BSCTC, MARTIN COUNTY SCHOOLS ANNOUNCE EARLY COLLEGE ACADEMY AGREEMENT

Big Sandy Community and Technical College (BSCTC) and Martin County Schools have reached an agreement for 10 Sheldon Clark High School students to participate in the colleges Early College Academy on its Mayo campus.

The announcement was made by Dr. Charles V. Chrestman, interim president of BSCTC, and Martin County Schools Superintendent Steve Meadows at a meeting of the board of education on Monday, May 11, 2015.

The Martin County School District is excited about our planned partnership with Big Sandy Community and Technical College. This is not our first collaboration with Big Sandy, but certainly one of our most important, said Meadows. The Early College Academy model and dual credit programs offer a rigorous and engaging curriculum which will help our students keep an academic edge during their junior and senior years of high school. Among the many benefits, students and families will also realize a significant cost savings in tuition and expenses normally associated with higher education.

Megan Evans, director of the Martin County Early College Academy and dual credit programs, said the partnership will open many doors of opportunities for students.

The Early College Academy will provide our students with the resources and support necessary to be successful upon graduation, said Evans. This is a great opportunity and I appreciate the support from our superintendent and school board. I also want to thank Dr. Chrestman and Big Sandy for this wonderful partnership.

Dr. Chrestman said the college has renovated space on its Mayo campus for a multi-purpose science laboratory that will allow students to pursue both Associate in Arts and Associate in Science degrees.

We feel that providing students the opportunity to pursue both transfer degrees is essential to the success of the Early College Academy on the Mayo campus, said Dr. Chrestman. I want to thank our administration, faculty and staff for working to make this a reality.

Students from Sheldon Clark will join students from Johnson Central and Paintsville high schools in comprising the Early College Academy on the Mayo campus. In August, the college will launch an Early College Academy for Pike County students on its Pikeville campus.

The Early College Academy model challenges some of the best and brightest students, said Dr. Chrestman. It also provides an accelerated start to college at a tremendous savings.

Students in all Early College Academy programs at BSCTC have their tuition waived.

For more information on the BSCTC Early College Academies, contact Melinda Justice at (606) 889-4826 or email melinda.justice@kctcs.edu.