A “Memorandum of Understanding” between Montgomery County Public Schools, Montgomery College, and the University System of Maryland was signed at a press conference in the Media Center on Wednesday, October 18.

The meeting celebrated higher learning in high school through the signing of the Memorandum, which contained an expansion of College Institute initiatives.

The goal of the document is to help prepare students for higher education by bringing the Maryland school systems together to work with one another.

“This agreement symbolizes the message that we want to send to all of our students, that college is within their reach, and that we want to do all we can to prepare them for success at the collegiate level,” Montgomery College President Dr. Charlene Nunley said.

“[The Memorandum is an] understanding that we [can] actually do better for more children,” MCPS Superintendent Dr. Jerry Weast said. “Remarkable things can be had when you’ve got great teachers, great principals, and great support personnel, working with great universities.”

This partnership is the first of its kind in the nation. University System of Maryland Chancellor Dr. William Kirwan hopes to make collaborations such as the one in Maryland a precedent for school systems around the country.

“The partnership that is being demonstrated today shows how the entire spectrum of education can work together,” Kirwan said. “What excites me about this program is that we can, through this, create a model, show the rest of the state, show the rest of the nation what can happen when the three partners come together to build a program that is going to promote college participation and ease the transition into the post-secondary sector.”

“Today we are […] opening the door for partnerships like this not only with Montgomery College, but with the vast array of everything that the University System of Maryland has to offer,” Nunley said.

Through the College Institute program, which the agreement expands, students take college classes taught by Montgomery College professors in a high school environment that go beyond the AP courses offered.

The program provides more options and opportunities for students who wish to expand their knowledge in a certain field, offering 27 courses in specialized subject areas, such as morality and contemporary law, abnormal psychology, principles of accounting, meteorology, and world in the twentieth century.

Former Wootton Principal Dr. Rebecca Newman started the College Institute program in the fall of 2002. In 2002, 19 percent of the senior class enrolled in the College Institute program. This figure has grown in 2006 to 24 percent of the class, 159 students.

“The College Institute allows our students classes that are not available in any of our College Board APs. The program was an instant success and has flourished in the fertile soil that is Wootton,” Principal Dr. Michael Doran said.

The College Institute is one way to get a head-start on college and prepare for the ever-increasing competition in the job market.

“If you want to be able to survive in our economy in the future, you’ve got to have some college, which means we have to make college possible for more people,” Nunley said. “When [students] come out of their schools, they will already have a significant number of collegiate credits in hand. That will make it possible for more students to get their degree, and that is what this is all about—trying to make it possible for all students to have the kind of opportunity that they should be able to achieve in the American economy.”

Doran said, “I recognize the way in which [the program] transforms the senior year for our students, how it challenges them academically, how it expects them to be much more independent learns, how it gives them a real transition to the college experience.”Many students choose not to use their senior year wisely because they have already completely all of the minimum requirements for graduation, but this decision is widely discouraged.

“[Wasting your senior year] is such a huge mistake [because] it’ll take you longer for you to get your degree. On the other hand, by participating in programs like AP, IB, and the College Institute, you actually accelerate your progress to a degree, which is a really important thing,” Nunley said.

“[Senior year] either becomes a wasted year, or it becomes a year where you can get advanced and still have the activities locally,” Weast said. “I see this [partnership] as just the beginning. I see this as a whole new way of thinking.”

At the press conference, seniors Sue Byun and Matt Bresler said a few words about the College Institute and the reasons for their participation.

Byun is taking all of the options given through the College Institute—a college class online, one here at Wootton, and one at Gaithersburg High.

“When I was offered a new kind of schedule, I was all for it. The classes are stimulating and challenging,” Byun said.

Teamed with 11 universities and colleges in the University System of Maryland under the Memorandum of Understanding, the public high schools in Maryland counties will be able to broaden their students’ exposure to programs offered through these collegiate institutions.

Nunley said, “In America, we’re supposed to be providing opportunities to all. I think the gap in opportunity is actually widening rather than narrowing. By [offering] programs like this one, we can bring the best the colleges have to offer into the high schools.”