Dual-enrollment school opens on Folsom Lake College Campus
PLACERVILLE — A new education model has been brought to the Northern Sierra Foothills for students interested not only in earning their high school diploma but also college credit.
Mountainside Middle College High School (MMCHS) opened its doors on the Folsom Lake College El Dorado campus in August.
"We were previously two charter schools under the county Office of Education. We were Charter University Prep and Charter Connections Academy," MMCHS Principal Carrie Bisgard said.
Bisgard said they noticed an increased interest in a dual enrollment program about a year ago.
"Both of those schools merged and came together and became Mountainside Middle College High School," Bisgard said.
Students enrolled in this school take college courses and high school classes at the same time. It does not cost money to take college courses and MMCHS will pay for almost all books, supplies and fees.
Families will be responsible for the health fee of $20 per semester for the fall and spring semesters.
Bisgard said this is not the first school in the county to offer dual enrollment but is the first to be co-located on a community college campus.
"It is the first school to really make this our focus," Bisgard said.
Students attend class two days a week in person and three days a week online. It is something that sophomore Mason McNeilly said drew him to the school.
"I used to be homeschooled and I really liked that because it gave me flexibility and the ability to sort of control my own education," he said.
Vanessa Jara is the Principal of MMCHS at San Joaquin Delta College, which has been open for 24 years.
She said this model helps students academically and also with life skills.
"They have to meet deadlines. They have to reach out to their professors. They have to start getting their schedules ready, making sure they know when their midterms are and all of that," Jara said.
If you have a high school-aged child interested in MMCHS, click here.
For MCHS at San Joaquin Delta College, click here.