Dist. 211 discusses new dual credit classes

The Schaumburg-Palatine High School District 211 board briefly discussed Thursday some additional dual credit classes that will be offered in the fall and the advantages all the current and future courses offer students and their parents.

For the 2012-13 school year there will be two new dual credit classes offered in the fashion curriculum: fashion retail and merchandise and an independent study. There will also be an entrepreneurship class that will transfer credit only if the student decides to enroll in Northern Illinois University, and a Spanish IV class.

“It really does put our students at an advantage,” said Superintendent Nancy Robb. “Across the country they’re looking at what we’re doing here as a model.”

The program allows high school juniors and seniors to enroll in a college course and receive simultaneous academic credit for the course from their high school and most colleges.

The courses are either taught on a high school campus to high school students only or the students take a course on a college campus.

Currently, 26 dual credit courses are offered to District 211 students at Harper College. They are focused primarily on career-oriented skill development. Some examples include cosmetology, introduction to forensics, and fundamentals of fire protection.

A total of 151 students for the first semester and 106 students for the second semester this school year took part in the dual credit courses at Harper.

However, board member Anna Klimkowicz brought up a concern that some of the classes, such as refrigeration/heating tech, had no students enrolled in them.

“Is there any way we can really encourage our students to take a look (at them)?” she said.

Robb said the deterrent for those classes is that they are offered at Harper, not at the high schools, and that she hopes to keep increasing the number of dual credit courses being taught in District 211 schools. Six dual credit classes are currently taught at the district’s five high schools.