Joseph City Junior/Senior High School is starting off the new year with a program geared toward giving students an opportunity at getting a head start on their college degree as part of the Arizona Student Opportunity Collaborative, which brings more options to rural students.

According to Superintendent Bryan Fields, at the start of the second semester the school will begin partnering with Grand Canyon University and adding more class options to accommodate students’ interested in taking concurrent enrollment where they will receive dual credits for both college and high school.

According to Principal Eric Miller, in addition to the Talon program that allows qualifying high school students to attend college classes at Northland Pioneer College (NPC) via video, the school will be adding Grand Canyon University to the list of options. Miller said that over the last few years, junior and senior high school students have been able to attend core classes through NPC that will likely be required when they begin their degree path. With GCU on board, students who maintain a grade point average of 3.0 or higher will be given a broader timeframe for when they can attend lectures as well as more class options.

Miller explained that though it is very similar to the Talon program, an advantage to taking a class with GCU is that the students are not held to specific timeframe for which they can view the lecture. “The difference with NPC is they give us a specific time and it’s live and the kids have to take that class that specific period, whereas the Grand Canyon University are asynchronous where they can take them any period of the day,” said Miller.

JCJH/HS Guidance Counselor Dan Bushman and co-coordinator for the GCU collaborative effort said that as part of the agreement with GCU, students must attend the lecture during school hours. Although they will be able to complete homework on their own time, according to Bushman, the school must provide the time for students to attend or view the lecture during school hours as they are taking it in place of an elective. Because the students have seven classes and different schedules, the program does not require that the students attend the live lecture but allows them to log in during the period that works for them.

Bushman was asked how Joseph City schools became a part of the program. “I was contacted by a guy by the name of Ryan Taylor from Show Low who is on the board for the Arizona Student Opportunity Collaborative (ASOC) and he had sent out an email to all the schools. I said I was interested. I think it is a great opportunity,” said Bushman.

Bushman said that although there is a $110 cost to each student per class, the district is hoping to cover a majority of those costs.

According to both Miller and Bushman, students have already signed up and will begin as early as Jan 7. Bushman said any parent or student interested in more information can contact him at danb@jcusd.org.

Bushman also provided the list of classes that will be offered and those pending through GCU. They include: ENG 105, English Composition I, similar to ENG 101 in other colleges; ENG 106, English Composition II, similar to ENG 102 in other colleges; College English Critical Reading, credit earned through Yavapai College; MAT 160, Intro to Statistics; MAT 181; Precalculus; Trigonometry Career and Technical Education (CTE) Graphic Design I & II; CTE Journalism I & II; CTE Educational Professions, Spanish and/or Advanced Spanish, high school; BIO 100, Biology Concepts; Bio 105, Introduction to Life Sciences; and BIO 155, Introduction to Anatomy and Physiology.

Pending courses include CTE Business; MAT 154, Applications of College Algebra; Calculus I or II; Physics; Chemistry; and Paleoanthropology.