Schools
Earning college a degree and high school diploma – at the same time
The Alta Loma HS senior is graduating with both a high school diploma and a college Associates Degree
Like every other high school student, Kaitlyn Persons found herself at a crossroads when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. The switch to remote learning gave her more time on her hands – enough, in fact, to begin earning a college degree.
Next month, it will all pay off, with the Alta Loma High School senior having earned enough credit hours to receive her Associates Degree from Chaffey College one week before getting her high school diploma – making her Alta Loma’s first student to achieve both simultaneously.
“It kept me from going totally crazy,” Persons says of the extra work that became, in her words, a “well-timed distraction.”
Although she’s the first from Alta Loma to graduate high school while also receiving her AA degree, Kaitlyn is part of a growing trend of students receiving college credit while earning their diplomas. As of the past fall, Alta Loma students are registered in more than 100 classes, or sections, through partnerships with Chaffey College. That number swells to more than 1,200 across the Chaffey Joint Union High School District.
“These kinds of partnerships and dual enrollment programs are providing more and more students access to a college education and, in many cases, a head start to an eventual four-year degree,” said Dr. Mathew Holton, Chaffey District Superintendent.
The programs are free to students, and are part of both the College and District’s commitment to ensuring that all students are prepared for college and career opportunities.
“At our May commencement ceremony, 27 members of our graduating class were dual enrollment students – the largest number in Chaffey history,” said Chaffey College Superintendent/President Henry Shannon. “We congratulate Kaitlyn for her tremendous accomplishment and wish her success in the next chapter of her journey.”
Persons appreciates the doors her dual-enrollment experience will open for her. Determined to follow her mom’s lead and become a speech and language pathologist, she will be able to immediately transfer to a four-year university, then to graduate school.
“I’ve lived through college courses and am more prepared for what’s ahead,” Persons says, admitting, however, it wasn’t always easy. To earn her Associates Degree, she will have needed to complete 60 course credits.
“The extra work was really hard at times,” she says. “Last winter, my grades started to slip, but my mom helped me keep things in perspective. I’m so glad I stuck with it.”
Her high school counselor, Jacy Carbone, isn’t surprised at Persons’ achievement.
“Kaitlyn is incredibly focused, and knew from the start what she wanted to do,” Carbone says. “I know she is going to be so successful in college and her career.”
