FAIRMONT, W.Va. — Fairmont State’s Middle College program, which allows youths in the foster care system to finish their high school diplomas and receive associate’s degrees on campus, is reaching out to more of those in need, as students aged 16-17 living in the surrounding area with foster families, relatives, or guardians can now apply for acceptance.
Middle College aims to reverse the trend of academic instability for students in the state’s foster care system. The program’s dean, Emily Swain, said that the movement caused by foster care placement brings academic detriment with it.
“There’s multiple school placements typically when a child is put in placement. They’re taken out of their home school, or they have to move communities, and that long-term educational instability can be really disruptive to students’ academic progress,” she said.
Swain said one of the focuses of Middle College is helping the students with more than just what goes on in the classroom. The program aims to serve all of a child’s needs, as opposed to just attempting to help them academically.
“With educational instability, there’s a lot of anxiety around academic performance, so we’re really focused on being with the whole child and making sure that those basic needs are met, that we are cognizant of the traumas that they have experienced, and provide a safe and welcoming learning environment for them,” she said.
The benefits of the Middle College program are more than just academic stability in Swain’s eyes. She views the ability for students to experience strong, supportive role models as going as far as anything toward positive outcomes.
“Really being that strong, balancing, consistent presence in a child’s life really makes a difference, and a student knowing that they belong is paramount to their success,” she said.
She said that giving students enrolled in the Middle College program the ability to see bright futures ahead is one of the most important goals.
“The more that we can help them experience the community in positive ways and build those positive actions, the more belief they have in themselves, and they can finally see that they get to have these big, beautiful lives that they deserve, which is just really empowering,” she said.
Students who fit the newly expanded criteria to attend Fairmont State’s Middle College are eligible to apply now.
Story by Daniel Woods, MetroNews