At last month’s 6/7 Milpitas High School graduation, 111 students (out of the 731 who graduated) flaunted purple stoles as they walked the stage.
Why the purple stoles? Blame it on the San Jose City College (SJCC) Milpitas Extension.
All 111 students had earned college credits at SJCC during their time in high school, either through Dual Enrollment (taking college classes with an instructor dedicated to MHS students during the regular school day), or Concurrent Enrollment (attending regular college courses with college students).
This year, SJCC saw the largest-ever amount of students graduating from MHS with college credits.
The majority of students had taken their courses at the Milpitas College Extension, while some did so at the Main Campus in San Jose or online. Also, most of the students out of the 111 took more than 1 college class during high school, with others taking more than 2. The courses they took included English, Sociology, American Sign Language, Ethnic Studies, Administration of Justice, Math, and Geology. Most of the college units earned are UC and CSU transferable, and will count toward University credits once the student attends.
The Milpitas Extension first opened for classes in early 2017, and is located across the street from Milpitas High School on 1450 Escuela Parkway. It’s run in partnership between the Milpitas Unified School District and the San Jose Evergreen Community College District (SJECCD).
Extension Director Mike Mooney came up with the idea of giving students purple stoles this year, as he wanted to honor and recognize all they had accomplished. And when it comes to SJCC and MHS students, there is plenty to honor and recognize: In fact, MHS students taking college courses at the Extension boast a 90% success rate. In addition, last summer, 204 MHS students took at least 1 college course.
For this summer, that number has risen to 378.
