Fall 24 New Student Info and FAQ

Welcome to ECHS!

We are so happy to have you with us next year. As there is a lot of information we are creating two landing spots for new students and parents to access information. This is the first and will be where we post updated FAQ info. The second is our Website. We have created a section for new students where they can access documents and other important information. We will update this website with important paperwork and information prior to your registration meeting in June.

Here is a direct link: https://echs.beaverton.k12.or.us/academics/new-students

The path is our main page >Academics>New Students

Students you may have received an email from PCC about registering for a PCC Panther Advising Meeting. This meeting is for students who have graduated from high school and does not apply to you. Do not sign up for one of these meetings; they will not have information relevant to you.

Your Registration and Advising Meeting is with ECHS on June 3rd and 4th.

You might notice in your mypcc account that PCC has assigned you to a campus. PCC assigns campuses to students based on their home zip code. You can ignore any campus assignment that PCC lists.

ECHS assigned you to either Rock Creek or Sylvania. Any campus that PCC lists does not change your registration in any way any does not change your ECHS assigned campus.

PCC places a hold on all student accounts until you have gone through our registration meeting and your paperwork and your G# has been processed in their system. Holds will be removed after you have attended your Registration Meeting in June.

Q: Can you explain the relationship with the home school and ECHS?

A: We will go into more detail on this during our Registration/Orientation meeting in a couple weeks and in our student orientation in the Fall, but here is a quick overview. ECHS is a program, not a school and our staff are employees of the Beaverton School District. Students are cross enrolled in ECHS and their home high school while attending ECHS

-TTSD/SHSD students are cross-enrolled with their current high school

-BSD students are cross-enrolled with their current high school whether this is a neighborhood high school or an Option School

-Home Schooled or Private School Students – you will enroll in your neighborhood high school this summer, after your semester 2 grades are complete, and you will then be cross enrolled in that school in August.

ECHS students are able to participate after school events and activities at their cross enrolled high schools (athletics, after school activities and events like dances and proms). Students keep their student ID numbers when they join ECHS, but it is important for students and families to know that limited announcements and information comes to ECHS from cross-enrolled high schools, so students need to monitor their district email, canvas pages, websites etc. Due to state funding guidelines, students cannot take classes during the school day at their cross-enrolled high school.

One of the biggest shifts moving from your current school to ECHS is that in college students are held to adult expectations by PCC and our students are treated like any other student on the PCC campus.

• All communication at the college level can only go to the student.
• Professors can only communicate directly with students about grades and about progress.
• Professors will not communicate directly with parents if they have questions about grades or student progress.

ECHS is here to help and be a guide, but our students have a great deal more responsibility on their shoulders in this program than in their high schools. Students and parents can prepare for this shift now.

One significant shift we discuss in our required courses is that students need to be their own advocates, they need to become comfortable emailing and meeting with their professors or our staff when they need help, and they need to learn how to navigate the PCC system on their own. So, along those lines, if families have questions about this program, students should be the ones to email our staff. Parents, must not be the only one reading this FAQ, because it is our students who are held accountable for this information. Students need to be the ones checking their email over the summer for updates and responding to those updates. They need to be the ones to know how to sign up for classes on their own etc etc. Parents, you are the most important person in your student's lives and you will continue to be their biggest source of support. But now is the time when they need to take ownership and are untimately responsible for following through on their commitments and their learning.

Before each term students have a meeting with their counselor to select courses and ensure students are completing their high school requirements. At the end of each term ECHS supplies BSD or TTSD with your student’s PCC transcript and grades and credits are applied to the high school transcript. Because high schools are on a semester credit system and colleges are on a credit hour system there is a conversion that school districts use to convert the credits.

College Credits.

