Literature, French 1 and 2, Intro to Sociology, Psychology, Marine Science Lab, Forensic Science, Intro to Computer Science, AP Language and Composition, AP Literature, AP U.S. History, AP World History, AP Spanish, AP Comparative Governments, AP Psychology, AP Chemistry, AP Physics, AP Environmental Science, AP Statistics, AP Calculus, and AP Human Geography.
