Eleanor Roosevelt High School offers various programs and courses on campus to help students find their pathway toward the future as well as their interests. These include Advanced Placement (AP), Dual Enrollment, athletics, clubs, and Career Technological Education (CTE) also known as STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics). Students are recommended to look for their respective colleges and future professions in their freshmen year. Their choice of colleges and career path will impact their class selections in high school.
AP classes and Dual Enrollment:
AP classes and Dual Enrollment are both college-level courses, however, AP classes are college preparation courses while Dual Enrollment is strictly college courses. Starting with AP classes on the ERHS campus offers various courses. These classes include an end-of-the-year qualification for eligibility for college credits exam, or simply the AP exam in May (which students must purchase before the deadline; the date varies every year). These classes will be harder and faster paced than honors and normal. Take caution, the exams are timed; therefore students must prepare to embrace this ticking bomb. Scoring from a one to five scale, three and above is passing, meaning the students will be eligible for college credits however, does not guarantee the college credits. There are colleges where they will take these credits while others do not. For instance, the IV league looks for Ap over Dual. So beware of what your college takes and does not take. In the high school term, taking these courses will boost your GPA and count for the A-G requirement depending on which course the student decides to take. Students can select these courses when they meet their counselor towards the end of the school year.
On the other hand, Dual enrollment is automatic college credits, meaning as long as the students pass the class, they get the credits. They can take up to 15 units. Additionally, all courses are free and include textbooks as well. These courses only count for the F category in the A-G requirements, the elective credits, but will still count towards the student’s GPA. This means students will still need to take their respective classes for graduation on top of Dual Enrollment. For example, if you were to take language arts in Dual, then you would still need to take the language arts for high school. It is entirely the student’s choice whether to add these classes to their schedule. They will be either available online or on campus.
Anita Shirley, the assistant principal at ERHS said, “I believe it’s beneficial for students to take Dual Enrollment classes, however, it is up to the students’ preference.”
“It is a great way to earn college credits before college during the summer,” Shirley added.
Compared to AP, Dual only offers a handful of classes with limited spots. For more information, you can visit the ERHS Dual Enrollment official website.
CTE and STEM (eSTEM building):
In addition to the potential AP courses and Dual Enrollment options on campus, ERHS also offers the STEM program. eSTEM is essentially a school within a school, it is a program that is dedicated to providing students with advanced technological courses with cutting-edge technology. However, to be accepted into eSTEM requires you to win a lottery that is sent out through their website, meaning that getting into STEM is more based on your luck rather than your actual qualifications or GPA. STEM offers a vast selection of courses from the mathematical to the scientific. STEM is also very well-known for its Career Technical Education (CTE) courses. Each course follows its pathway, where a student can build up their skills on a specific topic rather than hopping around. CTE classes are available to everyone.
Jason Bomgaars, a robotics and engineering teacher on the eSTEM campus elaborated “There are a variety of different CTE pathways offered on campus such as medical, computer science, STEM type career,” displaying the level of variety within the program.
The environment of STEM is also described as emphasizing teamwork and unity. One of the ways this is done is through the Science Engineering Research Project (SERP) or the Inquiry Project. The SERP project is a yearly research project that goes on for 6 months, where students choose or are given a topic to research, experiment, and collect data on.
Jolene Tham, an eSTEM freshman at Eleanor Roosevelt High School expressed her appreciation for the SERP project claiming that “The SERP project brings people together and there’s a real sense of community on the STEM campus.”
Other than these, students could also participate in clubs and sports programs to expand their horizons and connections. For example, Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) is a student-run organization. They offer competitive events, recognize, and reward excellence in a broad range of business and career-related areas (more information) or visit B108. As for details and more information on sports programs, visit the admins in charge or contact them through email.
