Opinion » Schools

ACC partnership benefits students, community

Print this story | Email this story

It was a pleasure to have Austin Community College President Steven Kinslow at our Leander ISD Board of Trustees meeting Thursday, Jan. 10. His presence underscored a key community partnership that has become a true “difference maker” for LISD's students.

Dr. Kinslow received a $3,200 check from the Leander ISD Building for Learning organization that did such a fine job of publicizing the content of our successful $559 million school construction bond election in November 2007. This generous donation helps set up the very first scholarship fund for Leander ISD students attending Austin Community College through the Leander ISD/ACC College Connection Program.

The LISD/ACC College Connection is designed to provide guidance and assistance so that every Leander ISD graduate will receive two important documents when they cross the graduation stage each May - their high school diploma and a letter of enrollment acceptance from Austin Community College. Not only should each LISD graduate have the skills needed for post-secondary education, but they will also have an immediate college home!

This program ensures that all Leander ISD's seniors receive on-campus assistance from ACC counseling staff as they complete college applications and scholarship paperwork. The benefits to our students begin with many thinking - for the first time - that they might attend college. Whether or not these students attend Austin Community College, our young people will have completed important pre-college paperwork and those all-important scholarship applications!

We think this LISD/ACC partnership is a giant step toward “closing the gap” and getting more of our area's students into higher education. Dr. Kinslow shared data that helps illustrate the effectiveness of this program, proving that students who begin their college careers at ACC do as well as or better than students who start out at four-year universities. For example, most recent data showed that former ACC students achieved a 3.6 GPA at the University of Texas. Clearly, many students mature through the added faculty contact and guidance they receive at ACC - helping them achieve at high levels as they move forward toward their college degrees.

Last week saw further growing strength from our long-term partnership with ACC. (Leander ISD was the first school district outside of Austin ISD to vote itself into the Austin Community College taxing district.)

Last fall Leander ISD had 259 students enroll in one or more dual credit courses for the semester through ACC's Early College Start program. Vista Ridge High School had 77 students enroll in one or more dual credit courses for the Fall 2007 semester - earning college credit while simultaneously receiving high school course credit. Leander High School had 73 students enroll in one or more dual or co-enrollment credit courses, while Cedar Park High School had 109 students satisfying high school graduation requirements while also getting a “head start” at college via this innovative program. This is great news for these young people, and some pretty good news for their parents, who saved $50,882 in college tuition costs as their students earned these no-cost college credit hours!

Our thanks to the LISD Building for Learning organization for its generous support, and continuing gratitude to Dr. Kinslow, Linda Haywood and the dedicated counselors and faculty members at Austin Community College for their devotion to enhancing the educational opportunities of Leander ISD's graduates.

The prospects of our entire community are brightened by this comprehensive partnership between your Leander ISD schools and higher education.

Reader Comments