By Ann K. Williams
Lookout Staff

March 1, 2011 -- While earlier this month parents may have been disappointed to learn that Santa Monica College will offer fewer summer school classes in 2011 for their children, college officials say there are still a host of offerings designed to help young students bridge the gap between high school and postsecondary education.

A report detailing the collaboration between the local community college and the Santa Monica-Malibu School District will be featured when the SMC Board of Trustees meet Tuesday night.

“The collaboration has been working really well,” Board Member Louise Jaffe told the Lookout Monday. “We're starting to develop some programs that will be significant for the young people who are participating in them.”

The two institutions drafted a Memorandum of Understanding in May 2007 to increase the opportunities for high school students to take college-level classes both on high school campuses and at the college, during the school year and in summer.

Beyond that, their mission has grown to helping students get into college who might not make it otherwise, helping students take advantage of career education provided by the college and the school district, and acclimatizing students to college entrance tests so they can perform successfully.

Perhaps the star program in the report is the Young Collegians Program which gives students a chance to earn their high school diplomas and rack up college units at the same time.

“The Young Collegians came about from this collaboration,” Maral Hyeler, assistant director of insitutional programs told the Lookout Monday. “We're very exciting to be working with future students taking classes at SMC.”

The program targets groups who have been underrepresented in postsecondary schools, those who may not have enough money for college, and those who may not otherwise take the kinds of classes they need to compete at the college level. That means students of color, English Language Learners and students who hope to be the first generation of their families to go to college.

They're grouped into “cohorts” who take prescribed classes at the college during the summer and then have the opportunity to take more college classes during the school year. But they're given more than that.

“Student success workshops,” tutoring, team building exercises, computer workshops and motivational lectures are part of their course of study throughout the year.

By the time they're done, they should have all the tools they need to get into college, along with at least 14 SMC units.

The first cohort of 15 students has successfully completed the program and will graduate this year when they'll be honored with a banquet on June 9. Cohorts are growing each year – the group that started the program last summer numbers 34 and the next is expected to reach 40 students.

They're not the only students who get to take SMC classes. The Dual Enrollment Program offers courses at Santa Monica High School and Malibu High School during the school year.

Santa Monica students can take jazz ensemble and guitar classes, and Malibu students can take chamber choir – all earning college units.

And the cooperation goes both ways. The school district is letting the college use its Webster Elementary School campus as the site for “SMC in Malibu.” Classes there include everything from art to geography to California Government and environmental studies.

The college and the school district are also working together to help all students who make it to college get the best start they can. The Early Assessment program gives them a leg up when it comes to taking the english and math placement tests they face as they begin their college careers.

Jaffe called this “a huge area,” adding that the program keeps students from “having to make up so much work which is no good for anyone.”

The placement tests “should be a stepping stone, but for a lot of people, they fall into a pit,” Jaffe said.

The Early Assessment program is a series of workshops to solve that problem. It gives students a general idea of what they can expect on the tests, resources to help them study, math review, and a chance to take a sample assessment.

After students take the sample test, they are given scores and pointers on what to study for the real thing, and more math review is offered for those who think they need it.

Bearing in mind that not all students want to pursue a purely academic career, the college is also supporting career technical education (CTE).

School district councilors are being trained and given resources to help students who are trying to figure out their path in life.

The CTE-sponsored 2011 SMC Latina/o Youth Conference for college and high school students will emphasize career and technical education and Professional Development Day on March 25 will feature SMC alumna Michele Serros.

Serros, one of Newsweek's “Women to Watch for the New Century,” will let students know what they need to do to lay the foundation for their own careers.

The CTE program has already worked with the district's “Connect for Success” program in its middle schools and has now forged a partnership with the Boys and Girls Club of Santa Monica and the Community Corporation of Santa Monica to reach more at-risk middle school students.

All of these programs have done more, and to learn about it, readers can turn to item G on the March 1 SMC Board of Trustees Agenda.