Wareham University: How high schoolers are getting ahead before college

Sixteen kids from Wareham High School are getting first hand college experience as part of the school’s dual enrollment program with Bridgewater State University.

The program began 11 years ago with the intention of making college more accessible financially for students and to give them a leg-up academically.

“We often have students that have completed half to all of their freshman year of college by the time they graduate high school,” said Wareham High School Assistant Principal and dual enrollment coordinator Kim Cavicchi.

High school Principal Scott Palladino added families have called him with gratitude for the opportunity the program gave their child.

“I got a call last year from a parent thanking us because their child graduated in three years and was going to have their master’s before that student’s peers had their bachelor’s,” Palladino said. 

To get into the program, juniors and seniors at Wareham High have to apply the spring before they want to start and be accepted. Requirements include strong academic standing, a teacher recommendation and good attendance.

Once accepted, students will take the 7 a.m. bus from the high school and arrive at Bridgewater for their 8 a.m. classes. Some students are part-time, taking two classes per semester, while others are full-time, taking all of their classes at Bridgewater.

Palladino added most students take core classes, meaning when they finish high school they will be able to focus on their majors in college.

The program also allows students to attend Bridgewater for about a third of the regular cost, according to Cavicchi. She said the cost per class for dual enrollment students is $500 compared to the traditional $1,500. She added Bridgewater will offer financial assistance for qualifying students who will pay no tuition.

“I really wanted to save money off of my college tuition and I thought that my classes [at Wareham High] were a bit too easy,” said junior Donovan Leonardi.

Leonardi is one of the seven part-time students in this year’s program who said the English and economics classes he is taking are helping him figure out what he wants to study.

“I’m really trying to use it as an opportunity to explore what I want to do,” Leonardi said. “I’ve never been too sure about what I want to go into, so I thought taking a couple intro classes would help me decide.”

Unlike Leonardi, fellow junior Chase Card knows he wants to be an engineer and is taking a statistics class to help him prepare for higher level math classes in the future.

“I’m trying to take as many math classes as possible,” Card said. “I tried to take statistics and algebra but algebra was taken because the college kids get first pick.”

Card added he is also taking a piano class to learn a new skill.

“I wanted that as a side thing so I could learn and study it,” he said.

One of the program’s initial challenges, according to Palladino, was transportation. He said before transportation was offered for free, students had to get themselves to Bridgewater, which made the program less accessible.

Now, the school district supplies a full-sized bus to get kids to and from Bridgewater.

And this is not the only dual enrollment program in Wareham. The district also offers a program allowing eighth graders to take high level ninth grade courses to get ahead in high school.

Cavicchi said there she has noticed a small pipeline from the eighth grade to the Bridgewater dual enrollment program.

“I would say about half the students at Bridgewater were involved in the eighth grade dual enrollment program,” she said. “Oftentimes the kids get to the point where they’ve exhausted all the advanced courses at the high school even though we offer so many.”