About
Through partnerships with Charlestown High School, Chelsea High School, and Madison Park Technical Vocational High School, the Early College program provides eligible students the opportunity to potentially earn up to 60 BHCC college credits with attending high school. Students who complete the program will receive both credits towards a BHCC associate degree and a high school diploma.
In 2018 The Baker-Polito Administration announced designation status to 21 early college programs across Massachusetts and awarded more than $80,000 in grants to public colleges, universities and high schools in the midst of developing early college programs.
Early college programs combine traditional high school courses with the opportunity to earn college credit, making college more accessible and affordable to low-income students.
The Administration awarded a $10,000 competitive planning grant and preliminary approval to Bunker Hill Community College (BHCC)’s early college program at Charlestown High School. Expanding upon existing career pathway programs in information technology and business, the College plans to add courses in health and liberal arts to the program’s curriculum.
Partnerships
Brighton High School
Serving both native speakers and English Language Learners, the BHCC Early College program at Brighton High School was designed to meet students’ self-identified interest in taking credit bearing college courses and working towards a post-secondary credential while still in high school. Students participate in 9th grade college exploratory activities and move to taking college-level courses between 10th and 12th grades. Students earn a minimum of 12-18 college-level credits by the time they graduate high school.
Contact
Taneka DeGrace, Early College Director
tdegrace@bostonpublicschools.org
Edward M. Kennedy Academy for Health Career
The BHCC Early College program at the Edward M. Kennedy Academy for Health Careers (EMK) is a “wall-to-wall” program model that aligns K-12 and postsecondary education within the healthcare industry through a collaboration with the Massachusetts General Brigham system. Through the generous support of Bloomberg Philanthropies, the Early College program aims to increase EMK students’ access to robust healthcare career pathways and credentials that lead to high-wage opportunities in the field.
Program website: https://kennedyacademy.org/index.jsp
Contact
Erik Miller, Director of College & Career-Community Based Partnerships
emiller4@bostonpublicschools.org
Charlestown High School
Students can earn up to 30 college credits towards an industry recognized degree at Bunker Hill Community College (BHCC). Along with earning college credits, students have access to mentoring, advising, and tutoring from BHCC, CHS, and industry professionals.
Program website: https://www.charlestownhs.org/
Contact
Natalia Arango, Early College Coordinator
narango@bostonpublicschools.org
Chelsea High School
BHCC’s Early College program at Chelsea High School (CHS) has pathways in three fields: health and life sciences, law and public policy, and education. Students have the opportunity to graduate CHS with at least 12 transferrable college credits from BHCC.
Program website: https://ma50000536.schoolwires.net/site/Default.aspx?PageID=1352
Contact
Jackie Corbaci, Early College and Career Pathways Coordinator
corbacij@chelseaschools.com
Madison Park High School
The Roxbury Massachusetts Advanced Post-Secondary (RoxMAPP) Early College program is designed to put students on an expedited path to college and career success, the RoxMAPP program is a collaboration between BHCC, Boston Public Schools, Madison Park Technical Vocational High School and Roxbury Community College. This early college program for 10th-12th graders prepares students with at least 24 transferable credits for postsecondary success while enrolled at Madison Park Technical Vocational High School.
Program website: https://madisonpark.bostonpublicschools.org/academics/roxmapp/
Contact
Priscilla Monier-Almenas, M.Ed., Assistant Head of School, Student Support Services palmenas@bostonpublicschools.org
Malden High School
The BHCC Early College program at Malden High School is individually tailored to meet the needs of students who are motivated to be successful, exhibit a commitment to their future, and can benefit from additional support in order to move toward higher education and career readiness. Students have flexibility of entering the program either in the 10th or 11th grade. Program participants earn at least 12-15 college-level credits that also satisfy high school graduation requirements
Contact
Alison Fornash, Early College Program Coordinator and School Counselor
afornash@maldenps.org Grants
The funding from The Richard and Susan Smith Family Foundation allows BHCC to consolidate its Early College efforts into a core model that anticipates growth in scale and performance, as well as distillation and dissemination of its promising practices to the field. The $2.4 million grant covers a three-year project horizon and will serve more than 500 high school students, coming from a portfolio of partnerships with high school and community-based organizations in Greater Boston.