Every Wednesday evening, Honey Cooper packs her art supplies and heads to class. Not at Kimbark Elementary, where she spends her days, but at San Bernardino Valley College, where she finds a seat near the front, among students nearly twice her age.
The 10-year-old fourth-grader from San Bernardino is paving the way for younger students to access college courses. She is enrolled in ART 120, a two-dimensional design course worth four college credits. Cases like hers are a rare occurrence, according to San Bernardino Valley College officials.
“Even though they might be young, they still always need to be challenged,” said her mother, Mia Cooper. “And this is a new way for them to be challenged.”
Outside of school, Honey is a busy kid. She is a GATE-identified student, California’s designation for gifted and talented learners. She reads at a high school level and participates in Broadway Now, an educational theater program operating within the San Bernardino City Unified School District.
Sandra Rodriguez, assistant superintendent for student services at San Bernardino City Unified, had kept a close eye on Honey for years. Mia Cooper, a parliamentarian for the district, brought her daughter to district meetings and state-level education forums as the girl grew up. Honey would sit in the back reading books and doing homework while meetings carried on around her. Rodriguez eventually got to know Honey from the meetings she attended with her mother.
When Rodriguez came across a news article about a young girl who graduated from community college after being home-schooled, she immediately thought of Honey.
“She could be the kid who could be a doctor by 20,” Rodriguez said.
She picked up the phone and called Diana Rodriguez, chancellor of the San Bernardino Community College District, and got the ball rolling.
Mia Cooper gathered report cards from her daughter’s first through third grade, documentation of student committees Honey had participated in and principal awards she had been collecting since first grade. A statement from Kimbark Elementary’s principal was also required to attest to Honey’s academic readiness.
Though dual enrollment is typically designed for high school students, Honey’s case is different. She enrolled as a special admit, an individualized pathway outside the standard framework.
“It’s at the discretion of the parent and the school, but we’re committed to access regardless of their stage in life,” Bratulin said.
Her professor, Nader Gergis, was briefed before Honey arrived and made clear early on he would not change the material or slow the class down for Honey.
Before meeting Honey, he said, he had reservations about the dual enrollment program read more.
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