Every day, junior Sophie Tam begins school at 12:30 p.m. While many of her friends have already been in school for four hours, her classes have just started. As part of FUHSD’s Middle College program, a program giving juniors and seniors an opportunity to earn both high school and college credits in a unique setting, Tam is one of around 90 FUHSD students who take classes at De Anza College. With the freedom to choose from a larger variety of courses and times for their classes, as well as an increased sense of independence while taking more difficult courses, students are able to get a taste of college life without being in college full time. For Tam, being able to experience a different educational environment from MVHS was a major appeal.
“I think Monta Vista is kind of restricting,” Tam said. “Going into junior year, I was thinking, ‘I’m going to have to do five APs and study and do this and do that.’ But being at Middle College is much more freeing for me. There’s a similar amount of coursework, but I’m able to choose the classes that I want and do the stuff that I want.”
Senior Erin Handelsman, who attended Middle College her junior year and currently attends MVHS, joined middle college both for a new experience and because of memories she had of it in the past. Her older sister, who used to go to middle college, would take her along to Friday Middle College movie days, and the sense of community she saw there pushed her to try middle college once she was a junior. However, Handelsman found that the classes were the highlight of her time there.
“I love the De Anza classes, they’re excellent,” Handelsman said. “The professors are so nice and caring, and they want to teach you. It’s not that they have to, it’s that they want to be there and they want to help you succeed.”
Middle College teacher and advisor Sean Morrison agrees that students seem to enjoy the new experience. As a social science teacher for 12th graders, he only meets with his students three hours each day and, although he is there to support students navigating the college experience, he tries to stay in the background.
“From what I’ve seen, students have really enjoyed the transition,” Morrison said. “There’s a lot of autonomy and a lot of freedom out here, and students are only with us for three hours of the day. Students, I think, really enjoy the freedom that they have to navigate the college system on their own.”
However, Morrison says the transition can be difficult for some students at the beginning. Nobody is monitoring the students to make sure they finish their work, and the class structures are often different from high school as many of the classes are more lecture-heavy and fast-paced, and grades tend to be based on just a few large exams. Additionally, students take on more independence as they are taking college courses at a college. Because many professors treat them like adults, they are given more autonomy and responsibility over their education.
Tam agrees with Morrison, noting that there is an expectation for them to be more mature and act like adults, both academically and while interacting with other students. She contrasts this with high school, which she says has a different set of expectations for students, and a more involved approach.
“At Monta Vista, they envelop you in a little bubble,” Tam said. “The principal would email us and be like, ‘Here’s this opportunity that if you want to go to, you can, but in De Anza, you have to find those opportunities yourself.”
However, Tam says the Middle College program does a good job of hosting events aimed at connecting students with the De Anza community, recalling when they held an event the second week of school where she could talk to people interested in similar majors as well as network with other students and staff. She says that many other opportunities like club information day are held at Middle College as well. Morrison agrees, adding that a week-long orientation at the beginning of the year allows students to bond before classes start.
“One of the things we really focus on here at Middle College is really trying to build a sense of community,” Morrison said. “We put such an emphasis on the community building and social element, and we spend so much time together that I do think it kind of creates this small community.”
On the other hand, for Handelsman, the social transition was the hardest part, and one of the reasons she decided to return to MVHS. When she arrived at Middle College however, she felt isolated as many Middle College students already had friends, making it harder to meet new people or make close friends.
“It’s a big change, and you feel really secluded being part of a new group of people you just met,” Handelsman said. “Don’t get me wrong, they were really nice and helpful, and everyone’s there to make your experience worth it. We had a lot of group chats, and the people were super nice. But just how Middle College was styled — it was a lot different.”
Tam agrees with Handelsman, saying it’s harder for her and her MVHS friends to meet up, because they can’t hang out during brunch or lunch anymore. However, she still believes that the Middle College learning environment works better for her overall.
“I think the bigger aspect is helping me integrate into college life,” Tam said. “There’s a lot of things here, expectations, unsaid things that just don’t happen at high school, and I think Middle College is just a great transition point from high school to my university and future.”
