By Jennifer Osborn | Helix Highlights
The 2018-19 school year is off to a great start! Students returned to classes on Aug. 8. Parents participated in Back to School Night, and took the opportunity to spend a day at school with their children at Parent Shadow Day. Fall sports teams are all in action; performing arts programs are preparing this year’s performances; and clubs are forming all over campus. Welcome back, everyone!
A primary focus at Helix is to prepare students for life after high school, whether they choose to pursue higher education, enter the workforce or join the military. To that end, a rigorous curriculum was developed to challenge students. One of the newest programs is the dual enrollment program. Through this program, students take community college courses on the Helix campus, fulfilling the requirements for Helix graduation while earning transferable college credits. The program started a few years ago with one course. This school year, there are 37 courses planned with approximately 1,000 students enrolled.
Last school year, 693 Helix students passed community college dual enrollment courses taught on the Helix campus and 203 students passed courses taken at community colleges. Another 179 students passed a Helix course that articulates for community college credit. This program is an integral part of Helix’s mission.
In general, one likely outcome of offering a dual enrollment program is that enrollment in Advanced Placement (AP) courses declines, resulting in a school seeing fewer students passing AP Exams. However, this was not the case last year at Helix. In fact, 586 students passed AP exams in 2017-18, the most ever.
Students will benefit greatly from this program, not only because they will enter college more prepared for the higher level material, but also because more students will have access to college. By completing college courses prior to college, the cost of a college education can be dramatically reduced. While Helix staff prides themselves on helping get students to college, the ultimate goal is to have students stay and complete their college education.
Helix athletics app
Are you a Helix sports fan? Download the HCHS Scotties app from your play store and follow the teams. Schedules, rosters, scores, and highlights are all available on the app. Get it today!
Excellence in Education Tour
If you are interested in finding out more about Helix Charter High School, please attend one of our Excellence in Education Tours, held twice monthly. The tours for September are on Sept. 6 at 5:30 p.m., and the Sept. 21 at 8:10 a.m. Reserve your spot using our website, helixcharter.net.
As always, we welcome your input. Please don’t hesitate to contact me at [email protected].
— Jennifer Osborn writes on behalf of Helix Charter High School.
