Middle and high schools partner with VGCC to advance student success


Participants in the forum included, seated from left, Nancy Price, who coordinates a career pathways project involving local school systems and VGCC, and Franklin County Schools Career & Technical Education director Laureen Jones; with, standing from left, Franklin County Early College High School liaison Reginald Bullock and VGCC Warren Campus Dean Lyndon Hall. (VGCC photo)

Participants in the forum included, seated from left, Nancy Price, who coordinates a career pathways project involving local school systems and VGCC, and Franklin County Schools Career & Technical Education director Laureen Jones; with, standing from left, Franklin County Early College High School liaison Reginald Bullock and VGCC Warren Campus Dean Lyndon Hall. (VGCC photo)

Administrators and guidance counselors from local high schools and middle schools recently met at Vance-Granville Community College to learn more about what the college offers, and to discuss how the educational institutions work in partnership. Representatives of schools in Vance, Granville, Franklin and Warren counties were invited to attend the forum, held on Oct. 22 in the Civic Center on the college’s Main Campus.

The day began with opportunities for attendees to engage in roundtable discussions with various members of the college faculty and staff. In welcoming remarks, VGCC Vice President of Academic & Student Affairs Dr. Angela Ballentine thanked the educators for collaborating and sharing ideas, information and needs with college officials.

VGCC Warren County Campus Dean Lyndon Hall and Dean of Arts and Sciences Cynthia Young then presented a general session called “Bridging the Gap.”

To start the forum, VGCC faculty and staff held roundtable discussions with counselors and administrators from local middle and high schools. (VGCC photo)

To start the forum, VGCC faculty and staff held roundtable discussions with counselors and administrators from local middle and high schools. (VGCC photo)

Young described for the school officials recent changes to the Comprehensive Articulation Agreement (CAA) between the state’s community college system and the UNC System, the Independent Comprehensive Articulation Agreement (CAA) between community colleges and private four-year institutions, and various bilateral agreements that VGCC has made with individual universities. “We want your students to see the clear pathways that exist from high school to VGCC to a four-year university,” Young told them.

Hall described attendees as “the first responders who can help prevent high school students from going off to a university and racking up student debt while often not completing a degree.” He said they could show their students that “there is a better way….The community college is high-quality but less expensive. The first two years at UNC cost approximately $48,000, but a student can get the same two years of general education credits for less than $10,000, or get a two-year degree to prepare for a career.”

During break-out sessions, attendees learned about financial aid and admissions, and about the Career & College Promise (CCP) program, which allows eligible high school students to earn college credits through several different structured pathways, without having to pay tuition. Middle school officials attended a session about the process of students applying for Early College High Schools. Mary Mangum, Olivia Banks and Lenora Parks, counselors from Early College high schools in Vance, Granville and Warren counties, respectively, spoke during that session. Finally, high school teachers met with VGCC faculty to discuss curriculum alignment and how to partner to prepare students for success in college.