Fairmont State's Middle College teams with Marion County Schools to uplift foster kids

Apr. 9—FAIRMONT — Marion County Schools will collaborate with a new program recently announced by Fairmont State University.

Dubbed Middle College, the program will enroll, for free, high school foster students for their junior and senior years. In that time, foster students will live on campus in a specifically defined dorm for a close to full college experience.

"The real goal is to change the life trajectory of these most deserving, young citizens, in our state and to actually get them into bachelor's and master's degree programs," Dianna Phillips, provost and vice president of academic affairs at Fairmont State, said at Monday's Marion County Board of Education meeting.

"In order to do that, this Middle College is going to provide the stability that will enable them to graduate in two years with an associate's degree."

The associate's degree is composed of 60 credit hours, and can be incorporated toward a bachelor's degree at the university. It will enable beneficiaries of the program to enroll in any program at Fairmont State University or other university of their choice. Phillips said it's the first of its kind program in the country that focuses solely on foster youth.

Jacob Green, West Virginia Department of Education schools of diversion and transition superintendent, said during the day, foster students will attend college courses. A special associates program was specifically designed for them through Fairmont State.

Green finds the idea attractive because it works to catch kids before they end up in the residential system or detention. The program will be application based, meaning foster students will have to apply and be accepted into the program. WVDE staff will work to identify strengths and weaknesses within their charges and keep track of them throughout the two years.

The program will have a minimum of eight courses to pass, if students can successfully pass all eight and the GED, they can receive their high school diploma. If students pass every course at Middle College, they can walk away with a high school diploma and associates.

Green said foster kids don't enjoy the most stable academic life, which makes passing through the K-12 school system difficult. Foster students can go through four or five placements in a year, making them new students frequently and denying any opportunity to set down roots. This can be detrimental to learning.

"The data says, the more placement changes the less they perform academically and the more disciplined and absenteeism that we have in foster youth," Green said. "The data is very clear on that. It is our hope that this program will solve that issue."

ONe study found that only 50% of students in foster care graduate from high school.

The program is fully supported by the Ggvernor, Senate President Craig Blair, and House Speaker Roger Hanshaw. The Department of Human Services also supports the program.

Phillips hopes to eventually expand this program to other states, there are currently 6,200 children in foster care in West Virginia. Phillips and Green hope the program will reach kids 16 and over, giving them a place to go. Phillips said that age bracket is the hardest to place because they are getting ready to age out of the system.

Board of Education President Donna Costello asked if this program would benefit Community and Technical Education students. While it may be a possibility in the future, Phillips said for now both her and Green's goal is to get their proof of concept working first.

"We're trying to keep things narrow because this has literally never been done in the United States before," she said. "We're trying to keep it a control group."

Once the program is operational and they understand what the needs of the foster students are, there will be an opportunity to expand the program to include CTE, she said.

The school board found plenty to complement with the plan.

"I think it's a great program, 60 hour associate degree," Board Member Richard Pellegrin said. "Our kids that are in high school now, if they took every AP class offered they wouldn't get 60 hours, or an associate's degree. This is a great program for our at-risk, most at-risk youth."

The program was accompanied by a memorandum of understanding with Fairmont State University which was on the board's agenda. The board approved it as part of a block vote with several other agenda items.

The board also voted to approve the sale of the Fifth Street Gym. The gym was sold at auction to the nonprofit Friends of Fifth Street on March 26. Board Member James Saunders requested a breakdown of how the money from the sale of the gym and school buses that were auctioned will be reinvested, once those decisions have been made.

The next meeting is April 15.

Reach Esteban at efernandez@timeswv.com