Rogers College Junior High and High School to get 'mini' Tulsa Community College campus
BY ANDREA EGER World Staff Writer
Saturday, February 16, 2013
2/16/13 at 8:00 AM
Students at Rogers College Junior High and High School will soon get their first taste of college life without ever leaving their own campus.
At a news conference Friday, officials announced that a $250,000 renovation will soon begin to convert a two-story classroom annex at Rogers into a mini Tulsa Community College campus, complete with lecture halls and common study areas.
Tulsa Public Schools Superintendent Keith Ballard said his district is in talks with TCC to add similar "college academies" at four or five other high schools in the coming years.
"What you see today is the tip of the iceberg," Ballard said, pointing to architectural renderings of the renovation project at Rogers. "We want greater access for our students."
Juniors and seniors at Rogers will be able to enroll in concurrent courses for college credit during the day, and during the evening, TCC's course offerings at Rogers will be open to adults, as well.
TCC President Tom McKeon touted recent efforts to expand concurrent enrollment opportunities, including classes being offered at a new facility constructed for that purpose at Union High School.
"It is an extremely exciting time for education in the Tulsa community," he said.
About 225 Tulsa students are engaged in concurrent college coursework now, thanks to a policy waiver the state regents granted TCC about 2 1/2 years ago.
As part of a Tulsa Public Schools consolidation effort known as Project Schoolhouse, Rogers was closed as a traditional high school in May 2011 and reopened as a college magnet program in 2011-12.
Students commit to participating in concurrent college courses with the goal of obtaining their high school diploma and an associate's degree through TCC at the same time.
The concept was born of a pilot program that had 50 Tulsa Public Schools students attending both high school and college classes on TCC's Northeast Campus.
The renovation to the Rogers annex will be funded with school bonds Tulsa voters approved in 2010. Principal Stacey Vernon said she hopes some classrooms and even common areas will be ready for student occupancy by the start of the 2013-14 academic year.
"We certainly want our students to have the full college experience on this campus," she said.
Original Print Headline: Rogers to get mini TCC
Andrea Eger 918-581-8470
andrea.eger@tulsaworld.com
Associated Images:
Tulsa Public Schools Superintendent Keith Ballard (from left), Tulsa Community College President Tom McKeon and Oliver Wallace, TPS' associate superintendent for secondary schools, take a tour of a Rogers College Junior High and High School annex building Friday. The tour was in preparation for a renovation project announced Friday. JAMES GIBBARD/Tulsa World
Tulsa Public Schools Superintendent Keith Ballard (from left), Rogers College Junior High and High School Principal Stacey Vernon and Tulsa Community College President Tom McKeon chat while taking a tour of a Rogers annex building Friday. JAMES GIBBARD/Tulsa World
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