Next year I’m going to be taking Early Enrollment at BCC.  It’s the only way I’ll be able to take the classes I need to for my senior year and begin preparing for my years of college.  As much as I’d like to remain at West Shore for my senior year, that sadly is not becoming an option for me.  The downside of going to a small school like West Shore is that there are fewer class options, which leads many students like myself to the decision of whether or not to be taking Dual Enrollment classes in the coming year.  This decision would perhaps come easier to some if Dual Enrollment were a more viable option at our school.  As of now, it almost doesn’t seem like it’s worth the hassle to try to take classes at BCC.

If I want to take a class at BCC, and still attend West Shore, I can only take three classes, two in the morning, potentially one after school.  And I can only take classes at those times, even if there is a class that I’d like to take in the middle of the day. If I do have a class that I want to take in the middle of the day, I have to hope that the class will be available over the summer.

Transportation is also a problem.  I’m lucky.  If I was to be doing Dual Enrollment, while I can’t drive and neither of my parents would be able to drive me back and forth, I would be able to take public transportation.  However, many people don’t have the option and are denied being able to take Dual Enrollment classes.  In fact, the fact that I would have to take public transportation to school from BCC was a deciding factor this year for me to not take a Dual Enrollment class.

Other schools have broader Dual Enrollment programs, which allow students to take all of their core courses at community colleges and their electives at high school, classes at various times of the day, and even provide bus transportation back and forth between the high school and community college.

While West Shore doesn’t exactly operate like any other school, it would be nice to be able to have easier access to Dual Enrollment for students.  I would like to be able to still be around on campus for my senior year, able to attend core classes at BCC and electives here, but alas, until a better Dual Enrollment program for West Shore students is put together it seems like that option is out.

By Sara-Renee Weatherby