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Allentown, PA (September 3, 2020) – The Allentown School District and Lehigh Carbon Community College are excited to expand the current college access initiative to include a second cohort of 60 high school students, and a cohort of 40 8th grade students.
Through this dynamic partnership, Early College launched Spring 2019, with 60 high school students from William Allen, Dieruff, and Building 21. These students had an opportunity to attend college courses on campus during their normal school day. Today we are proud to announce that not only will the initiative include an additional 60 high school students, middle school students will be included as well. Through the District Middle School Transformation initiative, increased college readiness and access are essential to a high- quality middle school educational environment. Therefore, it is imperative that Allentown middle school students be included in this college access opportunity. While the high school students engage in a full -time college schedule, the 8th-grade students will explore and prepare for college through their participation in a United States history class.
The vision for the expanded Early College Initiative was set in 2017 as the Allentown School District toured the city hosting community conversation with families and residents to inform the Strategic Framework. What emerged from those candid conversations was the concept of middle school transformation which focused on several key factors, one of them being increased college access and opportunity. Raub, Trexler, South Mountain, and Harrison Morton middle schools will all be represented in the 2020-2021 Early College Cohort. Students will be supported by an LCCC professor as well as their regular school social studies teacher, guidance counselor, and other school support staff as applicable.
“With the societal backdrop of a global pandemic as well as national civil unrest, here in Allentown, we remain focused on our responsibility to educate our students and prepare them to uplift their community. That is to say, we are laser-focused on creating college and career access opportunities that are meaningful and place our students on a successful trajectory”.
A virtual Early College kickoff was held on September 3, at 5 PM. Over 75 students joined the celebration, which was recorded and is now available on the ASD YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?
Information provided to TVL by:
Office of Communications
Allentown School District
www.allentownsd.org/
