McHenry Times

At the March 21 Community Schools 155 School Board meeting, board members welcomed assistant superintendent of Educational Services & Strategic Partnerships Matt Timmerman, who discussed the district’s dual credit and AP course opportunities. 

The district has an ongoing partnership with McHenry County College that allows it to provide many educational and academic opportunities to students. Timmerman gave some background on some of the recent work in this area, sharing that the district had focused on just AP courses in past years, with little dual course options. He said the district has worked to increase the number of dual credit courses available to students, and work in the program has increased the number of students taking AP or dual credit from 32% up to 50% over the past six years.

"All of this is rooted in the strategic plan that the board set... several years ago," Timmerman said. He added that students "have an idea of what they want to do and have basically taken some steps towards completing coursework that hopefully sets them on a path towards that career goal that they have when they leave us."

Timmerman told the board that the growth is due to the increase in available credit courses. Of the 2,095 students that took either an AP or dual credit course in 2016, 2,025 of them were AP students and only 203 were dual credit. In 2022, 2,806 students took either an AP or dual credit course and 1,610 were in AP and 2,269 were in a dual credit course. 

Timmerman said there is a lot of overlap as students likely take one or more of these advanced classes based on their interests and skill levels. 

Timmerman recognized the work of staff members in helping expand these options. Timmerman said that to be able to teach the advanced courses, teachers need a master's degree of 18 credit hours of grad school, so many went back and got additional degrees and certifications. 

Timmerman told the board the courses provide students with a confidence boost, direction for college or careers, and a cost savings for future degrees. 

Previously all the partner courses were free of charge to students, but next year they will cost students just $25 per course, much lower than many programs and colleges. As each dual credit course allows a student to earn college credits at a significant discount, the district’s dual credit and AP program has saved the community at least $2.6 million, and significantly increased the likelihood of students graduating college and doing it within four years.