College, High School May Combine Classes

Local educators are discussing construction of a building at Moorpark College designed to provide classes simultaneously to both high school and college students.

Officials from the Moorpark Unified School District and Moorpark College met last week to plan how the two institutions can collaborate.

At the heart of the effort, and the focus of the first formal gathering of the group, is a new facility that might be built on the college campus and used by both institutions to provide health-science training and course work simultaneously to high school and college students.

“The goal is to make education more relevant, more interesting,” said Clint Harper, a physics professor at the college who just gave up his seat on the Moorpark school board after being elected to the City Council.

The building would house Moorpark High School’s Health Sciences Academy and portions of the college’s Health Sciences Institute and similar programs, he said. Other classes also could be offered there.

Officials say the school district and the college are already working to better prepare students for careers by putting students and instructors into programs that teach specific career curricula such as business and health professions.

College officials are also working on developing relationships with area universities to ease the transition from an associate’s degree to a bachelor’s degree.