The Manitowoc Public School District has reached a milestone with a program through UW-Green Bay.
Superintendent Lee Thennes said on the WCUB Breakfast Club that 100 students have enrolled in the Rising Phoenix program, which helps students finish high school well getting them a head start in college.
The program allows students to take college credit classes while they are still going to high school.
The hope is that students will have a high school diploma and an associate’s degree when they leave high school.
“We’ve helped a number of kids be first-generation college graduates over these few years,” he noted. “We’re going to do a full report to the board in July on how many credits have been earned by this program and how much money (the program) has save our kids and families.”
The superintendent also credits the junior students for keeping up with their studies.
“Our kids, our juniors in high school, were getting a 3.2 some average GPA while average kids going to college for them at that time was a 2.7 or a 2.8,” he explained. “So our kids in high school are even outperforming freshmen in college traditionally. So we’re really proud of that too.”
Students interested in joining the program can apply through UW-Green Bay.
Students would go through the Manitowoc campus. 29 senior students were also congratulated recently for getting Dual Credit Courses.
They will be given a cord to wear during their graduation next month.
