Before they walk into their math class, their history class or their science class, more than two dozen Bloomington High School freshmen step into their college class.
Here, with San Bernardino Valley College professor Jenny Valenzuela, these teenagers are preparing for life beyond high school.
Ahead of the 2023-24 school year, the Colton Joint Unified School District and San Bernardino Valley College announced a new program for incoming freshmen at Bloomington High to earn college credits during high school, paving the way for them to possibly graduate with an associate’s degree.
A month in, Valenzuela said this maiden bunch has learned how to budget, how to motivate, how to recognize their role in society and more.
Beyond earning college credits, the Early College Program aims to motivate teenage learners to pursue higher education no matter their backgrounds.
“Many times we hear students say, ‘I can’t do college. College isn’t for me,’” Diana Z. Rodriguez, San Bernardino Community College District chancellor, said in an interview this summer. “And now we can tell them, ‘But you just did it. You just went to college.’ Hopefully that inspires them to continue on their higher education journey.
“Our goal,” Rodriguez added, “is to give our community, our potential students, the tools they need in order to start their career – whether they enter right into the workforce or attend a four-year institution – and build a livable wage right here in our community.
“Our goal is to help educate and uplift our community.”
Valley College and Crafton Hills College have partnerships with several Inland school districts to give students the opportunity to get their feet wet in a college learning environment.
Crafton Hills offers myriad courses – Art Appreciation, American Sign Language, Computer & Information Technology, to name a few – to high school students in the Redlands and Yucaipa-Calimesa school districts, as well as Sage Oak Charter School, Grove School and Public Safety Academy.
Valley College now is granting area students similar opportunities.
In addition to Bloomington High, Eisenhower, Carter and Rialto high schools started offering students Valley College courses to take.
In Bloomington, the college courses are provided on campus during zero period and every Wednesday after school. All costs for tuition, books, materials, application fees and other fees are covered by the district.
A new freshman class will be added each of the next three years until students across all grades are participating.
Some courses fulfill high school graduation requirements and A-G criteria for University of California and California State University admission, according to district officials, which will free students’ schedules their senior year for more electives.
“This is not a watered down class,” Valenzuela said. “We’re teaching skills and discussing different aspects and expectations of being a college student. This is better equipping them with the tools they need to be a successful college student and to navigate the education they’re looking to get.”
While offered exclusively at Bloomington High at the moment, district officials intend to expand the program to other high schools in the future.
Colton schools Superintendent Frank Miranda lauded the program this summer for adding “another powerful opportunity for our students to explore their potential.”
Such a program, he continued, demonstrated “the deep investment of both our district, our Board of Education and San Bernardino Valley College in both student success and the prosperity of our community.”
