Upper Arlington has recently introduced a new program that will provide more opportunities for students to prepare for college. UAHS has opened many doors for students and college preparation and credits in the past, such as College Credit Plus. Now, with the new 2024-25 Program of Studies, students will have another pathway for college preparation and credits. This new development within the community will help carefully shape students’ futures and help them meet their goals for college. UAHS has worked with colleges, universities, and other organizations in the state to make this all possible.
There are many opportunities for students to explore within the program. These programs include the UAHS Teaching Profession Pathways and the Information Technology (IT) Microschool Powered by Partnering Anthropology with Science and Technology (PAST) offered in collaboration with the University of Cincinnati. Columbus State Community College also offers two partnership pathways: the College Jumpstart Partnership and the Semiconductor Pathway.
This program will also provide greater outreach to all students, including those involved in the Upper Arlington Online Academy, which was established during the pandemic. These opportunities have easy access for students, since these classes are all local.
“College Jumpstart will be located at 1950 North Mallway, the old central office building,” Chief Academic Officer Keith Pomeroy said.
The former central office building is just six minutes away from the high school, located near Jones Middle School, which is highly convenient for UAHS students. The classes partnered with the University of Cincinnati are going to be held at another location in Columbus.
“In our partnership on the UC IT pathway, we’re partnering with the PAST Foundation who received the grant. So we’re thinking that those initial classes may be at the PAST Foundation,” Pomeroy said.
The PAST Foundation is a STEM-based learning organization that opens new pathways of education. The education center is located on Kinnear Road, which again, is perfectly convenient for students. Transportation can be a concern for some students.
“The district will provide [transportation] for those who need it. Certainly, I think, kids can have the opportunity, if they wanted, that independence to drive themselves and their parking spaces and things like that. But, definitely, that transportation shouldn’t get in the way of any student who’s interested in these pathways,” Director of Secondary Education Kristin Robbins said.
Students attending these classes will have a block schedule.
“We kind of wanted to structure what a pathway might be for a junior or senior for college jumpstart to have two hours out of the building–o, a block of time, morning, afternoon, or in the middle of the day, and over the course of two years walk out with 25 college credits,” Robbins said.
The program is going to provide students with accommodative scheduling, location, and transportation so that they can earn those credits.
Upper Arlington staff has worked hard to craft this program carefully, taking into account feedback from members of the community. .
“They got feedback from more than 250 students, 200 staff members, 90 parents, 230 residents, and 600 survey respondents–so, 13,170 points of contact,” Pomeroy said.
“I think a lot of this is built upon, you know, things that have been in place and expanding those, as well as a lot of the feedback that we’ve heard from students, faculty, and parents, and community members too, with an interest in expanding this direction,” superintendent Robert Hunt said.
One of the big goals of this program is to provide students with an opportunity to explore their future professions.
“We will measure the success is, one we want to create opportunities for students. And that means students are actually coming and leveraging and utilizing these opportunities to be successful,” Hunt said.
This program will also provide students with the proper preparation for college and future careers.
“We also want to provide opportunities for students to achieve both credit at high school and college but better prepare them and set them up for that next level as they go into this,” Hunt said.
Students who want to cover some of the college classes for the future have that opportunity in these programs, especially with the College Jumpstart Program.
“You get a lot of your core academic classes out of the way down the road a little bit. And, you know, they’re accepted in a lot of universities in the state of Ohio specifically,” Hunt said. Those who participate in the College Jumpstart program get a headstart, hence the name “Jumpstart.’”
All of these programs will support students who want to take the college route and support students’ future career pathways.
