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Collegiate Model Adopted Statewide: Accelerated High School Learning, Modeled at OWC, Gains in Popularity As Word Spreads.

Posted on: Sunday, 18 December 2005, 12:00 CST

By Zac Anderson, Northwest Florida Daily News, Fort Walton Beach, Northwest Florida Daily News, Fort Walton Beach

Dec. 18--In recent years, Jill White has been a missionary of sorts, preaching the gospel of accelerated high school learning opportunities in cities like St. Petersburg and Jacksonville.

When White helped develop OWC's Collegiate High School six years ago, it was the only school of its kind in the state -- a charter high school where students attend college classes and simultaneously earn college and high school credits.

Since the Okaloosa-Walton College charter school opened in 2000, at least three other Florida community colleges have developed similar models.

White continues to field inquiries from colleges across the state. She recently returned from Key West after giving a presentation on the Collegiate High School to officials at Florida Keys Community College.

"I think we've found something that fits a very specific educational niche," said White, senior vice president for instruction at OWC.

Since its inception, the Collegiate High School has consistently ranked among the state's best schools in terms of standardized test scores. Its students regularly win statewide academic competitions, and many have gone on to top-notch universities across the nation.

At age 20, Collegiate High School graduate Cassie Casiano, class of 2003, has already earned a bachelor's degree from Florida State University and is now pursuing her master's in English literature.

The Collegiate High School's flexible scheduling and advanced curriculum appealed to Casiano, who said she was chafing against the "busy work" and strict attendance policies at her public high school. "It was perfect for me," Casiano said. "I'm really thankful it came along when it did." Katherine Farrell's friends get a little jealous when they find out that the junior at Cedarville University in Cedarville, Ohio, earned 77 college credits before she reached her 18th birthday.

"My friends say they wish something like that was available to them," Farrell said last week after arriving home to visit her family in Bluewater Bay. "I think there are students in every community who could benefit from it."

As the Collegiate High School's model continues to gain popularity around the state, it's also drawing more interest from local students.

In order to maintain a small, close-knit learning environment -- enrollment this year is 242 students, compared with 2,300 at Okaloosa's largest high school -- the school currently rejects more than half of all applicants.

Plans are in the works to move the Collegiate High School to larger quarters, and White said enrollment may expand up to 300 students.

"But I don't even know if we'll ever get to 300. That's our absolute maximum," White said. "We don't want to get away from what's made us successful."

Farrell and Casiano both agree.

"I love the whole atmosphere at the school," Farrell said. "It being so small and friendly."

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Copyright (c) 2005, Northwest Florida Daily News, Fort Walton Beach

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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Source: Northwest Florida Daily News

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