Parents and Guardians

WELCOME

We’re excited your child is interested in taking our college courses while in high school.

We hold Parent Orientations at the end of the Spring term, both in Spanish and English. If you are interested in attending a future Parent Orientation, contact Tamara Warren, the Director of the Early College Program, at (559) 791-2211.

You can also watch a past English virtual orientation or a Spanish orientation as well. Each recording is from a past Parent Orientation that took place in May 2024.

Below are a few important things to note about Porterville College and the Early College Program.

• Unit restrictions for high school students may apply
• We use the DualEnroll platform for high school students to register and enroll into our college courses. Students can create an account in this platform by following the directions in our DualEnroll.com Student Guide.
• If a student is taking a college course that is occurring at their high school campus during the high school day, then their high school is covering all costs of the course.
• If a student is taking a college course outside of their high school schedule, then they are a concurrent student here at PC and may be responsible for textbook costs and other student fees.
• If a student is struggling in a college course, they should “drop” the course and cancel their registration in the class BEFORE the class census date to avoid it being noted on their official college transcript. If your child wants to drop a college course, they should contact their high school counselor or the instructor of the college course.
• We also offer free tutoring services (online and in-person) to PC students through the Learning Resource Center (LRC).
• We have a firm FERPA policy in place that hinders us from sharing any student information with anyone that is not that student (or the partnering high school where that student attends). If you want to have your child’s college information shared with you then your child will have to complete our Authorization to Release Student Records form.

There are many Porterville College resources that are available to your child if they are struggling in their college course. These resources are below.

• PC Directory - Use to find contact information for a PC staff or instructor.
• Bookstore – eCampus - Find textbooks, and purchase, if needed.
• Library - Search for resource materials for research papers and access a large lending library.
• Learning Resource Center - Submit papers for review before submitting for a grade to your teacher. You can also request online tutoring here.
• Disability Resource Center - If you have an IEP on file at your high school you can obtain additional support services at PC.
• Student Health & Wellness - As a PC student, you can access free health care services here.

If you are new to the college environment, we have a few helpful terms for you below.

Helpful College Terms

 

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Waitlist

When a class is full, but students are still signing up to take the course. This creates a “waitlist” in case a current student registered to takes the class decides not to take the course. If you are on a waitlist and interested in taking the class, contact the instructor via their email (which can be found on our campus directory).

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Pre-requisite

This is when one course requires a different course to be taken, and passed, before students can register. A good example of this is Spanish P102. It has a pre-requisite for Spanish P101. Students would need to pass Spanish P101 before they can take Spanish P102.

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Drop

Cancelling registration in a course. When a student is no longer wanting to take a college course, they’ll “drop” the course.

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Syllabus

This is a document that is provided by the college instructor to their students that goes over important items for the class, such as grading policies, late work, due dates for assignments, contact information, etc.

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Canvas

This is our online platform for students taking an online course. You’ll find all your course information in the canvas course, which can be referred to as a “canvas shell."

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Census Date

Each college course has a census date which is when students really shouldn’t be added or “dropped” anymore in the course. Knowing this date is important in case a student is struggling in the class and needs to “drop” the course.

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Transfer

Community college students can pursue a transfer degree that allows them to transfer to another college. This term is used most often when transferring to a 4-year college or university.

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Transcript

Every student has an academic record that follows them through their education. This is called a transcript. When a student gets to college, the college transcript becomes very important as the grades earned in college stay on the college transcript. The only way to avoid having a course on a college transcript is if the student drops the course before the census date. Be aware that college transcripts are asked for in most employment applications as well as from 4-year institutions for transfer.

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“W”

There is a small window of time after census date that students can earn a “W” on their transcripts for dropping the course. The class would be listed on the student’s official transcript, but instead of a grade there would be a “W” for choosing to withdrawal from the course.

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If you have any questions on the Early College Program here at Porterville College please contact Tamara Warren, the Early College Program Director, at (559) 791-2211.