Pierpont CTC, West Virginia Virtual Academy sign MOU to offer dual

FAIRMONT, W.Va. (WV News) — Tuesday afternoon, Pierpont Community & Technical College signed a memorandum of understanding with the West Virginia Virtual Academy to give high school students in the academy the opportunity to earn an associate degree from Pierpont through dual enrollment courses.

Pierpont Transitional Education Director Dr. Joni Gray said that while these opportunities have already been available to high school students in the North Central West Virginia region near Pierpont, the partnership with the Virtual Academy will open doors for students across the state to make use of the same programs.

She added that no matter what high school students’ plans are after graduation, earning an associate degree through this program will jump-start the next chapter of their life.

"For students in West Virginia, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," Gray said. "There are a multitude of opportunities. No. 1, they will have an associate degree in hand. And if they couple that with any sort of career tech ed training they’ve taken, they are workforce ready when they graduate from high school. …

"Should they decide to go on to four-year programming … they have a degree that sets them apart from other students as an applicant and moves them ahead quicker in earning that four-year degree.

"If they’re going to the military, this is an opportunity to go in at a higher rank and start making more money more immediately."

Gray said that partnering with the West Virginia Virtual Academy is an exciting step in giving students across the state access to Pierpont's classes and resources.

"This takes us from just focusing around the location of our service region and redefines what that service region can look like," she said.

West Virginia Virtual Academy Board Chair Bryan Hoylman said the charter school plans to allow high school students to make use of the new partnership starting in the fall.

He added that even freshmen and sophomores in high school are thinking about what they’ll do after graduation, and these dual enrollment courses are a perfect complement to that exploration.

"Now we can bring those college classes to them while they’re in high school, and they can start to explore those and get credits for those things ahead of time," Hoylman said. "The dual enrollment plan conceptually works so well, but you’ve got to be smart about how you set it up and how you tailor it. …

"With the technical programs they have here, where there's a huge need in the work force, students can really get that leg up and into their career sooner while getting more career-specific tools and programming at an earlier age. We think it's a benefit for that reason."

Fairmont News Editor John Mark Shaver can be reached at 304-844-8485 or [email protected].

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