MaST Community Charter School and the Community College of Philadelphia Partner in Dual Enrollment Program ­ MC2

Contact: Linda Wallace, 215-751-8082, liswallace@ccp.edu
Annette John-Hall, 215-751-8021, anhall@ccp.edu

Philadelphia ­ MaST Community Charter School (MaST) has partnered with Community College of Philadelphia to provide a dual enrollment opportunity to high school students. During their first year in the program, students take three courses per term along with two to three MaST courses. College level courses are a mixture of online and traditional classes held at the College’s Northeast Regional Center. By senior year, the students will have completed twenty courses totaling sixty college credits. The first MaST cohort to complete the dual enrollment program, MC2 , will receive an Associate’s Degree in Business in June of 2018, along with their high school diploma.

“I have great respect for the work that MaST does for their students, “said Kathy Mulray, Northeast Regional Center Director at Community College of Philadelphia. “MaST is at the forefront when it comes to providing experiences for students to better prepare them for adult life. The partnership between Community College of Philadelphia and MaST Community Charter School creates a direct, clear pipeline to higher education.”

Dr. Donald Guy Generals, President of Community College of Philadelphia, said the program benefits the City and its businesses, not just MaST students. “Mounting evidence suggests that when high school students take college-level courses, college participation rates increase for students who would not otherwise be college bound,” he said. “Programs such as these provide an accelerated career track for Philadelphia’s motivated and talented high school students. As more local students begin taking college classes during their high school years, Philadelphia will develop the knowledgeable and skilled workforce needed in a globalized economy."

The College offers a range of dual enrollment programs, some serving high­achieving students and others providing pathways for populations currently underrepresented in higher education.

MaST Community Charter School’s Chief Executive Officer Mr. John Swoyer agreed that the partnership is another exciting opportunity for MaST students. Swoyer stated: “The dual enrollment business program offers our students an opportunity to get an Associate’s degree while they are in high school. It also saves them time and money by offering college credit courses for half the cost of courses for a four- year degree. Why wouldn’t you take advantage of this opportunity as a student? It was a no brainer for MaST to participate. We are very happy to be partnered with the College for this initiative.”

Ms. Phyllis Santiago, High School Principal at MaST, added, “There are currently seven 10th grade students in the MaST/community college business cohort and I have had the pleasure of working closely with these students throughout their first college experience. They traveled to the Northeast Regional Center two days per week for Math and English while taking a challenging online management course at school and their ability to manage college and high school academics has set the bar high for the next cohort. We are very proud of their leadership and hope to see continued growth because of their example.”

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, nearly 15,000 public high schools (82%) enrolled students in college courses during the 2010-11 school year. Since then, an additional 3,000 public high schools established partnerships to offer college courses to their students, according to experts.

“Community College of Philadelphia presently has more than 700 students in dual enrollment programs, and we are planning to enroll more than 1,000 over the next two years,” Dr. Generals added.

MaST and the staff and faculty at Community College of Philadelphia would like to congratulate the following students who make up the first cohort: Alex Bachvarova, Samantha Feil, Sabrina Fiocca, James Hogan, Carson Lo, Anthony Rodriguez, Mackenzie Schoen, Selwin Varughese and Savannah Zazulak.

MaST Community Charter School currently runs a K­12 charter school that serves 1,321 students with a waitlist of over 7,000 students. MaST will be opening a new campus next fall. The MaST educational philosophy embeds STREAM (Science, Technology, Robotics, Engineering, Arts, and Math) into all aspects of its curriculum and learning environments.

 

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Community College of Philadelphia has served more than 685,000 students. It currently enrolls more than 34,000 credit and non-credit students. The College offers day, evening and weekend classes, as well as classes online. Visit the College at www.ccp.edu. Follow us on Twitter. Like us on Facebook.