Moving Forward

A partnership between South Louisiana Community College’s T.H. Harris campus and the JS Clark Leadership Academy in Opelousas is giving some St. Landry Parish high school students a head start on college work and on potential careers.

JS Clark Leadership Academy is an open-enrollment public charter school in St. Landry Parish with an enrollment of  more than 200 students. Ninth- and 10th-grade students at the charter school started the 2015-16 school year on the T.H. Harris campus, where they will take college courses taught by SLCC faculty and at the same time fulfill high school coursework taught by Clark faculty members.  .

That way, the students can compress six years of learning into four years and earn both a college degree and high school diploma.

The opportunity is similar to the college’s partnership with the Lafayette Parish School System to operate the Early College Academy on its Lafayette campus. However, students of the JS Clark Leadership Academy at SLCC will have additional options for their major course of study, including the opportunity to choose one of three technical programs.

The options for a college degree include associate of science degrees in business or general studies and technical diplomas as commercial/industrial electrical technicians; in heating, air conditioning and refrigeration; and in welding. Besides earning a diploma, graduates in the technical courses will also receive industry-based certification in their chosen field.

SLCC Chancellor Natalie Harder said other programs may be made available to the students in coming school years.

“We know there are high school students capable of college work across Acadiana,” Harder said. “We are excited that we are able to expand our early college program into St. Landry Parish and give JSCLA at SLCC students a two-year head start to join the workforce or continue on to a four-year university.”

In addition to the courses currently offered to the high school students, T.H. Harris offers Louisiana’s only accredited nondestructive testing program and is home to a widely recognized Practical Nursing program. The Opelousas campus also offers an associate of science degree in accounting; associate of applied science degrees in business administration and industrial electronics technology; a technical diploma in diesel technology; and a certificate of technical studies for patient care technicians.

JS Clark Leadership Academy’s Founder and CEO Tiffanie Lewis believes the program will benefit the local economy as well as the individual students.

“Our students will be ready to enter the workforce with college degrees and will be ready to impact our economy immediately,” Lewis said. “Any time you have students who are qualified and work-ready, you have citizens who can contribute positively in the community and transform our city and parish.

“We’re expecting that students who complete this program will go on to high-wage, high-demand careers and over their lifetimes, earn more than their parents.”

SLCC was established in 1997 as a public, two-year institution with campuses in Lafayette and New Iberia.  In 2012, SLCC merged with Acadiana Technical College, making it one of Louisiana’s largest, most comprehensive community colleges.

T.H. Harris was one of five technical schools created in 1938 by the Louisiana Legislature. It was part of the Acadiana Technical College system at the time of the 2012 merger.