In 2017, Holyoke High School brought Dual Enrollment to our school, and it hoped to be extremely beneficial to our students. At first glance, the idea sounds amazing and it possesses great benefits. Being a high school student that takes college classes, while obtaining the credits it has to offer is something that would attract many students, especially those who have plans of going to college. And dual enrollment has done just that. Many of our Holyoke High School students are a part of dual enrollment, and while some see it as something productive, others argue that it is taking away from our school’s “togetherness”. 

Personally, this is my first year at Holyoke High, and my first year being in dual enrollment, and I really enjoy it. It has shown me a whole different world and prepared me for college life. Being in a college class is way different than being in a high school class, and this transition is helping me be ready for that change in the future. This is what attracts most of our students to dual enrollment, it’s the sense of independence that it gives that everyone wants to join in on. This has to be one of the main benefits that dual enrollment has to offer.

Not everyone feels the same way about it though. There are some teachers that see it as “intrusive”, and it creates a large gap in our student body. For example, most of the seniors in our school only have two to three classes at Holyoke High, and take the rest of their classes at either Holyoke Community College or Westfield State. This creates a big hole in our school, they say. Without juniors and seniors being an authority figure here, the lower classmen do not have someone to look up to, which has caused some dysfunction in our school. A proposition that was suggested was to limit the amount of classes a student can take at a college campus, that way they have more of a presence at Holyoke High. Another was to put a cap on how many students can participate.

Dual Enrollment does have some flaws, but I think the benefits outnumber them. If we look at it from a student’s perspective, the self growth it has to offer is incredible. It provides us with a chance to be more independent, responsible, and it widens our resources. That is not including the bonus points it offers when applying to colleges. If we continue Dual Enrollment, I can see it increasing our graduation rate, and brightening not only Holyoke High’s future, but the students who participate in it as well.