From freshman year of high school to senior year, students look forward to the status and benefits of being an upperclassmen.
As students at PVHS advance towards graduation there are many opportunities offered to the upperclassmen. Along with better parking and various privileges, students are given the unique option to get a head start on their college education.
PVHS and Scott Community College (SCC) work together to give students the opportunity to take dual credit classes. Students can be enrolled in both high school and college, which gives students credit for high school and college graduation.
The classes are SCC classes but posed as advanced high school classes on the PVHS campus with qualified teachers so students do not have to leave to earn their credit. Students earn a PV grade and an SCC grade, while receiving financial benefits when earning credits for college.
Credits earned from SCC in high school are transferred to most four year universities and are required general education classes to take for college graduation.
Many classes are offered to students without charge. Such as Western Civilization, Humanities, Public Speaking, Sociology, Statistics and more. Senior Lucas Wood has taken advantage of this option, “I have taken a couple Scott classes and I am very thankful we have these opportunities to get ahead without having to pay for them later,” said Wood.
Students can take these classes as early as junior year and have many college credits upon high school graduation.
Graduates from PVHS often have a head start in college because of the dual classes. 2019 Alumni Caroline Carlson expressed how taking college classes was beneficial, “Taking college classes in high school was very helpful. I was able to see what college would be like and have some classes done before college even started,” she said.
PVHS students are taking the opportunity given and getting ahead. Senior Abbey Wehrheim commented “It is really nice I have the opportunity to save money before going to University of Iowa next year,” she said. Students can graduate from PVHS with enough credits to have a semester of college done before even graduating because of the opportunities offered by SCC.
