School Without Walls new AA program’s applications, which was only approved three weeks ago, are due by this past Monday. This program allows School Without Walls juniors (now sophomores) to attend George Washington University during their 11th and 12th grade years. Instead, they would be freshmen and then sophomores in college, receiving both a high school diploma from School Without Walls and an Associate’s Degree from GWU. Our current sophomores, class of 2011, will be the first School Without Walls class to have this opportunity. This program was designed so that its courses will match, very nearly, what the fifteen students in the program would otherwise be taking at School Without Walls. Each will take five courses a semester, free from tuition. The planned schedule has one math, one science, one social studies, one English, and one language course. It will only be during their last three semesters that students will be able to take electives, which is nearly identical to most college freshmen and sophomores’ experience; requirements must be filled first, same as in high school. To prepare them for the experience, accepted students will have a summer bridge program this June, followed by a mandatory writing course in July, which they will receive college credit for. Students will also get mentors and tutors from GWU, tutors from School Without Walls, and a ‘buddy’ to help them navigate college life.
Lillian Audette, sophomore
