One rural Virginia school district has defied the odds to become a leader in the state for its dual-enrollment offerings.
That school district, Halifax County Public Schools in South Boston, Va., is featured in a new Education Week article that explains how the district made that happen.
School officials say they overcame barriers common in rural communities, such as transportation and distance from college campuses, by encouraging high school teachers to become college instructors, creating nearby satellite sites for dual-enrollment courses, and raising the number of student participants by offering college-level classes in career and technical education areas.
At the county’s lone high school, Halifax County High, nearly one-fifth of its 407 seniors earned associate degrees by the time they graduated last school year, and 91 percent finished high school with a college transcript.
We heard about the district’s innovative efforts during a recent webinar on “Increasing Access to College Preparatory Courses in Rural Communities through Dual Enrollment.” The district seemed to be a potential model for others, so we decided to explore the issue further. Check it out!