DOUBLE CREDIT HIGH SCHOOL KIDS IN COLLEGE, TOO.

Byline: Lisa M. Sodders Staff Writer

WOODLAND HILLS - Five times a week, Max Simon-Gersuk leaves behind his life as a 15-year-old high school kid and becomes a college student.

On those afternoons, he takes a bus from the Sherman Oaks Center for Enriched Studies to Pierce College in Woodland Hills, where he is enrolled in an American Sign Language course.

And though he's still years away from high school graduation, he has already begun to accrue college credit - and to develop a taste for the freedom enjoyed by most college freshmen.

``You're more independent, and it helps you prepare for when you go off to college on your own,'' he said.

The line between college and high school is blurring as more and more kids - some as young as 12 - enter programs in which middle and high school students earn credit for college and high school classes taken concurrently.

The number of such students has grown from 3,000 in fall 1996 to nearly 17,000 in fall 2001, according to officials in the Los Angeles Community College District, which operates concurrent credit programs with middle and high schools in several districts, including Los Angeles Unified and Las Virgenes Unified.

The growth has been spurred by officials in colleges recruiting students early and in school districts seeking to bolster academic programs hard hit by budget cuts.

Under the program, students with approval from their high schools can take courses ranging from math and English to astronomy, political science and psychology. Sponsoring school districts cover the $11-per-credit cost, but students must purchase their own textbooks.

Some of the college-credit classes are offered at the high schools, but most are available only on the college campuses. If there is a large group of high school students taking classes at the same time on a college campus, their school district typically provides transportation. Otherwise students make their own arrangements.

The courses - recognized by the University of California and California State University - are not watered down. Yet the concurrent students seem to be thriving.

A study shows that 68 percent of the concurrent students successfully complete their courses, compared with 70 percent of all community college students who get passing grades.

Pierce College President Rocky Young welcomes the 2,000 secondary school students taking college courses on his campus. He said many high school students need more challenging work.

``A lot of these students can do college-level work in high school,'' Young said. ``It's inappropriate to create artificial barriers. Education is a continuum; we shouldn't treat it as separate parts.''

To that end, Pierce College recently launched a new pilot program, the San Fernando Valley International Trade High School Academy, for Taft High School students at risk of dropping out. Students in the program, who are required to maintain a grade point average of 2.5 or higher, can take courses at Pierce College and study a foreign language.

The program is a collaborative effort between the Economic Alliance of the San Fernando Valley, Taft High School, Pierce College, Woodbury University, Los Angeles Unified School District, California State University, Northridge, and area businesses.

The students receive off-site tours, mentoring, tutoring and corporate internships while they concurrently earn high school and college credits. Enrollment is now limited to about 20 Taft students in 10th and 11th grades, but there are plans to expand the program.

``The global economy is not a trend; it's a fact,'' said Bert Sanchez, a Pierce College business professor, who teaches the Taft students. ``They will be way ahead of the curve; they need to think globally. They are competing not just with their classmates and people from the Valley; they are competing with people all over the world.''

Local District B Superintendent Bob Collins, who oversees public schools in the Southwest Valley, agreed.

``Our ability to help each one of these young people develop, mature and contribute significantly to the community, raise their families and live the American dream is what this program's all about.''

In a period when state funding fails to pay for one in three community college students, the increased number of high school students in college is a mixed blessing. But Young noted that concurrent enrollment programs can reduce the time it takes students to earn a college degree, saving them and taxpayers time and money in the long term.

``If you have high school students ready to do college work, in the long run, it's not good public policy to lock them out,'' Young said. ``By serving these students, we're cutting their time to (a) degree, and that may be the best solution to this higher-education problem.''

Students said they enroll in concurrent credit programs to gain an edge in college admissions competition or to jump-start their careers.

Danielle Nottea, a 15-year-old Taft High student who takes classes at Pierce, noted that she and many other concurrent students will have two- year, associate of arts college degrees by the time they are in the 11th grade. ``We earn high school and college credit, so I'm not missing out on anything at all. I'm actually gaining more.''

The programs also give students access to classes not offered by their high schools, such as art history, sociology and even first aid for guide dogs and other companion animals.

Victoria Kim, a 17-year-old El Camino Real High student, has been taking courses at Pierce since ninth grade, using them to supplement her high school courses and, in some cases, to fulfill graduation requirements that didn't interest her so she could spend more time on the high school courses that did.

A future medical student, Victoria took a health and a computer class at Pierce, as well as a statistics class after budget cuts forced her high school to drop the class.

``I have a lot of choices in what I want to study and more flexibility in scheduling,'' she said.

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Photo:

Alexandra Pisarro-Grant, a high school student also studying at Pierce College, listens during a college class.

Hans Gutknecht/Staff Photographer