Dual Credit and the Future San Elizario Early College High School
SAN ELIZARIO, TEXAS – San Elizario is undergoing the planning year for the future San Elizario Early College High School, which is slated to open in the Fall of 2021. Through a partnership with the El Paso Community College (EPCC) the San Elizario Independent School District (SEISD) has committed to improve access to higher education.
Presently, all students at San Elizario High School (SEHS) are offered the opportunity to seek out dual credit enrollment while in high school in order to obtain college credit. Dual credit credentialed teachers Andrew Avila, Mariana Rodriguez, Virginia Hinojos, and Federico Moncloa lead SEHS students through college courses through on-campus instruction. Students also have additional opportunities to gain college credit through instruction via facilitators through off-campus instructors directly from EPCC.
According to Ms. Julietta Rojas, the Campus College and Career Readiness Specialist (CCCRS), eighty-six students in grades 9th through 12th earned a total of three hundred sixty-five college credit hours in the fall of 2020. When students earn college credit while attending high school, they are securing their access to higher education while parents directly save money. April Marioni, Principal of San Elizario High School, states “This confirms that SEISD students are academically prepared to face the challenges of college-level courses. It’s exciting to see high school students earn college credit; it pushes us, as educators, to keep striving to offer more quality academic opportunities.”
Savings while learning is ideal for future San Elizario Early College High School (SEECHS) students. Recent data from Tonie Badillo, the Dean of Dual Credit and Early College High Schools, indicates the cost for an associate’s degree is $6,960 with an additional cost of textbooks and labs at $2,246, totaling to $9,206.
The partnership continues to strengthen with the expected opening of SEECHS. CCCRS - Rojas indicates, “There are approximately sixty-six applications submitted with fifty-four of those student applications completed.”
Principal Marioni states, “This is one more service SEISD is providing to ensure that students can continue to receive the highest quality of education right here in San Elizario. Students can earn college credit, while still having the complete ‘high school experience’ that includes extra-curricular activities.”