Cerritos Complete, a new program for graduating high school students, kicked off this year with a bang.

The beginning of the fall semester welcomed 526 incoming freshmen students who were part of the school’s new program.

Director of Educational Partnerships and Programs Sue Parsons said, “K-16 Bridge to college was extremely successful this year because of the tremendous collaboration of many individuals, offices, departments, and programs on campus.

“Our kick-off on Aug. 10 was especially an exciting day after nine months of planning, coordination and tireless work of the K-16 leadership team [Carla Yorke, Paul Bleak, Sylvia Bello-Gardner, and Clara Ross]. Great things do happen for our students when we work interdependently.”

Bello-Gardner expressed that the Cerritos Complete program is a merit-based scholarship program designed to increase college completion, reduce time to graduation and the number of units taken.

She said, “Cerritos Complete merit-based scholarship will cover tuition or books and priority registration for the fall and spring semesters. Students who are in the K-16 program are part of Cerritos Complete.”

Parsons expanded on Bello-Gardner’s explanation of the program by stating, “The comprehensive college program is a partnership with our school districts and is designed to help students navigate their way into college, successfully complete their first year, and excel in completing college.”

She also worked with College President Dr. Jose Fierro to launch the program.

Fierro, who worked on the program for a year, said that because the college’s strategic plan is heavily focused on initiatives designed to increase graduation rates for students, Cerritos complete will utilize programmatic pathways to meet this goal.

He said, “[This is a list of] only a few of the benefits of Cerritos Complete. This is not a comprehensive list: step-by-step assistance in completing the college’s early success program, counseling appointment and career exploration assistance, K-16 Bridge workshops and a personalized (12-15 units recommended) schedule for fall and spring semesters, and students will receive their fall schedule in their summer connections class.”

Parsons added that in order for students to remain in this program, students:

• Students are expected to remain enrolled in all courses in order to be part of K-16 Bridge. Students who wish to withdraw from a course (other than Mathematics or English) must first meet with their instructor and a counselor, and submit a K-16 Bridge withdrawal form signed by their instructor and counselor.
• Should submit form to the Educational Partnerships & Programs office. Students must adhere to the College’s withdrawal dates.
• Must attend and complete a K-16 Bridge education planning workshop and a K-16 Bridge career workshop in order to receive their guaranteed spring 2017 schedule.
• Must maintain a minimum 2.0 GPA.