1 Credit class = .25 HS Credits

1 Credit PE class = .5 HS Credits

2,3,4 Credit Class = .5 HS Credits

5 + Credit class = 1.0 HS Credits

About 40% of our students earn an AA degree at the time of their graduation. The average student graduates with 70-75 college credits completed at the time of graduation which is about 1 term short of their AA degree. There are several reasons why students do not or choose not to earn their AA degree. 1) entry math course- students need to earn a certain number of math credits above Math 95 to earn their AA degree. If students start at a lower math course they cannot complete the math sequence in 6 college terms. 2) College acceptances and programs: Senior year most of our student going directly to a 4 year school focus on taking courses that will match particular 4 year programs. These do not always match the required courses needed for the AA degree. ECHS supports students who are interested in earning their AA degree; however, what is most important is that our students establish their goals, dreams and interests.

ECHS has a retention rate in the 90% range. However, we do have students who choose to return to their home school on their own or because of lack of academic progress. Student always have the right to return to their neighborhood high school. The exception to this would be students coming from a private school or students coming from an option school in BSD,

Private schools make their own admissions decisions and families should contact those schools about their timelines on return.

Options schools within the Beaverton School District:

• BASE: Students have until August 1st to change their mind about admission to ECHS and return to BASE. After that date they will need to return to their neighborhood high school.

• ACMA and ISB: Students have until the first day of classes in BSD (August 26th) to change their mind about admission to ECHS and return to ACMA or ISB. After that date they will need to return to their neighborhood high school.

ECHS only pays for classes during the Fall, Winter and Spring Terms.

For those students who are willing to pay for courses on their own, we do not recommend that new students take a Summer course at PCC before they are enrolled in ECHS.

Depending on the course there can be a very big difference in expectations between high school and college. We help students navigate through these differences in our Orientation course, CG101/102, which new students will take their first term. College classes are more condensed and move at a faster pace than high school courses; however PCC summer courses are a week shorter than Fall, Winter and Spring.. As there are less students on campus there is less academic support in the Student Learning Center, and as our staff is not on campus there is no support from our program. Finally, Summer courses tend to be taught be less tenured instructors.

We have had students who have been successful taking a class over the summer, but we have also had students who took a class and struggled and it put them behind coming in to the program.

YOU DO NOT NEED TO BUY A COMPUTER!

ECHS supplies Chromebooks to any student that needs one. Students who are currently enrolled in the Beaverton School District will keep their Chromebook over the summer and use that Chromebook during the 2024-25 school year. Students who are coming to us from TTSD/SHSD or from a private school will have the opportunity to check out a chromebook at the end of the summer and we will publish a date for check out later in the summer

Q: Can I use my own computer/iPad/other device

A: yes, a personal laptop or tablet will work for your classes as long as it has a keyboard. You will not be able to use a cell phone in place of a computer or tablet with a keyboard.

Q: I would like to separate my CG101 and 102 course and take them at different times or with different instructors

A:CG101/102 class cannot be split. They are coded as 2 classes by PCC but they are taught as one continuous class. The coursework for each is blended together by each instructor and it is graded as one class. Students are assigned to a particular CG101/102 class that will be taught by their counselor and this is by design as their counselor is student's main point of contact and support throughout their time at ECHS.

A: Courses ECHS Cannot Pay for:

• Any PE courses in the “Swimming” Category
• Any PE courses that are Ski/Snowboarding Lesson Category
• Intro to Rock Climbing, Rock Climbing 1 (PE 199D)

• PE183A Beginning Hiking

• PE184P Advanced Hiking

Courses requiring Parent Permission

• Life Drawing: (Art 237 A, Art 237 B, Art 237 C) – See counselor for permission slip
• Life Painting: (Art 277A, Art 277B, Art 277C) – See Counselor for permission slip
• Evening Courses – any course that start after 5pm. Permission slip only needed if an evening course is offered in-person in the Fall.

Courses with Fees that ECHS does not pay for:

Any courses that have private lessons: ECHS can pay for the class, but not the private lesson fees. There are some Language classes or Music classes that include private lessons for example:

• Private Music Lessons: https://www.pcc.edu/programs/music/private-lessons.html Students that choose to take one of these courses are responsible for the $250 (1 credit) or $500 (2 credit) fee associated with these courses.

Hello everyone, we have had several question about the CG course and how to find them in the catalog. We have created this short informational video as a guide