Brooklyn Laboratory Charter School knows the impact of college prep schools in helping students be academically prepared for college and also to help them earn more college credits before they even enter post-secondary education. As a middle school, our goal is to bridge the gap after a student’s primary school education by preparing them in middle school to be the scholars required for advanced placement and honors programs in high school.
While some schools focus on career readiness, Brooklyn Laboratory Charter School focuses on academic readiness to support the future professionals that will lead our country in new and exciting directions.
The Importance of College Prep Schools
While, in theory, every part of a child’s education should prepare them for higher education, this is not the reality. Schools must distinguish between teaching average learners, those with learning challenges, and those who quickly excel academically.
For this reason, advanced placement classes have been developed – to challenge college-bound students with a more rigorous education that will prepare them better for university-level studies. College prep schools can devote all their curricula and resources to this group of learners.
Without college preparatory classes, many students would suffer in their later college studies and exams and could fall short of current admissions standards for many universities. Today, it is recommended that a student seeking college admission (especially to elite universities) should take up to 10 advanced placement courses in classes such as English, math, foreign language, economics, and sciences.
How are Early College Credits Earned
The best way for students to get a head start on their college education is to earn early college credits during high school. College admissions departments are always impressed with AP and honors class students because it shows they have taken a positive initiative in their education and are still in complex classroom settings.
Early college credits are earned while still in high school. And more of these classes are offered by college preparatory schools than any other. To earn college credits, a student should accomplish as many of the following:
- attend a college prep high school
- take advanced placement classes
- be selected for Honor classes
- test out of standard class requirements
- pass College Level Examination Program (CLEP) exams in high school
- have dual enrollment in college while still attending high school
- attend summer college before sophomore year
All of these ways to earn college credits will take planning. This means a student must be ready to perform in any of the above-listed areas that are a pathway to gaining college credits. All approved college credits can be applied to the student’s degree requirements, reducing the time in college or accelerating their college class placement. Brooklyn Lab offers 9 Advanced Placement courses. This equates to roughly 27 college credits, which is almost a year of undergraduate studies. Additionally, our partnership with College Now at City Tech allows for students to take 1 college course per semester beginning as early as 10th grade (upwards of 18 college credits).
Visit Brooklyn Laboratory Charter School to see how our programs prepare students for this critical time in their educational life, in which excelling in high school can make all the difference in a successful college career.
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