Beginning in February, 64 middle school students at Santiago Charter Middle School will take a class where they’ll learn about the college experience and explore possibilities for their own college journey. The course is the result of a unique partnership between the middle school and Santiago Canyon College and will be taught jointly by teachers from both schools.
“We’re excited because this program marks a very significant milestone for us to launch a dual enrollment opportunity for middle school students,” said Basti Lopez, associate dean of educational partnerships at SCC. “It’s focused on sparking the early college interest as well as career readiness so that students can already start having those conversations and thinking like, OK, what is it that I’m really interested or passionate about?”
The community college and middle school are located just 2.9 miles apart in Orange, and the course will be held on the Santiago Charter Middle School campus. Though it will focus on potential college and career pathways, the course has been specifically designed for middle schoolers.
From left are director of High School and Community Outreach at Santiago Canyon CollegeLoann Tran, SCC President Jeannie Kim, professor and assessment facilitator DoraEscobar, Charter Middle School teacher and dual enrollment coordinator Joan Ekdale, dualenrollment student Kayla Vu, counseling and student services dean Jennifer Coto andSantiago Charter principal Ashley Pedroza. (Photo courtesy of RSCCD Communications)“This course exposes students to the opportunities of higher education, the support services SCC offers, and exercises in self-reflection, which will help them think about potential majors,” said Dora Escobar, professor of counseling and assessment facilitator at Santiago Canyon College who helped launch the program.
The sixth- and seventh-graders who’ve been accepted for the course have already been preparing for it.
“We’ve been very intentional about building a program that will best support students of middle school age in the college classes,” said Ashley Pedroza, the principal of Santiago Charter Middle School. Students have toured SCC, explored the college campus and received ID cards. Each student has obtained a professional email account and has learned how to write a professional email, she said. “There are a whole lot of skills that are required to be successful in a college course that might be different from a middle school course.”
In addition to Escobar, students will have a mentor in the classroom. Joan Ekdale, a dual enrollment coordinator from Santiago Charter Middle School who is overseeing the program, will be there to support the students and serve as a liaison to answer questions from parents. “She’s a certificated teacher who will sitting in the class with the professor, hearing all that the students are expected to do, and then offering some office hours and being able to communicate to the parents when there are questions about the particular class,” Pedroza explained.
Middle schoolers who complete the course will earn three UC- and CSU-transferable college credits to apply to a four-year university or community college, according to Lopez. “But also, dual enrollment really allows the opportunity for students to start their college and career planning ahead of time,” she said.
This dual enrollment program aligns with Vision 2030, goals set out by California Community Colleges’ chancellor and the state’s governor to make quality college education accessible to more students, Lopez said. “We believe that it’s a very proactive approach so that students are taking those steps onto a path that will hopefully lead them to greater success in their academic and career journeys,” she said.
“In my opinion, exposure to college courses supports the vision of making college a reality,” Escobar said. “Students who participate in dual enrollment are also more likely to be successful in other courses. My son started taking dual enrollment courses in middle school, and the skills he has learned in them have helped him now that he is in high school. I am also passionate about supporting first-generation college students, and providing access to these opportunities is a key.”
Parents of the Santiago Charter Middle School students first learned about the dual-enrollment opportunity through information sessions. “We’re a school that provides different types of opportunities for students,” Pedroza said. “To launch something like this that’s so different, they weren’t surprised by it, but more excited with a lot of questions.”
An important piece of the course is teaching students that they can be successful, she explained. “A lot of the students that will be in this first cohort are first-generation college students, essentially. It’s really important to not only us as a school but our community, that these students are able to showcase their academic potential, and this is the perfect opportunity to do that.”
The middle school students are eager for the course to begin, Pedroza said. “We had an acceptance celebration and invited the students and the parents. And SCC was here, and our county was here, and our authorizing district, OUSC. The students were really proud. They put a lot of time and effort into the process to get into the program and they’re excited.”
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