ALBANY, N.Y.
(December 18, 2009) -- Albany High School will be one of just 11
schools in New York state with an opportunity to send students to
college for free while they're still in high school thanks to a
$447,500 grant made possible in part by the Bill and Melinda Gates
Foundation.
Gov. David Paterson and Board of Regents
Chancellor Merryl H. Tisch, Ed.D., announced that the City School
District of Albany has been selected to participate in the Smart
Scholars Early College High School program. The four-year grant will
allow up to 275 Albany High students to attend
Hudson Valley Community College
for free, earning up to 30 college credits before graduating from
high school.
Smart Scholars will give students the
opportunity to accelerate the completion of high school while also
earning college credits. Students will have dual enrollment at
Albany High and Hudson Valley, and will receive additional academic
support to ensure they are at grade level and ready to participate
in rigorous college courses.
The program will strive to increase high
school graduation and college completion rates among those
historically left in the gap, while also reducing student tuition
costs. At Albany High, the program will be part of the Academy of
Engineering, which launched this year with about 70 freshmen. Albany
High is one of just 33 U.S. high schools offering the Academy of
Engineering. The program will add a class each year until it has a
total enrollment of up to 300 students in grades 9-12.
Academy of Engineering juniors and
seniors will have the opportunity to dual enroll in Hudson Valley
through the Smart Scholars program. These students will take
credit-bearing college-level courses instead of traditional high
school Regents classes in English, history and math. They will have
full access to all of Hudson Valley's facilities and academic
resources.
Along with Hudson Valley, the district
also partnered with the University
at Albany and Rensselaer
Polytechnic Institute to earn the Smart Scholars grant.
