The College and Career Access Pathways Act will be coming to CHS in the second semester to help sophomores, juniors, and seniors get college courses out of the way for students who are planning on attending Citrus College or have a B, C average, or even lower grades. This is a program for students who will not be able to attend a four year college right away to get ahead for college. College courses will be taught at a college level by Citrus College employees, and while it may be a hard course for some who are not prepared for college, it will be able to get students ready for a graduate college in the future and not to be confused with a college prep course because they are college classes. Students who are eligible for this class have already been sought out by the school administration, and if a student is interested, they must go to their counselor to work out the schedule for second semester instead of the regular classes taken by other students who are not in the program.

The legislation bill for the college courses on a city level passed over a year ago, and after much time and work, CHS has worked out any problems with the program which will be accessible to students after winter break.

“The legislation passed is to target students who most likely plan on going to a community college after that graduate from high school, and this program will help them get through community college much faster and to articulate onto a four year college. The goal is to reduce roadblocks for students.” Dr. O’Connor said.

Many students who attend community college must look for work and balance their classes, but by having this program, it takes out the hassle and lets students get classes out of the way sooner.  

By having Citrus employees teach the class, students can become familiar with college standards before they ever actually attend If a four year college is not in a student’s financial budget, then the College and Career Access Pathways will be able to open up new possibilities for scholarships waiting there for when they are ready to leave Citrus and move onto a four year college. The classes will be taught at CHS to keep the students from needing to be moved back and forth between schools in order to attend classes.

The first class CHS created a counseling class taught by Mr. Troesh, who is a guidance counselor, to help with the new transition to college courses. The class will be difficult and will take time to complete. Similar to college level courses, it must be taken seriously in order to pass the class. The early college program the school is starting next semester is going to offer an introduction counseling class that is open for 10th graders taught by Mr. Troesh. Citrus is the community college that will be teaching the courses on the CHS campus, but if a student wishes to instead go to a community college such as Mt. Sac, they would be able to after completing high school.

“The goal is, without summer school, these students can get up to five classes of college done before they leave Claremont,” Dr. O’Connor said.

Many students were too busy to attend a summer school everyday and were unable to get everything the class had to offer right before attending community college. So far, only two classes are being offered but that is scheduled to change within the next three years since this year is just a beta testing to see how students will do and if this will be an effective program that will continue throughout CHS. To be able to take the class, one must be prepared to continue onto a community college because the program is made for that pathway.

The school administration wants parents and students alike to know that this program has nothing to do with a lack of intelligence or that only students with failing grades are eligible, but that the program is a gateway to prepare for a four year college or university. CHS is preparing for students to enroll in the classes and hope this new addition will work in the schools and students favor.