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COLLEGE CREDITS EARNED ON OUR CAMPUS: UNIQUE DUAL ENROLLMENT PROGRAM



 

When 2008 graduate Matthew Minnicino of Leesburg first packed his belongings for college, he remembered to take sheets and towels, his dorm fridge, and the seventeen credits he had already earned during his career at Middleburg Academy.  Those were almost enough credits, in fact, for Matt to have entered the University of Virginia as a sophomore, had he elected to do so.  Like a number of his Middleburg Academy classmates, Matt accumulated most of these college credits through our unique and on-site Dual Enrollment (DE) program, well before his UVA education had formally begun.  

Dual Enrollment credits, as well as a smaller number of credits earned through Advanced Placement (AP) classes, allowed Matt to bypass several of UVA’s required first- and second-level classes (English, composition, and science) and move ahead quickly to explore the courses that truly ignited his passion.  He has never looked back. “I feel I am just as strong or stronger a writer and as well-grounded in science and history as my classmates who took those courses, thanks to my pre-college preparation at Middleburg Academy,” explains Minnicino. “Fairly early on in college, I was able to determine my double major [English and Theatre Arts] and jump into the more interesting, advanced-level courses that were then opened up to me.”  And jump in he did.  Now a senior, Matt has been on the Dean’s List every semester since arriving at one of Virginia’s top academic institutions.  

The uncommon breadth of the advanced course work made available to students at Middleburg Academy is tied to the strength of the school’s curriculum and faculty.   In addition to an exceptional number of teachers holding advanced degrees (86% have masters or doctorates), a significant portion are also certified to teach college-level courses on our college-prep campus. 

Many high schools, both public and private, offer college-level work through Advanced Placement (AP) classes, and Middleburg Academy is no exception. Depending on an individual’s AP exam score and the policies of the institution they plan to attend (which can vary considerably), students may be granted advanced standing.  Our Dual Enrollment offerings, unique among independent schools in the region, by definition ensure that full college credits are awarded at all fifteen of Virginia’s public universities to any student who receives a grade of C or higher in a DE-certified course.  And the good news is that rigorous DE coursework is similarly acknowledged by virtually every public and private college outside the state.

Matt Minnicino is one of several hundred Middleburg Academy alumni who have graduated from high school with both a strong college preparatory education and actual college credits.  If you check with some of our other young alumni, you will find similarly impressive examples; like the seniors at Cornell and Wake Forest, both of whom arrived at their campuses with twenty college credits already earned.   

All of this may be music to the ears of parents, many of whom have heard the recent statistic that one-third of all college students do not graduate within six years.

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Educating high school students has been 
our focus for nearly 50 years...

and you will not find a more dedicated or highly credentialed teaching staff than the one we offer here.

Why Middleburg Academy

In our close-knit learning community, young adults mature and thrive. We offer a college preparatory program that emphasizes individual attention, mutual respect and kindness, and outstanding academic challenge and achievement. Together with parents, we build a supportive bridge across which teenagers move confidently into early adulthood, then forward to a successful college experience.

We understand that:

  • Rigorous academics and top-tier college acceptances are compatible with a nurturing, friendly, and oftentimes fun learning environment.

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    The high school years can bring tremendous growth, self-discovery and pride in achievement; they needn’t bring undue stress. We believe in challenging our students’ minds, creativities and abilities. Such high expectations are set by our own high-achieving faculty, 86% of whom hold advanced degrees. The results are:

    • 100% college acceptance rate
    • National Merit and AP Scholars
    • Excellent SAT scores
    • A significant number of graduates who leave the school with college credits already earned through our Dual Enrollment Program and Advanced Placement Courses
    • An impressive number of graduates matriculating to top-tier colleges and universities. (see our recent college acceptances)

    We simply do not buy into the notion that this level of achievement can only come through joyless pressure to succeed. Visit Middleburg Academy to hear more about our competitive accomplishments, and also to be greeted by friendly, smiling students, to hear the laughter in our hallways, and to witness fully-engaged learning in our classrooms.

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  • Students challenge themselves beyond what is easily attainable when they have close, one-on-one relationships with their teachers.

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    The stimulating interactions between students and faculty are defining components of the Middleburg Academy experience. We have learned that out of small classes come great things. With a student-faculty ratio of 8:1 and typical class sizes of 12 -16, there is little opportunity for students to be disengaged. Each student is a visible presence, not only in the classroom, but campus-wide where all are known by name. In a recent survey of parents, “individual attention and care” and “the success of each student” ranked among the most prized and enduring qualities of a Middleburg Academy education.

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  • High school is an important time for developing a student's moral compass.

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    We want to produce students with high academic honors, but we also want to produce honorable students. From its very founding in 1965, Middleburg Academy has placed a genuine emphasis on developing the whole person: head and heart, intellect and character. Students study major world religions and are taught to think critically about tough ethical questions, on both a global and a personal level, in year-long Freshman, Sophomore and Junior Seminars that form a core part of the curriculum. We interpret “college preparation” in the broadest sense: we prepare our students for the academic demands of higher education, but we also help each of them to set their own moral bearings in preparation for the increased independence that comes with college.

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  • Teenagers manifest many types of intelligences and benefit from many outlets for expression.

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    Brain development takes dramatic leaps in the teenage and young adult years. In fact, recent research tells us that the significant neural change in teenagers is second only to the rapid growth that happens in early childhood. Granted, the teenage brain is a very complicated and active arena that isn’t always easily understood (by parents, teachers, or even specialists!), but it is exactly that dynamic quality that we, as high school educators, love to see come alive -- and then help channel to good use. It happens here every day.

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  • Schools that cultivate mutual trust and respect produce students who show great leadership and responsibility.

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    If you were to gather a sampling of students from Middleburg Academy’s most recently graduated class, as our Trustees did for Strategic Planning Sessions held last winter (2011), they would want you to understand the vital interplay between “freedom,” “flexibility,” and “accountability.” In the words of Ryan Gregory, now in his first year at the University of Virginia, “During our time here, we were given increasing amounts of freedom and flexibility -- we were put in charge of our own studies and use of resources. This is the best possible preparation for college. Every student here has the potential to succeed in college because we are conditioned to be accountable, not just to our teachers, but to ourselves.” He contrasts this with many other high schools settings, especially the larger ones, where teachers and administrators don’t feel comfortable entrusting so much responsibility to students and may not even know their students by name.

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