Cambridge High School students will have more opportunities and academic options when they return to school for the 2025-2026 school year.
“We are trying to find as many avenues as we can to give our kids a chance to be successful,” Cambridge principal Bob Baier said. “We’re trying to find every pathway we can to give our kids what they want. The big thing is giving them hope.”
Many of those options will be provided by a new partnership with Washington State College of Ohio (WSC) in Marietta.
While many Cambridge students currently take College Credit Plus (CCP) classes, the partnership with Washington State will provide options for students to take college classes while physically remaining in the High School building.
“We will be offering a number of classes where Washington State will facilitate an online course and a credentialed member of our High School faculty will work with the students in the classroom,” Baier explained.
Through the partnership, a plan for several pathways has already been created with students taking college level courses beginning their freshman year in high school. A student in one of these pathways could potentially earn an associate degree at the same time they earn their high school diploma.
Proposed pathways include education and social work, as well as an associate of science and a liberal arts pathway.
“This is a more focused approach to CCP,” Baier said.
“Our kids currently take CCP classes here and there without really having a plan as to what they are going to do with those classes,” school counselor Rod Gray said. “With this, they have a plan that leads to a degree. It’s more intentional.”
There are other benefits to CCP classes being offered in the building,
- Having a high school teacher available to help students with classwork.
- No travel expenses associated with driving to campus for classes.
- Limiting the safety concerns of a student driving to a college campus.
- Students can experience traditional high school activities yet still get the college-level classes they desire.
In addition, the partnership with WSC will also include technical training through the school’s InCert Yourself program. Called InCert Fridays at WSC, students will go to the Washington State campus on Fridays to utilize its state-of-the-art labs and equipment to get the hands-on experience and training necessary to earn in-demand industry certification.
Some of the offerings include cyber security, HVAC, advanced manufacturing, or industrial welding and maintenance.
“The fact that we have to be realistic about is that the percentage of our students who are going to college has dropped, so in leu of that, we have to have other options,” Baier said.
“The number of students applying to Mid-East Career and Technical Centers has increased as well,” added Gray. “It is very competitive and harder to get into. This partnership provides options in several of the same programs, like welding.”
The partnership with Washington State does not eliminate other CCP or training options that are still available through Belmont College, Ohio University-Zanesville, Zane State College, and Muskingum University.
Baier, Gray, assistant principal Jeff Wheeler, and Dean of Students Sean Byerly are also excited about other changes that will be coming to the High School next school year.
Working with the Middle School and Mid-East, the High School will be able to offer a green house program starting next school year. Sharing a teacher with the Middle School, High School students will have the opportunity learn about plants. The goal is for students to grow plants and produce produce that can be used in the school cafeteria.
Freshmen will be required to take a semester Microsoft class where they can potentially earn several Microsoft certifications.
Freshmen will also be required to take Physical education class or a fitness class. Health classes are also returning to the high school where a credit will be required for graduation.
Financial literacy, an elective class already offered at the High School, is now required by state legislation.
Cambridge High School senior Rylee Homko-Green practices for his CDL test on a simulator at the High School. Fellow CDL student James Riggs watches from the side. The simulator will be used for CDL classes as well as driver’s education classes next school year.
Cambridge is planning to bring drivers’ education back to the high school as an elective opportunity. The school currently offers drivers education in the CATS Club afterschool program and the CATS Camp summer program.
With the purchase of new simulators and software, students can meet the classroom and simulator portions of the drivers’ education requirements during the school day. The district is looking at ways to offer the driving portion of the course as well.
The simulators used for driver’s education are also utilized for truck driving instruction. Students in high school can earn their commercial driver’s license (CDL) through a program that is currently offered and will expand next school year.
High School administrators all agree that finding an option that interests a student is the best way to motivate a student to stay in school and earn a diploma.
One recent example is a student who was failing all classes and was chronically absent from school. Once the student was enrolled in a specific program, their grades improved to all As and Bs and the attendance improved dramatically.
“He loves the class and has a career now,” Baier said. “He’s happy and he has hope for the future.”
And he will be even happier on graduation day when he receives his diploma.
“That is why we are trying to find as many avenues as we can,” Baier said. “So, our kids have a chance to be successful.”