As part of our mission to inspire, educate, challenge and support all students to reach their highest level of learning and professional development, District 200 has been working diligently to expand our dual credit offerings at the high school level. High school students have the opportunity to get a head start on their college education by enrolling in a dual credit course, which enables them to earn high school and college credit simultaneously.
All of the dual credit courses offered at Wheaton North and Wheaton Warrenville South high schools are taught by District 200 teachers. Any teacher who teaches a dual credit course at the high schools must have special credentials and certifications and be approved by the college or university that issues the dual credit. Additionally, some District 200 students attend the Technology Center of DuPage to earn dual credit through the College of DuPage. We are excited to share that a total of 226 students from the Class of 2023 earned a “C” or better in a dual credit course last year.
When we worked together as a community to develop the Vision 2026 Strategic Plan, expanding programming to prepare students for a full range of post-secondary opportunities was identified as a priority. With this in mind, we made it a goal to increase dual credit opportunities in District 200.
Prior to the implementation of the Vision 2026 Strategic Plan in the summer of 2022, District 200 offered three dual credit courses. Today, we are excited to share that we now offer 15 dual credit courses, seven of which were added during the 2023-24 school year. These new courses resulted in 621 more students enrolling in one dual credit course, and 99 of those students have taken a second dual credit course. In the 2023-24 school year, nearly 1,100 dual credit courses were taken by high school students.
We are proud of the progress we have made, and we will continue to explore dual credit expansions for years to come. In fact, there will be three new dual credit offerings next year: Broadcast Media 1, Broadcast Media 2, and Sports and Entertainment Marketing.
Wheaton North High School senior and Board of Education Student Ambassador Ethan Spaid enrolled in two dual credit courses this year and shares a bit about his experience.
“Taking dual credit classes seemed like an easy way to get a good taste of what the workload of a college level class is like,” Ethan said. “When I took College Composition last semester, it helped me understand what next year will feel like. I’ve had other classes with large workloads, but College Composition was very quick paced. At times it was difficult to keep up, especially with such a busy schedule, but I really feel like it helped prepare me for college and learn the importance of time management.”
