Five Highland graduates earn Associate’s Degrees while in high school

Highland High School boasts only students in Ulster County to accomplish feat in 2019

Posted 7/17/19

Highland High School (HHS) recent graduate Rylee Montelione is one of five 2019 seniors in Ulster County to “graduate college” weeks before her high school graduation ceremony took place. …

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Five Highland graduates earn Associate’s Degrees while in high school

Highland High School boasts only students in Ulster County to accomplish feat in 2019

Posted

Highland High School (HHS) recent graduate Rylee Montelione is one of five 2019 seniors in Ulster County to “graduate college” weeks before her high school graduation ceremony took place. She and the four other Highland students earned an associate’s degree through SUNY Ulster’s Early College Program, which incorporates a handful of classes through SUNY New Paltz.

“My mom never graduated from high school, so for me to, in a way, graduate from college before I graduated from high school is truly special for her,” said Rylee, who will be attending Hofstra University in the fall where she plans on studying marketing and business management. “My stepdad is also ecstatic.”

Joining Rylee in this exclusive club are Saipranav Golkonda, Kingsley Ogelle, Sofia CrimiVaroli, and Carlie Relyea, each of whom earned the required 60-plus college credits while managing their high school class schedule, extracurriculars, and everything else that comes with high school life. Some of the college classes were taught by Highland teachers certified by SUNY Ulster and others were held onsite at SUNY Ulster and SUNY New Paltz, allowing the students to take part in an actual college setting.

“This was a goal of mine from the beginning of my time in high school,” said Carlie, who is headed to Drexel University next year to study biology and psychology pre-med. “The work itself was not too difficult. The biggest challenge came in managing all of the work at once and working my schedule around it. Drexel offers a five-year program, which I am hoping to complete in three years because they will take nearly all of my credits.”

While an associate’s degree may have been in Carlie’s crosshairs from the moment she first stepped on the Highland campus, NYU-bound classmate Kingsley had no such designs at the start of his high school career.

“An associate’s degree was never a goal, per se,” said Kingsley, who plans to study biology and become a medical doctor. “But during sophomore year, when I realized the workload didn’t really bother me because I’d always worked hard, it really hit me that I might be able to carry credits on to the next level and that is when I began thinking about the degree.”
The opportunity is there for students who are motivated. Beginning sophomore year, Early College Program students take high school Advanced Placement (AP) classes that “overlap” with college classes. For example, Highland’s Grade 10 AP European History class overlaps with Western Civilization II, a SUNY Ulster course for college sophomores. This means that participating high school students are enrolled in both classes, preparing them for the AP exam in May while also receiving credits from SUNY Ulster. The course loads in the two classes are not identical, but they are similar.

“Classes at Highland with similar course loads to classes offered at SUNY Ulster and SUNY New Paltz include AP Biology, AP Chemistry, AP Physics, AP U.S. History, AP European History, AP Psychology, as well as AP math classes,” explains Highland teacher Barry Ranalli, who teaches sophomore AP European History, Global Studies, and Geography.
“The associate’s degree that fits best with the dual credit courses we have at Highland through SUNY Ulster and courses that are available for students to take at the college is the Liberal Arts; Science: Mathematics; Science Associate in Arts Degree,” said school counselor Heather Bragg. “This degree is 61-64 college credits.”

HHS school officials estimate that 35 percent of their sophomore to senior student population participate in the college credit program, and while not all of those students earn an associate’s degree prior to graduation, many of them accumulate valuable college credits. One reason for the high participation rate may be the fact that at Highland, unlike many high schools, every student is eligible to take AP classes; therefore, they are also eligible to take college-level classes, regardless of their grade point average.

“The bigger value is that these kids have the experience of what a college class is like,” said Ranalli, whose daughter, Arianna, earned her associate’s degree as a Highland senior last year.

Sofia’s mom, Carole, agrees. “It gives students a perspective of what college professors expect, which was valuable.” Sophia, who will be attending the University of Notre Dame in the fall, says she enjoyed the added challenge of the college-level courses.
One might think that college-level coursework for sophomores, juniors, and seniors in high school would be daunting, but in speaking with the Highland students, time management posed the greatest challenge.

“I wouldn’t say taking college classes at SUNY Ulster or here at the high school is the same as college because we are still in a structured daily environment, unlike college, and that will be an adjustment for all of us,” Rylee said. “However, in college you usually only take 15 to 21 credits and at one point I know I was taking 21-plus credits at once. I had every single period here at Highland full, then two online classes going on at the same time. Workload-wise I feel prepared for college. I thrive on stress. I hate it. It kills me, but at the same time I feel better the more productive I am.”

The jump from high school to college is a big one, and a program that allows high school students to experience college course work can help bridge that gap.

“I figured trying to get a college degree under my belt would be worth the try and it has helped,” said Saipranav, who is headed to George Washington University to study political science and economics. “College counselors told me they were happy and surprised I was doing something like this. It helps in terms of cost and it instills the college mindset in me before I get on campus.”
HHS Principal William Zimmer says the success of the college credit program at Highland does not happen in a vacuum.

“We are proud of all of our students, especially those who achieve their associate’s degree while in high school,” he said. “We are proud of the classes we offer and we are thrilled to have this number of students take advantage of that and thankful for the family and parent support. It’s not just about the school. It is about the family and community, too.”