State leaders including Gov. Jim Justice and Senate President Craig Blair, R-Berkeley, attended a ribbon cutting Friday to celebrate the opening of The Middle College at Fairmont State University (FSU).
The program aims to provide youth in foster care a high school diploma and an associate’s degree in two years, plus guaranteed admission to FSU. Middle College students live on campus, attend classes, participate in on-campus activities, and receive services to support their success.
“What a wonderful opportunity. We’re taking the less than advantaged to being gainfully advantaged in the long run,” Blair said. “This may be the first one there is in the state of West Virginia, but mark my word. In 10 years, this will be replicated all over the country. The one thing that needs to be changed up, the federal government’s got to make the waivers in place or make the changes in the rules that allow the money to follow the child to be able to make this work properly.”
Diana Phillips, provost and vice president of academic affairs at FSU, said students in foster care have already been on campus for a month, attending classes and engaging in on-campus activities.
“We’re here to celebrate them and their work as well,” she said. “It’s historic, because middle colleges have existed in the United States since the late 60s. But this is the first one, the very first one, that has ever focused on youth in care, youth in foster care, and so here we are in the state of West Virginia, making historic inroads, not only at Fairmont State.”
The Middle College is a collaboration between FSU, KVC West Virginia – a nonprofit child welfare organization, Marion County Schools and the West Virginia Schools of Diversion and Transition.
Chris Schulz/West Virginia Public Broadcasting
Brent Lemon, executive vice president of the Middle College Program at KVC, said students in foster care often struggle in school because they lack support.
“We know we need to create a solution connecting foster youth in foster care to psychological, emotional, social and academic support that they deserve,” he said. “Middle College is more than just a program. It’s a link to a community, a pathway to opportunity, and a place where young people in foster care can find the connection they need to write their stories and begin to fulfill their individual dreams.”
The program has a lot of room for growth.
Sarah Marshall Roy, regional director for KVC at Middle College, said 18 students are currently enrolled in the program, with 25 more being actively recruited. She said the original goal was to enroll 50 students for the fall.
“In order to be admitted to Middle College, students have to go through a thorough evaluation of an interview, along with meeting with different academic folks from the Department of Education, and so it is a process,” Marshall Roy said. “All of the students walked through that process, they had to complete different academic requirements and so forth. Because of all of that, I think some of the students you know that maybe it wasn’t the best fit for them, decided to opt out of this type of program. We did connect those students with other opportunities.”